The Ripple Funzione Primaria: Casa di cura palliativa by Minghan Lin, Yuchen Qiu and Hao Zhong is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2026 A' Design Award d'Argentu in Disignu d'Architettura Competition Category.
ArgentuArchitettura· 2026
The Ripple Funzione Primaria: Casa di cura palliativa
by Minghan Lin, Yuchen Qiu and Hao Zhong
A' Design Award d'Argentu Winner in Architettura Category
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The Design
About The Ripple Funzione Primaria: Casa di cura palliativa
Testu di u Libru: U Ripple hè una pruposta di casa di cura palliativa strutturata da un sistema spaziale cuncentricu generatu da una corte d'acqua centrale. Situatu in Chinatown, à New York City, u prughjettu ridefinisce a cura di fine di vita cum'è un'esperienza civica urbana piuttostu chè un'istituzione isolata. Strati di sogliali, corti è cinte di legnu guidanu u muvimentu da a vita pubblica versu a riflessione tranquilla. A luce di ghjornu integrata, l'acqua è e strategie ambientali passive creanu una calma sensuriale, sustenendu a privacy, l'orientazione è u benessere emutivu attraversu l'architettura stessa.
The Recognition
About the A' Design Award d'Argentu
The Ripple Funzione Primaria: Casa di cura palliativa hè un vincitore di u premiu A' Design Award d'Argentu, una ricunniscenza straordinariamente prestigiosa attribuita à i disegni di alta gamma, splendidi è impressiunanti. I vincitori d'Argentu sò opere tremendamente brillanti è estremamente creative chì illustranu l'espertisa, u talentu è l'acutezza eccezziunali di i so disegnatori. Si aspetta chì The Ripple Funzione Primaria: Casa di cura palliativa sia una opera maravigliosa di mostra, rimarchevulemente prufessiunale è prufondamente innuvatrice. Stu disegnu vincitore di u premiu A' Design Award d'Argentu hè una invenzione assai nutevule è ammirata chì benefizia è allarga i limiti di l'arte, di a scienza, di u disegnu è di a tecnulugia. The Ripple Funzione Primaria: Casa di cura palliativa hè una creazione assai invidiata chì evoca disideri, introduce sentimenti pusitivi è accende stupore è maraviglia.
Behind the Design
Press Kit
Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.
- Unique Properties
- The Ripple reimagines hospice as an urban civic sanctuary structured by a concentric ripple geometry generated from a single water court. Architecture, structure, circulation, and environmental systems align within one continuous spatial logic, integrating hybrid timber construction, passive ventilation, and water reuse. The design transforms end-of-life care into a collective, sensory experience embedded within the life of the city.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- The project employs a hybrid timber system organized by concentric structural rings. Curved CLT load-bearing wall segments rise from a continuous concrete foundation datum, supporting stepped roof bands with integrated skylights, photovoltaic tiles, and rainwater collection gutters. Environmental systems include stacked passive ventilation, hydronic radiant floor slabs, and on-site water filtration and reuse.
- Tags
- Hospice, Healthcare Design, Sensory experience, Therapeutic environment,
- Production Technology
- The project was developed through an integrated design methodology where geometry, structure, and environmental systems evolve from a single concentric datum. Digital modeling and iterative sectional studies guided spatial, daylight, and airflow performance. A hybrid timber system using curved CLT wall segments, cavity assemblies, and a continuous concrete base enables structural clarity while integrating rainwater collection, passive ventilation, and radiant conditioning within one coordinated assembly.
- Design Challenge
- The primary challenge was reconciling hospice care’s need for privacy and calm with the density and intensity of an urban Chinatown context. Social perceptions of hospice as isolated institutions required rethinking care as civic and accessible. Spatially, integrating sensory comfort, acoustic privacy, and environmental performance within a compact site demanded precise coordination of structure, water systems, and daylight. The project resolves these tensions through a unified geometric and environmental strategy.
- Research
- Design research combining healthcare design and environmental psychology. Objective: improve patient privacy and emotional comfort in hospice settings. Methodology explored spatial sequencing and sensory design strategies. Experiential scenarios tested water sound as a non-visual privacy buffer.
- Inspiration
- The Ripple is inspired by the universal image of a water drop generating expanding rings, symbolizing the continuity of life, memory, and collective care. Research into hospice environments, sensory psychology, and traditional courtyard typologies informed a design that replaces institutional isolation with spatial calm, gradual thresholds, and communal presence, integrating cultural reflection with environmental performance.
- Project Duration
- The project was developed between September 2025 and Janurary 2026 as part of an architectural design competition. The Ripple is located in Chinatown, New York City, where it reimagines hospice care within a dense urban context. The proposal explores how end-of-life care can integrate with everyday civic life through architecture, landscape, and community-oriented programming.
- Operation Flow
- Movement through Ripple follows expanding concentric rings, guiding visitors from the active city edge toward increasing quiet and intimacy. Thresholds, courtyards, and water elements choreograph gradual emotional transition rather than abrupt separation. Daylight, airflow, and acoustic water features respond passively to occupancy and climate, supporting orientation, privacy, and calm—allowing care to unfold through spatial experience rather than institutional control.
- Patents
- Minghan Lin, Yuchen Qiu, Hao Zhong
- Team Members
- Minghan Lin
Yuchen Qiu
Hao Zhong - Image Credits
- Minghan Lin, Yuchen Qiu, Hao Zhong
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