The first unit from Carlo Ratti’s CURA project was built at a temporary hospital in Turin, north of Italy, one of the world’s hardest-hit regions by the pandemic. Launched four weeks ago, the initiative to convert shipping containers into plug-in Intensive-Care Pods for COVID-19 patients was assembled at record speed.
Installed at a new temporary hospital set up in Turin, the first CURA prototype, created with the sponsorship of UniCredit, started to admit patients on April 19th, 2020. Rapidly mounted, each pod is “as safe as a regular isolation ward, thanks to biocontainment with negative pressure”. With more units under construction around the world, from UAE to Canada, CURA or “Connected Units for Respiratory Ailments” and also “Cure” in Latin, aims to generate an alternative by “producing a compact ICU pod that is quick-to-deploy and safe to work in for medical professionals”.
Improving the efficiency of field hospitals, each CURA unit, assembled as fast as a hospital tent, proposes “a quick-to-deploy solution to expand emergency facilities and ease the pressure on healthcare systems treating patients infected by coronavirus”. Created by an international task force, including Carlo Ratti Associati with Italo Rota, engineers at Jacobs, health technology company Philips for medical equipment supply, and supported by the World Economic Forum, CURA, the successful design collaboration, has its tech specs, drawings and design materials made accessible for everyone online.
On another hand, the OGR temporary hospital set up in Turin was a former industrial complex converted into a cultural and technological center a few years ago. Transformed into a healthcare facility starting April 6th, 2020, the project expands over 8900 square meters and features 92 beds. With the first CURA prototype installed on its premises, the temporary hospital is provided with ICUs for patients affected by the coronavirus. In fact, “the pod contains all the medical equipment needed for two ICU patients, including ventilators and monitors as well as intravenous fluid stands and syringe drivers. The unit is connected to the rest of the hospital by an inflatable structure, which serves as storage and changing room”.
To know more about the process and operations behind CURA, check ArchDaily’s recent interview with Carlo Rotti here.
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