The Architecture of Medicine

3 units

This seminar will offer students in architecture and engineering an overview of issues involved inthe planning and design of facilities for medicine and the problem-solving design process required in projects of this type. Medical-based building uses include laboratories (e.g., biomedical sciences, instrumentation, clinical); inpatient facilities (e.g., hospitals, rehabilitation centers, in-patient surgery, blood bank, pathology); and medical facilities (e.g., outpatient surgery and procedure, radiology). The course will examine the problem-solving process and specific design issues of buildings designed for medical science and treatment. It will show the opportunities for integrating sustainable principles in the design. The problem-solving process will start with programming, follow with planning exercises, and focus on engineering issues for the design process. Students will go on five tours to see interesting local facilities that provide good examples of functional design for medical uses listed above. Examples of potential local tours include WUSM's Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology, BJC Hospital facilities, and SLU-SOM's clinical research laboratory (J. Baum designed). The course will review examples of buildings for medicine by notable national and international architects, as well as interesting well-executed buildings of note and where sustainable design has been incorporated into the design. The objective of reviewing existing buildings will be to investigate the technical challenges posed by the function and use of the building. Because we will generally not be able to find much on the problem-solving process and specific design issues of these buildings, the students' investigations will be limited to what is published.