Houses suspended in the air, bridges and trees. And then lots of light and gardens around the
structure and also interiors, which bounce in the yellow and green colors used for
walls and furnishings. In short, spaces designed “in every detail to make those inside the building feel good”, hiding the most sanitary parts to give as much of the “idea of home” as possible. Opens at Bologna «The Ark on the Tree»the first pediatric hospice in the area created by Hospice Foundation
MariaTeresa Chiantore Seràgnoli a stone’s throw from the Bellaria hospital. The structure, designed by Renzo Piano, it is accredited with the health service, is part of the regional palliative care network and will be a regional reference center in the pediatric field.
The pediatric hospice of the Seràgnoli Foundation
Over the years «I have done technically very complicated things. But humanly this is the most difficult one that I have ever done.” This is how Renzo Piano talks about the new pediatric hospice. In describing the project, the starchitect he gets carried away. Before creating any work, Piano explains, an architect must always try to identify with the people who will use it. «But how do you put yourself on in the shoes of a sick child– he says – or his parents? It is difficult to enter into that suffering. Put yourself in my shoes, imagining a hospice for children is almost impossible.” However, it is precisely from that condition of pain that the idea of the tree house was born. The time of illness, Piano explains, «is a state of suspension. It’s a piece of life that goes in apnea, waiting. So why not make a building off the ground? Is it also suspended?”.
Renzo Piano’s project: «Illness is life suspended»
From there to the trees it’s a short step. After all, smiles the architect, who not surprisingly also mentions The Baron in the Trees by Italo Calvino among the sources of inspiration, «a house among the trees is every child’s dream. And adults too.” In the area where the structure stands, Piano continues, there were only locust trees. And that is the path that the architect followed. «We have planted others – he explains – it will become a forest, bright and full of light».
The starchitect: «A treehouse with many bridges. I would ban the walls”
Inside the structure, then, «there are a lots of bridges– adds Piano – I would put bridges everywhere and forbid building walls”. In
definitive, the project «is a portrait of Isabella Seràgnoli – says the architect, paying homage to the entrepreneur and philanthropist – there is dignity, beauty and generosity inside. If you give a gift, you give the most beautiful thing you have. And this is it a nice thing: I’m talking about compassion, about human solidarity. And an architect has the duty to do it with love. Here there is also a search for beauty.” And he adds: «No one talks about beauty anymore, ce they stole it, stolen by advertising gurus. One immediately thinks of stupid things. Instead it is one of the deepest emotions, because it applies even more to things you don’t see. And the beauty of art, of nature, of science, of human solidarity. Let’s regain this word.”
Isabella Seràgnoli: «Care to give dignity to patients»
The first stone was laid in 2019, but the idea was born a few years earlier. The English model was taken as reference. Inside, the structure also has a meditative area and a secular and multicultural farewell room. «The pediatric hospice represents in a concrete way the concept of care, better described by the English term care: taking care, taking care – explains Isabella Seràgnoli – the organizational and value model of theArk on the Treealready applied in the healthcare projects of our non-profit foundations, consists of an offer of qualified assistance where the dignity of the patient, taking care of him, is an integral and fundamental part of the therapeutic process. The cure is taking chargeis the action of the human being with the primary intentionality of doing good for others.”
The entrepreneur and philanthropist: «Not just physical pain»
In the case of palliative care, continues Seràgnoli, «the treatment of pain it is not just a cure for physical pain, but also of psychological pain, and attention to the situation of the person and their family. Here then is an open and permeable place, a house where social relationships and affection do not fail and in which to do beauty experience which makes the place better than the reality you are experiencing.”
The first patients after the summer: it has 14 beds and eight accommodations
Has 14 beds for children and eight accommodations for families, plus seven multidisciplinary clinics. About 50 operators are employed in the structure. It will welcome patients from zero to 18 years, both with incurable pathologies and with a complex clinical picture. There are four types of hospitalizations: intermediate, between home and hospital; pain management; periods of relief for families; end of life. The first patients are expected to be welcomed after the summer.
In Italy there is a need for 20 pediatric hospices: now there will be eight
At a national level the calculated requirement is 35,000 beds for palliative care intended for children, but to date only 15% have been answered. They would be necessary 20 pediatric hospices in Italybut for now there are only seven: Padua (the first to open in 2008), Naples, Turin, Genoa, Florence, Milan and Rome. In most cases these are integrated departments within hospitals. From this point of view, Bologna
represents something new.
The structure outside the hospital: «A novelty»
The hospice is in fact a structure completely disconnected from citizen hospitals and it’s a building within which all aspects related to care, scientific research, social relations and welcoming families are integrated. All with a report very close to nature. The hospice is in fact immersed among the trees, in a real locust forest, lapped by the Savena torrent. The structure has a total surface area of 8,350 meters squares, within a green area of 16,000.
The architectural elements present inside
And the natural elements are there characteristic strong even within the structure. For example, there is a garden on the first floor and both the rooms for young patients and the apartments for families are suspended from the ground, as if they were tree houses. Large windows they let natural light into every room and the rooms are also equipped with a porthole above the bed, to allow children (even to those who cannot move) of
see the sky during the day and the stars at night.
The graphics created by Altan
The graphics, as well as theThe Ark logo, were designed by Altan. «It was a collective effort, not only between architects but also with doctors», explains Stefano Russo, associate architect of the firm Renzo Pianowho has followed the project since initial stages. «Every space has been studied down to the smallest detail to make people feel good inside the building – he states – we have tried to hide the health aspects as much as possible to
give the idea of home. We have used simple colors and few materials, to create sober and “clean” environments. Even the lights are designed to give the idea of suspension.”
Sustainable impact: «Photovoltaic and geothermal»
Cutting-edge solutions were also used for the systems. «There are no gas boilers– explains Russo – we have photovoltaic on the
roof, radiant floors and ceilings, and geothermal probes”.
