Enclosing the Insane: The Pharmakon Behind Asylum Architecture

The presentation explored how architecture plays a crucial role in shaping experiences within psychiatric institutions, particularly those marked by exclusion and long-term confinement. Rather than offering definitive results, the talk focused on a series of reflections and questions emerging from early-stage research into the architecture of so-called "total institutions." The aim was to examine how space, form, and design intersect with power and vulnerability in places where people are often held for indefinite periods. To ground these reflections, the presentation offered a historical review of psychiatric architecture, tracing how evolving medical theories and social attitudes toward mental illness have influenced the spatial organization of internment. Through this lens, architecture is approached not only as a backdrop but as an active agent in processes of control, care, and marginalization.