ON BEING PRESENT. Heterotopias of Care: From the edge to the community, rethinking the spaces of Hospice San Vito

If there is no architecture without disease and no disease without architecture, can structures be designed in a way that increase the separation between the sick and the healthy society? How can we reintegrate the sick if we are increasingly frightened by the progression and development of diseases? The answer lies in the idea that modernity and progress emerge precisely from disease, or rather, we move forward, we evolve, in order to combat what frightens us the most. This is how progress is made, how vaccines, therapies, and places to fight diseases are created. As Beatriz Colomina writes, over the centuries, medicine has influenced the architectural conception of buildings, or rather, of the body-shifting from an internal vision of ourselves, thanks to X-rays, to a revelation of the interiors of buildings. So, if modern architecture reflects an agile and masculine body through strong windows and slender structures, what happens when we talk about hospices? How are these bodies perceived? […]Alvar Aalto’s Sanatorium can be considered the precursor to hospices, or rather, to all those structures designed to function as medical instruments. The fundamental characteristics outlined by Aalto for his sanatorium, such as licht, lucht en zon (light, air, and sun), can also be found in more modern structures. […] Can one truly die well in beautiful, comfortable, and safe spaces while still feeling far from everything? […] However, the real question is whether hospices built in remote locations, peaceful and immersed in nature, truly aim to be spaces of care, or whether, in reality, they reproduce a kind of beautiful lazaretto […]. In many cases, hospice facilities tend to isolate patients in vast open landscapes or within medical complexes, meaning they are positioned near larger healthcare facilities. The defining characteristics remain consistent: plenty of light, strong privacy, lush greenery, and a deep sense of serenity. Yet, a serene life in silence, far from the sounds of a city that continues to evolve and thrive, may not be the right ingredient for accompanying patients in their final stages. This is because a person must continue to feel that life exists beyond their condition. In this sense, architecture becomes a form of care. Not only through well-designed spaces but also through sound, movement, and views that connect patients to the vibrant, unordered reality of the city. […] For this reason, some hospice designs have emphasized the concept of bringing the outside in: allowing patients to maintain a connection with the city and the external world, even while remaining within a controlled, protected interior, breaking down the walls that illness, in a certain sense, has created. Within this reflection, the case of the Hospice San Vito of Fondazione FARO emerges as a key example: a palliative care facility situated in a secluded, natural setting, distant from the urban fabric. […] Does its location represent a functional necessity, or is it the result of an established architectural convention? Can design strategies ensure both the essential peace required for palliative care and a meaningful connection with life beyond the hospice walls? Through the study of Fondazione FARO and Hospice San Vito, this research aims to explore the role of architecture in balancing medical necessity with a sense of social belonging, proposing new perspectives on the design of spaces dedicated to care and dignity in the final stages of life.