Yesterday I visited MSK Centre for Cancer Care for a guided tour by Melissa Dallal, Project Manager, Interior Design.
This outpatients Cancer Care Centre opened in 2020.
Walking into the main entrance/lobby it felt very Scandinavian with the use of natural materials such as wood, lots of natural light and clean lines.
The interior design is beautiful, sculptural and flows smoothly throughout the entire building. Each floor has a different feel, colour palette and a floor to ceiling view over the East River.
Over 1,250 artworks, predominately hanging pieces, including paintings, photography, works on paper, textiles, digital art and sculpture are situated all around the centre from corridors to clinic rooms, staff areas, waiting areas and even toilets.
The collection is themed around celebrating New York. Artworks feature or have been inspired by the city’s streets, parks and waterways. Half the collection’s artists are based in New York.
The artists are emerging, mid-career and established, the bulk being emerging.
There is an Art Section in the building’s way-finding App which provides more information on the Artist.
The interior design is so striking that at times I felt the artwork is not very prominent. With MSK the artwork works in harmony with the interior design and environment and is not seeking to transform it.
In comparison projects I have worked on the intention has been for the art to take center stage to transform and distract from the ugly, clinical environments mainly within old and dated healthcare buildings.
The Team
MSK Design, Suzen Heeley, Executive Director and Melissa Dallal. Collection Art Consultant, Cade Tompkins and MSK stakeholder committee (MSK leadership, administration, doctors, nurses, patients’ representatives, building occupants) are the team behind the art collection.
MSK Design co-ordinated 4 two-hour presentations where the Art Consultant presented and discussed thousands of artworks to over 40 MSK stakeholders.
Stakeholders were provided with a polling App allowing them to vote “YES, NO, MAYBE”.
After each meeting votes were tallied and works receiving higher than 50% were included in the collection.
What a brilliant and accessible way to consult with the stakeholders!
Giving the patient the choice
What I particularly loved about this building was how it gave the patient the choice as how they chose to interact with it. On arrival patients are given a MSK CarePass an electronic badge so they can go where they feel comfortable, on any floor. When their care team is ready for them, the badge allows the staff to easily find them. They are not expected to wait in a specific waiting room instead they can choose from a range of spaces, a view to the river in an open plan area, a private booth, a hideaway space providing privacy or a communal area that encourages interaction… you choose!
Thank you Melissa, for my first healthcare environment visit!
For examples of the artworks see link:
David H. Koch Center for Cancer Care at Memorial Sloan Kettering | Cade Tompkins Projects
Lottie Barnes 