As for other kinds of built heritage, the historic monuments protection of hospitals has evolved considerably since the earliest protection, that of the Angers Hôtel-Dieu, mentioned on the first list ...of historic monuments in France, in 1840. When the new historic monuments law of 31 December 1913 was passed, it was largely medieval hospital establishments that had been given statutory protection, often distinguishing spectacular individual constructions at the expense of the hospital organisation as a whole. The trend however has been towards more coherent global protection measures, and also to the inclusion of a broader typological and chronological range of hospital buildings. Today, however, if we limit ourselves to the monuments which are ‘classés’, nineteenth and, even more, twentieth-century hospitals are still poorly protected. Hospital protections in the future will have to take into account the radical reorganisation of the country’s hospital infrastructure, and, if the protection is given to functioning hospitals, it will have to take into account the evolution of hospital practices. For a satisfactory protection of the hospital heritage, dialogue is a key consideration. The hospital administration is often wary of historic monument protection, fearing that it will be in contradiction with the way equipment must evolve, or, if the hospital is closed down, that it will discourage potential buyers.
The Etats-Unis neighbourhood at Lyons : the end of purgatory ?
In comparison with his « Cité Industrielle », seen as an anticipation of the town-planning theories of the Modern Movement, Tony ...Garnier’s realisations in the Etats-Unis neighbourhood in Lyons have always been seen as something of secondary importance, the result of a compromise.
For many years the area was neglected, and it is only since 1985 that a renewal programme has been undertaken, based on the ideal model that the architect had set forth in the « Cité Industrielle ». After a detailed historical and stylistic study, the author of this article questions the relations between the real Etats-Unis quarter and the imaginary « Cité Industrielle », and shows how the restoration programme has modified the original architecture, the specific qualities of which may be more correctly evaluated today.
PDF
