What a concept: human-friendly hospital rooms
Michael Graves designed this bedside table with patients in mind
I've always found it a little odd that patients (disabled, blind, chronically ill, etc.) aren't consulted when hospitals, rehab facilities and doctor's offices are designed. I actually wonder if they're considered at all. I've gone to dermatologist appointments in the winter in a brand-new state of the art building that is frankly, too cold to be in fully clothed. Rooms with walls made of glass, floors of icy tile, and soaring 15+ foot ceilings aren't the best place to have a full body scan. I can't imagine being a patient going through chemo or radiation and having to be in that building multiple times a week. While I think natural light and colorful artwork definitely helps overall health and healing in an aesthetic way, there are other things to consider (like having rugs in the rooms where barefoot patients are waiting for 40 minutes to see a doctor in the middle of winter).
Renowned architect Michael Graves gave a talk regarding hospital and exam room design at the 2011 TEDMED conference, where he highlighted a lot of these issues, and gave numerous ideas for improvement and change. This article and the video of the talk itself (also at the link) are worth visiting, because it gives the perspective of a patient who is also a designer - one, in fact, who has spent his life integrating form and function. He is one of few people in the position to be able to see both sides of this issue, and be the one to know how to fix it. Now paralyzed and wheelchair-bound from an extremely rare infection, Graves can look around and see where current hospital and rehab center design has gone wrong. It may be that he is the one to show how to keep the bright, colorful and sensory-pleasing elements of current modern architecture, and incorporate sensible, patient-friendly features as well.
