Colours for SLAncio. Project of the scene for a service and care facility in Monza

Abstract

The main tool used to make the rooms more welcoming was colour, since we were aware that its correct use cannot be reduced to its mere chemical performances. The colour phenomenon possesses an immaterial essence, its appearance is changeable, unstable, subject to the conditions of the context, to the light that generates it, to the meanings that, once applied, it assumes in every perceiver. This complexity has been our starting point.

The project regarding the perceptual configuration of the structure annexed to the San Pietro di Monza Centre started in 2013 and ended in January 2015. The verification of the effectiveness of the chromatic/perceptive solutions is expected to be completed in the course of 2018 The new facility with 71 beds is dedicated to serious diseases: vegetative states, minimal consciousness, coma and ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis). These are the objectives: to create environments with “perceptual conditions” consistent with the needs of biological and relational well-being; support the needs and tasks of: guests with strong cognitive sensory and motor limitations, family members, medical and paramedical staff in order to reduce their stress and anxiety; make all users feel a sense of care.

The adopted solutions have tried to get in tune with the programmed assistance and care protocols: this is an apparently obvious solution, but it is not always practiced. It is common to design surfaces and objects and to use sophisticated technologies, but it is less common to pay attention to the needs of those who will have to live in the premises