Addressing Trauma Through Architecture: Cultivating Well-Being for Youth Who Have Experienced Trauma

With an understanding of how trauma can affect humans and applying this information from a human centered approach, the conclusion is creating spaces that cultivate well-being through architecture. These spaces acknowledge the needs of the user by integrating the knowledge of trauma into its design phase, from beginning to end. 
As a result, re-traumatization is avoided, and a user-focused space has been created. Some of the most vulnerable and easily influenced people in our society, our youth, are particularly susceptible to this issue. With a lack of consideration and empathy towards their trauma as they develop, this leaves a gap in the way they are considered in architectural spaces.The aim of this thesis is to create an architectural response utilizing the current healthcare informed guidelines and applying them to the use of space, resulting in a building cultivating wellness through the principals of safety, trustworthiness, and empowerment.