DRUG ADDICTS THERAPEUTIC CENTRE ABUJA:

"ARCHITECTURE AS A REHABILITATIVE TOOL"

BY

OLATUNDE MODUPE CINDY

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
CERTIFICATION
This Thesis entitled:
DRUG ADDICTS THERAPEUTIC CENTRE, ABUJA:
ARCHITECTURE AS A REHABILITATIVE TOOL
Presented by:
Olatunde, M.C.
meets the regulation governing the award of the degree of
Master of Science (M.Sc.) in Architecture of Ahmadu Bello
University, Zaria and is approved for its contribution to
knowledge.
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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

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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.