MEMORY PALACE
This studio proposed the question: How can spaces hold grief, create dignity, and resist the sterility of conventional healthcare environments through design solutions grounded in the arts, cognitive empowerment and sensory exploration? The culminating project, Memory Palace, is a dementia facility located in Fayetteville, GA, adjacent to Trilith Studios. The architecture aims to establish routine for those with dementia while providing connection to other residents, the ones they love, and the natural environment around them. Residential spaces are designed to feel comfortable, not clinical—bay windows, full-sized beds and access to large outdoor porches make the community feel like home in comparison to the traditional hospice setting. As the residential program terraces down the site, the project culminates in a series of memory capsules. These spaces are equipped with screens, serving as both memorials to the individual as well as artistic representations of the process of dementia. The loved ones of residents are encouraged to return to these memory capsules anytime, reconnecting back to the ones they love.
Design + Research Studio I - The Last Room: A Center for Living and Dying
Georgia Institute of Technology, M.Arch
Instructor: Michael Murphy