Asylum: Inside the closed world of state mental hospitals

Abstract

Almost all nineteenth-century asylums built in the United States were modeled after the Kirkbride plan (named for Dr. Thomas Kirkbride, the superintendent of the Philadelphia Hospital for the Insane), which consisted of a central administration building flanked symmetrically by linked pavilions, each stepping back at right angles. This layout facilitated a hierarchical segregation according to sex, illness, and even social class. At present, only a few Kirkbride asylums still serve their original function. The very qualities that made them appealing in the first place-Their enormous size, heavy construction, and distinctive floor plan-have made them difficult to repurpose. Buffalo is one of the few Kirkbrides to be preserved and adaptively reused. Designed by H. H. Richardson, construction began in 1871 and was not completed until 1895, although patients were admitted in 1880. By the 1970s, most of the patients had been moved to a new facility and the original complex was abandoned. Thanks to the efforts of local preservationists, elected officials, and community members, years of neglect have been reversed, and the building is being brought back to life as a hotel and conference center.