Among the Ruins: Memory, Trauma, and a Residential Treatment Facility for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder at Fort Casey, Washington

Abstract

This architectural design thesis is shaped by the intersection of time, memory, narrative and contemporary construction and use in an encounter with military ruins. This thesis argues that ruins need not remain entirely sacrosanct, but rather can, with understanding and care, become sites partly occupied by present-day activity. In particular, present-day uses that focus on the past as well as the present and future can find appropriate placement in a site of ruins. Further, this thesis argues that contemporary interventions in such sites must recognize and protect multiple, nuanced understandings of a particular place and must emphasize multi-dimensional personal experiences rather than a single objective history or a singular formal analysis of such structures. In this thesis, these themes are explored through the design of a residential treatment facility for individuals suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. Sited in close juxtaposition to the military ruins of Fort Casey on Whidbey Island, Washington, the proposed facility seeks to provide a location for the exploration and reinterpretation of traumatic narratives. This program fits this site because healing from trauma requires acceptance and understanding of the past even as the patient prepares for a new future. Indeed, the acceptance and partial reframing of the ruins through design intervention thus becomes a metaphor for the healing process itself. In turn, the thesis project relies on two key bodies of theory: the first regarding ruins, and the second regarding healing. Both are discussed herein, along with their respective associations with memory and narrative. The project design that follows is thereby shaped, both in response to these theories, and in response to the specific site of Fort Casey.