World Heritage and the Fight Against Coronavirus
As everyone has become painfully aware, the coronavirus pandemic has brought life as we know it to a standstill. Once bustling areas now look like set pieces from post-apocalyptic movies like 28 Days Later, with the lives of many people now drawing eerie parallels to such works of fiction. A great majority of the global population is on lockdown. Though “lockdown” is not a technical term used by public-health officials, people all over the world are being asked to stay home, and self-isolate, bans on gatherings have been implemented, and closures of certain types of businesses are being enforced. Furthermore, this unusual situation has drastically affected world heritage as well as every other aspect of life, sometimes in unexpected ways.
The Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau in Barcelona is one of these more unusual examples. Since it was inscribed on the World Heritage List on December 7, 1997, it and the Palau de la Música Catalana have become well-known as two of the finest contributions to Barcelona’s architecture by the Catalan art nouveau architect Lluís Domènech i Montaner. The Palau de la Música Catalana is an exuberant steel-framed structure full of light and space, and decorated by many of the leading designers of the day, providing a comfortable atmosphere. The Hospital de Sant Pau is equally bold in its design and decoration, while at the same time perfectly adapted to the needs of the sick. In particular, the beauty of its decorations was thought to help the healing process and the trees in its large garden were chosen for their association with psychotherapeutic properties. Unsurprisingly, this would come in handy during when Barcelona found itself in need of extra space to treat patients afflicted with COVID-19.
Since the outbreak has occurred, the site has prohibited access to regular visitors and has begun to enable its old school of nursing to attend to patients with coronavirus. In all of Catalonia, there are already 2,702 positive people and 55 deaths, according to figures made public on March 18 by the Ministry of Health. Center sources confirmed that a total of 10 new beds were already prepared at the old school, but they weren’t being used at the time. This measure is part of the hospital’s reorganization to deal with the pandemic and all centers have started to reorganize their space to accommodate the expected avalanche of patients. In Sant Pau, the area dedicated to oncohematological patients, up to now on floor 0, is now on floor 1, to prevent these patients from crossing the hospital at these moments of such intensity. Also, since March 19, the Sant Pau Gynecology and Obstetrics Service has a specific point of care for pregnant women with suspected COVID-19.
With these unusual circumstances having upended people’s lives, it’s only natural to look back on less uncertain times. With that in mind, it is therefore with a bit of nostalgia, a great deal of admiration and some reflections on how hospitals are now being built that many look back on buildings like Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau and can understand why it was declared a World Heritage site. Furthermore, despite the fact that the hospital has only recently begun to be utilized for its original purpose again, its design embodies an approach to healthcare that we would do well to reconsider today. Most importantly, at a time when infectious diseases were the major cause of death, each disease was treated in a separate pavilion, with separate entrances and exits which made it possible to prevent contact between patients affected by different illnesses. Just as COVID-19 is prompting reevaluation of other areas of society, it is only fitting that world heritage is being viewed in such a light as well. In short, it is fortunate that the hospital was already in a position to be utilized and maintained during this trying time, or else it may have been at risk of deterioration like other sites.
References
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7095327/
