Interior Architecture for Hospitals

Il morbo di Alzheimer, una delle cause più comuni di demenza, procede per tappe e, a poco a poco, distrugge la memoria, la ragione, il giudizio, il linguaggio e, infine, la possibilità di effettuare anche il più semplice dei compiti. In un quadro patologico in cui gli effetti della malattia possono variare notevolmente da un individuo all'altro, così come da un giorno all'altro, l'obiettivo delle abitazioni specializzate è quello di rendere sicure e ottimizzare le attività dei residenti con Alzheimer, in modo da consentirgli una vita quanto più autonoma in un ambiente dignitoso e familiare, perché proprio il mantenerli attivi costituisce a oggi la più efficace forma di contrasto e terapia.

By playing a significant role in the field of architecture and interior design, materials not only affect buildings form and functional performance, but also perform immense impacts on environment as well as human’s health. Earlier times, materials appear as simple followers of the functional and formal configuration of space, however reciprocally affecting the form language of the design output due to their characteristics. But with the technological advancements and rapid developments in the realm of material sciences, which further paved the way to the emergence of new design practices i.e. from modern architecture to nano-architecture. This shift has also triggered the development of novel synthetic materials, such as composites and nanomaterials, whereas these novel materials has begun to play an active role in both early phases of design process, as well as the thought of architecture and the way how architects think.
Materials that are made out of nano-matter, which are the substances that possess extraordinary physical and chemical characteristics in the nano-meter scale, in terms of intrinsic and extrinsic capacities. These differences of characteristics cause the differentiation of the nanomaterials in type. This study, describes and analyzes particularly these different types of nanomaterials, and discusses their impact within the architecture and interior architecture realm first generally, then specifically through the contemporary cases from health-care facilities and limiting its focus on the use of nanomaterials in the patient rooms.
Doubtlessly, the manufactured nanomaterials (MNMs) or nano-composites, which are produced by manipulating their physical and chemical properties have been deployed in diverse fields recently. These materials in construction and design industries are mostly utilized as coatings, like insulators and air-purifying surfaces; or in furniture and related products’ manufacture, which enhances flexibility, physical durability and strength of the materials; or in the implementations related with the maintenance like energy conservation, self-cleaning and anti-bacterial properties. Therefore, nanomaterials opens up a brand new page in design, both by being a reliable and sustainable alternative for natural materials, as well as for the environmental sustainability in global terms in the presence of counter and indirect relations of consumption and maintenance facilities.
Due to this grate amount of interest in nanotechnology and nanomaterials, the objective of this thesis is to focus on the potentials of nanotechnology and nanomaterials in the field of architecture and interior design discipline, by mapping out the contemporary use of nanomaterials in the realized designs, on behalf of outlining the material capacities of the nanomaterials.
This study aims to reveal the frequency of the nanomaterial use in interior architecture, particularly in the milieu of healthcare centers, in terms of comparingthe design, implementation, maintenance and heat insulation, water and humidity prevention and total energy efficiency through hygiene, heating, indoor air quality, while also trying to shed light up on the transfiguring language of design form. This study deploys case-based research methodology by selecting the contemporary hospital examples from Istanbul, where both nanomaterials and conventional materials are utilized, in order to set the material performance comparisons.
In this regard, LİV Hospital-Istanbul, Kolan Hospital-Istanbul and Medicana Hospital-Istanbul have been selected as the case-studies, to dismantle the use of nanomaterials in the patient rooms; the material characteristics, the frequency of the material use, and the financial dimension of the material use, in order to give a perspective to the interior architects that may deploy nanomaterial in their designs as well as following researchers that may use this study as a primary text to start their studies.