Post 3

1 + 3 + 9 = 13?

Architecture can be used as medicine (Medicinal Architecture).
 
Over the past hundred years, both the practice of medicine and the practice of architecture have made great technological advancements. These two fields have coevolved virtually independent of each other. Yet as we begin to reexamine the issue of public health, each field could learn much from the other.

If we begin to think about medicine, the central unit of concern is the patient. Each patient has a particular set of needs that must be meet. The most obvious among them is their medical needs; however they also include environmental needs, social needs, spiritual needs, political needs, etc. Too often the medicine needs will surmount the others, and those other needs will not be meet sufficiently. This I argue, actually does more harm to the process of recover then it does facilitate a return to a regular lifestyle for that individual. The built environment that surrounds a patient can be as important to their recovery as any single treatment that they receive. So, I propose the solution can be found in the merging of architecture and medicine. While medicine can deal with the physiological needs, architecture can be the means to addressing those “other” needs of a patient. By bring the two field closer we create a more holistic approach to patient care