Public Forum
Default group for all members. Biological family sometimes get you down? Come join your logical family!
Organizers:
- Organized by
-
-
Have You Thought About the Architecture of Hospitals?
-
Have You Thought About the Architecture of Hospitals?
Have we completely lost the art of healing… and replaced it with systems of control?
I came across such an interesting video this week showing how hospitals used to be designed—something I had never really given much thought to, other than wondering why we don’t have access to sunlight and fresh air in hospitals today.
I’ve previously had discussions about hospital cafeteria areas being filled with big chains serving junk food, rather than fresh, healthy options.
Then I saw images of older hospitals—many of which were later destroyed or replaced—and it made me stop and think.
-
They were beautiful buildings.
-
Flooded with natural light.
-
Windows wide open.
-
Fresh air moving through the wards.
-
Patients surrounded by gardens, with access to nature and solarium’s.
These weren’t just design choices, they were based on the belief that environment supports healing.
Some older writings even talk about the use of sound and bells in hospital settings, with the idea that vibration and atmosphere could help calm and support those with mental health struggles. Whether you fully believe that or not, it shows just how differently we once thought about care.
Now compare that to today…
Sealed buildings.
Artificial light.
Recycled air.
Windows that often don’t even open.
Have you noticed how difficult it is to take a sick person outside if they are weak—the very people who might benefit most from it? And even if you can get them outside, how many hospitals actually have a peaceful garden space to sit in? In many cases… not many.
We’re told it’s about safety. Infection control. Efficiency.
But are we sure we haven’t been conditioned to accept environments that actually work against healing?
At the very least… why shouldn’t patients have access to fresh air?
When did an open window become a risk?
It feels like somewhere along the way, we stopped asking a very simple question:
👉 What actually helps a human being heal?
I’ll share the video in the comments—it’s a fascinating watch 👇
Discussion:
Have you come across a hospital (other than a hospice) that feels designed to heal?
What one change would you make if you could redesign hospitals today?
-
-
7 Replies
-
A link to the video https://youtu.be/J-k5SKne2E4?si=Ib6FmxhtO2eTRLdc
-
Awesome video. How do we make this happen?
-
I saw this video a few days ago and was very interested in learning more. I’d heard about the healing bells in hospitals before but the video makes it seem like it was a coordinated effort to destroy all the hospitals/bells around the same time frame all around the world. I wish I knew how much of it was accurate, as I didn’t like the channel description on the video showing it’s not entirely historical/factual.
“The material on this channel presents exploratory interpretations of history and imaginative speculation, conveyed through narrative storytelling rather than precise historical documentation. Viewpoints and visual representations are dramatized or intentionally constructed to support alternative narrative exploration. Visual elements may at times be created using automated or generative tools. The content shared should not be considered factual.”
-
Thats a very thought provoking video! The Flexner report was generated at the request/funding of Rockefeller with the resulting oil based medicine we have today. The 30-40 years before ive no idea.
But its curious the similarities of both spanish flu and covid how both popped up more or less simultaneously globally and without apparent coordination initially, the same warp speed decisions made which looked pretty impetuous at the time and have not as they say “aged well”
Curious – whats real whats not??
-
The following is a partial answer from AI when I asked if the church had more of a role in physical/mental healing than the scientific community:
“Yes, for a significant period in Western history—roughly from the fall of the Roman Empire (5th century) through the late Middle Ages (13th–15th centuries) the Christian Church held a more dominant role in physical and mental healing than any formal scientific or medical community. During this time, the Church provided the infrastructure for care, while the “scientific community” as a separate, empirical institution did not yet exist.”
It seems to me everything goes downhill when we turn away from Christianity which should be healing through Christ. Unfortunately, though, even the church (at least western Christianity) has, in general, failed miserably in following Christ in healing ministry. It’s still happening but not prevalent. God still does miraculous healings but even Christ said He could not do many miracles (in a certain place) because of their lack of faith. We need to get back to following Christ’s teaching and His healing ministry. The knowledge of God and Christ reveals His abundant love, grace, mercy, truth and precious promises provide the healing balm we need.
Peace be with you.
-
I haven’t watched the video yet, but the post reminded me of an interesting conversation I had with one of the older doctors I used to visit as a medical representative in Kuwait in the early 1980s. He told me that when they decided to build the hospitals in Kuwait, they placed raw meat in several locations around the countryside and in the city and watched to see how long it would take to rot (I’m not sure why it wasn’t eaten by scavengers, but that’s not part of the story!). The three locations where the meat lasted the longest was where they built the hospitals!
On another note, I live in a regional area of New South Wales, Australia and our local hospital (very small but very efficient) has a lovely outdoor patio area outside each ward where patients, if able to be in a wheelchair, can be moved out to sit in the sun/fresh air for some time every day. All the wards have big windows to let the sunlight in (although the wards are air conditioned).
As others have said, fresh air, sunlight and simply being outside is so important for healing! Being inside a closed space with ‘artificial’ air, and no natural light cannot be helpful physically or mentally!
Log in to reply.