Arquitetura que enlouquece: poder e arqueologia

Abstract

Taking madness as a social construction, we notice the ways used throughout Western history in order to segregate those who are considered unproductive and those who show a deviant behavior. For instance, asylums are a significant way of segragation. The Children's Neuro-Psychiatry Hospital of Belo Horizonte (HNPI - Hospital de Neuro-Psiquiatria Infantil de Belo Horizonte) comes up as an archetype whose materialness presents power speeches. Considering the HNPI as a superartifact, this dissertation seeks comprehension through a spatial interpretation of the strategics used to discipline, control and treat the children admitted to the hospital, sopme of them with no mental disorder whatsoever. Furthermore, this dissertation approaches the children's reactions and their possible experiences in the hospital, as well as trhe current use of the hospital building by Espaço Como Luiz Estrela