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Simulating Spaces of Madness: The Ottoman Experience
Abstract
While being incorporated into various disciplines, the use of 3D computation in historical scholarship has been relatively underutilized. This paper will analyze the medicalization of madness and modernization of its spaces through the simulation of a nineteenth century Ottoman insane asylum. The simulation is created with information I gathered from in-depth research of primary archival and printed documents, located at the intersection of medicine, psychiatry, architecture, and urban studies. I will discuss the evolution and workings of Istanbul Toptaşı Asylum that was used as the state mental hospital between 1873 and 1924. In order to demonstrate the reorganization of the asylum, which, in turn, demonstrates the change in psychiatric practice through spatial analysis and visualization, I examine two aspects: 1) how the buildings transformed over time; 2) what life in the asylum looked like. While the former makes the “passing of time” an integral part of the building, the latter aims to construct the everyday life in the building. The everyday life in the asylum consisted of the acts and movements of its occupiers, in this case, patients, doctors and the staff. By tracing their movements and visualizing them, it becomes possible to have a better understanding of the daily routines (eating, cleaning, sleeping etc.) in addition to the medical treatments that took place through a certain reorganization of space and time. This setting is particularly illuminating as it was assumed at the time that the life and routines of patients in the asylum were crucial components of the healing process. Moreover, it sheds light on the previously unknown chapter in the history of psychiatry. From a technical point of view, I will demonstrate the platform—SpatioScholar—a temporospatial analysis solution my team created for historical and contemporary scholarship. The custom toolset utilizes Unity, which is originally a gaming platform. I will discuss how to leverage features of such platforms without gamifying our subjects. I also will address the opportunities and challenges in working with 3D models
Discipline
History
Geographic Area
Ottoman Empire
Sub Area
19th-21st Centuries