Once state-of-the-art mental healthcare facilities, Kirkbride
buildings have long been relics of an obsolete therapeutic
method known as Moral Treatment. In the latter half of the 19th
century, these massive structures were conceived as ideal
sanctuaries for the mentally ill and as an active participent in
their recovery. Careful attention was given to every detail of
their design to promote a healthy environment and convey a sense
of respectable decorum. Placed in secluded areas within
expansive grounds, many of these insane asylums seemed almost
palace-like from the outside. But growing populations and
insufficient funding led to unfortunate conditions, spoiling
their idealistic promise. Within decades of their first
conception, new treatment methods and hospital design concepts
emerged and the Kirkbride plan was eventually discarded. Many
existing Kirkbride buildings maintained a central place in the
institutions which began within their walls, but by the end of
the 20th century most had been completely ab