SENSOR IUM
HEALING PAVILIONS
LEAH CARDENAS
sensory experience I am concerned with the degradation of peoples relationship with space and architecture, and seek to make apparent the opportunities of space. I propose to do this though jolting ones awareness and perception of space. Whether it is through a shift in atmosphere or an engagement of bodily presence. Causing occupants to pause through an imposing of interaction with space. Ultimately, encouraging occupants to experience and realize the opportunities and encounters that are able to occur in an architectural environment. I will explore this idea through creating a healing pavilion combined with natural surroundings and resulting phenomenological experience that assists in the healing process of heart patients.
‘This singular density and mood, this feeling of presence, well-being, harmony, beauty...under whose spell I experience what I otherwise would not experience in precisely this way1.’
1
Peter Zumthor, Atmospheres, (Berlin: Birkhauser, 2006), 19
SYNOPSIS SITE ANALYSIS
contents
SITE PLAN SITE ANALYSIS SITE CONTEXT PHENOMENA EXISTING SITE THEORETICAL POSITION
HEALING AND ARCHITECTURE HEART PATIENTS ALTERNATIVE HEALING
DEVELOPMENT
PAVILION ONE PAVILION TWO PAVILION THREE PAVILION FOUR CARCASS + SKIN
DESIGN DESCRIPTION SENSORIUM PLAN SECTION EXPERIENTIAL
PAVILION ONE
EXPERIENTIAL PLAN SECTION
PAVILION TWO
PAVILION THREE
EXPERIENTIAL PLAN SECTION
EXPERIENTIAL PLAN SECTION
PAVILION FOUR
WALL
EXPERIENTIAL PLAN SECTION DETAILS
APPENDIX
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Space is an integral part of our daily lives. We pass through it, work in it and sleep in it. It shapes our everyday lives. Space has the ability to adapt to our needs. The cities that we live in have become a mass of skyscrapers, shopping centers and freeways. In this fast paced society with ‘instantaneous communication2’ and ‘various tools of transport3’ our relationship with space and the surrounding environment is diminishing. This project proposes an architecture that engages with the individuals who occupy it. Where it is not merely a structure but a place where one can experience and engage with space. To encourage occupants to become more aware of space they must first be captivated. To regulate peoples perception and consciousness of space the phenomenological experience of space must be considered. As the senses are ultimately how we measure and perceive the world around us.
2
Paul Virilio, Open Sky, (New York: Verso, 1997), 22.
3
Paul Virilio, Open Sky, (New York: Verso, 1997), 22.
Consequently the project moves to a health-based architecture that acts as a sensorium. Using a series of spaces that operate as receptacles of natural phenomena and makes possible the conscious awareness of sensory perception of these phenomena. By means of psychological and physiological alternate healing methods the sensorium facilitates an environment of sensation, perception and interpretation of the world around us. The architecture becomes the very means of sensory perception and healing through its organization and subtle shifts in atmosphere.
The sensorium functions as a series of four healing pavilions. The pavilions assist in the healing process of heart patients through the means of alternate healing methods. The architecture, the physical space itself contributes to the healing. Moving away from the sterility of the modern hospital design the pavilions look to nourish occupants ‘states of mind and emotions, and to all things in the environment that sustain them4.’ As the pavilions encourage a sensory experience through natural phenomena and move away from the paired back germ free environment of the modern hospital. They also move away from a western ideology of healing and medicine and look to healing states of mind and emotions through the articulate and specific architecture and alternative therapies.
Esther Sternberg, Healing Spaces: The Science of Place and Well-being, (Cambridge: Belknap Press, 2009), 219. 4
The architecture sculptures an anatomy of body. Like our ‘own bodies with their anatomy and things we can’t see and skin covering us5.’ The bodily mass of the architecture is a ‘carcass’ of concrete. And then the membrane is a skin wrapping around the structure. The pavilions are an assemblage of different specific materials – concrete, steel, timber and glass – that when combined create a space, a body itself that deteriorates over time.
5
Peter Zumthor, Atmospheres, (Berlin: Birkhauser, 2006), 23.
Joy Monice Malnar and Frank Vodvarka, Sensory Design, (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2004), 26. 6
‘Only the actual building allows the eye to roam freely among inventive details; only architecture itself offers the tactile sensations of textured stone surfaces and polished wooden pews, the experience of light changing with movement, the smell and resonant sounds of space, the bodily relations of scale and proportion. All these sensations combine within one complex experience, which becomes articulate and specific, though wordless. The building speaks through the silence of perpetual phenomena6.’
SITE ANALYSIS
SITE PLAN SITE ANALYSIS SITE CONTEXT PHENOMENA EXISTING SITE
site plan
‘Natural materials – stone, brick and wood – allow the gaze to penetrate their surfaces and they enable us to become convinced of the veracity of matter. Natural material expresses its age and history as well as the tale of its birth and human use. The patina of wear adds the enriching experience of time matter exists in the continuum of time7.’
Juhani Pallasmaa, “An Architecture of the Sven Senses,” in Questions of Perception: Phenomenology of Architecture, ed. Toshio Nakamura (San Francisco: William Stout, 2006) 29. 7
site analysis The chosen site for this project is Fawkner Park in South Yarra, Melbourne. The 41 hectare park was first reserved in 1862 and named after Melbourne’s co-founder John Pascoe Fawkner. ‘Beyond the physicality of architectural objects and practicalities of programmatic context, enmeshed experience is not merely a place of events, things, and activities, but something more intangiable, which emerges from the continuous unfolding of overlapping spaces, materials, and detail8.’
Juhani Pallasmaa, “Enmeshed Experience: The Merging of Object and Field,” in Questions of Perception: Phenomenology of Architecture, ed. Toshio Nakamura (San Francisco: William Stout, 2006) 45. 8
fawkner park
the alfred hospital
The Fawkner Park site was chosen due to is proximity to Hospital, which is one of Melbourne’s leading hospitals treatment of heart patients. The Alfred hospital is the in Melbourne still operating site and is located at the Commercial and Punt Road.
the Alfred in the care and oldest hospital corner of
The parks long tree avenues and open lawn layout has remained largely unchanged, and the park continues to provide a setting for a wide range of sporting and recreational activities. Roughly rectangular in shape and crossed by a series of straight paths lined with avenues of morten bay figs, elms, poplars and oaks, many of which were planted in the 19th century.
At present the park is not being utilized by the Alfred Hospital in the healing process and treatment of its patients. The chosen site for this project lies on the Commercial Road side of Fawkner Park opposite the hospital. The idea that physical space may assist in healing has scientific basis. Science magazine was the first to publish a study in 1984, which showed ‘when hospital rooms have windows looking out on the natural world, patients heal more rapidly9.’ The study, conducted by Dr. Roger Ulrich, recorded each patient’s vital signs and found that patients whose beds were located beside windows with natural views ‘left the hospital almost a full day sooner than those with views of a brick wall10.’ The modern hospital and the idea of the healing environment ‘of which art and landscape are vital components is now part of mainstream thinking in hospital design. However it tends to be an add on11’ rather than a complete initiative.
Esther Sternberg, Healing Spaces: The Science of Place and Well-being, (Cambridge: Belknap Press, 2009), 2. 9
Esther Sternberg, Healing Spaces: The Science of Place and Well-being, (Cambridge: Belknap Press, 2009), 3. 10
11
Prasad, Sunand, Changing Hospital Architecture, (London: Riba publishing, 2008) 6.
Both Alto and Neutra ‘were explicit about the health benefits of wellplanned architecture and about the importance of nature and natural views in health and healing12.’ The rediscovery of the influence of the patients’ environment to help rather than hinder is vital to the healing process. Architectural historian Cor Wagenaar suggests hospitals rather than ‘making patients feel at home, they produce stress and anxiety13.’ Likewise Maggie Keswick Jencks, founder of Maggie Centers, advocates putting both the patients psychological and physiological needs at ‘the center of each unique building14.’ Healing spaces need to move to an environment of encouragement of self-awareness and resulting bodily experience.
Esther Sternberg, Healing Spaces: The Science of Place and Well-being, (Cambridge: Belknap Press, 2009), 5. 12
Ken Worpole, Modern Hospice Design: The Architecture of Palliative Care, (Abingdon: Routledge, 2009), 5. 13
Ken Worpole, Modern Hospice Design: The Architecture of Palliative Care, (Abingdon: Routledge, 2009), 7. 14
‘What patients now crave is more attention to their states of mind and emotions, and to all those things in the environment that sustain them15.’
Esther Sternberg, Healing Spaces: The Science of Place and Well-being, (Cambridge: Belknap Press, 2009), 219. 15
SIZE AND RELATIONSHIPS The Sensorium healing pavilions will be situated across from the Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute. The institute’s main concern is aimed at treating, managing and preventing disease. Which makes for a good site for the healing pavilions due to its proximity to the research facility and hospital. The pavilions have also been placed quite close to the Commercial Road entry to ensure their exposure to the public. As opposed to being tucked into the 41 hectare park. The Pavilions sizes vary due to the programmatic requirements of the alternative healing therapies. But will remain quite small in size to ensure an individual and personal experience.
site context
SITE ORIENTATION Fawkner Park is completely surrounded by buildings being wedged between Commercial Road, Torak Road, Punt Road and St Kilda Road. The current site is highly vegetated and quite shady due to the large mature trees running along the paths. The pavilions will be placed further into the park away from the shady areas as direct sun exposure is vital, as the pavilions will not use artificial lighting.
phenomena The senses are the very means of how we measure and perceive the world around us. And through concentrating on the way in which occupants experience physical space through their sensory system architecture can begin to regulate experience. Perception of ones environment refers to the process of becoming aware of space through the use of the senses. Whereas, the cognition is the mental processing of thinking about and evaluating the information provided by the senses. Spatial behavior is then the response and reactions of the information acquired from the perception and cognition. The senses ‘not only mediate information for the judgment of the intellect; they are also a means of articulating sensory thought16.’
Juhani Pallasmaa, “An Architecture of the Sven Senses,” in Questions of Perception: Phenomenology of Architecture, ed. Toshio Nakamura (San Francisco: William Stout, 2006) 30. 16
NATURAL PHENOMENA ON SITE The Fawkner Park site holds many natural phenomenological experiences of the textured surfaces, the experience of light changing with movement, the smells and echoing sounds of the park and the bodily relations of scale and proportion.
Access to the park from The Alfred Hospital is across commercial road. Here there is a tram stop and pedestrian crossing.
existing site
THEORETICAL POSITION
HEALING AND ARCHITECTURE HEART PATIENTS ALTERNATIVE HEALING
‘ONLY THE ACTUAL BUILDING ALLOWS THE EYE TO ROAM FREELY AMONG INVENTIVE DETAILS; ONLY ARCHITECTURE ITSELF OFFERS THE TACTILE SENSATIONS OF TEXTURED STONE SURFACES AND POLISHED WOODEN PEWS, THE EXPERIENCE OF LIGHT CHANGING WITH MOVEMENT, THE SMELL AND RESONANT SOUNDS OF SPACE, THE BODILY RELATIONS OF SCALE AND PROPORTION. ALL THESE SENSATIONS COMBINE WITHIN ONE COMPLEX EXPERIENCE, WHICH BECOMES ARTICULATE AND SPECIFIC, THOUGH WORDLESS. THE BUILDING SPEAKS THROUGH THE SILENCE OF PERPETUAL PHENOMENA 17.’
Joy Monice Malnar and Frank Vodvarka, Sensory Design, (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2004), 26. 17
healing and architecture The architectural environment of a patient has the power to assist in the healing process. A study completed by Dr. Roger Ulrich in 1993 found ‘that heart patients with a view of natural environment were likely to recover more quickly18.’ The healing environment needs to consider the patient as a whole, both the emotions and the body as they are intricately linked in the functionality of a person. The modern hospital environment and ‘patients’ experiences of these environments is often quite stressful19.’ Which is why healing environments should move to a design that looks to calm and consider the sensory experience of the individual.
18
Prasad, Sunand, Changing Hospital Architecture, (London: Riba publishing, 2008) 5.
19
Prasad, Sunand, Changing Hospital Architecture, (London: Riba publishing, 2008) 5.
ROYAL CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL MELBOURNE Designed to be feel like a ‘park within a park’, linked and entwined with its environment. The idea of ‘park’ flowed through to the creation of lots of curved wall, the use of natural timber veneers and using natural forms to create the nurse’s station desks centred in each of the ward blocks. ‘If you were able to abstract nature, take its experiential aspects and translate that into architecture… that’s exactly what we’ve done…so it all speaks, if you like of ‘parkness’. I think that you feel that when you’re walking into the building. It’s got an open, happy, friendly, understand sort of familiar feel about it and that’s exactly what we were wanting to achieve.’
Bates Smart, “Projects,” Bates Smart, http://www.batessmart.com.au/projects/urban-design-masterplanning/the-new-royal-childrens-hospital-parkville/ (accessed August 22, 2012).
heart patients Cardiovascular disease is a class of diseases that involve the heart or blood vessels. ‘Cardiovascular diseases are highly preventable, yet they continue to rank as the most common cause of death worldwide20.’ Cardiovascular disease refers to any disease that affects the cardiovascular system, the causes of cardiovascular disease are diverse but atherosclerosis and/or hypertension are the most common.
Manuel Franco, Richard S Cooper, Usama Bilal, Valenin Fuster, “ Challenges and Opportunities for Cardiovascular Disease and Prevention,” The American Journal of Medicine, Vol.124 (2011): 95-102. 20
alternative healing The term alternative medicine ‘is defined residually as anything not regular medicine21.’ Alternative medicine exists in all cultures to some degree. There are many systems of alternative medicines still in practice all over the world. Alternative healing therapies include but are not limited to; acupressure, acupuncture, aromatherapy, astrology, chiropractic, colonics, movement therapy, sound therapy, yoga, electropathy, feng shui, herbalism, reflexology and meditation.
Walter I Wardwell, “ Alternative Medicine in the United States,” Social Science and Medicine, Vol. 38 (1994): 1061-1068. 21
DEVELOPMENT
PAVILION ONE PAVILION TWO PAVILION THREE PAVILION FOUR CARCASS + SKIN
pavilion one
Pavilion one explores the use of sound therapy to heal. Through the use of a water wall the trickling sound of water seeks to promote a sense of calm and serenity. The pavilion also looks to bring out the natural phenomena of water, in particular its reflectivity.
NYU DEPARTEMENT OF PHILOSOPHY - STEVEN HOLL Pavilion One was inspired by Steven Holl’s NYU Department of Philosophy through the way he incorporates light to create a glimmering effect through the building. Likewise his wrapping approach for the stairs spiraling through the building like a skin.
depending on the level of movement of water, whether it be rippled or smooth the way the light passes through or reflects will de different.
INCIDENT LIGHT
DIFFUSED LIGHT
REFLECTED LIGHT
pavilion two
Pavilion TWO is a receptacle of the natural phenomena of light. In particular the light which passes through dense foliage. It is also programmed to house the alternative therapy of aromatherapy which treats the emotional stress of patients.
KOLUMBA - STEVEN HOLL Pavilion Two was inspired by Peter Zumthor’s Kolumba. In particular the way he introduces illuminated light passing through the buildings walls, producing luminescent light patterns.
Light passes through dense foliage to produce patterned shadows on the park floor. These patterns change at times of day and season, due to the location of the sun.
pavilion three Pavilion three looks at the natural phenomena of air. In particular condensation. My initial approach was for the pavilion to be a steam room. While creating a calming atmosphere through a hazy mist steam room shave healing benefits for those with respiratory problems.
KUNSTHAUS BERGENZ - PETER ZUMTHOR Pavilion Three was inspired by Peter Zumthor’s Kunsthaus Bergenz. The use of large semi- opaque glass gives the illusion of haze. likewise, the material palette of concrete and glass provides a minimalist yet powerful experience.
Hans Haacke’s Condensation Cube (1963-65) is a hermetically sealed, clear acrylic plexiglass box, thirty centimeters on the side that holds about one centimeter or so of water.2 Conden- sation collects against the inner surface of the plexiglass forming vertical streaks on the inside. How the condensation is created can be explained in the following way: Air can hold only a limited amount of water vapor and when that limit or dew point—a law of nature, which applies to all bodies of air all over the world—is reached, condensation occurs. In almost all art museums, the temperature is set at a cool 65 degrees Fahrenheit, which means that at a relative humidity of about 45 percent (the standard in most museums), the dew point is at 42 degrees. Because plexiglass is a bad thermal insulator, the air temperature inside the Cube is the same as the temperature on the outside, namely 65 degrees. But since the humidity is close to 100 percent, the dew point is much higher, and is, in fact, about 65 degrees, precisely the temperature of the plexiglass.
Mark Jarzombek, “Haacke’s Condensation Cube: The Machine in the Box and the Travails of Architecture,” Thresholds 30: Microganisms. (2005): 99-103.
diagram showing how the condensation cube works and how it will be applied to the pavilion.
HERMETICALLY SEALED PLEXIGLASS
CONDENSATION
WATTER
pavilion four
The fourth pavilion explores the natural phenomena of texture and the way in which light brings out its qualities. The pavilion will be programmed to be a space for movement therapy through yoga.
BROTHER KLAUS FIELD CHAPEL - PETER ZUMTHOR Pavilion Four was inspired by Peter Zumthor’s Brother Klaus Field Chapel. The use natural light through a void in the ceiling brings out the textural qualities of the exposed concrete. The combination of light and shade brings about a stillness and calm to the experience of the space.
LIGHT RAYS
POLISHED SURFACE
how light reflects on smooth surfaces.
LIGHT RAYS
IRREGULAR SURFACE
how light reflects on irregular surfaces.
carcass + skin
‘It’s like our own bodies with their anatomy and things we can’t see and skin covering us - that’s wat architecture means to me and that’s how I try to think about it. As a bodily mass, a membrane, a fabric, a kind of covering, cloth, velvet, silk, all around me22.’
22
Peter Zumthor, Atmospheres, (Berlin: Birkhauser, 2006), 23.
carcass
As I saw each pavilion as a body or ‘carcass’ of concrete I began to model with concrete to explore how the textural quality of the material would be brought out through light.
skin Over the the concrete carcass a skin or membrane will cover and wrap around the pavilion. The skin will be of a different material either wood, steel or glass. The skin will aid in bringing out the particular phenomena or alternative healing.
DESIGN DESCRIPTION SENSORIUM PLAN SECTION EXPERIENTIAL
PAVILION ONE
EXPERIENTIAL PLAN SECTION
PAVILION TWO
EXPERIENTIAL PLAN SECTION
PAVILION THREE
EXPERIENTIAL PLAN SECTION
PAVILION FOUR
WALL
EXPERIENTIAL PLAN SECTION DETAILS
All four pavilions have been placed together and rotated according to their openings and views they would be looking out to. They have been placed on a one step platform with ramp access. Its surface being grass to blend in with the rest of the park.
sensorium
pavilion one
CONCRETE WALL 250MM THICK SEE WALL DETAIL GLASS WATER WALL 10MM THICK WOOD GRAIN CONCRETE
COR-TEN STEEL SEAT
plan 1:50
section 1:50
TRICKLE SOUND GLIMMER The first pavilion explores the alternative healing therapy of sound therapy and the natural phenomena of water. Through the use of a water wall the sound of the water evokes a sense of calm and serenity in the patients, helping them to relax. The material choice for the skin which wraps on the inside and outside of the building is cor-ten steel. Which has been chosen for its quality to age and rust over time.
pavilion two
CONCRETE WALL 250MM THICK SEE WALL DETAIL VOID EXPOSED CONCRETE
STEEL BOX FRAME WIRE MESH
plan 1:50
FOLIAGE FRAGRANCE FILTER The second pavilion explores the alternative healing therapy of aromatherapy and the natural phenomena of light. In particular the shadows it creates. The pavilion uses a steel frame whereby a climbing jasmine plant which its sent evokes a sense of calm, climbs over the building and hangs through the void over the timber bench.
section 1:50
pavilion three
CONCRETE WALL 250MM THICK SEE WALL DETAIL STEPPED ROOF
STEEL FRAME EXPOSED CONCRETE
plan 1:50
VAPOR REFLECTION GLOW The third pavilion explores the alternative healing therapy of meditation and the natural phenomena of air through the way it creates condensation. In order to create this condensation effect on the glass, the pavilion will use a series of thermatically sealed clear acrylic Plexiglas boxes. Inside these boxes a centimeter or so of water is placed inside before it is sealed. Condensation will collect along the inner surface. The glass wraps around and up the building whereby patients are able to peer out to the views of the park and meditate.
section 1:50
pavilion four
CONCRETE WALL 250MM THICK SEE WALL DETAIL
VOID
OPENING
BRUSHED CONCRETE
plan 1:50
section 1:50
TEXTURE BALANCE ILLUMINATE The fourth pavilion explores the alternative therapy of movement through yoga and the natural phenomena of texture through the way light is cast on it. The pavilion incorporates a slatted timber skin which wraps around and into the pavilion forming shelving for the patients to put their shoes whilst performing yoga. On the ceiling of the pavilion a series of skylights have been placed to allow light to cast shadows on the concrete walls to reveal the ribbed exposed texture.
wall details
welded wire fabric reinforcing insulation
gfrp wythe tie
insulation gravel backer rod and caulk
slab connection
contraction joint welded wire fabric backer rod and welded wire fabric caulk membrane treated cant strip insulation
reinforcing
insulation
low expansion polyurethane foam
gfrp wythe ti gfrp wythe tie
insulation reinforcing
90 degrees butt joint
welded wire fabric membrane treated cant strip insulation low expansion polyurethane foam gfrp wythe tie insulation reinforcing
membrane
treated cant strip welded wire fabric reinforcing insulation
gfrp wythe tie
split roof parapet connection
APPENDIX
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Zumthor, Peter. Atmospheres. Berlin: Birkhauser, 2006. Wardwell, Walter I. “Alternative Medicine in the United States,” Social Science and Medicine, Vol. 38 (1994): 1061-1068. Franco, Manuel, Cooper, Richard S, Bilal, Usama, and Fuster, Valenin, “ Challenges and Opportunities for Cardiovascular Disease and Prevention,” The American Journal of Medicine, Vol.124 (2011): 95-102. Sunand, Prasad. Changing Hospital Architecture. London: Riba publishing, 2008. Malnar, Joy Monice, and Vodvarka, Frank. Sensory Design. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2004. Pallasmaa, Juhani. “An Architecture of the Sven Senses.” in Questions of Perception: Phenomenology of Architecture, ed. Toshio Nakamura. San Francisco: William Stout, 2006. Sternberg, Esther. Healing Spaces: The Science of Place and Well-being. Cambridge: Belknap Press, 2009. Worpole, Ken. Modern Hospice Design: The Architecture of Palliative Care. Abingdon: Routledge, 2009. Pallasmaa, Juhani. “Enmeshed Experience: The Merging of Object and Field.” in Questions of Perception: Phenomenology of Architecture, ed. Toshio Nakamura. San Francisco: William Stout, 2006. Virilio, Paul. Open Sky. New York: Verso, 1997. Jarzombek, Mark. “Haacke’s Condensation Cube: The Machine in the Box and the Travails of Architecture,” Thresholds 30: Microganisms. (2005): 99-103.