Combating the stigma of opioid dependency with the help of architecture and emotions

This post is brought to you by Combo Competitions Emotions, Architecture, Opioids (deadline extended to September 6) is an ideas competition seeking to explore the emotional impact of architecture, its effect on how people feel and behave - and how it can be of use in the struggle against opioid dependency. The goal of the competition is to design a building for the administration of methadone to patients, located in Venice, Los Angeles. Architecture has an impact on how we feel and behave. Opioid use disorder (OUD) in the United States has in the last decade snowballed into a national health crisis, claiming tens of thousands of lives each year, and costing society billions of dollars in addition to the immense emotional suffering of those affected. A major reason for the crisis is the stigma attached to drug addiction: the fact that drug dependency has long been regarded as a criminal problem rather than a health concern has over time established that anyone addicted to drugs shoul...