Imagination applied to European norms in “humanized” hospitals. More research, less cost.

The architect M. Tedeschi worked to an update project for the Department of Medical Oncology at the San Carlo Hospital in Milan (1994). It was part of a larger Humanization Project for that hospital. He compared the concept of humanization to that of Heimlichkeit, that means the comfort feeling, quiet, peace sensations and home warmth that everyone yearns for. In 2001, U. Veronesi - with R. Piano - presented a preliminary Preparatory Metaproject for guidelines definition in hospitals design in the Italian Regions, in which patients and their needs play a major role in the humanization project. This is a theme of topical interests, characterized by a lot of researches and applications. This paper aims to verify the colour role in the hospitals humanization process and will show, with general scientific criteria, an interesting colour restyling experiment conducted (as voluntary work) by the author for the San Lazzaro Hospital in Turin, in collaboration with ANDOS, Sikkens and Politecnico of Turin. Thus, by combining hospital voluntary work, technical and scientific research (public and private) and creativity, an important objective for the care and comfort of patients and hospital has been achieved. It has been conducted a “pilot project”, with procedures based on norms, (without costs for the public institution) replicable in other similar situations.