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Odili Odita's "Field and Sky" mural at the Pennsylvania Medical Museum faces a row of long windows, where you can see the beautiful green space. (Emma Lee)

The University of Pennsylvania Hospital has a massive new 17-story building. With 1.5 million square feet, 504 patient rooms, 47 operating rooms and one acre of green space, The Pavilion is one of the largest hospital development projects in the country.

The artwork in The Pavilion, which opens this weekend, is equally large.

Its front space is a spacious circular room surrounded by glass and facing other buildings in the Medical Park. It is characterized by a 40-foot tall tree-like structure covered with hundreds of translucent glass balls.

Artist Maya Lin, known for designing the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, DC, designed the sculpture "Decoding the Tree of Life". WHYY thanks to our sponsor-Maya Lin's sculpture "Decoding the Tree of Life" as a WHYY sponsor rises from the ceiling of the atrium of the new building of Penn Medical School. (Emma Lee/WHYY)

"I like to think that I am creating works to make a child be struck by beauty or surprise," Lin said in an interview at her studio in New York. "They don't have to read anything about this article to make them smile. However, we are all children deep in our hearts. If I can connect to a child, then I may be able to connect to each of us."

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The "Tree of Life" rises from the ceiling of the atrium to the floor above it. Lin said that she hopes that this piece will feel organic in the space, rather than dominate it. The huge, twisted shape of "Decoding the Tree of Life" was inspired by a branching tree, the shape of the Schuylkill River, and the double helix structure of DNA.

"These are things that really represent life," said Regina Cunningham, chief executive officer of the University of Pennsylvania Hospital. "I think it truly represents what we are doing in the hospital, especially in this hospital that is truly focused on the future of advanced medicine." Maya Lin gave a speech before the sculpture. (Emma Lee/WHYY) Evidence shows that art can help healing

Cunningham said that the art work is an important part of the hospital design, as well as its color palette, electric lights and plenty of natural light. For example, instead of white walls with fluorescent lights, the corridors of the pavilion are painted in cool gray shades, and soft indirect lighting is hidden behind a recess in the ceiling. In this way, the patient pushing the gurney and looking up does not have to endure the glare of the head.

"It has almost spa-like qualities," said Cunningham, a former nurse, who believes that these details are not only pleasant, but also improve the health of patients. WHYY Thanks to our sponsors — Become a WHYY sponsor

"They have a healing beauty," she added. "I think it creates a therapeutic environment."

A growing body of evidence supports the idea that art and design can have a measurable impact on patient recovery. When designing the "Tree of Life", Lin believes that the works of the atrium will be the first fact that many people see after entering the hospital. Maya Lin's "Decoding Tree of Life" is composed of thousands of glass balls. Its form is inspired by a branched tree, the shape of the Schuylkill River and the double helix structure of DNA. (Emma Lee/WHYY)

"I do think art can raise your spirit. It can make you feel happier, it can also make you feel scared, and make you feel inferior to others," said Lin, who is trained as an architect. "If you walk into a room painted in red instead of a room painted in blue, it will completely change how you feel about yourself. It speaks a lot in itself."

The long corridor at the corner of Lin's work leads to an escalator and a row of elevators. On the 127-foot-high wall, hospital visitors will find the second large-scale art installation in the pavilion, a geometric mural painted with a series of bright colors and rainbow pastels.

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The hospital commissioned Odili Odita, an artist born in Nigeria and living in Philadelphia, who recently painted a corridor for the recently completed expansion of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. His "Field and Sky" wall picture faces a row of long windows, where you can see the beautiful green area.

"Most people usually don't go to the hospital, for example, the best reason," Odita said. "This is a space where you can think a lot. I want to create a space for people to go back outside, rejuvenate, and then return to the hospital."

Odita's art works are abstract, inspired by colors and patterns commonly found in Nigerian traditional textiles, and then filtered through his modern sensibility and the needs of specific locations. However, a 2010 study showed that abstract art may not be the most soothing for patients and may even cause anxiety. Many patients prefer more recognizable landscape art.

Realizing where his work would be and who would see it, Oda proceeded with caution.

"It's hard for me to pick these colors. It's very, very difficult," he said. "I don't want any deep red because it might mean something. But I also want to be able to create something that is not too sugary. I think those colors, especially on that long wall, are just right. Light and space, it It just fills up myself."

The works of Odita and Lin are playing in the sun. The hollow glass ball of the "Tree of Life" is made of cracks in the glass to make it shimmer. The brightly colored shapes of "Field and Sky" reflect sunlight from the windows, drawing attention back to the outside.

Daylight plays an important role in the entire hospital design. Each ward has a large window with plenty of light, and even the operating room—usually located in the core of the hospital, isolated from the wider world—has windows through which you can see the sky.

The artwork in the building makes full use of all the light and its healing properties.

"In fact, I really believe that you can use art to help people," Odita said. "It's not just the fluffy art to fill the space, but they think about something that makes the audience think about where they are."

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