These are excellent books on related subjects, particularly on the history of hospital care and the history of architectural design in the 20th century.

Reading List—Also Suggested

Any “entry level” book on Six Sigma and process improvement. The one I read: The Six Sigma Revolution, How General Electric and Others Turned Process Into Profits – George Eckes

 

From Bauhaus to Our House – Tom Wolfe, Bantam Books, 1981. Traces the history of the Bauhaus movement and its impact on modern architecture and architects.

 

Form Follows Fiasco – Why Modern Architecture Hasn’t Worked - Peter Blake. Also, a great review of the foibles of modern architecture.

 

Guidelines for Design and Construction of Health Care Facilities, American Institute of Architects and Facilities Guidelines Institute, 2006. This is adopted by many states as a facility standard.

 

The Care of Strangers, The Rise of America’s Hospital System – Charles E. Rosenberg, Johns Hopkins University Press, 19878

 

Mending Bodies, Saving Souls, A History of Hospitals – Guenter B. Risse, Oxford University Press, 1999. Delves into the relationship between religion and the development of hospitals. Uses interesting “case studies” as a way to describe “the healing experience.” Lays bare our “roots,” so to speak.

 

Better – A Surgeon’s Notes on Performance – Atul Gawande, Metropolitan Books, Henry Holt & Co, New York, 2007.  This is good stuff.

 

Social Design – Creating Buildings With People in Mind—Robert Sommer, Prentice Hall, 1983.

Contrasts the difference between socialistic design and formalistic design. The former is focused on the people who will inhabit and use a space.

 

Emotional Design – Why we love (or hate) everyday things—Donald A. Norman, Basic Books, 2004. Same person wrote classic Design of Everyday Things.

 

The Future Design of Future Things – Donald A. Norman, Basic Books, 2007. Norman spoke at Healthcare Design ’07, a major show for healthcare architects and interior designers. Message not understood by most.

 

Almost anything written by Donald Berwick, President of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement. There is an excellent compilation of his keynote speeches to the IHI annual conclave entitled Escape Fire. Audio recordings of these can also be obtained from IHI.