Embassy of Health at DDW24

The waiting room symbolises the current state of affairs in healthcare: waiting times are increasing, leading more and more people to feel trapped in a sort of no-man’s land. During Dutch Design Week 2024, the Embassy of Health is expanding on the perspective of the waiting room. Creative lead Marleen van Bergeijk stated, “A waiting room can also provide deeper insight into the soft values that can enrich our health. In this context, the waiting room is not merely a place for waiting; it is a space for reflection, attention, and human connection.”

“We’re now in the second year of a broader exploration of health, during which we aim to move away from an economic perspective on health and create more space for a new value system,” says Marleen. “While we want to culminate in a grand finale at DDW25 next year, we are only halfway through, and we are still learning from one another.” This learning process is evident in the design of the exhibition, which is smaller this year and is part of a larger overarching exhibition featuring various Embassies.

Soft values take centre stage

The choice of the waiting room as a theme is no coincidence, says Marleen. It’s a place that everyone knows, regardless of your experience with healthcare institutions. “For me, this is the place where efficiency truly reigns supreme,” says the creative lead. “We want to reconsider the concept of efficiency, which often dominates healthcare and health. The exhibition focuses on soft values, where time is measured not in money but in attention.”

“The intention is for visitors to truly arrive at the Embassy of Health expo,” she continues. “Dutch Design Week is, of course, quite a busy week during which you want to see, experience, and absorb everything. That can sometimes feel quite rushed. We want to encourage visitors to embrace the wait. In this context, the waiting room is not merely a place for waiting; it is a space for reflection, attention, and human connection.”

A new balance

Marleen emphasises that this shift in thinking is essential not only for patients but also for healthcare organisations, policymakers, social organisations, and designers working on the future of health. “By giving more space to attention, we can create an environment where both the human experience and medical efficiency are in balance. This requires a cultural change in which both the quantity of care and the quality of interaction are central. The exhibition calls for a re-evaluation of time and attention, urging us to reflect on what truly matters for our health: the connection between people, the space to breathe, and the time to focus on what is genuinely important.”

Room for experimentation

According to Marleen, the waiting room can provide an opportunity to consider soft values as a starting point. “Currently, healthcare is very much a metric system, often based on efficiency. But what if you allowed attention a little more space?” This question lies at the heart of the Embassy of Health exhibition. Visitors are invited to reflect on how design can help reduce the pressure on healthcare by fostering new connections and providing space for health.

Part of the exhibition focuses on the design of public quiet spaces, which, according to Marleen, face the same obstacles as many innovative concepts: “Designers of these types of preventive health proposals are often confronted with the challenge of having to demonstrate their effectiveness in advance.” However, this measurability may not be feasible in advance and may not even be desirable. The design we are presenting during DDW24 emphasises the need for more room for experimentation and a diminished focus on directly measurable results.” This theme resonates widely throughout the exhibition.

Design process as a no-man’s land of possibilities

Marleen also sees a waiting room as a metaphor for the design process itself. It is a place of uncertainty and expectation but also potential and reflection. “You could say that a waiting room is a kind of no-man’s land. As far as I’m concerned, it’s also a no-man’s land of possibilities. All sorts of things can happen when you’re in a waiting room. This openness to what may yet come, both in healthcare and design, is an important message of the exhibition.”

Preserving values

The exhibition consists of four designs, each offering a unique perspective on how working from soft values leads to new approaches to health. One of these, ‘Samen Drempels Over’ (Crossing Barriers Together), revolves around activating volunteer networks and encouraging reciprocity in caring for and helping each other. In addition to thematic explorations, the exhibition also offers practical insights into the design process. An example of this is the High-Intensity Care Unit for Mental Health and Addiction Care in Heiloo, where designers fought to retain patient-centred values within a traditionally efficiency-oriented construction process. “When a new healthcare institution is built, it is important not to sacrifice essential values from the building for the sake of efficiency,” says Marleen. “The example of the High-Intensity Care Unit shows how designers can contribute to the preservation and even the enhancement of human values in a highly regulated environment.”

The future of health

The exhibition ends with a look to the future, asking visitors to reflect on their own relationship to time, attention, humanity and health. The waiting room, often seen as a necessary evil, is here repositioned as a space full of possibilities. “Taking time is not a negative thing,” Marleen concludes. “It can produce beautiful things. The exhibition hopefully invites us to slow down, reflect and rediscover the value of attention in our approach to health and well-being.”