Marijke van Suijdam

The Loop

Can architecture, in combination with the city, make a positive contribution to the rehabilitation
process of a spinal cord lesion patient?

Health care
The influence of the environment on the recovery process is discussed within the public health sector with increasing frequency. A role which has become smaller over time due to the development of modern medical science.

The focus is on the practicability of a building; architecture as a tool serving medicine. The rationalisation of healthcare and the international shift in the perception of disease have caused a change in this mentatility to come to light. Today, the matter is not limited to healing the human body, it also deals with the relationship between people and their environment. In my graduation project, I play into this shift. The person, the patient is central in the design.

Design
The rehabilitation centre consists of four different volumes. These volumes relate to the various psychological phases a patient goes through after a trauma. The positioning of the volumes and the relationship it creates with the city and the city-dwellers, also relates to this.

The volumes function as separate building components but together they function as one complex. A three-dimensional web.The loop, connects the different volumes. This web penetrates the volumes and are, in addition to a connecting route, also a component of the rehabilitation programme. The loop also generates interaction and meetings with the city and the city-dwellers.

The city and the architecture have been deployed to support and, where possible, accelerate the recovery process of the spinal cord lesion patient. This has led to a new kind of rehabilitation; the entire builidng revolves around rehabilitation. The city connects to this web and offers a programme to facilitate reintegration into society.

Commission members: Marcel van der Lubbe (mentor), Ed. Bijman, Rob Aben. Additional members for the examination: Machiel Spaan, Rik van Dolderen.