•  
  •  
 

Abstract

This paper explores indirect curing as a spatial strategy for designing a restorative environment within the context of salutogenic architecture. Current healthcare practices support recovery mainly through direct medicinal approaches to cure ailments, with more focus on being sterile and creating isolation. The study argues that the process of indirect curing can also be implemented through architectural interventions by focusing on the integration of nature as restorative objects and healthcare settings that can aid the recovery process. This study qualitatively explores the capturing nature as an indirect curing strategy through examining four case studies of health care spaces. Based on analysis towards the use of architectural features and spatial mechanisms in these case studies, the study found direct and indirect mechanisms of capturing natural light and vegetation, creating an immersive sensory experience. The analysis demonstrates how nature becomes a multifunctional layer that acts as an atmosphere-giver and as a therapeutic medium, encouraging the recovery process. Capturing nature as a spatial strategy provides a therapeutic experience while improving the overall experience of a salutogenic healthcare environment.

First Page

38

Last Page

55

References

Abdelaal, M. S., & Soebarto, V. (2019). Biophilia and salutogenesis as restorative design approaches in healthcare architecture. Architectural Science Review, 62(3), 195–205. https://doi.org/10.1080/00038628.2019.1604313

Baudrillard, J. (1996). The system of objects. Verso.

Bauer, G. (2017). The Application of salutogenesis in everyday settings. In M. B. Mittelmark, S. Sagy, M. Eriksson, G. Bauer, J. M. Pelikan, B. Lindström, & G. A. Espnes (Eds.), The handbook of salutogenesis (pp. 153–158). Springer.

Creswell, J. W. (2007). Qualitative inquiry & research design: Choosing among five approaches (2nd ed.). Sage Publications.

Dilani, A. (2008). Psychosocially supportive design: A salutogenic approach to the design of the physical environment. Design and Health Scientific Review, 1(2), 47–55.

Dilani, A. (2017). Architecture: The beneficial health outcomes of salutogenic design. In E. Tsekleves & R. Cooper (Eds.), Design for health (pp. 71–91). Routledge.

Doughty, K. (2019). Therapeutic landscapes. In P. Howard, I. H. Thompson, E. Waterton, & M. Atha (Eds.), The Routledge companion to landscape studies (2nd ed., pp. 341–353). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315195063-27

Enrico Sassi Architetto. (n.d.). Sensory Garden Balerna. https://enricosassi.ch/en/portfolio_page/sensory-garden-balerna/

Foster+Partners. (n.d.). Maggie's Manchester. https://www.fosterandpartners.com/projects/maggie-s-manchester

Franck, K. A., & Lepori, R. B. (2000). Architecture inside out. Wiley-Academy.

Golembiewski, J. A. (2022). Salutogenic architecture. In M. B. Mittelmark, G. F. Bauer, L. Vaandrager, J. M. Pelikan, S. Sagy, M. Eriksson, B. Lindström, & C. Meier Magistretti (Eds.), The handbook of salutogenesis (pp. 259–274). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-79515-3_26

Hartig, T., & Marcus, C. C. (2006). Essay: Healing gardens—places for nature in health care. The Lancet, 368, S36–S37. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(06)69920-0

Jacoby, S. (2015). Typal and typological reasoning: A diagrammatic practice of architecture. The Journal of Architecture, 20(6), 938–961. https://doi.org/10.1080/13602365.2015.1116104

Jencks, C. (2017). Maggie's architecture: The deep affinities between architecture and health. Architectural Design, 87(2), 66–75. https://doi.org/10.1002/ad.2154

Jiyan Foundation for Human Rights. (n.d.). Welcome to the healing garden for children and families in Chamchamal. https://jiyan.org/healinggarden/

Lyon, C. (2017). Humanist principles, sustainable design and salutogenics: A new form of healthcare architecture. Architectural Design, 87(2), 56–65. https://doi.org/10.1002/ad.2153

MASS. (n.d.). GHESKIO Cholera Treatment Center. Model of Architecture Serving Society. https://modelofarchitecture.org/projects/gheskio-cholera-treatment-center

Mazuch, R. (2017). Salutogenic and biophilic design as therapeutic approaches to sustainable architecture. Architectural Design, 87(2), 42–47. https://doi.org/10.1002/ad.2151

Menatti, L. (2026). Salutogenesis, adaptivity and the continuum of health. In X. E. Barandiaran & A. Etxeberria (Eds.), Outonomy: Fleshing out the concept of autonomy beyond the individual (pp. 89–98). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-05501-9_9

Mittelmark, M. B. (2017). Introduction to the handbook of salutogenesis. In M. B. Mittelmark, S. Sagy, M. Eriksson, G. Bauer, J. M. Pelikan, B. Lindström, & G. A. Espnes (Eds.), The handbook of salutogenesis (pp. 3–6). Springer.

Mittelmark, M. B., & Bauer, G. (2017). The meanings of salutogenesis. In M. B. Mittelmark, S. Sagy, M. Eriksson, G. Bauer, J. M. Pelikan, B. Lindström, & G. A. Espnes (Eds.), The handbook of salutogenesis (pp. 7–14). Springer.

Murphy, M., & Mansfield, J. (2017). Can architecture heal? Building as instruments of health. Architectural Design, 87(2), 82–89. https://doi.org/10.1002/ad.2156

Pelikan, J. M. (2017). The application of salutogenesis in healthcare settings. In M. B. Mittelmark, S. Sagy, M. Eriksson, G. Bauer, J. M. Pelikan, B. Lindström, & G. A. Espnes (Eds.), The handbook of salutogenesis (pp. 261–266). Springer.

Pouya, S., & Demirel, Ö. (2015). What is a healing garden? Akdeniz University Journal of the Faculty of Agriculture, 28(1), 5–10. https://dergipark.org.tr/en/download/article-file/234026

Prolo, P., & Sassi, E. (2017). A sensory garden in dementia care: From design to practice Balerna Diurnal Therapeutic Centre. Alzheimer's, Dementia & Cognitive Neurology, 1(3). https://doi.org/10.15761/ADCN.1000116

Rakhshani, Z., & Khakzand, M. (2025). Salutogenic architecture, non-therapeutic environments and the health of the elderly: A systematic review. HERD: Health Environments Research & Design Journal, 18(2), 51–77. https://doi.org/10.1177/19375867251313980

Syam, M. R., Suryantini, R., & Atmodiwirjo, P. (2023). Quasi-material and quasi-things as elements in the making of atmosphere in architecture. Journal of Salutogenic Architecture, 2(1), 70–84. https://doi.org/10.38027/jsalutogenic_vol2no1_5

The Plan. (n.d.). GHESKIO Cholera Treatment Center, MASS Design Group. https://www.theplan.it/eng/award-2016-Health/gheskio-cholera-treatment-center-1

Vaandrager, L., & Kennedy, L. (2017). The application of salutogenesis in communities and neighborhoods. In M. B. Mittelmark, S. Sagy, M. Eriksson, G. Bauer, J. M. Pelikan, B. Lindström, & G. A. Espnes (Eds.), The handbook of salutogenesis (pp. 159–170). Springer.

Vidler, A. (2000). Diagrams of diagrams: Architectural abstraction and modern representation. Representations, (72), 1–20. https://doi.org/10.2307/2902906

von Lindern, E., Lymeus, F., & Hartig, T. (2017). The restorative environment: A complementary concept for salutogenesis studies. In M. B. Mittelmark, S. Sagy, M. Eriksson, G. Bauer, J. M. Pelikan, B. Lindström, & G. A. Espnes (Eds.), The handbook of salutogenesis (pp. 181–196). Springer.

Wang, D., & Groat, L. N. (2013). Architectural research methods (2nd ed.). Wiley.

Author Biography

Fasya Abelleia Ivanka
Fasya Abelleia Ivanka obtained her master’s degree in architecture from Universitas Indonesia. This writing is part of her final thesis, an exploration of the health-architecture principle implied by the methodology of indirect recovery processes.

Rini Suryantini
Rini Suryantini is a lecturer at the Department of Architecture at Universitas Indonesia. She obtained a Doctoral degree in Architecture (2021) and a bachelor’s degree in architecture (2002) from Universitas Indonesia. She holds an M.Sc degree in Regional Planning/Spatial Science from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT, formerly Universität Karlsruhe, Germany) in 2009. She was awarded a Postgraduate Scholarship for Professionals from the German Academic Exchange Services (DAAD) in 2005 and the FuturArc Green Leadership Award in 2019. Her current works are related to domestic and ecological architecture and its relevance to architectural design. 

Paramita Atmodiwirjo
Paramita Atmodiwirjo is a professor of architecture at the Universitas Indonesia. She studied architecture at the University of Sheffield and Universitas Indonesia and education at the University of Bath. Her research interests are in the relationship between architecture, interior, and users’ behaviour, and how this relationship should be the basis for designing for users’ well-being. Her work particularly focuses on the importance of the human body in our understanding of architecture and interior design, and on the need to pay attention to users with special needs, including children, older adults, people with disabilities, and patients in healthcare settings. She is also active in developing learning methods for architectural education, to promote students’ creativity and awareness of the relationship between users and space.

Download

Share

COinS