Adjusting Normalities

This diploma thesis aims at the creation of a rehabilitation center for people with mental and intellectual difficulties in the abandoned village of Souskiou in the province of Paphos, Cyprus. The goal is to support this group of people for their proper reintegration into society.

This diploma thesis aims at the creation of a rehabilitation center for people with mental and intellectual difficulties in the abandoned village of Souskiou in the province of Paphos. The aim of the project is to support this particular group of people for their proper reintegration into society. The thesis began with an examination and a redefinition of the existing forms of mental health treatment that lead to institutionalization and social exclusion. The need for a radical redefinition of the treatment of this group of individuals leads to the search for a new model of design, with the choice of the specific village as the starting point of the composition. The village of Souskiou, due to its special design, is a suitable foundation, a base that can feed the rehabilitation center and interact with it, creating a single set. The ambiguity between the terms "normality" and "abnormality" in the abandoned village of Souskiou and the users with intellectual difficulties creates spatial extensions capable of forming a system of parallel and mutual treatment. Thus, the spatial status of the village is examined through the formation of the public space, the production area and its hyper-local relations, while correlating them with the rehabilitation of the people with mental-intellectual difficulties. The simultaneous contribution through architectural design redefines the ways of recovery and helps to reintegrate the village of Souskiou in the wider region. As a result, the new users in the region are directly involved in the reactivation of the village and contribute to the areas of public life, production and the over-local relations of the village with the wider network of Dhiaryzos’ river valley. Then, through the design tactics, the two-way relationship of users and space is regulated, and a new coexistence of the two is proposed. Their interaction with the inhabitants of the area is determined by means of common production and education and the village is transformed into a hyper-local attraction with multiple benefits for its further life.