January 28

Elise Island Project: design for highest achievements

Filed Under architecture 

(Text by Diana Nóbrega; photos: diephotodesigner.de for :: dan pearlman, all materials courtesy of :: dan pearlman)


The Evangelisches Konigin Elisabeth Krankenhaus Hospital, in Berlin, created a holistic dreamland for young patients with psychiatric issues in cooperation with :: dan pearlman creative agency.

The patients of the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry of the Evangelisches Konigin Elisabeth Krankenhaus Hospital (KEH), in Berlin, will never feel alone again. Since october, in addition to doctors and nurses the youngsters are, hosted by Princess Elise. She is the protagonist of the story told to the children and adolescents as soo as they arrive at the Institution. When Princess Elise was a child she invented her own island, with golden sand, palm trees, rocks that kiss the waves and shelters where she could rest when she needed to. Here she felt protected and sheltered. Now that Elise has grown a grandmother, she doesn’t need the island and she has decided to share it with the young patients of the Hospital.
The legend was created and transferred from the imaginary into reality by the German creative agency :: dan pearlman who worked closely with the KEH psychiatrists over ten months. The Isle of Elise project is based on a holistic therapy which gives design a central role, the result represents a completely new approach to child and adolescent psychiatry.

Each healing room was designed in terms of shape, color, materials, light and air, to assure a positive atmosphere, a sense of security and cooperation, harnessing the child and adolescent power of imagination to their benefit. The challenge now is to balance the obligations of therapeutic professionals with the emotional needs of the young patients.
And the response has been positive. According to KEH psychiatrists, young people are relatively calm and the level of aggression decreased. “The original objectives and the results that we see now fit perfectly,” says Alexander Eberle, Elise Island project leader. It is the first time that the agency is involved in a social sphere project. Gathering a group of designers, architects and experts in communication and strategy, the company is usually involved in brand development. This time, :: dan pearlman used its experience to make KEH “shine, with the values and behavior of a brand”.
The :: dan pearlman professionals noted from the outset that this perspective on design can adapt to other scenarios in which the environment influences the development and healing of the inhabitant, for example, in kindergartens or social institutions. “Companies should engage in social responsibility,” said Eberle, “The design should not focus just on the good looks, but in doing good.”

The value of colors and symbols

The Isle of Elise jumped from sketches to KEH three units plan: the Sandburg (sand castle) for younger patients, the Palmenhutte (palm hut) for pre-teens and Klipper (the sea boat), for adolescents.
Patients between three and six years who are admitted in the Sandburg become “the children who live in the dunes.” Kallee, the crab, is the mascot of the area where the blue, the beige and the orange dominate. Here, the spaces were designed to allow children to observe their own environment without getting involved, as the crab.
Children between seven and thirteen are in the green zone, the Palmenhutte. This area belong to Coco, the parrot. Symbolically, this influences young people to take risks, to value their skills and reach new heights.
The older, between thirteen and eighteen years have Klipper reserved. Here the character mascot is Rocko, the dog. This is the figure that represents the search for independence and individuality. The teenagers are known as the rock-fellows, the friends who live in the rocks.
This project had its genesis in the use of symbols, colors and environments, based on the healing knowledge of doctors and was developed by the skills of architects and designers to give them shape.
The influence of colors on ourmood is already known. Its use in clinical environment has a multitude of benefits: it promotes the sense of direction and motivation, in the case of green, helps to heal, such as orange, or reduce stress levels in the case of the blue.

The Isle of Elise was, since the beginning, a very important project for :: dan pearlman and to KEH, especially by involving children with problems that are increasing in our society. Statistical studies indicate an increased level of suicidal behaviors, anxiety, eating problems and psychological disorders resulting from abuse or neglect in younger and younger children. “The design of a modern therapeutic environment, ‘patient friendly’ is the priority of our concept,” says the director of KEH, North Rainer, “we expect that a project reference has been created.”

The design role

Design does have a deep side. With actual issues such as economic crisis and climate change, among other local problems, it is quite obvious that something is not right with the society we have built for ourselves. At the same time, our world reached a whole new era of design, creating a new role for the companies, with endless opportunities to better our lives. This new role does not substitute the traditional one, but rather works side by side with it, creating and opening new field for activities. It gives designers the opportunity to create networks with people, enterprises, non-profit organizations, local and global institutions that together generate tangible steps to sustainability and balance. Let’s start thinking on how could a specific system be improved using design-thinking as the key ingredient for its development. Creativity is a diffuse attitude and it can certainly be used as a social resource.

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Comments

One Response to “Elise Island Project: design for highest achievements”

  1. Imagine:Elise Island « Different by Design on January 29th, 2010 04:55

    [...] Recent Comments Laura Z on Welcome!William Karnoscak on Welcome!Gary Williams on Welcome!Rob Acton on Welcome!Rose on Welcome! Imagine:Elise Island January 28, 2010, 8:55 PM Filed under: Uncategorized Love this description and photos of a design project for a children’s hospital in Berlin: http://www.ymag.it/2010/01/28/elise-island-project-design-for-highest-achievements/. [...]

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