Living with Buildings - health and architecture

How buildings contribute to our health - under the spotlight 
(Source: Wellcome Collection 2019)

When the form of our suburbs, shape of our housing, colour of our walls, and narratives of our social housing care, all become interwoven and implicated (or form scapegoats) in our quest for health.

The political sensitivity of our built environment becomes manifested through our continual fascination with how our homes and streets effect our well-being - proven or otherwise. In the current exhibition at the Wellcome Collection in London's busy Euston, such concepts are explored. The curator's ambition for a broad survey to illustrate the scope and complexities of how buildings have a major impact upon our health, effectively brings the complex scale and spectrum of building (at both singular house, and city scale) to the broader attention of a Museum audience and out of the pure academic and architectural spheres - both alerting and highlighting its historic and ongoing relevance. A walk through this exhibition provokes the debate into how, and to what degree, architecture really boils down to keeping us healthy, and at times, being the guardian of our morals. Whilst the exhibition is undoubtedly and ambitiously comprehensive in its scope, at times the positioning and overall narrative causes much of the content to seem disparate to each other, and each could benefit from greater depth of interrogation - or greater interrogation of the common narrative to reinforce what aspects are at the heart of the matter in this fascinating theme of health and architecture. 

[...guiding its new community as to their morals as much as the expected neatness of their new homes' front gardens...]

Starting the curatorial survey, the condition of the Victorian working class in London feeds into the Booth's Poverty Maps. Such maps provide a critical insight into the approaches and perceptions of the inextricable link between the physical environment of one's house (and street), to their moral and ethical status - from 'well to do' to 'vicious'. It equally provides insights into the coarse categorization of a population. Following this theme with an equally social focus, the narrative of London's council (and later re-named social) housing is given spotlight - detailing a brisk account of the current urban regeneration process underway in London. This is an important issue that needs more space in this exhibition - one which may have benefited from noting the underlining London's 'slum clearance' narrative that underpinned both the initial construction of such New Towns, as well as the modern day 'slum clearance' that is now used again for its own demise and demolition (see also poster image below). In a side step, the Garden City is thrown into the exhibition, along with master-planned communities that were popular in the late 19th century which were accompanied by 'how to live' guides - guiding its new community as to their morals and ethics as much as the expected neatness of their new homes' front gardens. Drawing from the direct partnering of social housing and master-planned communities, the curatorial communication may have benefited from highlighting the role of the 'authority' to decide what is deemed unhealthy, or unfit, and to underscore the continual politicisation of health in the practice of large scale city development - a line of inquiry that may contribute a greater connectivity and rigor to the exhibition's ambitious survey.

At the heart of it all - housing and public health - getting political.
(Source: Wellcome Collection)

Architecture's interface with public health provision and health policy, follows suit in the exhibition's overall social focus. Here, a large scaled 1930s model of a hospital, played a critical role in communicating and lobbying for the innovations of modern health care - critically elevating health to a civic level, shifting the previous mindset of health care through predominantly private county hospitals, and towards a centralized state provided health care. Moreover, it is interesting to note that health in its material and endorsed form was supported by the Queen of the time, no less donating handkerchiefs that created duvets in the hospital's model - thereby further elevating and legitimising this form of health care as a figurehead lobbyist backing the model as it toured city and regional areas of the UK. Architecture as literal site of health care provision through the centralisation of modern hospitals, was partnered with the colours of Aalto's Sanatorium. Again an interesting building in its own right, the exhibition could have given the fascinating work and psychology into the patient treatment and the use of colour and building layout and orientation more breathing space - no pun intended, and unfortunately this line of research is lost. 

A model of health care - 
a cutting edge 1930s hospital 

In an odd addition at the end of the exhibition, a series of little scale balsa models by UK's architectural greats are also included. Whilst these projects undoubtedly hold much intellectual and design interest, they are placed somewhat haphazardly, and one is confused by their contribution and connection to the exhibition as a whole. This becomes further exacerbated by exhibition visitor's now weary minds who see the light of the glass doors of the exhibition's exit - their minds wandering off to a potential coffee or the chance to go upstairs to see the exhibition's part two - RSH+P's emergency shelter: the Global Clinic - soon to be reviewed. 

The exhibition does provoke thoughts into the diversity of health issues and how it becomes so inextricably linked in buildings - materially, socially and politically. It is not conclusive however, and many lines of inquiry that this exhibition could have sought further interrogation, are left hanging. Alas, there is always further research to be done - but not until after a stop at the Wellcome Collection's cafe for that coffee!

Living with Buildings is on at the Wellcome Collection until 3 March 2019. 

Get your home healthy:
Link to exhibition
What's your London? Booth's Poverty Maps