Light, air, and hygiene [...] were the best treatment for tuberculosis at the time.
The design and construction of specialized sanatoria coincided with the advent of Modernism. Architectural elements like flat roofs, terraces and balconies, and white- or light-painted rooms spread across Europe. Not unlike the sanatorium, the new architecture was intended to cure the perceived physical, nervous, and moral ailments brought on by crowded cities.
— CityLab
The collective desire to cure and prevent the seemingly unstoppable tuberculosis epidemic through deliberate design choices had given tremendous momentum to a revolutionary movement in our fairly recent architectural past: Modernism.
It is too early to say which, or if any, lasting effect the developing COVID-19 health crisis will leave on design and architecture. The cultural, and mainly technological, impact already caused by the sudden global switch to remote working and teaching will likely only be the first sign of irreversible change requiring continuing solutions and adjustments in years to come.
Read more on the subject of health-centered design as guiding factors in the evolution of modernist architecture in Archinect's review of the book X-Ray Architecture by Beatriz Colomina.
15 Comments
In Davos, Switzerland, the first buildings hosting foreign visitors were sanatoriums, which were built in the 1860s with flat roofs which were said to allow more sunlight into the interiors. Building flat-roofed structures became a trend in Davos which continues to this day.
2019: “Racism and sexism were the catalyst for modern planning, architecture and design.” - Elite Media and Academia
2020: “Epidemics were the catalyst for modern planning, architecture and design.” - Elite Media and Academia
It's almost like decades long worldwide movements have many influences and sources of inspiration, which are in no way mutually exclusive.
Change "the" to "a" in your statement and it's non-sarcastically accurate.
Chemex is having fun smearing his fecal posts on the walls. May as well leave Chemex to it.
The point is the elite media and academia is reactionary. It would be accurate to say racism was a side effect of modernism, while epidemics "a" catalyst but not the only one. Pruitt-Igoe started as a successful integrated utopian community.
So your point basically has no point, other than shouting words?
Their point is journalists are sensationalists for the sake of higher ratings and care little about the truth. its also known as "yellow journalism". google it. Google the history of "honest" journalism, it's short lived. False and politically/religiously motivated information since the printing press has usually been the purpose of the "media". journalism does not equal = truth nor science nor anything beyond emotive crap.
The white buildings of modernism were thought after sanitary reasons.
Too bad they forgot about mental health. Nature is full of organic design and diversity. Plain white architecture is not biophilic, but good in surgery rooms.
Just because Salesforce has a fake forest in their lobby doesn't make it a healthier place to work.
Very true. Natural light, ventilation, and passive solar design are just as important as beautiful craftsmanship, design, and decoration.
Anyone know if UV light kills this bug? I heard someone say that outdoors in sun is probably safe....
quick media bit - some hospitals were "recycling" masks via UV lighting https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4699414/
Cute username, Teeter. Very classy.
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