The U.S. Surgeon General and dozens of other federal health officials visited the Texas A&M campus last December to examine ar-chitecture student designs for surge hospital facilities. The surge hospital concept involves the transformation of existing structures into fully functional medical facilities in the event of disasters that overwhelm or incapacitate existing health-care centers.

The design review was an integral part of a daylong conference sponsored by the Texas A&M University System Health Science Center’s Office of Homeland Security.

“I have seen so much innovation today. It’s overwhelming,” said Richard Carmona, the U.S. Surgeon General. “These are critical areas we must deal with at my level and globally. This is the kind of thinking we need for the future.”

He said the officials at the conference would take the students’ ideas back to Wash-ington, D.C., to discuss with federal lawmak-

ers and agencies working to establish a surge hospital network.

Paul K. Carlton, director of the Office of Homeland Security at the A&M System Health Science Center, developed the idea for creating emergency back-up hospitals and tapped the architecture studio of George J. Mann, Professor of Health Facilities Design, to develop concepts and architectural models.

The conference also included presenta-tions by representatives of several private companies who showcased technological innovations such as new diagnostic tools and emergency response vehicles. Representa-tives of federal, state and local government agencies also offered perspectives on the surge hospital concept and its place in home-land security planning and programs.

Student teams developed solutions for surge hospitals that ranged from the conver-sion of the Washington D.C. Convention Center, to a small motel in Schulenberg, Texas.

U.S. Surgeon General reviews designs for ‘surge’ hospitals

The College of Architecture’s online newsletter, “archone.,” has published a number of stories featuring faculty and students engaged in architecture-for-health projects. Below are links to a variety of stories posted in their entirety on the web.

n COA working with China’s Tsinghua University to promote healthy, livable cities http://archweb.tamu.edu/college/news/newsletters/spring2005/china.html

n Design’s role in patient recovery while reducing errors, hospital-acquired infections http://archweb.tamu.edu/college/news/newsletters/spring2005/ulrich.html

n The Role of the Physical Environment in the Hospital of the 21st Century http://www.healthdesign.org/research/reports/physical_environ.php

n New professor examining relationships between humans and built environment http://archweb.tamu.edu/college/news/newsletters/spring2005/lee.html

n Health facility design innovator joins A&M architecture faculty http://archweb.tamu.edu/college/news/newsletters/spring2005/hamilton.html

n Acclaimed ‘psychology of place’ author, Cooper Marcus addresses Texas A&M http://archweb.tamu.edu/college/news/newsletters/spring2005/coopermarcus.html

Architecture for heAlth on the web

The U.S. Surgeon General listens to a design presentation.

Mann honored for contributions to health facility design For his inspired teaching of more than 4,000 students over the past 43 years, George J. Mann, the Ronald L. Skaggs Endowed Professor in Health Facilities Design at Texas A&M, received a special recognition award from the American Institute of Architects-Academy of Architecture for Health. The honor was presented by John D. Pangrazio, AIA-AAH president, at the organization’s No-vember 2004 conference in Washington, D.C. The Academy of Architecture, one of 27 AIA knowledge communities, was created to advance knowledge and practice of quality of health-care facility design. In the 36 year since joining the College of Architecture faculty at Texas A&M Univer-sity, Mann has spearheaded more than 400 socially significant architecture design studio projects which have enhanced the health and welfare of people in need around the world,

while providing A&M students with unique opportunities to gain practical, hands-on experience through “real-world” projects yielding consequential humanitarian results. In the process, Mann has educated a new generation of highly nuanced architects who specialize in designing smart, high-tech health-care facilities that nurture patient recovery while facilitating the numerous and ever-changing demands of modern medicine. Today, Mann’s former students staff health-

care design studios, and are counted among the principals of the world’s leading architec-ture firms. In addition to populating the health-care design profession with compassionate and knowledgeable practitioners, Mann’s research and scholarly pursuits have brought new knowledge to the burgeoning field of health facilities design. Since coming to Texas A&M, Mann has attracted more than $2 million in sponsored research projects to the university.

There is a growing body of scientific evi-dence underscoring the healing benefits of natural environments. Research shows natural settings with plenty of plants, sunlight, shade and fresh air have restorative powers that reduce stress, speed healing and promote mental and physical well-being.

Many modern health-care facilities are designed to take advantage of this phenom-enon. They are bathed in natural light and overflowing with plants in lavish indoor and outdoor gardens. But according to research-ers at Texas A&M University’s Center for Health Systems and Design, too many health-care facilities are constructed with inherent design flaws that actually discourage patients and residents from taking advantage of these natural spaces.

To remedy this problem, A&M architecture professors Susan Rodiek and Elton Abbott are working with a team of designers, psycholo-gists, educators and health-care professionals to develop an interactive multimedia tool for teaching health facility designers how to avoid these design pitfalls and maximize the use of their facilities’ natural features.

The project, initiated by a $100,000 National Institute of Aging Small Business In-novation Research grant, specifically focuses on assisted living and long-term care centers for the elderly and infirm.

“Our research shows that the residents of these facilities typically feel better physically and psychologically after being outdoors,”

Rodiek explained, “In truth, most assisted living facilities are already spending money to provide, design and maintain outdoor spaces for residents’ use. Unfortunately, they are not being designed in a way that anyone will use them.”

For example, Rodiek said, the facilities lack windows and doorways that invite residents to peer or venture into these green spaces, gardens lack paved walkways and benches that facilitate access for the handicapped, and gathering places like picnic areas, arbors or gazebos are sometimes located in uninviting or hard to reach spaces.

The multimedia design tool, a series of lesson modules packaged on interactive CD-ROMs, will be created with the project teams’

guidance by Arkitex Studio, Inc., a Bryan archi-tectural firm where Abbott serves as a princi-pal. The lessons will be especially designed for practicing professionals who lack sufficient time to study this rapidly growing design specialty. Employing interactive photographs, audio, video and 3-D visualization techniques, the modules will offer instruction on the health benefits of natural environments while introducing various design strategies that encourage outdoor use.

Tentatively titled, “Lifezones: Design for Outdoor Usage at Facilities for Aging,” the CDs will ultimately include six instruction modules covering topics such as entry gardens, walk-ing loops, transition zones, nature parks, social places and activity stations.

Researchers developing tool to promote patient access to outdoor environments

Acclaimed researchers address students and faculty of Texas A&M

Craig Zimring and Victor Regnier, lead-ing researchers in health-care architecture, wrapped up the successful 2004-05 Center for Health Systems & Design Lecture Series with

a bang. Their topics ad-dressed how the designed environment impacts health and well-being.

Zimring’s lecture on April 4 titled, ‘Promoting Physical Activity through Environmental Design’ and

Regnier’s lecture on April 11 titled, ‘Innovative Design Ideas from Northern Europe for Hous-ing the Frail Elderly’ were the inaugural events held in the new Building B auditorium within the Langford Architecture Center.

Access to outside views help promote well-being.

“We believe that facilities employing the techniques outlined in our learning modules will have a competitive advantage in marketing their facilities”

— ELTON ABBOTT

College of ArChiteCture • texAs A&M university • http://archone.tamu.edu

NEwsLETTEr spring 2005

CENTEr fOr HEALTH sysTEMs & DEsigN

Center for heAlth systeMs & design • http://archone.tamu.edu/chsd

GLASSCOCKleCtureseries

Throughout his teaching career, Mann has personally

mentored 16 American Institute of Architecture/American

Hospital Association (AIA/AHA) Fellows; an unparalleled

achievement that has brought national and international

acclaim to the Texas A&M architecture program.

The Center for Health Systems & Design is based in the colleges of Architecture and Medicine at Texas A&M University.

The center’s mission is to promote inter-disciplinary research, teaching, innova-

tion and communication focusing on health facility planning and design.

Center for Health Systems &DesignCollege of Architecture

Texas A&M Universitychsd@archone.tamu.edu

http://archone.tamu.edu/chsd/(979)845-7009

Health Industry Advisory CouncilHKS, Inc.

The Innova GroupJonathan Bailey Associates

NTD StichlerPage Southerland Page

Shepley Bulfinch Richardson & AbbottWHR Architects

CHSD FellowsElton AbbottJohn Bryant

Camille Bunting Michael Duffy

Jeff Haberl Kirk Hamilton

Chang-Shan Huang Byoung-Suk Kweon

Chanam LeeGeorge J. Mann

Molly McCormick Jody Naderi

Marcia OrySusan Rodiek

Joe SharkeyMardelle Shepley

Don Sweeney Louis Tassinary

Roger UlrichJames VarniWard Wells

This year, the College of Architecture is hosting a yearlong celebration of 100th years of architectural education at Texas A&M. Although the Center for Health Systems & Design officially arrived at the doorstep of the college in 1997, the college’s focus on health care facility design dates back to the arrival of Professor George Mann in 1966.

So next year, to mark the 40th anniver-sary of architecture-for-health programs at Texas A&M, CHSD is planning a very special conference — “First Look.” The conference will provide Health Industry Advisory Council members and associates with access to the latest research on health care environments.

However, as we prepare for our 40th an-niversary celebration, it is impossible not to ponder where we might be when our 100th anniversary rolls around in 2066. The growing numbers of faculty and students dedicated to health care design suggests an unprecedent-ed opportunity to reach out and change the world.

In the words of Rainer Maria Rilke, the great 20th century German poet:

The hour is striking so close above me,so clear and sharp,That all my senses ring with it.I feel it now: there’s a power in me to grasp and give shape to my world.

I know that nothing has ever been realwithout my beholding it.All becoming has needed me.My looking ripens things and they come toward me, to meet and be met.

While it is unlikely that our current health design faculty will be around for CHSD’s centennial celebration, some of our current students may be. I hope they reflect on us with the same pride that faculty and stu-dents share as we look back this year on the college’s founding faculty.

Center for Health Systems & Design

NewsletterIssue 2: Spring 2005

graduate landscape student receives prestigious Hideo sasaki scholarship

For her deep appreciation of the values and philosophy advocated by landscape ar-chitecture pioneer Hideo Sasaki, Dipti Trivedi, a master of landscape architecture student at Texas A&M University, was recently presented with the 2005 Hideo Sasaki Foundation Scholarship.

Trivedi’s experience in holistic design and multidisciplinary collaboration offered a com-pelling connection to Sasaki’s teachings and practices, said foundation trustee Elizabeth Meek.

Sasaki, the former chairman of Harvard University’s landscape architecture depart-ment, pioneered the concept of interdisciplin-ary planning and design. In 1953, the same year he joined the Harvard faculty, Sasaki founded Sasaki Associates, which is today, the Sasaki Group.

At Harvard, he revolutionized the study of landscape architecture by tying it to the larg-er issues of planning and by breaking down the traditional barriers between practice and teaching. Sasaki is credited with helping to shape the profession in the 20th century by insisting that landscape architecture need not imitate its sister arts but instead can be part of a lively dynamism with architecture, civil engineering and planning.

Not unlike Sasaki, Trivedi sees bridging the gap between theory and practice and gaining

work experience while in school, as essen-tial to her professional preparation. She has interned with Design Workshop in Asheville, N.C., and worked as a research assistant with the Texas Transportation Institute and with Jody Rosenblatt Naderi, a professor of land-scape architecture at Texas A&M.

“The driving factor for pursuing my gradu-ate study in landscape architecture was to engage the design process from a perspective other than architecture,” said Trivedi. “In light of Sasaki’s philosophy, and thanks to my in-ternship experience and my full time work ex-perience as an architect, I have become more aware of the relationships with members of other disciplines and with the environment.”

Multigenerational community design named finalist in U.N. competition

Jimin Lin, a master of architecture student,

was selected as a finalist for an award spon-sored by The International Council for Caring Communities in conjunction with the United Nations Program for Human Settlements.

The competition invited architecture students from around the world to apply their creative talents in developing solutions that integrate older persons into the fabric of com-munities.

Lin was one of two U.S. university students in this competition to be named as a finalist. Students from 28 countries and more than 12 schools of architecture in the United States participated in the competition.

The concept for Lin’s project is based on studies indicating that people who receive so-cial support tend to live longer and healthier

lives than people who lacked support (Bran-non & Feist, 2004). His design for an apart-ment complex and community center on the Texas A&M campus, incorporated outdoor spaces for three generations to interact with each other. The residents of the community include graduate students, their children and retired faculty.

The design also provided spaces such as gardens and connection paths to encourage relationships among the residents.

The U.N. sponsored competition was intended to foster practical research to stimulate meaningful solutions that enhance the living environments for all ages.

A paper examining visual bias in architec-tural education, authored by two doctoral students in architecture from Texas A&M University, was one of ten papers selected last fall in an international competition for the 2003-05 European Association for Architec-tural Education (EAAE) Prize. The international competition is sponsored by the VELUX Group, the world’s lead-ing manufacturer of roof windows and skylights.

The EAAE Prize is pre-sented every two years to stimulate original writings on the subject of architec-tural education. For the 2003-05 competition, en-trants were asked to exam-ine, “how the demands of the information society and ‘new knowledge’ will affect the demand for relevant or neces-sary ‘know how’ in architectural education?”

The paper written by Upali Nanda and Irina Solovyova and presented at the EAAE’s November 2004 workshop in Copenhagen, Denmark, was the only entry authored by students to be nominated for the prestigious award. Their work, “The Embodiment of the Eye in Architectural Education,” examines the disembodiment of architectural education by

focusing on visual bias in education, its cause, and its consequences. It looks at problems in the comprehension and representation of perceptual issues in the current educational setting, and proposes a multi-modal, “synes-thetic,” approach that explores different me-dia and different sense-modalities to achieve an embodied objective.

“Synesthesia,” Nanda said, “is a rare neurologi-cal phenomenon in which a stimulus to one sense triggers an involuntary re-sponse in a different sense. For example, a person with this condition may see the color red when tasting chocolate.”

The synesthetic ap-proach, proposed in Nanda’s doctoral disser-tation, explores this phenomenon in architec-tural education by experimenting with media across sense-modalities. She and Solovyova are both committed to introducing embod-ied issues to information-age, main-stream education. Their research has been guided by architecture professor Frances E. Downing.

The EAAE Prize was first awarded in 1991 and has been sponsored by the VELUX Group since 2001.

Ph.D. students earn international accolades

Anniversary to celebrate the future of health-care architecture at Texas A&M

Nanda Solovyova

Rendering of Lin’s community design showing the spaces were residents can interact and foster relationships.

“[Sasaki’s concepts] will continue to help my generation of landscape architects enhance the quality of the human experience; establish social equity; maintain a mutually supportive, functional organization; and sustain environmental quality.”

— DipTi TrivEDi

By MARDELLE SHEPLEYDirector, center for health Systems & Design,Peña Professor for information Management

CHSD faculty fellows featured at Netherlands conference

Five Texas A&M’s College of Architec-ture Faculty were among the featured speakers headlining the “Architecture of Hospitals” international conference at the University Medical Center in Gronin-gen, The Netherlands last April 12-15. The A&M professors, joined by speak-ers from the United States, Canada and Australia, discussed the state of affairs in the area of hospital architecture, con-struction and renovation. Kirk Hamilton, associate professor of architecture at Texas A&M delivered the keynote address. Other A&M professors in the plenary line-up included Mardelle Shepley and Roger Ulrich. Also, Ronald Skaggs and George Mann spoke in the conference’s breakout sessions.

Kirk Hamilton (right) speaks with Peter Korneli and Edzard Schulz, professors from Berlin.