Ecole de Chirurgie,1774, Godoin Jacques

Kisairis Espinal 

School of Surgery (Ecole de Chirurgie)

     Ecole de Chirurgie is a Neoclassical style, during this period the according to the urban diction this period was the "western movements in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that draw inspiration from the "classical" art and culture of classical antiquity"(Braham, The Architecture of the French Enlightenment.). Ecole de Chirurgie was design by Godoin Jacques from 1769-1774 after surgery was recognized as a part in the medical field. The reason this was knowledge was because King Louis had high respect towards his friend Premier Chirurgien. After this an academy for surgery was establish around 1731. The construction of Jacaques shows an external façade with many horizontal extensions. The horizontal design gives it more open space which vary in size, form and the functions that they perform. Maybe Jacaques envision a place where after school hours the local residents would have access to have community gathering/events. 

The design of this rectangular theatre located on the ground floor is used for instruction of midwives, public hall, chemistry hall, room for student in training and a small hospital. The plan on the left side shows this massive open space where these midwives would go research, this lets me understand that they worked with one another during their lab research. The lab research theater is the heart of the building; I believe everything works around it. I feel that for the purpose of this being a medical school the layout works very well because of this lab being in the core. The second level was a library for displaying medical instruments, lecture rooms and offices. Jacques envision including a civil prison where supplies were able to be stored but this was never built. As you can see the second level is more of a hands in space where students would get to access their equipment etc.

            The most complex part of was the hemispherical amphitheater located at the rear. Now this part is connected to the University Rene Desecrate which focuses on social and medical sciences. This university is public and enrolls over 30,000 students. This project is a prime example of neo-classical architecture in France which was inspired by Gondoin during his second visit to Italy. The role this building took as a new typology of a "changed the hotel typology by building in the style for a public building versus a private house. Three wings surround a court acting as circulation for the entire building. Situated on an irregular plot, the Ecole is able to appear symmetrical" (Ayers, The Architecture of Paris). Due to the fact this project had such a big impact in the French community this is Gondoin only known work in architecture. This school had given so many opportunity during this time to expand on the medical aspect when it came to surgery. For this being the first medical school the concept behind it worked very well. I feel this set the grounds to what a medical school should look like and how the spaces work together. Today this is the headquarters of the Paris Descartes University.

Sources:
-Ayers, Andrew. The Architecture of Paris: An Architectural Guide Axel Menges, 2004.

-Braham, Allan. The Architecture of the French Enlightenment. Berkeley, CA: University of             
      California Press, 1980.
-Watkin, David. A History of Western Architetcure. 3rd ed., Watson Guptill, 2000.