What Breast Cancer Taught Us About Architecture

Journal – 27 October 2021
By Anna Dutton Lourie

Chema and Anna are both graduates of breast cancer and treatment. We consider ourselves ‘graduates’ because while our journeys were super tough, they were also remarkable learning experiences. Significantly, we believe that the things we learnt can make architecture better!

So what have we learnt and how can it serve better architecture?

Our experiences taught us a lot about what is important in life: kindness, a positive spirit, the magic of science and that joyful everyday moments and who you spend them with are key. We learnt that architecture and interior design can both facilitate and profoundly enhance quality of life with these elements:

  • Invited light and considered and shaped space, and the whimsy and magic they create together, at any time of day and through all seasons
  • Views that can be stared at for hours.
  • Blurring the lines between inside and out so that nature becomes entwined with your world.
  • A spot to sit in the sun (except summer where it will be shady!)
  • Surprising journeys within these spaces to love every day.
  • We both have relatively minor ongoing mobility issues so making spaces easy and dignified to navigate and use is important, at any age.

Check your breasts! It may save your life.

The fabulous Breast Cancer Network Australia (BCNA) has a guide here. Act quickly and see your GP if anything is odd or has changed. You can also book a regular mammogram via your GP or with BreastScreen Victroria.

Bower proudly supports Breast Cancer Network Australia and Breast Cancer Trials, and we are both sincerely grateful for the knowledge, support, recognition and advancement in treatment of breast cancer that these organisations champion and develop. Click on their names to donate.