Smart Textiles in Humanistic Hospital Design: Future Potentials Related to the Design Principle of Healing Architecture

With the construction of new hospitals, the design principle healing architecture is introduced, representing the humanistic vision of improving hospitalised patients’ healing process, supported by stimulating architecture.
In this regard, we address focus on the potential influence of the design principle, discussing how healing architecture may contribute in making the future hospital institutions more responsive to human needs.
The main purpose of this paper is thus to present a review of healing architecture, by considering some of the challenges in the operational use of the design principle. Associated with the methodology of evidence-based design (EBD), we in this regard question, if these challenges derive from conflicting paradigms of some of the stakeholders involved in the design process? Relating to the Danish scene of hospital design, we introduce the research project “Smart Textiles in Future Hospitals”, stating the overall hypothesis that textiles in hospital interiors possess an unexploited architectural potential in relation to the humanistic visions of healing architecture. Concerned with the operational challenge of unfolding the visionary design principle, we suggest to re-found and progress healing architecture as a common design principle, supported by an overall theoretical framework also rooted within the traditional domain of architecture.