Analysis of some renovation projects indoor and outdoor. Case study: Policlinico Umberto I of Rome, Italy

This paper introducesthe Policlinico Umberto I, historical hospital of Rome, briefly illustrating its constructive history. The description mainly focuses on the original project analyzing, therefore, the pavilion type and the relation between indoor and outdoor spaces, deeply modified over the years. The growth of the hospital highlights its own critical issues and in this assay we propose some sustainable intervention strategies, justifying the theoretical and practical methodologies. In this paper are also analyzed some of the several renovation projects of the hospital, particularly focusing on the one regarding the re-functionalization of Pediatrics and Obstetrics Clinics, in which, actually, the architectural and planning problems are interfering with the healthcare service. Currently, the efficiency of the hospital is severely compromised by the continuous interaction between the two clinics and by the wrong manages of some units. The departments are, therefore, re-designed in every detail, considering the physical and psychological condition of the patients, the interaction between education and healthcare and the needs of the staff. We investigate also the tools for the design of green spaces pertaining to a hospital, in order to satisfy of an high quality of the hospital landscape. The contribution, overcoming the distinction between open and closed space, enters a broader formulation of the outdoor space, which become a place of social interaction and a design object, complementarily to the building.