Designing Penfield: Inside the Montreal Neurological Institute

summary:

Neurosurgeon Wilder Penfield (1891–1976) envisioned hospital architecture as a powerful medical tool. Focusing on two key interiors in the 1934 Montreal Neurological Institute (MNI)—the operating room and the foyer—this article engages newly accessible textual and material evidence to show Penfield’s intense involvement in the design of the building. A unique, tri-level surgical room, with a sophisticated setup for photography, made the MNI’s surgery interactive. The OR is discussed with regard to the relationship of doctors and architects and Penfield’s penchant for architectural travel. Subsequently, we visit the foyer as a spatial counterpoint to the operating room. Its design enabled a particular, Penfield-inspired view of the brain and recounted neurological history in the language of Art Deco design. An emphasis on axial movement pushed visitors to “consume” a work of sculpture, meticulously copied from another in Paris. The architecture of the MNI thus monumentalized Penfield’s accomplishments, by his own design.