Sheenwar Siti

Sheenwar explores the possibility of utilizing architecture to flush out the stigma associated with mental illness treatment. He has developed the ‘mediation theory,’ a single design principle intended to build a bridge between social acceptance and mental health treatment. Finding an opening in which a community, population, or humanity as a whole is at a turning point in their attitudes toward a stigmatized phenomenon is the first step. Using architecture as the physical application of this theory, this opportunity is then processed through the steps of ‘mediation’ from Idea, to layout, all the way to the design of a wall – or the removal of a wall – with the sole purpose of establishing a connection.

Lock up asylums have given way to specialized hospitals as mental health care has evolved dramatically throughout history. However, the development of effective psychotropic drugs since the 1950s has resulted in many patients being treated at home. In return , many more people are aware of their own depression or anxiety, which is now considered a common mental health issue.

The mediation theory attempts to establish a contemporary methodology. According to changes in history and technology, the mediation theory addresses a new societal illness for which the solution is not a specified type of building but rather a design principle.

Bio

Born, raised and educated in London as the son of an artist. Sheenwar Siti now an architect, was always a maker. The contrast of being raised by Kurdish parents whilst growing up in British society, meant that Sheenwar’s sense of identity was always changing. This social distinction has at times meant being an outcast, while other times it was an opportunity to show an alternative perspective. As an architect, he is fascinated by how buildings themselves can facilitate new alternatives for social change. Sheenwar graduated with his Bachelors and Masters from London. After working in various architectural offices in the UK, he has returned to his parents’ hometown of Duhok, now a fast-growing city, where he lectures in academia at the American University of Kurdistan.