Hospital de Sant Pau

Mosaic with flower motif

The Hospital de Sant Pau is another great modernist building by Lluis Domenech i Montener (the same architect who designed the Palau de la Musica Catalana).  It was in use as a hospital for nearly a hundred years, until 2009 when a newer facility was opened nearby.  It's currently being restored and is a UNESCO world heritage site.  Kevin was working all afternoon to meet a project deadline, so I spent a few hours wandering alone among the buildings.

The hospital was a unique design for its time, consisting of various buildings dedicated by medical specialty and connected via underground tunnels.  The tunnels allowed them to transport patients between, say, triage and surgery without having to take them outside.  The guided tour took our group through one of the tunnels and into two of the pavilions.

Most of the pavilions were in use as wards for patients and were covered floor-to-ceiling with decorative tile (tile being an easy-to-clean, antiseptic material).

Exhibits remind you of the building's original purpose as a hospital.

The administration building is the most lavishly decorated of the pavilions.  The tilework and stained glass throughout has all the hallmarks of modernism - light, nature, and organic motifs.

One of the most interesting aspects of the tour, for me, was an exhibit showing how they have been slowly undoing all of the "modern improvements" as part of the UNESCO restoration.  When it was a functioning hospital, over the years they bricked over windows, added partitions so that patients could have private rooms, and basically did whatever was necessary to maintaining the building as a working hospital.  But now that it is a world heritage site, all of that needs to be removed and restored to its original state as Montener designed it.

Above: post-restoration.  Below: before restoration.

It's a slow process, but worth it to preserve the historic buildings for future generations to admire.

This skylight in the Admin building; a prototype for the iconic one in the Palau de la Musica Catalana.