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In July 2013, architect and medical planner Evangelia Chrysikou featured among the finalists at the Design & Health International Academy Awards, with her Urban Daycare Complex for Adults with Developmental Disabilities for Semi-Arid Climates, a project which received the second highest score among the nine candidates. Her greatest achievement, though, was that she was a worthy competitor of, and featured in the same category as, leading international firms, such as S. Owings & Merrill LLP, which built the Burj Khalifa and the One World Trade Centre, and AECOM which employs a staff of more than 45,000 that participated in the competition with works like the Sheikh Khalifa Medical City, the King Khalid Medical City and the New Queensland Children’s Hospital.
This distinction has now firmly established Evangelia Chrysikou in the field of innovative Therapeutic Architecture, and follows a list of other awards conferred on the architect. In 2009, her Day Centre for Autistic Children in Faliro featured among the finalists in the Mental Health Project Awards in Singapore, and in 2012 she was highly commended for her research paper Normalisation theory to a “Fit for Purpose” Architecture for the Μentally Ιll in the International Research Project category in Kuala Lumpur.
These annual awards have a significant impact on shaping the international humanistic design of structures and spaces that promote health, well-being and quality of life. They aim to establish common reference points for research into and the design of psycho-socially supportive environments and to recognise the innovative achievements of researchers, architects and other professionals working in the health sector.
Evangelia Chrysikou is founder of SynΤhesis Architects in Athens, which has recently expanded its operations by opening a branch in London. Through her work at SynThesis, she consistently delivers solutions that apply scientific knowledge in practice. She incorporates findings from scientific research into the design of healthcare and welfare buildings, tourist facilities, residences and workplaces. Moreover, SynThesis also aims to disseminate knowledge through the firm’s extensive involvement in research projects in cooperation with international universities and institutes. Evangelia Chrysikou teaches a class for post-graduate students of Medicine and is module coordinator for the MSc Planning Buildings for Health at the Medical Architecture Research Unit (ΜΑRU) at London South Bank University (LSBU). She has published in architectural and healthcare scientific journals, and she is also a member of architectural and medical associations and committees, as well as a trustee of the Design in Mental Health Network (DIMHN), United Kingdom.
