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Walking through the Sierra de Collserola (Can Rectoret) you can see in the distance a construction with modernist architecture simulating the towers of a medieval castle.
These are, in fact, the rooms designated for the service space of the old Tibidabo sanatorium, which was designed for tuberculosis patients.
The main documentary sources come from municipal archives of an urbanized area without the administrative umbrella of the municipality, where records of all construction permits are not found until their legalization in 1980.
Both the builder Josep Bayó i Font and the architect Joan Rubió Bellver had connections with Antoni Gaudí. The Barcelona College of Architects has the documentation deposited by Rubió Bellver.
The Can Rectoret sanatorium in Les Planes arose from the need to isolate tuberculosis patients. Although tuberculosis is a disease as old as humanity, already being identified in Egyptian mummies.
Anti-tuberculosis sanatoriums were considered a solution, seeking isolation to avoid contagion and trusting in nature and good nutrition for recovery. Its causative agent was not discovered until 1882 by Dr. Robert Koch.
Since then, progress in knowledge and the fight against tuberculosis, also known as white plague, king’s disease or consumption, has been notable, presenting unprecedented improvements in biomedical research.
Tuberculin, a skin test to detect infection, soon emerged, followed shortly by the BCG vaccine, which reduced the spread of the disease. Subsequently, the first treatments appeared, initially in monotherapy and then in combination of drugs capable of achieving the impossible: the cure of tuberculosis.
The original property, Can Castellví de la Riera, was sold to the Sanatorio del Tibidabo society in 1903. In 1904 the services building was built, while the main building of the sanatorium was planned to be located a little further north, in an elevated position. to make the most of sunlight.
The current building has had various uses, including housing and a sculpture workshop. During the Civil War, the sanatorium building was used as a hospital for the wounded of the International Brigades.
Despite not being completed, the Tibidabo sanatorium is a relevant project that leaves an important legacy in the history of medicine and architecture of Barcelona.
It is important to highlight that the remaining building of the Can Rectoret sanatorium is cataloged with a level of protection B, 08019/2298, which carries important legal implications.