Paper Presentation – ARCH24 Conference @ the Aalto University in Espoo, Finland

Jason Danziger will present a new paper, “Soteria Berlin – A Case Study in Active Atmosphere and Inclusive Design” on Monday, 17 June in the afternoon Research and Design Methods session. Written with Dr. Martin Voss , the paper looks broadly at the development of the Soteria movement in general and tracks the development of the two Soteria projects built at the St. Hedwig’s Hospital in Berlin. It also shares our ongoing research on design methods based on the sociopetal concepts of late modernist Japanese-Canadian architect Kiyoshi Izumi in combination with 'active atmosphere' mechanisms developed in our ongoing interdisciplinary process. If you are at the conference next week please stop by!

With great appreciation to conference chairpersons Professor Laura Arpiainen and Dr. Ira Verma of the Aalto University for encouragment and support, we are also proud to announce that the paper will be published this Fall by the Aalto University Publication Series. Stay tuned for more news on the publication!

For more Info on the ARCH24 Confrence in Espoo, click here.

Update: December 12, 2025 > The Best Practice Paper has been published and is available here as an extract (from the thinkbuild website) or here (official publication link at Aalto University (Finland), see pages 185–186).

FYI the full citation of the Conference Best Practice Papers is:
Verma, I. & Arpiainen, L. (ed.)(2024) ARCH24 Design for Health and Wellbeing – Best practice papers from the 6th International Conference on Architecture, Research, Care and Health 17-19 June 2024, Espoo, Finland. (ISBN:978-952-64-2204-6)

Joint lecture at the Groot Begijnhof of the University of Leuven in Belgium / PSYCH.RAUM Vortrag im Groot Begijnhof der Universität Leuven in Belgien

On October 12, 2023, PSYCH.RAUM partners Dr. Martin Voss (Charité/Berlin) and Jason Danziger (thinkbuild architecture BDA/Berlin) had the honour of giving a joint lecture in the Faculty Club (zaal Lemaire) of the Groot Begijnhof – a UNESCO World Heritage Site – at the University of Leuven in Belgium. The lecture, entitled "Architectuur en psychiatrie” (Architecture and Psychiatry), was the first of five training evenings for doctors and paramedics for the 2023-2024 academic year continuuing education programme. After an introduction by Prof. Filip Bouckaert, Medical Director of the UPC KU Leuven, we discussed questions such as: What is the impact of hospital infrastructure on wellbeing? How can architecture reduce aggression? And how can it promote interaction between staff, patients and society? The lecture was followed by a discussion (Q&A) chaired by Koen Coomans, architect and visiting professor at the KU Leuven Department of Architecture, Research & Design.

More information about the lecture can be found here, including a webinar. The lecture was in English.

Photograph: Trougnouf (Benoit Brummer), via Wikimedia Commons

PSYCH.RAUM kehrt zum Management Forum Starnberg zurück / PSYCH.RAUM returns to the Management Forum Starnberg

PSYCH.RAUM-Partner Dr. Martin Voss (Charité/Berlin) und Jason Danziger (thinkbuild architecture BDA/Berlin) freuen sich darauf, nächste Woche nach München zurückzukehren, um an der diesjährigen Konferenz zum Bau und Betrieb von Psychiatrischen Kliniken und Einrichtungen teilzunehmen, die vom Management Forum Starnberg organisiert wird. Wir werden einen Workshop anbieten, der sich speziell mit interdisziplinären Planungsmethoden und der Optimierung von Atmosphären zur Verbesserung der Patientenversorgung beschäftigt. Weitere Informationen zur Fachtagung finden Sie hier.

PSYCH.RAUM partners Dr Martin Voss (Charité/Berlin) and Jason Danziger (thinkbuild architecture BDA/Berlin) are looking forward to returning to Munich next week to join this year’s conference on the construction and operation of psychiatric clinics and facilities organised once again by the Management Forum Starnberg. We will be offering a workshop looking specifically at interdisciplinary design methods and ways to optimise atmospheres to help improve patient outcomes. More information about the symposium can be found here.

31ST European Congress of Psychiatry in Paris –ARCHITECTURE & PSYCH.IATRY Workshop

Jason Danziger will serve as co-chair together with psychiatrist and PSYCH.RAUM partner Dr. Martin Voss of the Charité/Berlin (SHK-Soteria) for an interdisciplinary workshop titled, “Architecture and Psychiatry - Spatial Mechanisms that promote Social Cohesion” at the 31st European Congress of Psychiatry (EPA) confrence at the Palais des Congrès de Paris on March 27, 2023. The workshop is a joint production together with architects Dr. Julia Kirch of sander.hofrichter architekten (Ludwigshafen, DE), Ross Warren of hoopers architects (Ipswich, UK), and psychiatrist Dr. Nikolina Jovanović of Queen Mary University of London and the East London Foundation Trust. It will focus on the potential of the built environment to promote social interaction and cohesion in psychiatric facilities. More information is availaible on the EPA website here (search for WP08) or here.

The EPA 2023 Logo, superimposed on a photograph of the Eiffel Tower under construction in 1888 taken by Louis-Emile Durandelle.

Here a bit more information from the workshop. First, our interdisciplinary team (from left) Ross Warren, Dr. Nikolina Jovanović, Dr. Julia Kirch, Dr. Martin Voss, and Jason Danziger.

One of the questions we asked the audience during the workshop was, “What topics should architects address in order to improve mental health care?” Using mentimeter, we were able to view an “instant” word cloud which collected the responses of the roughly 100 psychiatrists and others who attended our session at the 2023 EPA Congress. Clearly, there is more work to be done to better allow therapists as well as service users and patients to positively influence healing environments. We would like to explore the topic further as a group, hopefully in the format of offering a follow-up Continuing Medical Education (CME) workshop for the EPA 2024 Congress in Budapest. Stay tuned for more information!

SOUL IN SPACE – Psychiatrie trifft Architektur / Psychiatry meets Architecture

Jason Danziger will lecture on Friday, September 9, 2022 at the Alexius/Josef Krankenhaus in Neuss.

We are honoured to have been invited to participate in a Fachtagung (symposium) co-organsied by Linus Hofrichter & Dr. Julia Kirch of a|sh / sander.hofrichter architekten together with Dr. Martin Köhne & Dr. Andrea Kuckert-Wöstheinrich of the Alexius/Josef Krankenhaus Neuss. The symposium (in German) will celebrate the publication of the new book, “Soul in Space,” to which Dr. Martin Voss and Jason Danziger (as PSYCH.RAUM) contributed to with a narrative case study description focusing on the design process of the Soteria Berlin (01 @ Haus Monika). More information about the book can be seen here; if you are curious about the about the symposium itself, feel free to browse the program here. Hope to see you there!

PSYCH.RAUM lecture in Munich at the Management Forum Starnberg / PSYCH.RAUM Vortrag in München an der Management Forum Starnberg

PSYCH.RAUM partners Dr Martin Voss (Charité/Berlin) and Jason Danziger (thinkbuild architecture BDA/Berlin) gave a joint lecture on May 20, 2022 at the Bau und Betrieb Psychiatrische Kliniken und Einrichtungen 2022 symposium organised by Management Forum Starnberg. It was a fascinating two-day conference, filled with lectures on healing architecture, suicide prevention in psychiatric facilities, and other topics, set in the dynamic Werksviertel close to the Münchner Ostbahnhof.

A great highlight of the conference was the lecture by Dr. Julia Kirch (pictured, in the middle) of a|sh (sander.hofrichter architekten, Ludwigshafen) titled “Bauen für die seelische Gesundheit” which, among other things, outlined typolgies of pyschiatric buildings and shared recent projects from her office. An archive of the symposium schedule can be seen here.

From left: Dr. Martin Voss (Charité/Berlin), Dr. Julia Kirch (as|h architects/Ludwigshafen), and Jason Danziger, Architect BDA in front of the WOW fassade by MVRDV and N-V-O Nuyken Von Oefele Architketen.

PSYCH.RAUM LECTURE AT THE 2019 EUROPEAN CONGRESS OF PSYCHIATRY IN WARSAW, POLAND TOGETHER WITH DR. NIKOLINA JOVANOVIC (LONDON)

It was a great honour and inspiration to address the 27th European Congress of Psychiatry in Warsaw, Poland together with Dr. Nikolina Jovanovic, MD, PhD of Bart’s and London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University and the East London NHS Foundation Trust on April 8, 2019.

Our joint Workshop had three objectives as listed below and was followed by a fascinating discussion. The goals of the workshop were:

• To sensitize mental health professionals about the importance of the environment in determining outcomes for patients, staff and family members alike;

• To encourage mental health professionals to actively engage with designers and workplace administrators to positively influence the environments in which they work;

• To equip mental health professionals with a basic understanding of conceptual tools such as the design metaphor as a method for generating and maintaining inderdisciplinary consensus.

Thanks to all our workshop participants for the great feedback and of course to our session chairs, Dr. Defne Eraslan (Turkey/Germany) and Dr. TM Gondek (Poland) for enabling this workshop and moderating the exciting discussion afterwards!

Feel free to contact PSYCH.RAUM for more information about the workshop or the objectives listed above should you be curious to learn more…

Jason Danziger and Dr. Nikolina Jovanovic at the EPA 2019 Congress in Warsaw, Poland

PSYCH.RAUM lectures in London @ "ARCHITECTURE AND MENTAL HEALTH", a conference organised by ELFT and the Royal College of Psychiatrists

Architect BDA Jason Danziger and Consulting Psychiatrist Dr. Martin Voss were invited to a spring 2017 symposium in London titled Architecture and Mental Health: Inspired environments that promote care. Organised by ELFT (the East London NHS Foundation Trust) in collaboration with the Arts Special Interest Group (ASIG) of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, the symposium will focus on methods and theory to support interdisciplinary project optimisation for Mental Health professionals of all stripes. We are very much looking forward to meeting and exchanging ideas with other members of the Symposium, including our co-invitees architect Dr Evangelia Chrysikou, social scientist Dr Lambros Malafouris, and psychiatrist/architect Dr Nikolina Jovanovic. Join us as well!

More information about the conference and its program can be seen by downloading the conference Flyer here.

"Soteria Berlin: Spatial Atmospheric Mechanisms supporting Milleautherapie" - Joint Lecture by Dr. Martin Voss & Jason Danziger at the École d'Architecture Val de Seine (Paris, France) - 20. May 2016

“Whether people are fully conscious of this or not, they actually derive countenance and sustenance from the ‘atmosphere’ of things they live in and with...”

- Frank Lloyd Wright

Consulting Psychiatrist Dr. Martin Voss and Architect Jason Danziger will present the Soteria Berlin as a case study at the 2016 APAQESM Conference (2ème Rencontre Architecture & Psychiatrie), an international interdisciplinary conference at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure d'Architecture Paris-Val de Seine this coming May 20, 2016. The session begins at 14h and will focus on how the Soteria can be seen as a test case for the creation of active Milieu Therapy spaces in Berlin (Atmosphere as Therapeutikum). The session will also share the narrative about how the major aspects of the spatial design strategies were deployed to "de- institutionalize" the ward. 

More information about the conference and its program can be seen here. Don't miss it!

Life in Berlin : Soteria-Berlin veröffentlicht auf NPR-Berlin, 104.1FM / The Soteria Berlin on NPR-Berlin, 104.1FM - 13. August 2015

Monika Müller-Kroll berichtet über die Soteria Berlin auf NPR-Berlin mit drei reizvollen Interview-Partnern (Jason Danziger, Dr. Martin Voss, ein Mitglied des Soteria Berlins). Hier können Sie es streamen via Dropbox erfahren (auf Englisch) bzw. das Interview als .MP3 Datei herunterladen. 

The Soteria has been featured on NPR-Berlin, 104.1 FM, in a delightful story by Monika Müller-Kroll, who interviewed Jason Danziger, Dr. Martin Voss, and one other member of the Soteria community. If you are curious, check out the story and stream the Audio via dropbox here or download an MP3 file here.

Atmosphäre als Therapeutikum – Die Soteria Berlin / Therapeutic Atmosphere - The Soteria Berlin

PSYCH.RAUM Partner Jason Danziger und Dr. Martin Voss haben einen Artikel über ihrem Projekt - die Soteria-Berlin - in Management & Krankenhaus Kompakt, 6/2015 publiziert. Hier können Sie den Artikel herunterladen.

PSYCH.RAUM Partners Jason Danziger and Dr. Martin Voss have published an article about the Soteria Berlin in Management & Krankenhaus Kompakt, 6/2015. You can download a copy of the article here (in German).

Mut zur Unüblichkeit - Juni 2015

Ein schön geschriebener Artikel über die Soteria Berlin von Berliner Journalistin Aileen Hohnstein ist auf kmareport bauen & planen (Juni 2015) zu finden. Hier können Sie den Artikel anschauen (Seite 32-37).

A very nice article was recently published by Aileen Hohnstein, featured in the yearly special supplement "building and planing" to kma Das Gesunheitswirtschaftsmagazin. Download a copy here (See pages 32 to 37 - in German).

Wohl sein : thinkbuild project Soteria-Berlin veröffentlicht in der Süddeutschen Zeitung / thinkbuild project Soteria Berlin published in the Süddeutschen Zeitung - 5. April 2015

Die Soteria Berlin – obwohl kein PSYCH.RAUM-Projekt (es ist ein Architekturprojekt von Jason Danziger/thinkbuild architecture BDA) ist trotzdem ein Beispiel für viele der von uns vorgeschlagenen Methoden und war der Ausgangspunkt für viele unserer interdisziplinären Erkundungen. So wurde es in der Süddeutschen Zeitung als positives Beispiel für fächerübergreifende Entwürfe sowie auch für ihre Räume, die Ruhe ausstrahlen und somit aktiv an Heilungsprozessen beteiligt sind vorgestellt.  Auf der Website von thinkbuild architecture - hier -  können Sie den Artikel herunterladen und lesen. Zum Wohl!

The Soteria Berlin - although not a PSYCH.RAUM project (it is an architectural project by Jason Danziger/thinkbuild architecture BDA) is nevertheless an example of many of the methods we propose and has been the starting point for many of our interdisciplinary explorations. The thinkbuild project was presented in the Süddeutsche Zeitung as a positive example of interdisciplinary design as well as for its atmosphere which, due to its calming effect, actively contributes to the healing process. . The full text of the article (in German) is available for download here. Enjoy!

Das Milieu als Ansatz - Vortrag an der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin / Joint Lecture by Dr. Martin Voss & Jason Danziger at the Humboldt University, Berlin - 18. Mai 2014

Der leitende Oberarzt Martin Voss und der Architekt Jason Danziger werden aus medizinischer und gestalterischer Perspektive die Soteria Berlin vorstellen. Hierbei handelt es sich um eine neu eröffnete psychiatrische Station des St. Hedwig-Krankenhauses, die sich vorrangig an jüngere Patienten mit einer Ersterkrankung aus dem schizophrenen Formenkreis richtet. Neben einem zurückhaltenden Einsatz von Psychopharmaka stützt sich die Behandlung dabei insbesondere auf die therapeutische Wirkung eines gestalteten Milieus. Welche Faktoren wirken bei dieser s.g. Milieutherapie? Wie lassen sie sich beschreiben, analysieren, gestalten und mit psychiatrischen Erklärungsmodellen schizophrener Krankheitsbilder in Verbindung bringen? Wie können Krankheit und Wohlergehen, architektonischer Raum und soziale Gemeinschaft im atmosphärischen Spannungsfeld zwischen Bauen, Wohnen, Fühlen und Denken verstanden werden?