Silvia Gmür Reto Gmür Architekten

February 17, 2014March 23, 2014

Silvia Gmür, curator
Reto Gmür, curator


"The nature of space reflects what it wants to be. A Form emerges from the structural elements inherent in the form." -L.I. Kahn

"The room is the beginning of architecture. It is the place of the mind." -L.I. Kahn

A hospital is a house for man

In 1964, Le Corbusier wrote in a letter to Carlo Ottolenghi, the Director of the Venice Hospital: Un hôpital est une maison d'homme comme le logis est aussi une "maison d'homme" (A hospital is a house for man, as the habitation is the "house for man").

This same conviction is the reason we have been engaged in healthcare architecture for many years, striving for the creation of 'humane' hospitals through the combination of both theoretical research and practical building experience.

Our philosophy is that a good hospital should have the qualities of a good city (spatial organization and circulation) of good public spaces (communal areas) and of good housing (nursing areas).

In the end it is this combination of institution and humanity that nurtures well-being, a positive atmosphere, a sense of community, trust, protection and intimacy, which finally translates into an architecture of light and space, order, measure and rhythm.