Designing A Better Hospital Room

American architect Michael Graves has little patience for bad design. He also dislikes the ugly things he sees in hospitals. When he stayed at a rehabilitation center recovering from a rare, life-threatening infection, Graves eyed the magenta-and-green floral sheets on his bed.

Its far too ugly for me to die here, he quipped in October at TEDMED, a conference about great ideas in health care. It got worse as he stayed at eight different hospitals and three rehabilitation centers adjusting to life in a wheelchair.

"They didnt make big mistakes," Graves said about various designs he observed in hospitals and rehab centers. "They just made the most frustrating mistakes you could ever imagine and made your cure more difficult. Your room should make it easier for the doctors and the aides and the patient. But instead it does just the opposite."