Observation as a way of knowing and measuring open hospital spaces

To speak of open hospital spaces is to explore, first and foremost, their identity, as well as their role and their function in practical terms. Can they be considered ‘places’? Can it be said that the open spaces of today’s hospital structures present characteristics sufficient to qualify them as public spaces? The public that frequents hospital structures has a well-defined identity, consisting of patients, visitors and medical staff, each with its own specific needs and expectations. The spaces in question are not those traditionally found in urban areas, such as squares or streets, nor are they traditional urban parks. The first step towards understanding the nature and the function of open hospital spaces, in order to be able to plan and design them adequately, is to investigate the behaviour and the expectations of the users of such spaces. What is needed is a ‘survey’ of the current conditions and uses of the existing structures, in the form of a critical examination of the behaviour of the people who deal with the distribution of time and spaces in hospitals on a daily basis. Using the approach to analysing human behaviour in open spaces developed by Jan Gehl, an attempt is made to calibrate this methodology to the distinctive characteristics of open hospital spaces, in order to arrive at an understanding of their dynamics and, as a result, succeed in adequately fine-tuning the objectives of their design and planning. Quantifying the users in light of their different activities, determining the various categories, identifying the areas where individuals tend to concentrate, observing the activities that predominate in order to gain an understanding of real needs, recording the duration of such activities: these are the goals of a ‘survey’ carried out through an attentive observation and collection of the available data. A number of recent experiences point to a radical change in outlook in the design and planning of hospital structures, with the starting point for such change tied to the increased attention paid to the therapeutic component of their outdoor spaces. An example is what has been done at the John Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, as well as recent projects in Europe where the design of open spaces played a key role in the overall planning and design strategies.