DRUG ADDICTS THERAPEUTIC CENTRE ABUJA: "ARCHITECTURE AS A REHABILITATIVE TOOL"

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Date
1997-09
Authors
OLATUNDE, MODUPE CINDY
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Abstract
Drugs have been existing as neighbours to the human society from the time of creation, and man has been consuming them in a controlled way. Abuse came into being when man became reckless with the use of drugs and started taking them for the fun of it. During our generation we are now witnessing the psychological and physical damage of the ecological disturbance of the man-drug co-existence - A.I.Ds, Deaths, Broken homes and violent behaviour, to name a few consequences. In order to control drug abuse, man must be discouraged from taking up the habit. All the factors that expose people to drugs must be dealt with. This is not just the job of counsellors, religious teachers and agencies that deal with human behaviour. Everyone must join in to prevent drug usage and to save the addicted. This is where Architecture comes in. Architecture is not an art, it is a natural function. It grows on the soil like animals and plants. It is a function of the social order. It serves as a medium between man and the environment he finds himself. As such, it can be used to minister to a drug addict. Site selection is a very important aspect in proposing for a centre that will deal with trying to rehabilitate drug addicts. A wrong site choice could hinder successful results. Therefore, the site selected at Abuja already possesses a lot of therapeutic vii properties - a river for a soothing effect, lots of land for free unhindered movement and undulated slopes for easy manoeuring, and privacy. In view of these potentials, more natural landscaping was also introduced on the site in the building shapes of all the structures on the site. This is due to the fact that the more we study nature's form-world, the more clearly it becomes evident how rich in inventiveness, nuances and shiftings nature's form-language is. And the more deeply we learn to replize, in nature's realm, expressiveness is "basic". It is my belief that by the completion of the thesis project, the efforts of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency and philantrophic organizations towards developing standard care for the rehabilitation of drug abusers in Nigeria would have been further propagated.
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A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL AHMADU BELLO UNIVERSITY, IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE IN ARCHITECTURE DEPARTMENT OF ARCHITECTURE FACULTY OF ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN AHMADU BELLO UNIVERSITY ZARIA. SEPTEMBER 1997
Keywords
DRUG, ADDICTS, THERAPEUTIC, ABUJA:, ARCHITECTURE, REHABILITATIVE TOOL"
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