Date of Award
Spring 5-31-2025
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Architecture (MArch)
Department
Architecture
First Advisor
Kyna Leski
Second Advisor
Michael Kubo
Third Advisor
Chris Bardt
Abstract
This thesis explores the hospital as a prosthetic—a structural and spatial support for the human body in moments of vulnerability. Like a crutch or cast, the hospital temporarily supports patients in their transition from horizontal (infirm) to vertical (mobile), yet its architecture often fails to contribute meaningfully to that healing process. While clinical treatment is prioritized, the spatial, emotional, and sensory dimensions of care are neglected. What supports what becomes a central question: the building holds the body, but the body also gives meaning to the building. Their relationship is reciprocal.
Rather than proving that good design improves health—an idea well-documented in research—this thesis seeks to act on that understanding. It proposes a healthcare architecture that actively contributes to healing rather than standing by passively or even working against it.
The project is situated at the Brooklyn Hospital Center, a site that enables layered inquiry. It investigates how healthcare infrastructure can address broader urban issues: housing insecurity, access to mental and physical rehabilitation, and urban connectivity. It envisions a complex that includes outpatient mental and dental care, physical rehabilitation, and a variety of housing options (temporary, senior, low-income, market-rate), each with separate yet integrated access.
This thesis explores how a hospital can become both a machine for healing and a place of habitation—an urban prosthetic that supports physical, emotional, and social recovery. Through attention to light, views, atmosphere, and movement, it seeks to reimagine medical architecture as an agent of care, community, and continuity.
Recommended Citation
Grosek, Alexander A., "Prosthesis" (2025). Masters Theses. 1449.
https://digitalcommons.risd.edu/masterstheses/1449
Creative Commons License
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Included in
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