Private and public spaces of hope in architecture and therapy

Abstract

This paper is about the links between public and private space, the possibilities for creating more of these links and the impact that they can have on physical and mental health. A range of professional practice disciplines contribute to improving the health of populations. The paper focuses upon the role of architects who design the threshold between public and private space and art therapists who help people negotiate and cross these thresholds. It considers some of the ways architecture and art therapy might work together with other disciplines to help secure the basis for health. A large part of this paper’s conclusion is about the need in cities for actual space for the practice of art therapy. Architects might be interested in designing city art therapy studios and art therapists could help people with mental health problems use them as a symbolic threshold between the private and the public. Time spent using art therapy can help people with mental health issues realise and communicate their ability to act, and this can mean they are then in a better position to live their lives to the full and when there is a need engage with other services.