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Virginia Tech

Grief and Healing Sanctuary

Abstract

dc:description.abstract

My thesis is an exploration of the emotional connection we have with architecture. The inspirations for the Grief and Healing Sanctuary were the healing experienced at quiet spaces of reflection and my father's stories as a Navy Vietnam shipboard combat veteran. I designed a building to provide a place for healing and to deal with grief. The building was designed for patients and their families being treated at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. Not all families leave as they arrive. The families, many from out of town, need a place to reflect, pray, cry, or laugh. This need was reinforced by my father's stories of his transition from normal life to the extremes of combat to life back as a civilian. No one comes out unaffected, and there is not always a place to go and reflect. The Grief and Healing Sanctuary provides these spaces for all people who have these needs.

Degree

thesis:*
Name thesis:degree_name
Master of Architecture
Level thesis:degree_level
masters
Discipline thesis:degree_discipline
Architecture
Department dc:contributor.department
Architecture
Grantor dc:publisher
Virginia Tech
Year dc:date.issued
2010

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • Sumner, Elizabeth Wong
Chair dc:contributor.committeechair
  • Feuerstein, Marcia F.
Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember
  • Piedmont-Palladino, Susan C.
  • Holt, Jaan

Subjects

dc:subject × 5

Rights

dc:rights
Statement dc:rights
  • In Copyright

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
Dc Identifier Other
etd-01112011-205455
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/30907

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
Virginia Tech
Base URL
vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/oai/request
Last updated
2026-07-22
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
citation

Sumner, Elizabeth Wong. Grief and Healing Sanctuary. masters thesis, Virginia Tech, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/30907