Lying architecture: Experiencing space from a hospital bed

Patients experience a hospital from a particular perspective—lying in a hospital bed—which is highly under researched. To gain a better understanding of the spatial experience from this perspective, we combined a literature review with exploratory fieldwork and in-depth interviews with various stakeholders. Through qualitative data analyses, three major themes were identified that characterize this perspective: a hospital bed is a material object; it has a social dimension; and it is used to move a patient through the building. The combination of these three aspects suggests that the perspective of lying in a hospital bed, with its implications for social interaction and movement, may give important new insights in how hospital buildings could be designed.status: publishe