Centru de paliație și de tratament alternativ pentru pacienți oncologici - Beta Competition
Graduation projects

Palliative care and alternative treatment center for cancer patients

Project description

The choice of palliative care and alternative treatment program for cancer patients was based on the awareness of certain delicate issues that currently arise in Romania, such as inadequate environments for patients and their families, characterized by overcrowding and decision-making in spatial and atmospheric organization, but also by the lack of a direct relationship with nature. Thus, the opportunity of this project was to solve these problems, medically, architecturally and spiritually. To solve them, great emphasis was placed on the importance of the relationship between architecture and the senses, namely how people relate to the environment and how their perceptions are easily influenced by how an environment can become beneficial to recovery. The aim was to create a collaborative, emotional, spiritual and social environment that is formed for the users, listening, understanding and transposing their needs into an architecture that transforms healthcare environments into therapeutic, healing environments and aims to improve the quality of life, without limiting the users in one way or another, but rather giving them flexibility and freedom. And to create an experience that takes into account the physical-emotional vulnerabilities and how emotional instability can be aggravated or improved by the way a space is created, several aspects were considered, such as the relationship with nature, sound, natural light, a sense of control, functionality and dignity. Given the importance of the nature and exterior spaces of a program for cancer patients, green areas are becoming key elements of this solution. All these natural zonings start from the desire to bring nature close to the site, through small penetrations which lead to a fragmentation of the land. Therfore creating zonings that houses various functions like flower gardens, vegetables and fruits gardens and even the appearance of water, all becoming activities with therapeutic capabilities. At the same time, the systematization of the land creates different degrees of accessibility and intimacy, as well as an important theme, namely the relationship between earth and sky. A palliative care and alternative treatment center must balance a wide range of conflict issues, as it must follow the clear aspects of modern medical units, but also have all the necessary clinical facilities in parallel with the idea of "home". That being said, the need to strike an appropriate balance between these two aspects of the nature of a hospice, 'clinical' and 'domestic', was of fundamental importance. For this balance to exist, a spatial hierarchy between the types of environments was needed, how they could be grouped and designed to help the users.

Author's presentation text

My name is Alexandra Balintoni-Franțescu, I am 24 years old and I am a recent graduate of the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism in Timișoara. I like anything out of the ordinary, which does not necessarily follow the daily rules. I am passionate about painting, drawing, prosthetic and special effects makeup and reading. I am passionate about what I do and I always try to face my fears and get out of my comfort zone. I consider architecture an art for people. An art of the unknown, of the past, the present and the future. An art of solidarity, but also of the community, in which people are the main actors, because architecture for people is the one that responds to all their desires and needs. For me, architecture must create stories, but also that "home" that each of us needs.