It seems that just a soon as we started this semester it has come to a close. It really does just feel like last week we were starting up the blog and sending it out to healthcare architects around the city, and now I am writing my last post of the semester!
I am going to be very honest when I say that I didn't really know what to expect for this semester. I had never really taken a healthcare studio, didn't really know anything about healthcare itself, and I wouldn't say was 100% interested in healthcare architecture. I am also going to be very honest when I say that this semester has changed the way that I now think as a designer and has peaked my interest in healthcare architecture.
What was really special about this semester was the fact that our entire design experience was centered around healthcare. Our seminars were healthcare related, the firms we visited had major healthcare projects, and the city visits we went on all had to do with health and well being. I don't think I have every taken a studio that I have learned so much about one building type. In fact, the firm that I have been interning for just did a presentation on a healthcare project and it was the first time I have ever sat in an professional meeting and understood all of the terms and programs that my co-workers were saying. Did I mention that we filled up an entire sketchbook with healthcare terms, abbreviations, and design strategies? Well we did and I think each one of us whether we admit it or not enjoyed the satisfaction of understanding the ideas behind what we were designing.
I also don't think that a lot of students get the chance to design for underprivileged communities. We always get that perfect site in that perfect community with the endless budget, but this experience was one that was extremely humbling. In healthcare architecture you really start to care about the people that will be spending time in your building whether it be working, visiting, or staying for prolonged periods of time. You design for the individual. Being exposed to the type of community where the ED is used as a home base because many individuals don't have a home makes you step back and re-evaluate not only your design intentions, but also how you live your life. You start to see people where you used to see statistics and you want to help communities even if it for a fictitious design project.
For some reason I came into this studio thinking that healthcare design really didn't have that much design associated with it at all since there were so many regulations, but I WAS WRONG. In fact, healthcare architecture has much more planning and design than any other type of project because of the importance it plays on the individual. It might be the only type of architecture where something doesn't get value engineered out because it is necessary for individual healing. Where this used to be a building type I wasn't really eager to step foot in, it now serves as a interesting ground in which a difference can be made within a community. Yes, the world needs hotels, resorts, town homes, and skyscrapers, but do those give you the satisfaction of helping individuals? families? communities?
As I close my last blog post I hope that my time with healthcare architecture isn't over. I have learned so much and have taken away a new way of thinking and designing. Professor Worn, if you are reading this..thank you. Your knowledge and care for the healthcare community is vast and goes without bounds. To my fellow classmates thank you as well, hopefully we meet again in the future on projects that are concrete and long lasting.
Photo Credit: https://www.theodysseyonline.com/to-the-person-need-to-say-goodbye-to
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