Riom Hospiz – Ospizi Riom

In the Swiss Alpine region, the word hospice refers to a mountain refuge, a place in which a tired wanderer can find shelter and provisions. The origin of the word hospice as it is used here can be traced back to the same roots. The Latin hospitium describes a refuge, lodging, place for rest. Both are aimed to give shelter to people in a dire situation. Typologically the alpine refuge has been developing for centuries to best accommodate the harsh conditions of barren plateaus amid the rocky Alps. The hospice on the other hand has only existed for a few decades as a separate type. Historically hospices were often included in hospitals as separate wings, whose architectural forms were derived from those of convents and nunneries. During the middle ages, Christian orders had the function of caring for the sick and the dying. One of the reasons behind this was the separation of the sick from the rest of the population to prevent the spread of plagues. Thus a discrepancy exists between the infrastructural requirements of a health care facility and the needs of the patients. People, especially those who know they have little time left, would best like to spend it around the hearth with their loved ones. Based on this claim the project aims to investigate the potential of a hospice to be closely related to a home. Local housing architecture, as well as general ideas regarding housing architecture, are looked at and analysed, in order to gain a better understanding of what makes a home. The resulting findings serve as a basis for the draft of an ultima chasa, the last home.