ORGANISATION

Hospital Universitario de Cruces

CHALLENGE

To humanise the spaces in the hospital’s departments of paediatrics, paediatric oncology and paediatric surgery.

IMPROBABLE COLLABORATOR

Ixi García, Pink Gorillas has a degree in Fine Arts specialising in the development of personal and collective creativity for social innovation.

PROCESS

Part of the Basque Health Service network (Osakidetza), the Hospital Universitario de Cruces has over 60 clinical specialties. It is one of the benchmark hospitals of the State Health Department, especially in areas such as major burns, assisted reproduction, heart surgery and oculoplastic surgery. It is also a referral centre for paediatrics, given that paediatric oncology is one of its work areas.

The Hospital de Cruces wanted to develop a project with Conexiones improbables in order to remodel its spaces on the paediatric oncology floor. It sought to create a more “comfortable” place than the one currently available for parents, so that they could be outside the room where their children were admitted. A space where they could talk to the doctors, other parents and among each other, away from the presence of their children in a space that was different from a hospital’s normally sterile atmosphere, a more human, more comfortable space.

Discussions

The artist spent many days listening to the conversations that took place on the floor: parents among themselves, with other parents, with health professionals, with and among the children themselves. She subsequently identified a series of needs and decided to avoid the idea that always emerges when there is a possibility to remodel spaces. Instead, her idea was to humanise the spaces through relationships and communication to make them more about feeling than something aesthetic.

RESULT

Ideas for intervening in the space were gathered together using artistic tools, focusing on giving form to all the levels of conversations generated in these environments. An area was consequently created so that the children could leave their rooms to be with their parents, to play and chat, etc. In short, to communicate between each other. Not only was it an area where they could find a microwave to heat up food or an area to talk privately with their families, it was also a place to find some positive, lively written phrases, all created by the children, parents and health professionals. 

Video: Conexiones improbables-La Aventura del Saber TVE