Maggie’s, in collaboration with SALUS Global Knowledge Exchange, are delighted to invite the healthcare and design community to join the live stream of the launch of the third edition of The Architecture of Hope in memory of Charles Jencks, as part of the celebration of Maggie’s 25th year.
The event, supported by contractor Sir Robert McAlpine, takes place on 11 November 2021, at 19.00–20.00 GMT. Register to attend the live stream here.
The Architecture of Hope was the last book Charles Jencks worked on before he died in 2019. It has been updated with all of Maggie’s opened and planned centres, and features new and updated essays. 
Said Dame Laura Lee, the charity’s chief executive: “Maggie and Charles’ vision and understanding of the built environment and the positive impact it could have on people, as individuals and as a collective community, were way ahead of their time.”
The event, which is being held in person at Maggie’s Barts and in the Great Hall of St Bartholomew’s Hospital, is also being live streamed by SALUS Global Knowledge Exchange, enabling virtual attendees to view a ‘live’ panel talk introduced by Stuart Gulliver and Lily Jencks with several of Maggie’s architects.
The event programme is as follows:
Cancer, architecture and hope
Maggie’s revolutionary approach to human-led design, what we’ve learnt, and how we can apply it in a post-Covid world
Welcome address: Stuart Gulliver, Chair, Maggie’s
Lily Jencks, Director, Jencks Foundation and LilyJencksStudio; daughter, Maggie and Charles Jencks
Panel host: Will Gompertz, Former BBC arts editor; director of arts, Barbican Centre
Panel: Edwin Heathcote, Architect, critic and co-author, The Architecture of Hope
Amanda Levete, Principal, AL_A; architect for Maggie’s Southampton (pictured below; photo credit: Hufton+Crow)
Alex de Rijke, Founding director, dRMM; architect for Maggie’s Oldham
In the third edition of The Architecture of Hope, Maggie’s celebrates the evolution of the concept that buildings can heal, the legacy Charles left behind, and new essays exploring the relationship between cancer and design and the future of cancer care.
Key topics to be debated will include:
- the modernisation of the NHS ready for a post-Covid future;
- why a revolution in hospital design and an integrated care pathway are pivotal moments to do more for people with cancer;
- architecture, design and gardens – the impact on health and wellbeing
- the future of cancer care; and
- the impact cancer has on people’s mental health.
Commenting on the 25th anniversary of Maggie’s, Dame Laura Lee said: “Throughout the past 25 years I have seen first-hand, time and time again, how people who visit Maggie’s respond to the building itself. I’ve watched their reactions and the difference in how they moved, sat and spoke around each other. Freed from the necessary formality and clinical space of the hospital, people walk into Maggie’s and feel they can be seen as individuals. The environment tells them that they are listened to and empowered to make choices that work for them. The power of this should not be underestimated.”
She added: “As we move forward, Maggie’s is needed now more than ever, as places that pioneer human-led design and truly understand the positive impact that human contact and community can make to the way we approach healthcare.
“Throughout Covid-19 our doors stayed open to support people with cancer in person, as we know that face-to-face support and the buildings that facilitate this support are where a therapeutic community can grow and truly thrive.”
Register here to attend the live stream of the event, which takes place on 11 November 2021, at 19.00–20.00 GMT.
