The Kigoma Catalyst: Delivering Innovative Healthcare
Open Access
- Author:
- Rotondi, Nicholas Anthony
- Area of Honors:
- Architecture
- Degree:
- Bachelor of Architecture
- Document Type:
- Thesis
- Thesis Supervisors:
- Jawaid Haider, Thesis Supervisor
Jawaid Haider, Thesis Supervisor
Christine Lee Gorby, Thesis Honors Advisor
Scott W Wing, Faculty Reader - Keywords:
- Tanzania
Schreyer
Containers
Hospital
Architecture - Abstract:
- The thesis focuses on the design of healthcare facilities in Tanzania where the average life expectancy is 42 years and the doctor to patient ratio is 1 to 150,000. Despite such staggering healthcare statistics, this poverty-stricken country has successful and thriving cites that have overcome these odds. The design-thesis identifies relevant architectural issues and explores possible design solutions to help mitigate the healthcare crisis specifically in Kigoma, Tanzania. The research analyses pockets of prosperity, analyses the reasons for the city’s success, and proposes a viable design solution that can be replicated, thus extending the reach of healthcare. Kigoma is a city poised for prosperity. Located on Lake Tanganyika, it serves as the main port city for Tanzania, transporting goods to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi, and Zambia. Materials are brought directly from Dar Es Salaam (the capital) to Kigoma’s industrial port via train. Kigoma also has an established commercial port, immigration, five brick making facilities, and transportation network with other cities and villages on the Lake Tanganyika basin. Cities like Kigoma serve as an ideal location for a major healthcare facility. Its’ attributes place Kigoma on the cusp of prosperity. Kigoma’s location on the lake allows for the unique ability for the hospital to be able to send healthcare both by water and by land. In a context, such as Africa, where healthcare is lacking, it is important to design a facility that does not just serve the needs of a local area, but the needs of many. By addressing the hospital as a product instead of a service, it allows pieces of the building to be plugged in and pulled out. These pieces can travel by water or by land to bring healthcare to the people on the Lake Tanganyika basin as well as throughout Tanzania, thus addressing a larger populace.