Vidar Clinic

Intentionally designed as a therapeutic instrument, the anthroposophically oriented Vidar Clinic near Stockholm, Sweden, is a 74-bed non-surgical hospital offering care primarily for people with chronic diseases. Since opening in 1985 the clinic has become widely regarded as a model for human-centered design due to the extraordinary milieu of care of its interior and exterior spaces. Social spaces are defined as those areas in the hospital in which patients and staff can experience themselves as members of the larger hospital community. Specifically, the spaces include multi-functional day rooms, street-like corridors, the dining hall, café, courtyard, and assembly hall. It is thus suggested that the social spaces of the Vidar Clinic perform an important therapeutic functions in the anthroposophic approach to medicine and that architects can learn a great deal about the design of conventional long-term health care facilities from this case study.