Defining Dignity: Empowering One Another in the Craft of Making

Art is a means of perceiving others, of responding to the world around us, and of engaging in the act of making. It is an opportunity to participate, to empower, to change, and to contribute to what we define as culture and share in the responsibility of establishing value across the globe.

As an artist, an architect shapes the world around her. She establishes a relationship between building and occupant. As an architect, I believe architecture is an art spanning all media. Daily, I work as a painter, a sculptor, a carpenter, a craftsman, a photographer. I engage space, people, landscape, building materials, plants, animals, and climate. I seek to establish a unison across this spectrum and curate a sense of worthiness amidst a space. Architecture is an opportunity to engage its stakeholders throughout this creative process. As more individuals act as spatial agents, as architects, they will empower one another in curating a sense of ownership. Communities will craft and establish a shared dignity in the creative act of design.

Female masons and local builders during the construction of the Butaro District Hospital. Photo Courtesy of MASS Design Group.

The Butaro District Hospital (BDH) in the northern district of Burera, Rwanda was designed and constructed in September 2011 by MASS Design Group — an architecture firm based in Boston, MA and Kigali, Rwanda — in partnership with Partners in Health and Rwanda’s Ministry of Health. In the design of the hospital, MASS sought to define a new standard for health care infrastructure in Rwanda. Considering infection control, patient and hospital staff comfort, site context, and community needs, BDH challenges traditional hospital design:

· Exterior corridors reduce the transmission of airborne disease;

· Louvered and clerestory windows optimize air exchange;

· Overall layout considers patient and staff flow, maximizing ease and efficiency of care;

· Landscaped courtyards, private terraces, and shared gardens serve family gatherings and patients’ comfort;

· A continuous floor finish mitigates bacterial growth.

Exterior corridors at Butaro Hospital foster airflow and reduce the transmission of airborne disease. Photographed right, the hospital’s central courtyard serves as a gathering space for families and patients. Photo courtesy of Alexandra Iaccarino.

Maternal Ward at Butaro Hospital. Smooth floor finish mitigates bacterial growth. Large windows open patient space to exterior. Photo courtesy of MASS Design Group.

Clerestory openings and large windows maximizing cross-ventilation through hospital rooms. Drawing courtesy of MASS Design Group.

In marrying a hospital’s design and health strategies, BDH represents a new model of health infrastructure. However, it is neither the louvered windows nor the floor finish that has changed the community of Butaro’s sense of dignity. It is not the private outdoor terraces or the beautifully cut volcanic stone (“amakoro”) walls throughout the landscape. It is each community member’s participation and contribution throughout the creative process. It is the 3,989 people employed to construct the project who empower one another in this shared responsibility. It is newly trained, highly skilled masons and local contractors who empower one another throughout the building process. It is the Butaro community and all other individuals who have exposed the common yearning for dignity and the power in building a shared beauty and worth amongst one another.

Local Imigongo artists creating paintings for Butaro’s Cancer Center waiting room. Photo Courtesy of MASS Design Group.

“Treat people as they want to be and you help them become what they are capable of being.”

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

By helping individuals recognize the power in ownership and agency, art and architecture empower communities to seek change and to work with one another to achieve what they are capable of being. The Butaro District Hospital is solely one example of the tangible relationship between design and dignity. As I continue to share my experience as a designer, I will challenge the traditional perception of art- not merely a medium, physical design, nor cultural artifact but a relationship that engages citizens towards positive change. As individuals become active agents, communities will thrive socially, economically, and culturally and the tangible relationship between human-centered design and human dignity will emerge.

Female mason at the Butaro District Hospital. Photo Courtesy of MASS Design Group.

Women designing and building customized pavers for MASS Design Group primary school in Rwanda. Photo Courtesy of Alexandra Iaccarino.

Alexandra Iaccarino is a 2015–2016 Global Health Corps fellow at MASS Design Group in Rwanda. All GHC fellows, partners and supporters are united in a common belief: health is a human right. There is a role for everyone in the movement for health equity. Join the movement today.