abstract: Over the past century, the relationship between the built environment and people’s health and well-being has become central to the discussion and critique of healthcare design. The concept of such a relationship is not new; more than a century ago, Florence Nightingale promoted a particular vision for hospital design. Her concerns with naturalism, acoustics, ventilation, and aesthetics in the healthcare environment are as relevant today as they were in the mid-19th century.
This dissertation examines Nightingale’s contributions to the development of the nascent field of healthcare interiors by: identifying major developments of healthcare interiors through the centuries; investigating Nightingale’s life, work, and principles on the healthcare environment; and examining whether certain contemporary hospital design approaches support, expand upon, or negate her principles. The research integrates material culture analysis of extant objects and content analysis of documents within the framework of a case study of two healthcare facilities in Tucson, Arizona.
Findings show that the Nightingale era was seminal in the evolution of the healthcare environment, with key developments towards healthful interiors for the sick. Wide adoption of hospital design guidelines suggested by Nightingale—emphasizing physical elements such as ventilation, natural light, view, sanitization, and ambiance—occurred in various types of healthcare facilities, including military and tuberculosis sanatoria around the world. Additionally, analysis of the case study shows just how welcoming and supportive a 1920s healthcare facility, like the Desert Sanitarium, can be. The facility successfully adapts Florence Nightingale’s principles to the local climate and context, including indigenous pueblo architecture, traditional
Southwestern materials, Native American artifacts, desert views, and even the traditional courtyard plan used by Spanish colonial settlers. This successful adaptation suggests that Nightingale’s principles may be valuable to and relevant within different places and times, even today.
Thus, Nightingale contributed to the emerging field of healthcare interiors by: 1) functionally organizing the built environment affecting patients’ healing, 2) preventing healthcare-associated infection in the physical environment, and 3) supporting psychological health with aesthetic amenities. The findings advance interior design scholarship, education, and practice; and further the documentation and explication of Arizona’s history in the healthcare environment. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Design 2015
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:asu.edu/item:29979 |
| Date | January 2015 |
| Contributors | Hong, Miyoung (Author), Brandt, Beverly K (Advisor), Koblitz, Ann H (Committee member), Heywood, William (Committee member), Arizona State University (Publisher) |
| Source Sets | Arizona State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Doctoral Dissertation |
| Format | 363 pages |
| Rights | http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/, All Rights Reserved |
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