Reformation places and the use of senses in their design: Seclusion spaces and heightened sensory awareness/responsiveness

This article was given as a paper in 5th International Conference on Interdisciplinary Social Sciences’ in the University of Cambridge, UK, 2-5 August 2010; it was submitted and peer-reviewed before being published.

The author pursued research for many years in particular spaces, such as seclusion spaces (prisons and mental health hospices) since very young age; she used to attend open workshops organised by Giovanni Michelucci in Florence in the 1970s and 1980s. For many years, Giovanni Michelucci, Florentine architect famous for his concern with the needs, wellbeing, and interests of people, used to teach and get involved younger generations of designers and architects in projects of open prisons and places for people with special needs. His dream was to be able to create a place in which people would continue to live and meditate about their flawed patterns of life; their senses should be kept alive to be able to find a secure path to reform. His project Giardino di incontri (Meeting Garden) in the Sollicciano prison in the outskirts of Florence was completed several years after Michelucci's death and it might have been also reduced in scale and meaning. But, it seems that it is still a better place to be in order to refect upon misguided previous life and head for recovery. A thoughtful design and participation of senses could be a solution to many problems in enforcement of seclusion with intent to revitalize human beings' broken lives and damned identities. It could be considered as a vital element especially in the recovery of women's broken links with life.