Innovation, Architecture, and Quantum Reality: Synthesis in a New Age for Healthcare

Abstract

In this age of portal and portability, it becomes increasingly apparent that structures of every kind are necessarily being reconceptualized and reconfigured (Bradford & Burke, 2005). The frame of reference for human experience is rapidly and dramatically being altered by a digital and virtual reality that is moving quicker than anyone anticipated (Barrow, Davies, & Harper, 2004). This inexorable journey to a new age of human experience is creating significant challenges to both the form and function of human life (Kelly, 2005).This challenge to human experience and the processes associated with current events drives the contemporary assault on perception and reality (Zohar, 1997). The boundaries between applied and virtual reality become more permeable and create a level of fluidity that allows one to move seamlessly between them (Hildreth & Kimble, 2004). Indeed, the architecture of contemporary human experience and expression lies at the center of this revolutionary human moment (Potocan & Matjav, 2004).Further impacting these circumstances is a conscious shift in the perception of time and space. Contemporary quantum physics alters our notion of universal concepts and principles and has changed radically the frame of reference for what we know about the foundations of life and existence (Malloch & Porter-O'Grady, 2005). The increasing horizontal and relational intensities that represent the consonance of things at the elemental level create new notions of interdependency, synthesis, integrity, and relatedness (Antonakis, Cianciolo, & Sternberg, 2004).These emerging realities have a dramatic impact on our notion of space-its use, applications, and presence. Historic notions about space and its relationship to architecture have given rise to the various forms and structures that represent the character of the age from which they emerge. Architecture becomes a representation of the contextual and situational framework of human thought. It attempts to create frames for related ideas about space. It attempts to create structures and infrastructures that capture contemporary thinking and reflect it in these structures, which contain the activities and processes of contemporary life (Powell, 2005).The varying circumstances affecting contemporary architecture and design are no more evident today than in the past. However historically, sweeping intellectual, social, and cultural shifts occurred at a more moderate pace, providing an adequate timeframe to make transitions in the design of spaces. Today, the luxury of time to adjust to the pace of transformation is no longer available. Digital and virtual technology and instrumentation make it possible both to conceptualize and implement change almost simultaneously (Singh & Waddell, 2004). The number and intensity of (the necessary demise of outdated technologies to make way for the new) and innovations are manifest on a global scale, permitting little time for adjustment and accommodation (Coakes, 2003). The techniques and technologies of design and construction and the innovative products and materials now available in the marketplace create an almost untenable range of options and combinations in an ever-increasing array.As a result of these transformational realities, the synthesis of purpose and intent, and the technologies that can realize them, become increasingly important. Purpose, form, function, and value have become less distinct individually, but their combined impact is now an essential component of effective and sustainable decision making (Lindgren & Bandhold, 2003). Furthermore, building- in the potential for quick and easy change is less an option and more a necessity of design. In healthcare facilities especially, the constant ferment caused by innovation and destructive technologies and the consequent adjustment of therapeutic approaches challenge even the most gifted designers to conceive and render spaces that can accommodate these revolutions (Bridges, 2004). …