The home of U of I's School of Architecture. Designed by Perkins+ Will.
I'm proud to report that healthcare architecture education in the U.S. is alive and well. Some of it is even happening in Central Illinois.
I know this because, last Friday, I gave a lecture on trends affecting healthcare facility design to a group graduate architecture students in Professor Bill Worn's healthcare studio at the University of Illinois in Champaign. Of all the things I talked about, they were most interested in how technology will affect care delivery, as well as the idea of regenerative design.
After the lecture, Bill asked me to stick around to review and comment on some of their projects.
It wasn't the first time I'd spoken to a group of students, but it was the first time I got to interact with them about the work they were doing for their class.
It was a great experience. These young people are bright, articulate, and have a firm grasp of current evidence-based design concepts.
Most are working on outpatient or freestanding specialty care facilities that address a current need for a local healthcare system. Access to nature and natural light is prominent in all their designs. And they are thinking about how patients and families will experience the spaces they are designing.
There are probably less than 25 universities in the U.S. that have focused healthcare architecture programs or courses. The ones everybody knows about are Arizona State, Clemson, Kansas, Georgia Tech, and Texas A&M. But there are others out there, led by dedicated faculty like Bill, who are teaching the next generation of design professionals.
If you're interested in connecting with students, why not reach out to a professor at a university in your area and offer to do a guest lecture? That's what I did.
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