Cancer Prevention Centre

Author: Bc. Magdaléna Buzová

Year of foundation: 2021

Brno University of Technology
Faculty of Architecture
Department of Experimental Design
Degree: Master
Year of studies: 6
Artwork supervisor: MgA. Svatopluk Sládeček, Ing. arch. Nicol Gale

The project of the Cancer Prevention Centre on the premises of the Masaryk Cancer Institute at Žlutý Kopec is inspired by the motif of fragility that characterizes the nature of this inscrutable cancer, where the patient is constantly balancing on the plane of life and death. The design absorbs this motif and transfers it to the plot, which balances on the very border between the hospital grounds and the garden colony, over which the sloping terrain looks out onto the panorama of Mendel Square, Brno and the nearby Pálava Hills.

The Prevention Centre uses this location and its elevation not only to emphasize the precariousness and balance, but also to connect the Yellow Hill site imaginatively with the adjacent urban structure. Especially when viewed from Mendel Square, the whole area appears as an impenetrable wall. The task of the Prevention Centre is to break this boundary, to communicate with the city, and thus to reach out to its inhabitants to undergo a preventive examination that has the potential to save hundreds of lives.

The desire for connectivity is evident in both the massing and the layout, with a dominant volume emerging throughout the design, an imaginary bridge that connects the two main directions of access for patients and the city. This section encapsulates the backbone of the operation - a commercial prevention program caring for the general population, and thus best overrides the previously mentioned precariousness, especially in its expression and execution in two directions, which permeates the remaining masses serving as the foundation and center of gravity.

Another important element that strongly influences the form of the design is the motif of the road, which is inscribed in the vertical roads outside and inside the building. This is primarily a series of straight staircases that help to form the building's characteristic silhouette. Visitors thus gain a better understanding of the hierarchy of the interior spaces behind the envelope, thus eliminating the fear of the unknown that must be overcome during preventive treatment.

The material and formal design is directly linked to the operational design. While a significant part of the "bridging" is devoted to the core commercial program, the imaging methods that are the basis of diagnosis are located in the "centre of gravity". The remaining operations, such as the physicians' facilities, administration and inpatient wards, are located in the northern building, the so-called "wall", which is the last "hospital" instance of the centre and is directly connected to the adjacent Moravek Pavilion. The technical facilities and the parking garage are hidden under a platform with a green roof that fills the space between the masses of the "centre of gravity" and the "wall", thus making the atmosphere of the building more pleasant.

The form of the "center of gravity" and "wall" relates to the flat and grounded nature of both parts, which transfer the loads from the executed "bridging". The façades are therefore dominated by the rhythm of the balconies and lintels which, despite the fact that both parts are full of glazed openings, are intended to emphasize the weight of the masses and thus establish a balance in the composition of all parts of the Prevention Centre.