Art in Hospital Spaces: the Role of Hospitals in an Aestheticised Society

Macnaughton, RJ

Abstract

There is a keen interest in hospital design in the UK fuelled by the largest hospital building programme ever undertaken within the NHS. Architects and NHS planners are gaining advice and inspiration from the growing evidence-based design movement. Part of this movement is interested in the role of artworks in creating soothing, therapeutic environments. This paper draws on the experience of a research project on the role of art in a new hospital in the North East of England to suggest that there might be an additional cultural role for art in hospitals, and for hospital buildings. The paper examines the wider evidence for this and the history behind it, and places the idea within an aesthetic framework with reference to research results from the study.

Citation

Macnaughton, R. (2007). Art in Hospital Spaces: the Role of Hospitals in an Aestheticised Society. International Journal of Cultural Policy, 13(1), 85-101. https://doi.org/10.1080/10286630701201962

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Feb 1, 2007
• Deposit Date: Jan 17, 2008
• Journal: International Journal of Cultural Policy
• Print ISSN: 1028-6632
• Electronic ISSN: 1477-2833
• Publisher: Taylor and Francis Group
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 13
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 85-101
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/10286630701201962
• Keywords: Art in hospitals, Cultural resource, Evidence-based design, Interdisciplinary, Social aesthetics, Therapeutic environments.
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1548506