Designing Public Spaces in Hospitals

Designing Public Spaces in Hospitals illustrates that in addition to their aesthetic function, public spaces in hospitals play a fundamental role concerning people's satisfaction and experience of health care. The book highlights how spatial properties, such as accessibility, visibility, proximity, and intelligibility affect people's behavior and interactions in hospital public spaces. Based on the authors' research, the book includes detailed analysis of three hospitals and criteria that can support the design in circulation areas, arrival and entrance, first point of welcome, reception, and the interface between city and hospital. Illustrated with 150 black and white images.

Nicoletta Setola is a researcher at the University of Florence, Italy, and a registered architect. She has a PhD in Architectural Technology and Design (2009) and her work focuses on healthcare building, particularly on spatial configuration related to flow analysis in hospitals. Sabrina Borgianni is a researcher and a registered architect. She holds a PhD in Architectural Technology and Design (2012) and her work focuses on public spaces in urban context and social buildings, particularly in healthcare and residential buildings.

Foreword. Acknowledgments. Image Credits. Introduction. Part 1 1. The New Spaces of the Hospital 2. The Importance and Interest to Public Spaces 3. A Tool for Reading and Describing Public Spaces Part 2 4. Visibility 5. Accessibility 6. Proximity 7. Intelligibility 8. Relationability Bibliography. Index