At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, sunshine was typically considered to provide benefits to human health. People believed it could enhance medical treatment and improve sanitary conditions. Doctors recommended heliotherapy – i.e. solar ray treatment – ever more frequently, especially alongside aerotherapy. Numerous spas in pre-war Poland advertised themselves as offering desirable conditions for such therapies. Air and sunlight were seen as particularly valuable for developing immunity in children. Such positive public attitude towards sunshine prevailed practically until the early 1980s when public attention turned to the adverse effects of frequent prolonged exposure to sunlight and the harms caused by ultraviolet radiation.

Find out more about the exhibition ”The Cold Days Are Over”: https://muzeumwoli.muzeumwarszawy.pl/en/wystawa/warsaw-under-construction-15-the-cold-days-are-over/

The WARSAW UNDER CONSTRUCTION Festival was established at the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw in 2009. It addresses design issues in the broadest possible sense: from industrial design, applied graphics, through architecture and urban planning to social design.