Located in the corridors adjacent to the ICU, the installation is designed to provide families of patients receiving intensive care treatment with a delicate, supportive and poetic sound environment.

The musical piece — a light and positive composition for marimba with hourly activation — can be heard at the transit points of the long corridors, but not in the waiting areas. It was conceived as a sound that literally accompanies people, thereby alleviating the negative perception of the ICU and increasing the wellbeing of patients’ families and clinicians.

This project represents the latest step in the hospital’s long-term commitment to combining healthcare and art. The sound installation was conceived and developed by a multidisciplinary team in close collaboration with the hospital, taking into account the unique context of the Intensive Care Unit. The process involved an in-depth analysis with the support and contributions of Maria Simonetta Spada (director of the Psychology Unit) and Santo Radici (director of Human Resources and responsible for the hospital’s art installations).

Using sound as a medium not only reflects the most current research in contemporary art, but also responds to the need for an artwork that is both present and absent — something clearly perceptible, yet not as invasive as a visual background for those spending long periods waiting in the corridors.

Drawing on our expertise in room acoustics, electroacoustics and audio technologies, we helped bring this challenging and innovative project to life by translating the artist’s concept into the technical design of the sound installation. The installation features unobtrusive omnidirectional loudspeakers to achieve the desired sound perception, and incorporates a bespoke system with audio-over-IP network and PoE that uses a single Ethernet cable to minimise the impact on the hospital’s technical infrastructure. Our approach, based on proven methodologies such as acoustic surveys, loudspeaker characterisation, predictive modelling and auralization, has been shown to be reliable for a permanent installation in a critical healthcare environment.