Elżbieta Waszczyszyn

The paper is an introduction to a broader study, aimed to define the rules of procedure for taking preservation activities in historic hospital architecture. It has, among others, to facilitate the modernization of historic hospitals necessary to carry out in accordance with the requirements set by the legislature, the latest medical technologies and contemporary doctrines and principles of conservation. The article is based on the analysis of the latest solutions implemented in selected hospitals including the historic hospitals in Warsaw, Wroclaw and Lodz. The analysis of proven solutions in conjunction with the collected experiences from other selected projects are the starting material for the definition of a strategy of historic preservation activities in historic hospitals and the development of guidelines assisting in their implementation.

In their long history, hospitals have undergone numerous transformations, both in terms of function and organization, as well as architecture and space. At first they served as shelters for pilgrims, the homeless and the ailing poor. It was not until the turn of the 18th century and 19th century that they began to be understood as organized public institutions devoted solely to the purpose of curing the sick. At the same time, first European clinics began to emerge, which combined the didactic function of universities of medicine with the medicinal function of an ordinary hospital. Until today, there have survived the majority of 19th century European hospital buildings. Many of them still boast a clear composition of spatial structure and valuable forms of architectural detail. Development in medicine, however, has brought about an evolution in health care and consequently functional and spatial programs of hospitals have also began to change. Today, many historical European hospitals experience substantial problems connected with the adaptation to new requirements in terms of equipment necessary in modern-day medicine. Is therefore the passing of historical hospital architecture unavoidable…?

In the common consciousness, the heritage of architecture and urban planning from the period of the People’s Republic of Poland is perceived as a legacy of the totalitarian political system, and consequently underestimated and unprotected. One of the interesting buildings coming from this period, the beginnings of which reach back to the 1960s, is the Children’s University Hospital in Cracow. In the process of its construction innovative – at the time – architectural and material-related solutions were adopted. The spatial and aesthetic values of the hospital have been preserved to this day, despite its degradation, which has been progressing for some time now and which is to be stopped by renovation and modernisation works undertaken in the hospital. It testifies to its timeless cultural value, both in terms of its formal solutions and materials used, and in terms of its conceptual contents, which are the output of and testimony to the ‘difficult’ epoch when the hospital was erected.

According to the international doctrinal documents of restoration, the best method of protecting castles is leaving them in permanent ruin. Really interesting and correct solution of that problem is infilling historic buildings with new elements. Nevertheless, we have to deal with activities, such as reconstruction, which are open to doubt and inconsistent with any doctrinal documents. In this article we attempted to describe various approaches of protection of monuments in nine examples of Polish castles.