Hospital da Luz Lisboa expansion now as an architecture book

Praises to the project marked the public presentation of the book. "There is no other hospital quite as beautiful as this one."

The expansion of Hospital da Luz Lisboa, between 2015 and 2019, is now portrayed in an architecture book, with texts and drawings by Risco atelier, responsible for the project, explaining all the conception, strategies and solutions found. "There is, really, no other hospital quite as beautiful as this one", summarized Isabel Vaz, the Luz Saúde CEO, in the book presentation session, on January 19. All the participants were unanimous as to the main features that make this set of buildings a reference in Portuguese hospital architecture: the light, the comfort, functionality, the quality of the materials used, and the beauty and elegance of the lines.

During the presentation (photo above), which took place in the hospital's auditorium - precisely located in the new building that resulted from the expansion -, it has fallen to the editor José Manuel das Neves and the architect and professor Marta Sequeira to talk about the book, while Rui Maio (clinical and Surgery director) and Isabel Vaz conveyed their vision as users and "clients" of the work created. Jorge Estriga, the architect who, these last 20 years, lead the team of 40 drafters from Risco atelier involved in the project, approached some of the major aspects of this work and the importance of the book for present and future generations of architects. In a gesture symbolizing the relevance of this work in the history of Luz Saúde, Isabel Vaz handed the Hospital's key over to the architect.

• "The notion that a hospital is a highly complex structure only accessible to so-called expert architects meant that the projects for Portuguese hospitals were, for quite a long time, taken up by dull design consortia", recalled Marta Sequeira, further adding that Hospital da Luz is born out of "a new perspective": "A refined hospital that far exceeds the aspirations of a functional building, while still being functional. Other hospitals in Portugal have emulated this comfort in welcoming, however not being able to achieve it so efficiently."
• "When one enters here, it doesn't feel like a hospital and what stands out right away is the light: we have light even in places where usually there isn't any, such as the hallway to the operating theatre and in intensive care. Adding to that the beauty of the building and the equipment, the quality and harmony, the result for the patients and those who work here is as if it were a hotel", stated Rui Maio, further highlighting: "The circuits are very well established. In the ambulatory areas, circulate around 5 thousand people a day, but those who come here and those who work here don't get the feeling that the hospital is crowded."
• "This is the project and the challenge of our lives. When we started, in 2020, we wanted to create a totally different hospital", started by recalling Isabel Vaz. "It was clear to us the notion of light and the notion that all those who would work and come here, should feel good in place. It was fundamental to build with good and lasting materials, that would reflect the medicine of excellence we were planning to practise here. We could have the best physicians in the world, but the structures would have to be great, starting by architecture. Since the original buildings were very well thought out, the subsequent expansion happened quite smoothly. There were always debates and clashes, of course, but it was an extraordinary team work. I have already visited over 200 hospitals all over the world, and there is really no other hospital quite as beautiful as this one", she concluded.
• "One of the purposes of this book", highlighted Jorge Estriga, "is to serve other architects who may have to design a hospital for the first time", as it was the case of Risco, over 20 years ago. The architect further explained: "When we have developed the project, we wanted to break away from the experience associated with hospitals (cold, impersonal and uncomfortable spaces), and the first question we posed was: how can we improve the experience of going to a hospital? Therefore, we have here well-thought spaces, plenty of natural light, gardens, colour, warm materials, accesses and direct and easy to understand circulation. This all can be resumed in one word: comfort. Comfort for those who use the hospital, those who work in it, and those who have to maintain it. In the expansion stage, in 2015, our question was: how to further improve the interior spaces? So we have warmer materials, more natural light and art, more gardens and much more comfort. And right from the start, we have integrated all the equipment and accessories necessary today to "choreograph" hospital public areas (namely ticket dispensers, monitors, etc.)." "We are proud of the result. Basically, we have been learning to do better for over 20 years now", he concluded.

On sale on bookstores

The book "Ampliação do Hospital da Luz Lisboa" (Hospital da Luz Lisboa Expansion) is edited by José Manuel das Neves / Uzina Books and includes texts by architects Jorge Estriga (Risco) and Paulo Martins Barata, and by curator and art critic Filipa Oliveira. It counted with the institutional support of Luz Saúde and partner companies Mota-Engil, HCI and Teixeira Trigo.

On sale on bookstores, the book is mostly destined to students, architects and professionals interested in the area, it gathers in a book the conception and the interior and exterior drawings of building C (the third one) of the hospital. It follows on another book, edited in 2011, about the first buildings ("Hospital da Luz e Casas da Cidade - Complexo Integrado de Saúde da Luz"). Both editions are bilingual.

• Facebook
• Show more
  • LinkedIn
  • E-mail
  • Copy page link
  • Print page