What We Learned From the Paimio Sanatorium as a Spatial Reflection of Contagious Diseases

Abstract

While the threat of tuberculosis, one of the old and important epidemic diseases, could not be completely eradicated, at the end of 2019, the world was faced with a new epidemic, COVID-19. Epidemic diseases such as tuberculosis and COVID-19 bring restrictions and limitations to daily life. It also revealed the need to explore what criteria might be in designing healthy architectural spaces and what kind of future planning-design-production issues shall be rethought. In this context, the problem question of the study is discovered: What might be the new possible design principles in shaping new buildings due to life changes during or after the pandemic process? In order to search for the answer to this question, the Paimio Sanatorium complex in Finland, which constitutes the best example of the reflection of epidemic diseases to space, was examined on-site by the author. In this chapter, the author aims to elucidate how the architectural design features of the Sanatorium buildings may be effective in guiding the architecture during and post COVID-19 pandemic.

Healthy Buildings, a Webinar Report

“…Sanatoriums were built in the 19th and early 20th centuries to treat tuberculosis patients and were a crucial healthcare infrastructure at the time. In fact, studies depict that the Paimio Sanatorium may offer guidance on changes in architectural design post COVID-19 pandemic ( Sirel, 2021 ).…”