Seminar ‘Maintaining. Architecture and maintenance, what we care about’

‘Architecture and maintenance, what we care about’
session #12

From caring for people to caring for things:

hospitals, models of care  

With Anabelle Billy, Director of Construction, Technical Services, and Safety (Rouen University Hospital)

If there is one place where maintenance is vital, it is the hospital. Few other buildings have such far-reaching consequences when services are disrupted, and few structures are as demanding in terms of upkeep. Since the 19th century, the hospital has become a healing machine — a machine that, in turn, must be cared for in order to care for others, and whose proper functioning depends on constant attention to its flows: people, equipment, water, air, heat, medical fluids, and data.

However, this continuity should not be taken for granted. It requires the ability to intervene without interrupting and maintain without disrupting within very limited windows of action while constantly adapting maintenance operations to care requirements.

In this restricted environment—marked by strict regulatory frameworks, budgetary constraints, and constant change—maintenance of existing infrastructure remains largely reactive, caught between critical emergencies and investment logic that tends to favor replacement and reconstruction. From proclaimed inertia to a material “under observation,” the trajectories of aging and emerging approaches to repairing, restoring, and extending the life of structures are shaping a new field of reflection and knowledge production at the intersection of architecture and maintenance.

Participation is free but registration is required. Please register here.
Attendance is limited. Kindly let us know if you are unable to attend.

The seminar will be held in French.

Find out more about the seminar program and objectives