Patrick F. Spear

I’m a big fan of the use of curved glass in this project.

House by Jacopo Mascheroni of JM Architecture

Whether or not you’d want to live in a home like this depends on how much of a fan you are of minimalism. But in a medical environment, this kind of thing is bang on: large views to the outside and curved, continuous, easily cleaned surfaces. It goes without saying that medical facilities are typically function over form, but I’d like to see this kind of aesthetic become a primary driver to which all the functionality must respond.

Nice little article in the Globe and Mail about increasing prevalence of preventative healthcare through lifestyle centres. Lots of coverage of Farrow’s win at the Design & Health International Competition to design a Health-Promoting Lifestyle Centre for South Africa- for which I was very happy to be a part of the team- as well as lots of word from Tye himself.

A video from the winning presentation can be checked out here:

Health Promoting Lifestyle Centers for South Africa from Farrow Partnership Architects on Vimeo.

Last night I had the chance to head back to the ol’ stomping grounds to see a talk by Ernesto Morales regarding his work on “The Hospital of the Future”; definitely my kind of thing. Hearing his intro was downright spooky- multidisciplinary background, primarily in architecture, and interested in designing healthcare facilities from the inside out, starting with the patient room. Could have been my own.

The one thing that really hit home were his comments about EBD. He spoke about the piles of evidence that the medical industry requires before embracing any design decision, whereas that’s just not how design works. Sometimes one scheme, one idea, one gesture- it just feels better than the alternatives. I ran into this a lot during my thesis, and it’s nice to know that the sentiment is shared among other people that do similar work.

A friend tipped me off to this before I could stumble across it myself- looks very interesting.

The exhibition is centered around an idea that Sharon VanderKaay has been writing about for a year or so at our office: that health is something that can be- and should be- hewn directly into the urban fabric of our cities. It’s got nothing to do with anything high tech; it is simply a matter of realizing how the structures we build alter our behaviours and the implications those behaviours have on our wellbeing.

I’m looking forward to a trip to Montreal in the near future.

A very nice primary care centre in the Netherlands by LEVS Architecten. It’s a great reminder of how more fully-featured hospitals might one day be able to weave themselves into the fabric of their contexts, when remote care technologies reduce the need for grand, centralized facilities.

It’s great to see the residential sector driving some integration between technology and spaces. From the article:

While there’s a lot of new wireless technology available, a well-designed system runs a lot better if it’s connected by wires hidden behind walls, Scott said. Some options — like in-ceiling or in-wall speakers — require that wires be run, which can be a messy job in a finished home.

And that’s exactly why space-technology integration is critical in healthcare. There’s a lot more to worry about than speakers, and the stakes are a lot higher if systems aren’t working as well as possible.