federico babina architecturally interprets mental illnesses

history is full of ‘tortured geniuses’ — painters, poets, artists and architects considered leaders in their field who, behind-the-scenes, have suffered from psychological illness. italian illustrator federico babina explores this topic through his latest series ‘ARCHIATRIC’, which forms an architecturally illustrated reflection of the relationship between creativity and psychopathology. an animated video and accompanying collection of drawings interpret various mental states through architectural forms. ‘in this series of images, I make an abstract exercise of translating one language to another,’ babina says.

‘it is quite true that architecture and the spaces that we live in influence our behavior and psychopathology,’ babina continues, ‘who plans spaces plans attitudes, behaviors and emotional experiences’. ‘ARCHIATRIC’ gives an architectural and artistic voice to emotional states and disorders like anxiety, depression, dementia and paranoia, drawing attention to their relationship to creative people. ‘I don’t want to put a romantic aura around the discomfort and suffering of mental illness,’ babina says, ‘but rather to make a reflection on the prejudices and negative stigmas with which the pathologies of the mind are often observed.’

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