Building to Heal: New Architecture for Hospitals

For a long time, hospital architecture as a building type developed closely along the lines of the successes and findings of medical research. In the 20th century, however, the architectural type was increasingly influenced by the factors of efficiency, economy and rationalization, and hospitals have mutated into highly technical machines. Fundamental aspects of human dignity, the needs and feelings of the sick and the carers have been pushed into the background; the psychosocial consequences of this development are severe.

New approaches to "healing architecture" have been emerging in North America since the 1980s and have now also successfully influenced the discussion in Europe about a necessary reform of hospital architecture. The sick person and his or her special needs are once again taking center stage in design and planning. But although some successful examples of effective "healing architecture" have already been implemented, there is still a lack of broader public attention and political support to apply the clear results of "Evidence-Based Design" in full consequence to new hospital buildings and conversions. A fundamental rethinking in society about the tasks and possibilities of healthcare design seems urgently needed.

The exhibition in the Architekturmuseum der TUM deals first and foremost with the scientific foundations of so-called "healing architecture", with visibility of its successes, i.e. its effectiveness, and with the paths and hurdles of its feasibility in a critical way. It is both a status report of current efforts to move from the "sick" house to a healthy environment, and an attempt to open new perspectives into a more radical, visionary future. Not the illness, but the sick, is to be given space. Together with TUM Visiting Professor Dr. Tanja C. Vollmer, the Architekturmuseum der TUM will use an international selection of outstanding examples to trace the productive interplay between medical, technical and economic requirements and architectural construction. The goal and intention of the exhibition is both to demonstrate the influence of architecture on the healing process and to stimulate a broader public debate about the future of the building type and its social relevance.

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