Focusing on the construction of three hospitals (Gaffrée e Guinle, Hospital do Câncer, and Hospital das Clínicas), the article discusses transformations in Rio de Janeiro's public health sector during the 1920s. The three facilities' architectural design - all under the responsibility of architect and engineer A. Porto d'Ave (1890-1952) - reflected concerns of both sanitary reform and new concepts in bacteriology. Some points are particularly relevant: the relation between advances in bacteriology and architectural development; the concepts and conceptions of bacteriology, on the one hand, and new paradigms in hospital construction, on the other. Discussions were taking place at a critical moment, when there was a shortage of hospital beds throughout Rio, at the same time that adoption of the traditional pavilion structure was hindered by the advances introduced by modern architecture in block.
public health; hospital; architecture; Rio de Janeiro
