Dispensary No. 2 of the Workers' Insurance Fund Savings Bank: architecture for health and occupational medicine in Santiago, Chile
Authors
-
Alicia Campos Gajardo
Universidad de Chile
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2569-3144
-
Paulina Alvarado Castro
Santiago, Chile
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0726-6181
Download
Abstract
Clinic No. 2 of the Caja del Seguro Obrero Obligatorio, declared a National Monument, is presented as a significant work that reflects the state commitments of the early twentieth century to improve workers' living conditions through labor protection and occupational medicine. Through an analytical approach, the study contextualizes the social conditions that gave rise to the Caja del Seguro Obrero Obligatorio, examining its relationship with public policies aimed at achieving health insurance and labor protection objectives, while observing the medical-scientific criteria that shaped the response embodied in Clinic No. 2 as an architectural typology associated with health care. The methodology involves the study of documentary sources and original architectural drawings, addressing the building from its urban, functional, and formal dimensions. The materials analyzed —technical documentation, health regulations, and institutional records —make it possible to establish connections between the architectural program of the Clinic and the legal framework for worker care. Overall, the study demonstrates that Clinic No. 2 constitutes a synthesis of architecture, occupational medicine, public health policy, and labor welfare, consolidating itself as a heritage reference in the State modernization process of Chilean public health.
