Challenging Art Project: Cedars Sinai Medical Center
Art at the Cancer Center Expansion at Cedars Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA
One of the winners in the contest for the "most challenging art project" was Angela Ahrens. This is the text that Angela submitted:
The 3,000-square-foot infusion unit is located in the lower level of Cedars Sinai Medical Center, where 14 infusion bays surround a centralized nursing area. The primary source of daylight streams in from a narrow row of skylights on the East side of the space, which stretches to 42 feet high from the general ceiling heights of 12 to 25 feet.
The design details capitalize on this light source by offering patients pleasing views during their four- to six-hour treatment. The design team created large backlit panels installed in the upper region of the east and west walls to visually suggest light filtering even further down into the space. Approximately eight feet tall and four feet wide, the panels depict colorful images found in nature, selected to represent a sense of life, living, and looking into the future.
The lighting subtly replicates the natural change in daylight throughout the day. Synchronized to four-hour cycles that reflect daylight’s color gradations, the light subtly shifts from rosy red in the morning to white at noon and eventually lavender at sunset. Softly back-lit instead of being lit from the front, the panels project a 3-dimensional glow that enhances the environment for patients, as well as family members and staff. If a patient falls asleep for an hour, he will wake to images that look and feel different based on the color changes, strengthening the sense of passing time in the windowless space infused with natural and controlled light.
The design details capitalize on this light source by offering patients pleasing views during their four- to six-hour treatment. The design team created large backlit panels installed in the upper region of the east and west walls to visually suggest light filtering even further down into the space. Approximately eight feet tall and four feet wide, the panels depict colorful images found in nature, selected to represent a sense of life, living, and looking into the future.
The lighting subtly replicates the natural change in daylight throughout the day. Synchronized to four-hour cycles that reflect daylight’s color gradations, the light subtly shifts from rosy red in the morning to white at noon and eventually lavender at sunset. Softly back-lit instead of being lit from the front, the panels project a 3-dimensional glow that enhances the environment for patients, as well as family members and staff. If a patient falls asleep for an hour, he will wake to images that look and feel different based on the color changes, strengthening the sense of passing time in the windowless space infused with natural and controlled light.
Angela Ahrens is an Interior Designer with HGA Architects and Engineers. She is based in Minneapolis, MN. She has received a brand new copy of HealthCare Spaces 4
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