Art in hospitals is such a good idea. The above photos are from Michael Garron Hospital, here in Toronto. One thing I have never understood is why so many hospitals look and feel depressing. (My mom is a nurse and so I was around them growing up.)
I fully appreciate that utility is first and foremost and that construction budgets are always tight. But it strikes me that if there’s one place where you want the opposite of depressing, it is in the places where people go when they’re already not well.
It also doesn’t necessarily need to cost more to be “not depressing.” A little creativity and caring goes a long way.
I don’t know, maybe this is so often the case because the people making the important decisions don’t believe that our environments affect our well being. So the design process naturally reduces to just getting the utilitarian parts right and not spending a penny beyond that.
Whatever the case, I do believe that our environments affect us. More than most of us probably appreciate. And so naturally, I think that art in hospitals is a very good thing.
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