Josef Hoffmann's Purkersdorf Sanatorium 'Architecture for Modern Nerves'

As per the common theory that modern living (the city in particular) was the cause, or at least major factor in 'nervous imbalances', the most important treatment prescribed for patients with nervous disorders during the 19th century and early 20th century was to remove them from their usual context and isolate them from all 'unhealthy' influences from the outside world.

This was a major goal of  Josef Hoffmann's Purkersdorf Sanatorium - in the 1911 annual report for this institution, the doctors of the sanatorium emphasised the importance of removing patients from their normal unhealthy surroundings and offering them something different and more 'wholesome' in the sanatorium environment.

Architecture as a tool of medical science

The most striking thing about Hoffmann's building is that all references to history and traditional building types or architectural conventions were avoided. At the time it was built, it was unlike any other physical environment that its patients may have experienced. It was not fashioned like a house or villa as were many others before this time. The art critic Ludwig Hevesi noted that the simple harmony of the exterior was undisturbed by columns, gables, or any of the standard ornamental elements one was used to seeing. The usual window surrounds were replaced by bands of blue and white tiles, and the peaked roof was replaced by a flat roof with no softening moulding. As for the interior, 'everything is new, newer, newest'.

However, even though it was different, it was not intended to be yet another unpredictable element contributing to the constant changes of modern life. It expressed a rational order in its layout and organisation of space, in contrast to the supposedly unplanned chaos of cities. The building was intended to present as a predictable, controlled physical environment, protecting the inhabitants from spatial, visual or experiential shocks to the nerves.
The layout comprised of a tightly controlled geometric design with its 3 main functions - physical therapy, communal activities and sleeping - separated and placed on 3 different levels, each arranged symmetrically and bisected by a single corridor. The importance of an 'exact schedule' was emphasised for all patients; the tightly structured temporal division of the day was made concrete and spatial in Hoffman's building. Patients could proceed in an orderly fashion through the day and through the spaces of the building, sleeping, eating, receiving treatment, and relaxing at specific times in distinct spaces. The arrangement of the spaces also aided surveillance - the simplicity of the overall arrangement, and placement of the corridors and glass inserts made it possible to survey at a glance the entire length of each floor.

The geometric pattern of the window surrounds are mirrored throughout the building both externally and internally and in the hard and soft furnishings (the entrance floor tiling, the pattern of exposed reinforced concrete beams, the white wooden chairs (in the form of cubes) and their cushions in the hallways). A standardisation and repetition of form.

Patients were free from not only visual discordance but also physical obstacles with which they apparently struggled with in less 'modern' settings. For example, the heights of the mirrors, the design of the lamps and stairs all reflected the desire to spare patients the annoyance of bad lighting and aggravations of furniture and fittings which obstructed movement and functioned inefficiently.

Hoffman sought to create an environment free of spatial ambiguity, visual discordance and physical inconvenience and discomfort.

The design of the Purkersdorf Sanatorium was described by critics and by Hoffman himself as rational, honest, logical and based on the objective analysis of needs [this appeals to the business analyst in me!]
Hevesi described it as a 'logical organism' unencumbered by 'ornamental lies'.

Confusion of scientific rationale...

Both the Purkersdorf Sanatorium and the theories surrounding nervous ailments at the time were based not on facts shown to be empirically true, but on a set of presumptions about what a building and a life should ideally be: simple, balanced, organised and consistent.

'Hoffmann's architecture and Krafft-Ebing's medical science are not so much engaged in exposing facts as they are in designing new utopian truths.'

Leslie Topp then goes on to have a very interesting discussion of architecture versus medical 'science', and the different theories at the time, including those of Sigmund Freud.

"..In Josef Hoffmann's Purkersdorf Sanatorium we see an early example of the modernist dream of happiness through architecture built on the shifting foundations of psychiatric theory..."

Summarised from 
Topp, Leslie. "An Architecture for Modern Nerves: Josef Hoffmann's Purkersdorf Sanatorium." Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians 56, no. 4, (Dec 1996): 414-437. 

Building Details
Construction dates: 1903-1905
Function: sanatorium
Location: Purkersdorf, Wien-Umgebung, Lower Austria.

In 1926, against the will of Josef Hoffman, another floor was added to heighten the building.
Towards the end of WWII it served as a military hosptial before being requisitioned by the Russian occupying force. In 1952 it was rebuilt as a hospital and nursing home. The old pavilions were rebuilt but then fell into disrepair.

In 1995, the upper floor added in 1926 was removed and the original appearance was restored. It was used as a cultural venue then in 2003 renovated to become a senior care home.