VIRTUAL: Livable Cities – New York

Abstract

The opioid epidemic has currently resulted in the deaths of nearly one million people in the United States, a country which already has the highest mortality rate amongst opioid and intravenous drug users. Current efforts in architecture to combat the opioid crisis have been the design of rehabilitation facilities, sober living communities, methadone clinics and halfway houses. These archetypes are plentiful and dont fully address the deficiency in current efforts as opposed to countries that have implemented harm reduction tools to combat the public health crisis associated with widespread opioid addiction. How can the built environment further support those dependent on opioids and intravenous drugs and bridge the gap between those suffering from addiction and the community in which they frequent? An Overdose Prevention Center is a harm reduction tool that has been around since 1986, with the first center opening in Switzerland. OPCs have surmounted to nearly 200 in Europe and Canada and only two in the United States. They avert hundreds of accidental overdose fatalities daily yet only New York and Rhode Island have legislation permitting their existence, with only NY having a physical center currently operating. The center will allow for use of illegal substances under the supervision of a medical professional with the support of the local police. The visitors of the center bring pre-obtained substances into the center, are provided a supervised, sterile environment and exposed to safer use practices, such has a needle exchange program, to limit the transference of disease. The purpose of this thesis is to propose a model for a new public health tool, examine the history of overdose prevention centers in Europe and Canada, examine the success of the two OPCs in NY gather staff experiences, survey the local community to gather needs and create a prototypical design for the implementation of other OPCs around the US.