fig.1 Interwar anti-tuberculosis advertisement by the Rensselaer County Tuberculosis Association. fig.2 Vitaglass, the first ul- traviolet health glass, was the result of precise chemistry and continuous assays as suggested by this recipe by W H S Chance of Chance Bros, who partnered Pilkington Bros on the project. (courtesy of Pilkington plc.) fig.3 Vitaglass exemplifies a particular relationship between the body and the weather. Vita Glass Marketing Board ad from Architectural Review 01.1935. (Pilkington plc.) fig.4 Ultraviolet health glass promised heliotherapy in nordic climates. Vita Glass Marketing Board ad, from Architectural Review 01.1934. (Pilkington plc.) fig.5 The fit body of health. Interwar advertisement for the Municipal Tuberculosis Sanitari- um by The Tuberculosis Institute of Chicago and Cook County. fig.6 Vita Glass Marketing Board ad, from Architectural Review 03.1934. (Pilkington plc)
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Nowhere was the linkage of glass and health more explicit than in the development of ultraviolet health glass, which increased ultraviolet light transmission through a particular glass chemistry. [fig. 2] Precise quality control measures during production enabled the admission of germicidal sunlight, leading to claims by ultra-violet health glass buildings to radiant health. [fig. 3] The curative value of the sun made it fashionable amongst vanguard medical practitioners, demonstrated both in medical heliotherapy and purpose-built sanatoria. Because of the climate of Britain where alpine and mediterranean heliotherapy was impractical, if not impossible for much of the year, ultraviolet health glass became a way of transporting mediterranean and alpine weather north, allowing indoor suntanning while maintaining protection from the temperature, wind and rain. Glass chemistry sought to transform the interior climate with the biochemical components of natural light, providing the northern latitudes of Britain with the heliotherapy opportunities found in more benign climates. [fig. 4 ] The quality control of light extended from building product to architectural space to the human body itself — fit, tanned, toned, youthful and active physiques were promoted as normative and emblematic of health. [fig. 5] A good building [fig. 6] became one which produced healthy effects — producing health — by harnessing technology to admit the healing powers of the natural world into the building. *
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