Learning to shape places of care by empathising with patients and caregivers

A crucial ability for architects and other designers is to empathise with the people they design for. In architectural education, however, these people are hardly present. Therefore, a design studio was set up to try and stimulate architecture students to empathise with the users of the building being designed. Students were asked to design a cancer caring centre next to a university hospital. This paper evaluates to what extent the studio was successful in achieving its aim. Analysis of students' design proposals and reactions to a follow-up survey suggests that the studio succeeded in encouraging students to empathise with users and their needs and wants, at least to some extent. Comparison across different years suggests that formats in which students can interact with users in a more personal way are more effective in stimulating empathy. Further research is needed to examine to what extent the attitude developed in the studio sustains as students enter architectural practice.