I so agree with and appreciate Lynn's comments. Without ever caring for or meeting the types of patients that were in these facilities, and are in group homes now, it is easy to think of many of these methods as cruel. Tile may look unfriendly, but in the home i work in we have a low functioning client who picks the wallpaper off the wall and eats it, picks holes in the furniture and pulls the stuffing out . . . and eats it. Perhaps you see where I am going with this. Though these facilities are outdated in alot of ways i think they likely were better equipped to handle some patients than we are today. Putting patients in home settings sounds great, but just how well does fecal matter come out of upholstered furniture?! Not well, I can say from experience.

Ummmm, what sort of a scale would that be Ed?

Hey Motts, i just found this site after doing a search on Richardsonian gothic revival style buildings for a Modern architecture art history class I am taking. I am 34 and just went back to finish my degree and take the last few credits i needed. I was kind of bored by the class but finding your site has really helped! I did a paper on the Buffalo State Hospital and it turned out quite well. I turned my professor on to your site also as i was betting he'd really dig it. I am also really interested in the asylums as i work in a group home for the mentally disabled. The group home is basically the more politically correct replacement for these institutions.

I'm using a pc and the effect worked just as Lynne stated, quite cool!