Tuesday, October 13, 2015 5:00 pm
-
5:00 pm
EDT (GMT -04:00)
Of the thesis entitled:
LIBRARY
PLUS+
Towards
the
Self-Curation
of
Healthcare
Abstract:
Our
heavily
populated
world
is
facing
exponentially
increasing
healthcare
demands
that
challenge
existing
healthcare
infrastructure.
Struggling
to
respond
to
the
rapidly
changing
spatial
needs
of
healthcare,
the
architecture
of
healthcare
facilities,
undergo
frequent
cycles
of
building
renovation,
reconfiguration
and
expansion.
The
relevant
financial
stress
and
resource
expenditure
has
impelled
both
publicly
and
privately
funded
healthcare
institutions
to
seek
the
most
effective
and
cost
effective
ways
to
deliver
quality
healthcare
results.
However,
these
current
resolutions
such
as
facility
focus
on
outpatient
services
and
decentralization
of
clinical
functions,
imply
a
certain
shortsighted
view
that
architecture’s
only
role
in
healthcare
is
the
facilitation
of
medical
procedures.
Whether
on
the
individual
or
collective
level,
healthcare
is
a
continuous
and
comprehensive
event
that
extends
far
beyond
medical
procedures
that
are
predominately
reactive
in
nature.
Such
is
architecture
that
is
capable
of
contributing
to
successful
healthcare
results,
by
providing
a
variety
of
other
spatial
functions
and
conditions.
With
the
noticeably
growing
value
of
preventative
healthcare
and
interest
in
the
self-curation
of
healthcare,
this
thesis
intends
to
redefine
the
traditional
role
of
architecture
in
healthcare
by
exploring
the
possibility
that,
healthcare
and
the
public
library
can
be
effectively
integrated
through
architecture.
By
spatially
conditioning
the
combined
access
and
experience
of
diagnosis,
consultation,
awareness
education
and
anticipatory
data
collection,
architecture
can
become
the
means
to
maximize
the
potential
of
preventative
healthcare,
and
proactively
improve
the
overall
health
of
a
population.
Using
Brooklyn
Public
Libraries’
Pacific
Branch
as
an
opportunity
of
investigation,
this
thesis
first
examines
the
needs
and
trends
of
both
healthcare
and
the
public
library,
to
align
their
mutual
interests
as
institutions
and
as
building
types.
An
unconventional
program
and
a
list
of
qualitative
criteria
are
then
created
as
the
basis
of
a
design
proposal,
which
attempts
to
resolve
these
two
apparently
incompatible
functions.
Finally,
a
theoretical
analysis
of
the
proposed
library
renovation
with
added
healthcare
functions
seems
to
confirm
the
prospect
of
this
hybrid
architecture
as
an
appropriate
strategy
to
begin
resolving
current
and
future
healthcare
challenges.
The
examining
committee
is
as
follows:
Supervisor:
Adrian Blackwell, University of Waterloo
Committee Members:
Andrew
Levitt,
University
of Waterloo
Matthew Spremulli, MIT
External Reader:
Patrick Spear
The
committee
has
been
approved
as
authorized
by
the
Graduate
Studies
Committee.
The
Defence
Examination
will
take
place:
Tuesday
October
13,
2015
5:00PM
Musagetes
Library
A
copy
of
the
thesis
is
available
for
perusal
in
ARC
2106A.