An architecture for health in Spain: The buildings of the health facilities plan in Palencia and Zamora from the 1950s to the present day

Abstract

The architecture of the Plan de Instalaciones Sanitarias (Health Facilities Plan, 1945-1982) defined the configuration of hospital buildings throughout Spain, creating buildings that still survive today, transformed to adapt them to new medical and social needs. The Plan was conceived with a clear vocation to alleviate the scarce number of existing healthcare facilities and to guarantee universal coverage for those affiliated to the Seguro Obligatorio de Enfermedad (Compulsory Health Insurance), promoting the development of healthcare in the main Spanish municipalities. Specifically, the buildings of the health care residences configured the network of hospitals that exists today, based on the typologies developed internationally and which contributed to the introduction of modern architecture and functionalist principles in official buildings.