BEAUTY MEMORY ENTROPY

EDUCATION AND PRACTICE

 

Aseptic" Atmospheres: sensitive experience of pregnant woman in hospitals: Space between the standard and the “ambiantal” quality.

Ichraf Aroua, National School of Architecture and Urban Planning at Tunisia

 

ABSTRACT

The essay explores the “aseptic” atmosphere as a new concept developed while studying the hospital design and its space practice especially maternity centers. Indeed, the specificity of this architecture as a space based on norms and technical level is exceeding its historical-humanitarians value. As a result of this orientation Tunisian hospital space atmosphere is qualified as aseptic ones due to its impoverishment of quality of ambiance as well as "warm" dimension: long corridors, a succession of doors, standard rooms to exploit the space, unbearable noise levels, cold colors, lack of natural light and vegetation, a particular smells and temperature, silence, screams ... Although, the hospital remains a sensitive area carrying an emotional charge from the experience of patients ,their families and the medical team; balancing between life and death, hope and despair…

Based on the fact that the hospital is not only a physical space but also an emotional and a social one where stakeholders: patients, doctors, nurses, caregivers, family... are sharing the space, its atmosphere and these specific activities. Indeed, "control the disease" is dependent on “ambiantal” parameters in one hand and patient profile feature in the other. Focusing our study on atmosphere in terms of experiences and experiments of a particular profile, however, is the pregnant women. We proceed to the study of the sensitive experience of the mother at a hospital, where several parameters come into play. It will focus on the multiplicity of situations encountering this ‘specific’ space user which altered his perception, a condition related to the physical environment, the uses of space and the feelings that are developed in sharing with the other actors.

So concealing between norms or standard and ambiantal quality in space design should be the key to generate “the well-being” of patients and make the hospital a less traumatic experience.

 

BIO

Ichraf AROUA is an Architect and a PHD student at the national school of architecture and urban planning at Tunisia. She has been a member of ambiance research team « ERA » since 2015.She has worked at an architecture Studio from 2013 till now. She combines two levels together: academic research and professional practice. She has given courses at university.

Her PHD research deals with the issue of atmosphere in hospital space, focusing on the case of pregnant woman and her interaction with spatial ambiance. It is supervised by Dr.Faten Hussein and Pr.Jean Pierre PENEAU. The aim of the study is to understand the relationship between the pregnant woman and the hospital space, and its perception on terms of : ambiance, birth  event, and shared atmosphere with the other users… The PHD subject is a part of a research project with a multidisciplinary team composed of architects, engineers, and doctor