Universal health care and universal health insurance are highly debated political issues in the United States. Under the current system, access to medical care is contingent upon a patient’s ability to pay medical or insurance fees. The millions of Americans who can’t afford either receive medical treatment in the nation’s emergency rooms or from a network of dedicated non-profits who offer basic medical services for free or for subsidised rates. This system results in spaces of inequality that reflect and reinforce the disparities of the US health care structure. In this context small architecture is an act of resistance, a call for design to engage in the contemporary social issues of the day. This is a story about small architecture and health care. To quote Henri Lefebvre ‘Space is political and ideological. It is a product literally filled with ideologies’. Policy alone cannot shape the built environment of the United States. Ideas must be given a place to live, a solid, physical manifestation, lest they become empty rhetoric. Architecture can give form to an idea; it can create space that houses a vision of equality and human rights. In 2007, Care for the Homeless (CFH), a non-profit that provides medical and social services to at-risk populations, received a grant from the US Department of Health and Human Services to renovate one of its free health clinics. Unfortunately, the funding did not cover the entire cost and CFH was faced with possibly closing the facility. The clinic is located in the basement of Broadway Presbyterian Church in Morningside Heights, a neighbourhood in Manhattan. CFH shares their space with multiple homeless outreach services, including a soup kitchen and shelter operated by Broadway Community Incorporated (BCI). Working to maximise CFH’s restricted budget, a team of volunteers from the New York Chapter of Architecture for Humanity (AFHny) provided a design for the renovation and paired with a local contractor, GO Construction Corporation. Through creative thinking and the generous donation of time, services and materials, the renovation project was completed on time and on budget.
right, from the top: - new 3-Form sliding doors - new Corian topped desks and Hafele locks - donated Elkay sink and faucet with running water - plywood and Corian counter detail
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On Site review 23
Small Things
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