WOVEN is pleased to announce that we are working with Lane Community College (LCC) to design and install an addiction recovery room within their new Health and Wellness Center. We have worked closely with staff and students, community members, artists, and people who are in recovery from addiction to develop a space that provides respite, care, and support for anyone in the LCC community who have connection to the recovery process.
Form is a key word for us; we believe that how we interact with our physical space is fundamental to the cultivation of wholeness. One of our principles, or branches, that supports our design process is creativity. Creativity is a powerful and liberating aspect of the human experience–at its most basic, creativity is the act of bringing spirit into form. The words inspiration and spirit share the same root word–spiritus– that means breath. To speak (breathe) something is to bring it into being. For WOVEN, the creative process begins with our visioning circles. In these circles all of those involved in creating a space, event, or gathering, come together and speak however we are moved. We give our words, ideas, thoughts, concerns, and questions to the circle, where they eventually coalesce into a collective vision. This creative process is bigger and more powerful than any one of us and is equitable, egalitarian, and shared. We used this process to inform and shape the design of a sanctuary space for the LCC community; a design that will transFORM a typical college classroom into a true recovery refuge.
We are conscious of the importance of providing a variety of spaces dedicated to fostering different phases of recovery. We spent time discussing the words “addiction” and “recovery,” excavating beneath stereotypes and assumptions to unearth our guiding definition. We see “recovery” at its essence as a journey of recovering all the parts of ourselves, meeting and welcoming home those parts that we may have exiled or abandoned in our need to survive or cope. Unfortunately, in many cases, addiction recovery spaces are clinical and impersonal, even sterile. In such places we may find ourselves contracting and withdrawing, furthering that sense of exile. WOVEN's Vision for the Refuge at LCC is rooted in the question, “What would it look like to have a space where it is safe to expand, to feel whole, worthy, and welcome?” Our creative visioning process provided beautiful inspiration for a space where form, light, nature, sound and color foster empowerment, playfulness, rest, choice, and connection . We are honored to be part of this project and can’t wait to show you the fruits of this collaboration.
Check out the full concept design here
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