Since 2006, the symposium Health Care of the Future has served as a creative platform in Berlin for discussions on emerging developments in healthcare and their impact on healthcare facility design, as well as the broader implications for architecture and urbanism.

The 11th edition focuses on how healthcare environments can remain fair, humane, and resilient in times of profound technological and social transformation. Special attention will be given to the role of Artificial Intelligence, which is rapidly reshaping not only medical procedures but also how hospitals are designed, operated, and experienced. What does it mean for architecture when automation challenges human responsibility, and when healing spaces must respond to ethical questions of emotional needs, accountability, and digital control?

Further discussions explore the transition toward network-based healthcare infrastructures—fair, climate-resilient, and digitally integrated. Concepts such as “Hospitals Without Walls,” virtual wards, and the “Hospital at Home” model address demographic shifts, urban heat stress, energy goals, and new governance systems. Digital frameworks like the European Health Data Space and the EU AI Act highlight the urgency of accessibility, security, and data ethics.

Finally, the symposium examines the challenges and opportunities of developing new children’s hospitals within public-private partnerships. How can innovative funding constellations contribute to equitable care, while still prioritizing the wellbeing of the youngest patients? Together, the sessions outline a future in which healthcare architecture must be adaptive, socially just, and technologically prepared—without losing sight of the human at its core.