UNA MIRADA POR LA ARQUITECTURA PARA SALUD EN AMÉRICA LATINA: REFERENCIAS HISTÓRICAS
Muchos hospitales habían sido construidos en diversos países europeos a lo largo del siglo XVIII; sin embargo, Inglaterra estaba adelantada en la percepción y evaluación de la necesidad de construir nuevas edificaciones destinadas a los cuidados de los enfermos. Entre 1736 y 1799 fueron “construidos 32 hospitales en el interior del país, y cinco en Londres: El Westminster, el Guy´s, St. Georges, el Hospital de Londres y el Middlesex” (Nuland, 2005, p. 39). Esta gran cantidad de hospitales fue uno de los importantes estímulos para que la misión francesa de Tenon hubiera escogido el referido trayecto en su visita. Aunque Tenon fuese médico y esta había sido una de las principales razones por la cual la Academia de las Ciencias lo había escogido para la tarea de la visita a los hospitales europeos; él introduce una nueva percepción sobre el ambiente hospitalario, destacando la importancia de la ventilación y de la distribución de
Mercier described the Hôtel Dieu, introducing it through a horrifying image, of promiscuity, putrid smell, and stating the need to make it disappear. “The House of God! It’s such an insult to name it such! Not only despised by humanity, it also seems their pain and suffering is ignored (...) All is tough and sinister within that place where everyone suffers! Miasmas in Hôtel Dieu are already polluting the whole region with its rotten smell and it’s damp and not properly ventilated atmosphere”. (MERCIER apud BRAUNSTEIN, 2002, p. 26). Many hospitals had been built in several countries in Europe throughout the 18th century; however, England was fairly advanced in the perception
las camas, permitiendo una mejor visita médica al paciente, pudiendo acceder a él integralmente.
and evaluation of the need to construct new buildings specifically aimed
“Surge, pues, un nuevo modo de ver el hospital, al cual se considera como mecanismo para curar, y que si éste ejerce efectos patológicos, debe corre-
in the interior of the country, and five more in London: Westminster, Guy´s,
at taking care of the sick. Between 1736 and 1799 “32 hospitals were built St. Georges, London Hospital and Middlesex” (NULAND, 2005, p. 39). The number of hospitals was one of the incentives for Tenon’s French mission to
Figura 3 - Enfermería del Hôtel Dieu en el siglo XVII. Grabado de Casimir Tollet, París 1892 Fuente: Wellcome Library, London, M0004486, 2016
have chosen that particular route during their visit. Although Tenon was a physicist, which was the main reason for him to have been chosen by the Science Academy to visit the European hospitals, he also introduced a new view on the hospital environment, highlighting the need for good ventilation and bed distribution, one which would allow the doctor’s visit, and an easy and integral access to the patients. “Thus arose a new way to perceive hospitals, one which would consider it as a mechanism for cure, and so if it has any kind of pathological effect, this must be corrected. It could be said this is not a new idea, as hospitals have existed for ages dedicated to cure patients; but it is possible to state that in the 17th century, it was discovered that hospitals do not cure as much as they should. It’s just about refining the demands set upon the hospital as an instrument”. (FOUCAULT, 1978, p. 22). Tenon, in his Memoires, conceives a new hospital for Paris, the Hôpital Dieu, Figure 3, establishing the construction of 1700 beds set in a pavilion 33