Summer 2005
Students awarded for alternative medicine health care facility design
School of Architecture students received the two top awards from the AIA Chicago Architecture for Health Professional Interest Area (PIA) student design competition on November 12, 2004 in Chicago. The students were invited, along with students from University of Illinois Chicago and the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign, to propose a design for a health care facility that links traditional medicine and alternative treatments for cancer patients.
Sponsored by the PIA, the student contest was the extension of a yearlong education series for architecture professionals— “The Emerging Horizon: Where Design Meets Complementary and Alternative Medicine”—that explored a growing trend in health care; the health care community is recognizing that alternative medical treatments, such as acupuncture, massage therapy, art, music, body prayer, ayurveda, vastu, herbal and aromatherapy, can be used to complement traditional health care practices. Health care facilities are looking to design their buildings to accommodate these practices. This trend represents exciting new career opportunities for new architects.
The UDM students participated in the contest as an assignment for their fall 2004 design studio. The class was initially divided into two teams: one team was responsible for programmatic research on cancer centers and complementary and alternative medical practices. The other team focused on site analysis and code issues. The class was then redivided into four teams, each being responsible for the development of a design proposal for the competition. From the four teams, two were selected to compete in Chicago.
The first-place team included: Rebecca Allen, Anna Dziekonska (Polish exchange), Amanda Gelow and Agata Stelmach (Polish exchange). The second-place team included: Dan Herhold, Lukasz Racinowski (Polish exchange), Tomasz Urbanski (Polish exchange) and Jason Wah.
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