"You matter because you are you and you matter to the
last moment of your life and we will do all we can not only to help you
die peacefully but to live until you die."
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(Mother Teresa)
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Thesis Formulation
Palliative care, the care for individuals that
are diagnosed with terminal illnesses, in Montreal is exclusively offered
in the palliative care units of our hospitals. Hospitals which are a place
for healing, are where people go on short or on longer terms in order to
be diagnosed and treated for their ailments. However, people with
terminal illnesses only have a limited number of days to live. How
is it that someone who is living the end of their life must be subjected
to living it in the institutional environment of a hospital. They
are no longer searching for a treatment or a remedy for their ailment,
they are looking for a way to make the end of their life as painless as
possible. A pain that is not only physical but emotional. This
pain extends beyond that of the patient, it is also very much present in
their loved ones, who have to face this inevitable loss.
There comes a point in the attempt to treat a
patient when the reality of death becomes imminent. In the case of
terminally ill patients, healing is not an issue, rather comfort of the
patient and their loved ones should take precedence. The basic principal
of palliative care is about making the patient as comfortable as possible,
by reduce or controlling the level of pain until the very end of their
life. However much remains to be improved in the physical surroundings
of these individuals. On the other hand, there is this emerging idea
of Hospice. Hospice is not a place, it is a concept of care, where
the aim is to improve the quality of life for people with a life threatening
or terminal illness from the time of diagnosis. The focus is on caring,
not curing, and on life, not death. How can the Hospice, as architecture
cater to the needs of those living in this final stage of life and that
of those surrounding them. This thesis will attempt to answer this
question through the design of a hospice dedicated to housing dying individuals
and helping them and their loved ones cope with death and mortality.
The Program
There are many notions about palliative care and hospice that are essential
to retain when trying to form a program for this type of building. These
ideas were formed, first through the attendance of a workshop dealing with
palliative care. Followed by a visit to the Royal Victoria Hospital's
Palliative Care Unit, one of the oldest in the Country. Finally through
reviewing concepts of what hospice care is really about. It was through
studying several examples of these precedence that the Hospice program
was formed.
The aim of this Hospice is to provide a more home-like setting where
the care and counseling of the patients and their loved ones can be provided.
The principal items in the program includes bedroom accommodations for
individuals diagnosed with terminal illness who can no longer get the care
they need from their home. Also, therapeutic programs,
emotionally for loved ones as well as emotionally and physically for the
patients are offered. The emphasis is always on enjoying the end-of-life
from a day-to-day basis and helping families come to grips with the thought
of losing someone.
The Site
The proposed site for the Hospice is located on the
property currently owned by the Sulpicians at the Grand Séminaire de
Montréal. The seminary is located on the North side of Sherbrooke Street
West between Atwater and Guy Street. The perimeter of the property lining
Atwater has been sold to developpers who have built luxurious condominiums.
The rest of the property West of the seminary building (which is also located
on the West side of the Collège de Montéral) is currently being
used for parking. The site, located on lower part of the Mount Royal slopes
upwards going North. At the center of the property there is a long (approximately
116m) water basin that runs perpendicular to Sherbrooke Stree. However, the
bassin has been neglected over time and the retention walls are deteriorating,
branches have fallen into the bassin and weeds are growing wildly throughout
the bassin. On either side of the bassin a row of maple trees runs parrallel
it. For pictures, please go to the Site Photos
page.
Design
Please visit the Thesis Presentation page, which
includes photos of the final presentation boards, as well as pictures of the
Thesis 3-D Model.
Bibliography
For references, web related links and sources, please
refer to the bibliography page.
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