ABSTRACT
The twentieth-century hospital was a significant site of architectural and medical innovation. The hospital’s relationship with technological innovation, and its role an instrument of healing, is a consistent theme in the architectural history of hospitals. Chapter 22 argues that hospital architecture itself functions as a medical technology, influencing the ways in which healing is conducted. It focuses on three transformative processes that have shaped both architecture and medicine: ventilation, surgical intervention, and democratization. In each case, the architectural form of the hospital shaped ways of healing and in turn was shaped by medical ideals, implemented by a collection of related architectural and medical technologies. The end of the century saw the de-institutionalization of hospitals, especially in mental health. At the same time, the rise of illnesses such as cancer and urban violence brought even more patients to the hospital. The architectural history of hospitals serves as a useful window on the history of medicine, with both doctors and architects contributing to the evolution of this ubiquitous building type.
