Alison Killing: There’s a better way to die, and architecture can help

Translator: Žiga Domevšček Reviewer: Greta Gašparac

I'd like to tell you a story about death and architecture.

Rada bi vam povedala zgodbo o smrti in arhitekturi.

A hundred years ago, we tended to die of infectious diseases like pneumonia,

Pred stotimi leti smo umirali zaradi bolezni, kot je pljučnica.

that, if they took hold, would take us away quite quickly.

Če smo zboleli, smo tudi kmalu umrli.

We tended to die at home, in our own beds, looked after by family,

Umirali smo doma, na domači postelji v krogu družine.

although that was the default option

Drugače ni šlo,

because a lot of people lacked access to medical care.

saj večina ni imela dostopa do zdravstvene oskrbe.

And then in the 20th century a lot of things changed.

V 20. stoletju se stvari spremenijo.

We developed new medicines like penicillin

Razvili smo penicilin,

so we could treat those infectious diseases.

da smo lahko zdravili bolezni.

New medical technologies like x-ray machines were invented.

Izumili smo nove naprave, kot je rentgen.

And because they were so big and expensive,

A te naprave so bile velike in drage,

we needed large, centralized buildings to keep them in,

in zato smo potrebovali centralizirane stavbe,

and they became our modern hospitals.

ki so postale današnje bolnišnice.

After the Second World War,

Po 2. svetovni vojni

a lot of countries set up universal healthcare systems

so države uvedle univerzalno zdravstveno zavarovanje,

so that everyone who needed treatment could get it.

tako je imel vsak dostop do oskrbe.

The result was that lifespans extended from about 45 at the start of the century

Življenjska doba se je od začetka prejšnjega stoletja podvojila.

to almost double that today.

The 20th century was this time of huge optimism about what science could offer,

20. stoletje je bil čas velikega optimizma glede znanosti,

but with all of the focus on life, death was forgotten,

a zaradi osredotočenosti na življenje, je bila smrt pozabljena,

even as our approach to death changed dramatically.

spremenil se je tudi naš pristop do nje.

Now, I'm an architect,

Sem arhitektka

and for the past year and a half I've been looking at these changes

in v preteklem letu in pol sem opazovala te spremembe,

and at what they mean for architecture related to death and dying.

kaj pomenijo za arhitekturo v povezavi s smrtjo in umiranjem.

We now tend to die of cancer and heart disease,

Sedaj umiramo zaradi raka in srčnih bolezni,

and what that means is that many of us will have a long period of chronic illness

to pa pomeni dolga obdobja kronične bolezni

at the end of our lives.

ob koncu našega življenja.

During that period,

Med tem obdobjem

we'll likely spend a lot of time in hospitals and hospices and care homes.

bomo veliko časa preživeli v bolnišnicah, hospicih in domovih za oskrbo.

Now, we've all been in a modern hospital.

Vsi smo že bili v sodobni bolnišnici.

You know those fluorescent lights and the endless corridors

Fluorescentne luči, neskončni hodniki,

and those rows of uncomfortable chairs.

in nešteto neudobnih stolov.

Hospital architecture has earned its bad reputation.

Arhitektura bolnišnic si zasluži slab sloves.

But the surprising thing is, it wasn't always like this.

Presenetljivo pa je, da vedno ni bilo tako.

This is L'Ospedale degli Innocenti, built in 1419 by Brunelleschi,

To je Bolnišnica nedolžnih, leta 1419 jo je zgradil Brunelleschi,

who was one of the most famous and influential architects of his time.

eden najbolj znanih in najvplivnejših arhitektov tistega časa.

And when I look at this building and then think about hospitals today,

Ko pogledam to stavbo in pomislim na današnje bolnišnice,

what amazes me is this building's ambition.

me začudi ambicija stavbe.

It's just a really great building.

Čudovita stavba.

It has these courtyards in the middle

Dvorišča na sredini,

so that all of the rooms have daylight and fresh air,

tako ima vsaka soba dnevno svetlobo in svež zrak,

and the rooms are big and they have high ceilings,

velike sobe z visokimi stropi,

so they just feel more comfortable to be in.

v njih se pač počutiš bolj udobno.

And it's also beautiful.

Pa še lepo je.

Somehow, we've forgotten that that's even possible for a hospital.

Nekako smo pozabili, da obstaja ta možnost za bolnišnice.

Now, if we want better buildings for dying, then we have to talk about it,

Če želimo boljše stavbe za umirajoče, se moramo o tem pogovarjati,

but because we find the subject of death uncomfortable,

a ker nam je ta tema neprijetna,

we don't talk about it,

se ne pogovarjamo

and we don't question how we as a society approach death.

in ne sprašujemo, kako družba pristopa do smrti.

One of the things that surprised me most in my research, though,

Pri moji raziskavi pa me je najbolj presenetilo,

is how changeable attitudes actually are.

kako zlahka lahko spremenimo odnos.

This is the first crematorium in the U.K.,

To je prvi krematorij v Veliki Britaniji,

which was built in Woking in the 1870s.

zgrajen v letih 1870 v Wokingu.

And when this was first built, there were protests in the local village.

Ko je bil zgrajen, so vaščani protestirali.

Cremation wasn't socially acceptable, and 99.8 percent of people got buried.

Sežig je bil družbeno nesprejemljiv, pokopanih je bilo 99,8 odstotka ljudi.

And yet, only a hundred years later, three quarters of us get cremated.

A le sto let kasneje se 75 odstotkov ljudi odloči za žaro.

People are actually really open to changing things

Ljudje so do sprememb odprti,

if they're given the chance to talk about them.

če imajo možnost se o njih pogovoriti.

So this conversation about death and architecture

Ta pogovor o smrti in arhitekturi

was what I wanted to start when I did my first exhibition on it

je bil cilj moje prve razstave

in Venice in June, which was called "Death in Venice."

junija v Benetkah z naslovom "Smrt v Benetkah".

It was designed to be quite playful

Zastavljena je bila dokaj igrivo,

so that people would literally engage with it.

tako da bi pritegnila ljudi.

This is one of our exhibits, which is an interactive map of London

Del razstave je bil interaktivni zemljevid Londona,

that shows just how much of the real estate in the city

ki kaže koliko nepremičnin

is given over to death and dying,

je predanih smrti in umiranju.

and as you wave your hand across the map,

Ko pomahate z roko preko zemljevida,

the name of that piece of real estate, the building or cemetery, is revealed.

se izpiše ime stavbe ali pokopališča.

Another of our exhibits was a series of postcards

Drugi del razstave so bile razglednice,

that people could take away with them.

ki so jih ljudje lahko vzeli.

And they showed people's homes and hospitals

Prikazovale so domove, bolnišnice,

and cemeteries and mortuaries,

pokopališča in mrtvašnice.

and they tell the story of the different spaces

Govorile so zgodbo o različnih prostorih,

that we pass through on either side of death.

skozi katere gremo pred in po smrti.

We wanted to show that where we die

Želeli smo pokazati, da je kraj, kjer umremo,

is a key part of how we die.

ključen del smrti.

Now, the strangest thing was the way that visitors reacted to the exhibition,

Najbolj zanimivi so bili odzivi obiskovalcev razstave,

especially the audio-visual works.

še posebej na avdio-vizualne dele.

We had people dancing and running and jumping

Ljudje so plesali, tekli in skakali,

as they tried to activate the exhibits in different ways,

ko so skušali sprožiti del razstave,

and at a certain point they would kind of stop

in kar naenkrat se ustavijo,

and remember that they were in an exhibition about death,

ker se spomnijo, da so na razstavi o smrti,

and that maybe that's not how you're supposed to act.

in da morda tako vedenje ni primerno.

But actually, I would question whether there is one way

A zanima me, če obstaja določen način,

that you're supposed to act around death,

kako se vesti okoli smrti.

and if there's not, I'd ask you to think about what you think a good death is,

In če ga ni, razmislite o tem, kaj je dobra smrt,

and what you think that architecture that supports a good death might be like,

in kako je videti arhitektura, ki podpira dobro smrt.

and mightn't it be a little less like this and a little more like this?

Je morda manj podobna temu in bolj temu?

Thank you.

Hvala.

(Applause)

(Aplavz)