Motherline: Bringing Care to the Light
Motherline reconceives the fertility clinic not as a space defined by procedure and sterility, but as a civic and therapeutic architectural experience rooted in wellness, atmosphere, and care. Situated along the historically industrial Bushwick Inlet in Greenpoint, the project introduces a soft, restorative presence into a hardened urban landscape. Light becomes the primary healing medium through the integration of nearinfrared (NIR) light, which supports biological function and improves physiological balance during fertility treatments and pregnancy. Spatially, this is choreographed through warm, indirect illumination in treatment areas and natural daylight in clinical zones, embedding care into the material and sensory fabric of the building.
Organized around a rising public promenade and elevated garden, Motherline invites users inward while preserving privacy through layered transitions and material thresholds. The project’s ultimate goal is to assert reproductive health as a civic right, proposing architecture where atmosphere itself becomes medicine.
Y5 / FA2025
Professor Rychiee Espinosa
The project began with an analysis of 165 REHAB by DS+R. The programatic and spatial organizations were identified, as well as the material and contextual relationship the facility has with its surrounding site and the users of the building. Subsequently came an exploration of body scale prosthetics tied to a specific sense, in this case, vision and perception. The prosthetic explored how people see each other and themselves, and how other people’s perception of someone else can be distorted.
Combining methods of organization and perception derived from the prosthetic, as well as research into holistic fertility treatments, a schematic plan was established and program began to be located within the space. At the project’s heart lies the idea of restorative treatment and was largely shaped around near-infrared light therapy. It was all about how people experienced the space, from entry, to treatment, to procedure, and doing so, informed the organization and materiality of the clinic.