The survey analyses the evolution of healthcare environmental design in Russia from the late 19th century to the present and evaluates its development potential. The main aspects considered are aesthetical and ethical, as they are key to architecture and landscape design. The problem is that by the end of the 20th century the faith in medicine itself destroyed the idea of healing power of environment, both built and natural. Similar changes appeared in the ethical aspect.
The research methodology includes bibliographical and archival research followed by iconographical and visual observation with compositional and statistical analysis. We examined some of the best examples of Russian healthcare architecture and public health trends before the Revolution, their transformation during the Soviet period and in some up-to-date complexes, mostly from Saint Petersburg, and compared them with foreign hospitals and healthcare research evidence.
The results of the survey demonstrate how the quality of public healthcare environments firstly grew, but then deteriorated during the Soviet period. The visual quality of healthcare architecture degraded from human-scale buildings to massive industrial forms. The approach to landscapes in hospitals decreased. After Perestroika, healthcare environments started losing their equity, demonstrating opposite design tendencies for different social classes. The amount of green areas per citizen decreases as the population density grows; most of the hospitals do not meet the needs of the patients and stuff.
Today we hope that a new revolution is coming into this sphere, as the Strategy of technological development of Russia-2016 suggests a new, patient-centered approach to healthcare and improving life quality, based on respect for natural processes and the human-nature connection. It is a chance to revive the best traditions of Russian healthcare design and adopt the best international practices. This could make healthy environments in Russian cities more available and qualitative than they are now.