Study of a Mobile Medical Testing Unit in the Context of a Historic Urban Area

The authors studied the design of a prototype for a mobile medical testing unit in a specific historic urban context. The initiative was a response to a request made by the University of Padua to its professors and technicians for the generation of ideas suitable for combating the Covid-19 pandemic during the worst period of this medical emergency. The medical testing unit, designed for a wider context, was initially studied for the purpose of providing medical tests and check-ups for the University of Padua student population and the personnel employed by the university. It is appropriate for use in the virtual city composed of the numerous sites where University of Padua activity is articulated, facilitating medical check-ups, and anticipating and fighting epidemiological phenomena where they are found. In terms of reassuring the students and their families, the results can be significant. The project was themed on the basic module being flexible so as to facilitate the use of space for new needs resulting from a health crisis and to respond to an evolving crisis situation and the consequent need for functional adaptation. The medical testing unit also constitutes a sign that the University of Padua is present in the territory: the finishing of the cladding panels was studied in order to express the identifying elements and publicity referring to the university itself. The medical testing unit, which can be deployed in the piazzas of larger towns as well as in small villages, is able to move medical personnel and units in loco from the traditional institutional sites while at the same time relaunching the concept of the presence of the university in the territory.