I was in high school the first (and last) time I donated blood. They set up on a stage in my school’s auditorium and staffed it with student volunteers whose job it was to distract wusses (like myself) from freaking out about the nurse who was making you bleed into a plastic bag. They paired me up with a girl I had a crush on at the time and she was very nice not to make fun of me as I broke out in a cold sweat, turned gray and blacked out.
Maybe it was the setting that made me react that way. There was something about seeing all of the sterile medical equipment in the dimly-lit auditorium with its buzzing, cheap fluorescent lights that really sold me on the medical phobia I still carry with me today. If only I could have been bleeding out in style at FAAB’s regional blood center in Poland.
The Raciborz Regional Blood Center, completed in 2013, uses crimson ceramic tile as a theme that joins blood with what the designers claim is the most technologically-advanced blood donation center in Europe. Yes, at the end of the day you’re still watching your precious bodily fluids leak out of your arm through a tube, but at least the place looks clean, advanced. You’d be proud to leave a few pints of yourself there. They probably store it in a refrigerator that makes a satisfying airlock noise and spills dry ice smoke everywhere when it’s opened.
More than 2,000 of these “tile bricks” were used in its construction. This is a reference, the architects say, to the Silesian tradition of glazed brickwork. FAAB wanted the building to be worthy of the altruism inherent in the act of donating blood. They talk about it as a place where you give someone a gift: “The panels’ recognizable color underlies the rich color of blood, often known as the gift of life.”
There’s no denying that blood has been and will always be creepy, but it’s interesting that FAAB recontextualized it in such a way that encourages people to selflessly give of themselves so that someone else can live. That said, it looks like they went a little heavy on the theme, at least with the interior. The carpets, walls and sinks are all the same color of crimson. You’re left with the uncomfortable feeling that the carpets are soaked in gore and that whatever comes out of the taps when you wash your hands is definitely not going to be water. I suppose there’s a fine line to walk between creating a blood bank or the vampire rave scene from the first Blade film and FAAB comes close to crossing it.
Bill Rodgers is a Contributing Editor at CFile.
Above images: FAAB’s Raciborz Regional Blood Center in Poland, 2013. Photographs by Bartłomiej Senkowski.
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FAAB’s Raciborz Regional Blood Center in Poland, 2013. Photographs by Bartłomiej Senkowski.
I love the color and architecture of the blood bank in Poland but must agree that the interior has gone too far. The carpet almost looks damp with blood…ug!