Healing Atmospheres: A Design Based Study

Art Style | Art & Culture International Magazine Abstract A conceptual turn is underway regarding the design of hospitals, medical practices and therapy centers. Medical facilities are usually associated with a cold, sterile atmosphere, loss of control for the patient, dependency, and an underlying fear. You go to the hospital with the expectation of entering a technical, purely functional, almost laboratory-like building. All too often, there is no interior beauty, no view of nature, let alone the chance to walk and recreate in a natural setting. Such an environment generates stress, demonstrably damages body and soul, and delays healing processes. As such, being ill and in a hospital implies stressful experiences. It is thus all the more important to create a pleasant interior and exterior conducive to recovery. Pleasant atmospheres are increasingly being used to positively influence the mood of patients and employees, and to reduce stress. We present examples from the fields of psychiatry, oncology, obstetrics and intensive care medicine that show how built space can have a direct impact on improving patients’ recovery. Healing atmospheres in a hospital have a calming effect, promote positive thoughts, dissolve fears, convey hope, confidence, security and joy. As a result, patients need fewer painkillers and recover more quickly. In a hospice, the atmospheric design quality can support the experience of the spiritual dimensions of life. In a psychiatric ward, the quality of the atmosphere can have a direct impact on patient recovery. In an intensive care unit, a calming atmosphere can reduce the need for painkillers and sedatives and prevent delirium. As awareness grows of how significantly environment is involved in supporting wellbeing, health, and recovery, various design guidelines are being formulated in light of corresponding research, and planners of medical facilities are increasingly taking this research and these guidelines into account in concepts of “evidence-based healthcare architecture.”Art Style, Art & Culture International Magazine is an open-access, biannual, and peer-reviewed online magazine that aims to bundle cultural diversity. All values of cultures are shown in their varieties of art. Beyond the importance of the medium, form, and context in which art takes its characteristics, art is considered the significance of socio-cultural, historical, and market influence