OMA's Partner Reinier de Graaf has created a 12-minute short film that interrogates the prevailing conventions of the field of healthcare design, the film not only evaluates the healthcare design in terms of how hospitals are built but also why they are built the way they are built.

Released with visuals, the film has been produced as part of the exhibition Twelve Cautionary Urban Tales at Matadero Madrid Centre for Contemporary Creation, the exhibition was opened on February 13, 2020 and is on view January 31, 2021 in Madrid. 

The Hospital of the Future will be on display in the Twelve Cautionary Urban Tales exhibition until January 31.

Video courtesy of Matadero Madrid Centre for Contemporary Creation

"It investigates the role that disease has played in shaping cities and concludes with a speculative exploration into the future of healthcare design," said OMA.

"It is necessary to provide the hospital with a new definition," said Reinier de Graaf. 

"Our knowledge about the institution is becoming ever more developed, yet we seem further away than ever from imagining the right type of building for it. In exploring and visualizing a number of speculative futures, this short film hopes to offer a small contribution."

Ethel Baraona Pohl, curator of the exhibition, said: "The Hospital of the Future is a precious addition to the Twelve Cautionary Urban Tales exhibition. Instead of trying to give answers, it poses vital questions about the future of the city in terms of health, economy, space, and automation."

The film emerges from a research project led by Reinier de Graaf together with Hans Larsson and Alex Retegan on the future of healthcare, which started in 2019.

"The hospital of the future will be in constant flux, like a theater, transforming its space to the event. If organs can be 3D printed, could the hospital be 3D printed? Using its waste as resource, could it rebuild itself perpetually?," said OMA in its project description. 

According to OMA, "the hospital of the future will be self-sufficient." 

"Like a greenhouse, producing its own crop. If we revive old remedies for common afflictions, could we grow just what the doctor prescribes? The hospital of the future will take your order, like a logistics centre, sorting and sending."

"The hospital of the future is a place you will never go. Using its data, the hospital of the future will act remotely, treat each patient individually, monitoring one’s health and operating where needed," the firm emphasized.

"The hospital of the future will give way to the machine, liberating its staff from routine tasks, and leaving precision in the hands of accurate devices."

"If it became automatic, could the hospital of the future be more human?."

The film was produced with the support of Matadero Madrid Centre for Contemporary Creation.

Project facts

Partner in Charge: Reinier de Graaf
Concept: Hans Larsson, Alex Retegan
Film: Adam Kouki, Magdalena Narkiewicz, Max ten Oever, Camille Filbien

Research: Yeliz Abdurahman, Anton Anikeev, Matthew Bovingdon-Downe, Serah Calitz, Niccolo' Cesaris, Nuria Ribas Costa, Helena Gomes, Sofia Hosszufalussy, Claire Jansen, Arnaud Latran, Lucas Piquemal, Anahita Tabrizi, Alex Tintea, Jonas Trittman, Elisa Versari, Santiago Palacio Villa, Yushang Zhang

All images courtesy of OMA

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