Authors : Bucyedusenge Elizabette; Mahamat Talba; Bwemba Charles; Dr. Youssoufa S.; Ndongo Jean Paul; Mbessa Michel

Volume/Issue : Volume 11 - 2026, Issue 8 - August

Google Scholar : https://tinyurl.com/mt7258k4

Scribd : https://tinyurl.com/4vufkxwj

DOI : https://doi.org/10.38124/ijisrt/26aug211

Note : A published paper may take 4-5 working days from the publication date to appear in PlumX Metrics, Semantic Scholar, and ResearchGate.

Abstract : Architectural design bears a major responsibility in creating health spaces dedicated to the reconstruction of victims of conflict. Rehabilitation centers, conceived for individuals with a fragile psyche, require calm and regenerative environments that foster dignified social reintegration. This article presents a systematic literature review structured around four interconnected axes: the foundations of architectural programming; the historical and spatial principles of therapeutic architecture; the neurobiological and clinical understanding of war trauma and exile; and the theoretical and architectural framework of psychosocial rehabilitation. Drawing on architectural theory, environmental psychology, trauma studies and evidence-based design, and supported by a comparative analysis of three international precedents, the Vejle Psychiatric Hospital, the Hangzhou Social Welfare Institute No. 1, and the Tambacounda Hospital, the review identifies the spatial devices most consistently associated with emotional stabilization: wayfinding legibility, controlled exposure, withdrawal spaces, public-transition-private gradation, prospect-refuge balance, calming materiality, indoor-outdoor continuity and the presence of nature. The article demonstrates that trauma does not follow mechanically from violent exposure, since its effects depend on subjective experience and context, which imposes an adaptable, non-stigmatizing architecture offering genuine choices of use. These findings establish the theoretical foundation for the design of a psychosocial rehabilitation center for war refugees in the peri-urban area of Maroua, Cameroon.

Keywords : Therapeutic Architecture; War Trauma; Psychosocial Rehabilitation; Refugees; Trauma-Informed Design; EvidenceBased Design; Healing Environments; Cameroon.

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