Tag: hospital-architecture | ArchDaily

From Salt Extraction to Architecture: A Journey Through History

Rene Submissions — Wed, 08 Jul 2026 06:04:12 +0000

Architecture often draws on the history of a place, translating local narratives into contemporary forms, materials, and spatial experiences. Located in the spa town of Bad Orb near Frankfurt, ALEA RESORT HIDEAWAY follows this approach, taking inspiration from the site's history of salt extraction.

CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati and Park Associati Led Team Selected to Redesign Brescia's Spedali Civili Hospital Campus in Italy

Antonia Piñeiro — Fri, 03 Jul 2026 05:30:00 +0000

The project developed by CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati, Park Associati, Politecnica Building for Humans, Openfabric, DOTDOTDOT, Studio Mattioli, and Eckersley O'Callaghan has been selected to design the new Main Hospital and Children's Hospital in Brescia, Italy. The international competition mandate was to redevelop an existing hospital, preserving and extending a radial plan conceived by engineer Angelo Bordoni in the early twentieth century. The existing healthcare complex, Spedali Civili di Brescia, follows a hexagonal masterplan and radial layout that informs the new design for the premises. The geometry is reinterpreted to update the campus for future models of care, drawing a new CareRing around it that connects people, nature, and healthcare through the principles of One Health, the idea that human health, environmental health, and social wellbeing are inseparable.

Animal Care: 8 Veterinary Hospitals Around the World

Camilla Ghisleni — Thu, 11 Jun 2026 04:00:00 +0000

In 2025, the global animal health market reached approximately 70 billion dollars, and this figure is projected to double by 2033. Behind this figure, however, lies a quiet transformation within the built environment, with veterinary hospitals serving as a prime example. This typology, which for decades occupied the backrooms of improvised clinics and pet shop annexes, has increasingly developed its own architectural language and identity. It represents the architectural consolidation of a bond that has lasted for over 15,000 years.

Renzo Piano Building Workshop and Brunet Saunier & Associés Secure Permit for Urban Forest Hospital in Greater Paris

Antonia Piñeiro — Mon, 02 Mar 2026 06:30:00 +0000

On February 20, Renzo Piano Building Workshop announced that the building permit for the Hôpital Universitaire Saint-Ouen Grand Paris Nord (HUSOGPN) has been officially granted. The project is a state initiative responding to rapid population growth, increasing demand for care, and evolving technical standards with a "next-generation" hospital in Saint-Ouen-sur-Seine, a commune in the northern suburbs of the French capital. The hospital will be located on the site of the former PSA factory, once an industrial engine of the region and now large and well-connected enough to host a program of rare scale: 986 beds and 288 day places, a workforce of over 5,500 professionals, and facilities equipped with contemporary technology for areas such as surgery and maternity. Envisioned as a "hospital-landscape," the building designed by RPBW in association with Brunet Saunier & Associés stands out for featuring a 1.3-hectare roof garden and an urban forest with over 1,000 trees.

Quiet Hope: Frank Gehry’s Maggie’s Centre Hong Kong

Jonathan Yeung — Thu, 11 Dec 2025 07:30:00 +0000

Earlier this month, news of Frank Gehry's passing prompted an outpouring of tributes to the architect behind flamboyant museums, concert halls, and sinuous residential complexes. Rather than revisit that well-charted terrain, it is worth pausing on a more contemplative work in his oeuvre: Maggie's Cancer Caring Centre in Hong Kong. Quiet, optimistic, and calibrated for everyday resilience, the building reflects multiple registers of Gehry's intent: a commitment to positivity and survival—and, more personally, an architect's own reckoning with loss and end-of-life care.

Museum and Gallery Cafés: 10 Examples That Enhance the Cultural Experience

Camilla Ghisleni — Thu, 05 Jun 2025 07:30:00 +0000

Cafés in museums and galleries do more than provide convenience — they have become an essential part of today’s cultural experience. As Claire Bishop explains in her idea of the “expanded aesthetic experience,” cultural spaces now include hybrid environments that encourage new ways of engaging, socializing, and reflecting. In this context, cafés are not just places to rest; they extend the visit on both sensory and symbolic levels, offering moments of interaction and contemplation in carefully designed settings. By blending architecture, art, and hospitality, they help create immersive and welcoming atmospheres — a concept already hinted at by Brian O’Doherty, who viewed exhibition spaces as an integral part of the artwork itself.

Architectures of Care: Healing Spaces Across Cultures

Camilla Ghisleni — Wed, 23 Apr 2025 07:30:00 +0000

Around the world, different cultures have developed unique ways of understanding and experiencing healing. Far from being merely a physical process, healing encompasses emotional, spiritual, social, and architectural dimensions. Healing spaces—whether physical, symbolic, or natural—reflect each culture's values, beliefs, and ways of life. Exploring these cultural approaches not only broadens our perspective on health but also encourages us to reconsider how we design environments that nurture care and well-being.

In Pursuit of Health: How Medical Concerns Shaped Modernist Architecture

Diogo Borges Ferreira — Thu, 03 Apr 2025 07:30:00 +0000

The intersection of architecture and medicine profoundly shaped modernist design, where transparency, light, and air became essential tools in the pursuit of health. Emerging from the tuberculosis crisis of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the sanatorium evolved beyond a medical facility into a testing ground for architectural innovation. The necessity of fresh air, sunlight, and sterility transformed these spaces into prototypes for modernist principles, influencing spatial organization, material choices, and design philosophies that extended far beyond healthcare.

Healing Through Design: The Story Behind Alvar Aalto’s Paimio Sanatorium

Diogo Borges Ferreira — Fri, 07 Feb 2025 04:00:00 +0000

In the early 20th century, tuberculosis presented a significant public health challenge across Europe, prompting the construction of specialized facilities for patient recovery. The Paimio Sanatorium in Finland stands as a groundbreaking example of architecture's potential to promote healing. Designed by Alvar Aalto between 1929 and 1933, the sanatorium combined innovative design principles with a deep understanding of human needs, setting new benchmarks for healthcare architecture.

Designing with Empathy: Architecture for Social Equity

Diogo Borges Ferreira — Fri, 04 Oct 2024 04:00:00 +0000

Architecture has long been understood as a powerful tool for shaping the physical environment and social dynamics within it. However, its potential to foster social equity is often overlooked. Empathy-driven design invites architects to approach their work not only as creators of space but as facilitators of human connection and community well-being. This approach centers on understanding people's lived experiences, struggles, and aspirations — particularly marginalized communities — and responding to their needs through thoughtful, inclusive architecture. It goes beyond aesthetics and functionality, instead focusing on creating spaces fostering dignity, accessibility, and social equity. By prioritizing empathy, architects can design environments that uplift communities, address disparities, and create inclusive spaces that promote positive societal change in a tangible, human-centered way.

Green Therapy: How Does Nature Contribute to Healing Hospitalized Patients?

Camilla Ghisleni — Sun, 22 Sep 2024 07:30:00 +0000

Connection with nature has become increasingly important in architectural theory and practice in recent years, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic, which emphasized the role of natural environments in healing. During this time, many scientific studies highlighted the positive effects of green spaces on human well-being, whether in workplaces, homes, or urban areas. With these proven benefits, it is clear that incorporating natural elements into hospital designs is crucial, creating spaces that provide vital support for patients facing physical or mental challenges.

A Hospital in Belgium and an Airport in NEOM: 8 Unbuilt Structures That Feature Organic Shapes Submitted by the ArchDaily Community

Nour Fakharany — Mon, 05 Feb 2024 04:00:00 +0000

In constantly changing industry of architectural design, the rebirth of organic shapes stands as a testament to the power of design. “Following years of linear, clean-cut, and refined spaces, curved silhouettes were revived, became one of the dominating interior design trends across the world.” Aiming to redefine the boundaries of physical spaces and conventional forms, these curves are often times inspired by nature. In fact, organic architecture symbolizes a departure from the static, reflecting the essence of our technological age.

Designing Care: The Importance of Humanization in Healthcare Spaces

Adele Belitardo — Mon, 22 Jan 2024 05:00:00 +0000

Silent and endless hallways, white and cold rooms, an impersonal and distant atmosphere: this is a deeply ingrained image in our cultural conception of hospital environments. The whiteness of these spaces, attempting to reinforce the necessary notions of sterility and cleanliness, may also evoke a sense of discomfort and anxiety for patients and their families.

Making the Economic Case for Biophilic Design

Martin Pedersen — Fri, 13 Oct 2023 03:30:00 +0000

This article was originally published on Common Edge.

Shigeru Ban Designs Cross-Laminated Timber Hospital for Ukraine

Maria-Cristina Florian — Fri, 28 Jul 2023 06:30:00 +0000

Shigeru Ban has announced the intention to collaborate with the municipality of Lviv to design an expansion of the Lviv hospital. As the largest hospital in Ukraine, this unit has witnessed an increase in the number of patients since the beginning of the war, leading to the need to increase the capacity of the institution. Shigeru Ban’s proposal uses cross-laminated wood and joints inspired by traditional wooden construction techniques to create a safe and welcoming environment for healing and recuperating.

A Greenhouse Restaurant in Iceland and a Transparent City Hall in Israel: 9 Competition-Winning Projects Submitted by the ArchDaily Community

Maria-Cristina Florian — Sat, 27 May 2023 06:30:00 +0000

Architectural competitions play a crucial role in developing the architectural profession and in advancing the quality of the built environment. They are also an opportunity for architects to showcase their creativity and experiment with innovative or unexpected architectural solutions, be it for real or imagines contexts. This week's curated selection of Best Unbuilt Architecture highlights different competition-winning designs submitted by the ArchDaily Community.

Crafting Spatial Experiences: Service Design in Architecture

Ankitha Gattupalli — Mon, 23 Jan 2023 07:30:00 +0000

Architecture has the power to emotionally engage with its occupants. Tactfully crafted spatial moments extend architecture into experience design - a growing need in the experience economy. Through sensorial and intellectual stimulation, spaces can deeply connect with their occupants to result in memorable instances. The orchestration of an experience requires not only an understanding of spatial principles but also how the service of the space is designed.

CRA and Italo Rota Transform an 18th-Century Hospital Complex in Italy with the Addition of a Kinetic Roof

Maria-Cristina Florian — Tue, 06 Dec 2022 06:30:00 +0000

CRA - Carlo Ratti Associati and architect Italo Rota have developed a project to transform an 18^th-century hospital complex in Modena, Italy, into a multidisciplinary cultural and innovation hub. The master plan for the new hub, called AGO Modena Fabbriche Culturali, includes an origami-inspired kinetic roof designed in collaboration with artist-engineer Chuck Hoberman. The feature will cover a triangular-shaped plaza in the center of the complex. The restoration plan also aims to create flexibility so that the structure can easily adapt to changing future configurations.