"...come and you may stand upon my back and face your distant destiny..."--Maya Angelou, "On the Pulse of Morning"(1) The architect's chosen task is to shape and mold that environment which in turn molds the behavior of us all. The shape of shelter is an amalgam of the many influences upon the individual architect who designs it: experience, exposure, intuition, and -- in the best cases -- empathy. In the area of design for special-needs populations, and especially in design for people with AIDS, true empathy ("the intellectual identification of oneself with another" as defined by Webster's Dictionary) is essential, and often frightening.
(2) While the most accurate empathic responses are, of course, achieved through personal experience, in the case of AIDS an alternative resource must usually be substituted. In such a case, this alternative is communicated knowledge. Through knowledge, there is understanding; through understanding, empathy; through empathy, compassionate, humane, and excellent design.
(3) On this veritable frontier of design for people with AIDS there currently exists no vehicle by which design professionals can access qualitative knowledge of that subject. The few facilities that have been developed since the AIDS epidemic began make excellent case studies, but collectively they offer no comprehensive guidelines. How does the architectural profession, in a new context of growing support and funding for AIDS facilities, collect and disseminate information on which to base competent design?
(4) The scientific and medical communities have a time-honored ethical approach to developing treatments for life-threatening diseases. Very simply stated, it involves the belief in, and practice of, a free-flowing exchange of information. As Dr. Lawrence Barat, AIDS Policy Advisor to the City of Boston under Mayor Raymond Flynn, states: "No one owns therapies developed for life-saving or prolonging treatment and care." Through extensive medical conferences and journals such as The New England Journal of Medicine, the Annals of International Medicine, and The Journal of AIDS, late-breaking information is rapidly and efficiently disseminated throughout the medical industry. Access to this huge body of current knowledge has aided Dr. Barat in developing a model program for Boston: "The AIDS Housing Challange." It includes 501 units of supported housing for persons with AIDS ("one better" than George Bush's congress- mandated commitment to set aside five hundred units of housing for the entire nation); medical emergency status for access to housing for persons with AIDS; and training programs for care providers. Ref.1
(5) Dr. John Bartlett, Director of the Duke Center for AIDS Research at Duke Medical Center in Durham, N.C., finds the networks developed at medical conferences to be an outstanding foundation for enlightened learning. In a state where virtually no money is spent on supportive housing for people with AIDS, Dr. Bartlett fights a difficult battle to provide care with the assistance of dedicated activists, volunteers, and underpaid, overworked social-workers. He suggests as a comprehensive source of information on the needs of persons with AIDS that the direct care-givers be tapped: "Take a social worker to lunch". Ref.2 Get to know a person with AIDS.
(6) In a world where architectural commissions are rare and specific expertise often determines an architect's marketability, the impulse to hoard and protect acquired knowledge is strong. Yet the architectural profession now stands on the brink of an exceptional opportunity to achieve new greatness by becoming a partner in world-wide activism. By acknowledging the development of architecture for people with AIDS as an essential therapy in treating the AIDS crisis, the art of architecture can be elevated to its noblest state. By utilizing the established medical model of information exchange, a depth of understanding and implementation may be achieved.
(7) A beginning has been made. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has recently acknowledged AIDS as a disability. The first national AIDS Housing Design Competition was held in Boston in November of last year, and the National Commission on AIDS has released its report on housing for persons with AIDS.
(8) How then may the architect continue to satisfy a commitment to social responsibility? Attend conferences -- both traditional and virtual ones; support competitions; visit facilities for people with AIDS; network with colleagues and care-providers; provide pro bono services to sponsors of AIDS-care programs and facilities; hire environmental psychologists to analyze and outline the needs of people with AIDS; publish articles; read articles; debate the social issues. Our opportunity lies in looking to ourselves, in offering solutions, and -- above all -- in communicating.
Ref.1: Personal interview with Dr. John Bartlett, Director, Duke Center for AIDS Research, Duke Medical Center Infectious Disease Clinic, Durham, NC, 23 April 1993
Ref.2: Telephone interview with Dr. Lawrence Barat, AIDS Policy Advisor to the City of Boston (Raymond L. Flynn, Mayor), 21 April 1993.
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