Design & Health in a Japanese Internment Camp
Shauna Corry, PhD
Department of Architecture and Interior Design,
University of Idaho, USA
In 1941, after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Japanese immigrants and American citizens of Japanese descent living on the West Coast of the United States were evacuated to inland internment camps. The design of the camps contributed to physical and mental illness for many internees.
This paper presents an analysis of internment camp design and discusses the resulting health ramifications with specific reference to interior spaces. Numerous personal histories (Uchida, 1982; and Okubo, 1983) have detailed life in internment camps, and scholars (Taylor, Daniels, and Kitano, 1986; Beckwith, 2001; and Horiuchi, 2001) have further documented the period. However, a detailed analysis of camp records and sites in relationship to interior spaces and health has not been conducted. Although few of the structures remain, analysis of selected existing sites, personal histories, government reports, personal interviews and over 200 photographs of interior spaces provided the data set for this study.
The analysis revealed distinct interior space characteristics of public facilities (mess hall, toilet and laundry, schools, hospital, etc.) and private living quarters that negatively affected the health of the internees. Qualitative and quantitative methods were used to analyse the data in reference to how the internees reacted to the constraints of the built environment in relation to stress, adaptation, control, and behaviour-setting theories.
It is evident the built environment, when combined with ineffective social programs, contributed to the ill health of the internees. Specifically, the master plan of each camp was based on a modified military theatre operation layout and played a significant role in life quality and health issues. Minimal visual and acoustical privacy were factors repeatedly identified as negatively impacting mental health, while nutrition sources and altitude were identified as factors in physical illness.
This analysis of Japanese American internment camps adds to the existing portrait of a significant historical event in North America, and highlights the ability of the human spirit to adapt to challenging living conditions. This unique historical example of individuals affecting positive change by adapting and modifying distinct design characteristics in their immediate living environments can begin to inform current discussions concerning health and design issues in reference to migrant worker housing, immigration centers, and refugee camps.
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