Architecture of Saint Petersburg hospitals: from petrovsky baroque on to hi-tech. Part VII. Constructivism

Abstract

The article continues the research project on hospital architecture in Saint Petersburg from a historical perspective: from baroque to hi-tech. The seventh part of the series is devoted to such architectural style as constructivism, the main task of which becomes the combination of laconism and rationality necessary for the full functioning of medical institutions. Soviet architects of 1920–1930 faced the task of designing new buildings that met the modern requirements of medicine and did not resemble those that existed before, while rejecting lavish and abundant decoration in favor of technology. The architecture of this period is characterized by active reformation of space, playing with geometric forms, external simplicity and the primacy of the functional content of the building over its form. In the construction of medical institutions in the Constructivist style, metal structures are actively used, and the main material is concrete, extensive glazing of facades. The stylistic features of buildings are considered on the examples of the reconstruction of the Aleksandrovsky contagious barrack hospital, which later was named S.P. Botkin Clinical Infectious Diseases Hospital, as well as the reconstruction of F.F. Erisman Hospital, the construction of preventoriums in the Moskovsko-Narvsky (Kirovsky) and Volodarsky (Nevsky) districts, and Teriyok Military Hospital. The application of constructivism in hospital architecture made it possible to dynamically renovate a number of medical facilities, which had a positive impact on the efficiency of healthcare in this period of time.