The reader of Ervin Putsep's Planning of Surgical Centres will encounter a frustrating search for an architect akin to that experienced while grading an examination that evades the question. What does he think? What judgments has he made? Has he any convictions? How does he synthesize the welter of material presented? How does he answer the controversial questions? How does his architecture function?
The book is an architect's inventory of perceptive observations, philosophic tidbits, ideas, facts, fancies, clichés, medical homilies, and aphorisms. These are arranged by subject but remain loose raw material. A cupboard full of fantastic ingredients, but no cake!
The reader will search in vain for guidance in the design, logistics, mechanics, or systems that make a surgical suite effective. Throwaway brochures of architectural engineering firms are more informative.
The potpourri encompasses discussions of radiologic centers, clinical laboratory services, and animal facilities that have some architectural substance. The