Heliotropism

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Beyond the sacred, the sun structures social and material practices. In the rural world, it dictates when sowing and harvesting happen; it sets festive rhythms, such as harvest or solstice celebrations. With industrialisation, our relationship to the solar cycle evolved: urbanisation reinforced a quest for light, illustrated in the twentieth century by the development of sanatoriums. These high-altitude establishments, with their south-facing terraces, exploited natural light for its curative virtues. Similarly, beaches, once neglected, became places of sociability and leisure thanks to paid holidays. Tanning, a symbol of good health and bodily aesthetics, became a cultural phenomenon linked to the rise of cosmetic products.

The sun also influences human movements, impelling migrations towards sunny regions, or sparking enthusiasm for tourist destinations bathed in light. This quest for sun, motivated by concerns for health and well-being, has transformed territories: seaside resorts and luxurious sites, such as Sun City, offer an experience disconnected from the surrounding reality.

Initially relegated to a symbolic role by industrialisation, the sun has now returned to the forefront of ecological concerns. The rise of solar technologies, from photovoltaic panels to architectural projects, reflects an effort to reconcile humans with this sustainable resource. Thus, heliotropism, at the intersection of biology, culture and space, highlights the richness of connections with the living world. From sanatorium terraces to modern habitats, each place testifies to a perpetual quest for harmony with this indispensable star, so much more than a simple source of light: the sun.

Monte Verità

A Utopia Dedicated to the Liberation of Body and Mind

Overlooking the hills of Ascona, Monte Verità was conceived in 1900 by Ida Hofmann and Henri Oedenkoven to re-establish the connections between body, mind and the living world. In response to the constraints of industrial modernity, it represents a space of regeneration founded on simplicity, light, and communion with the living.

Simplicity and harmony

From its inception, Monte Verità advocated a life stripped of bourgeois comforts. Its discreet wooden structures, integrated into the landscape, embody a sobriety inspired by Rousseauist ideals. The site became a refuge for artists and thinkers attracted by the principles of Lebensreform: organic farming, vegetarianism, alternative education, and naturism. Monte Verità aimed to be an ambitious experiment where harmony with the living world redefined human and social relationships.

Institutionalisation and ideological tensions

The notoriety of Monte Verità, particularly in the 1930s, disrupted the initial utopia. The construction of a modern hotel marked a shift towards commercial logic, further accentuated by the purchase of the estate by Baron Eduard von der Heydt. Monte Verità became a place open to tourism, thus gradually abandoning its ideal of self-sufficiency. This necessary evolution caused tensions within the community, reflecting the difficulty of reconciling utopia and pragmatism.

Body and sun for liberation

At the heart of the initial project, the body occupied a central place: nudity, light and solar vitality were perceived as means of emancipation. Theosophy largely influenced this approach, associating the sun with a regenerative force both physical and spiritual. The body, beyond its utilitarian aspect, became a vector of transformation, reconnecting with the universal laws of the living world.

Legacy and contradictions

Monte Verità, witness to the utopian aspirations of the twentieth century, illustrates the tensions between idealism and reality. Although it succumbed to the logics of capitalism and tourism, the site nevertheless retains the imprint of a quest for freedom and a reinvention of the relationships between human beings and the living world. Despite being constrained by its era, it allowed for a questioning of social norms and hierarchies. It became a symbol of audacity and experimentation, with the sun and the living world as pillars of spiritual and bodily regeneration.

Under the Sun of Sanatoriums

Architecture, Heliotherapy and Body Discipline

At the end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth century, Switzerland became a key location in the fight against tuberculosis with the emergence of sanatoriums. These establishments, linked to the Lebensreform movement, advocated a life centred on light, healthy eating, and harmony with nature. Leysin, a resort in the Vaud Alps, crystallised medical advances, hygienist aspirations and social issues.
Tuberculosis, an endemic respiratory disease, benefitted from new treatments such as heliotherapy. Popularised by Dr. Auguste Rollier, this treatment involved progressive exposure to sunlight to strengthen the immune system. Leysin, with its dry, sunny climate and pure air, became a preferred place for treatment. The south-facing terraces of the sanatoriums welcomed patients according to a precise protocol, where the sun was elevated to the status of a therapist.

An architecture in symbiosis with life

To meet the requirements of heliotherapy, the architecture of sanatoriums evolved with the gradual replacement of pavilion structures. Characterised by separate spaces to promote ventilation and isolation of individuals, pavilion structures gave way to buildings that combined all functions. Maximum solar exposure was prioritised for the entire structure while facilitating patients' access to light. Rooms and balconies were thus connected in these new constructions.
In Leysin and Davos, the use of concrete, steel and large windows contributed to the design of facades oriented towards the south, generously capturing natural light. Loggias, continuous balconies and vast sunny terraces became key elements, offering patients spaces suitable for sunbathing. In these sanatoriums, light became a central therapeutic tool, fully integrated into the architecture.

Between health and discipline

Heliotherapy imposed strict rules. Patients followed precise schedules, rigorous sun exposure and a particular diet. This medical discipline reflected a normative vision of re-educating the body by light, often to the detriment of the individual.
Sanatoriums, reserved for an elite eager to escape urban miasmas, also highlighted social limits. While Germany favoured the working classes having access to them through social reforms initiated by Bismarck, Swiss sanatoriums were more aligned with an exclusive dynamic.
Today, converted into hotels or wellness centres, these buildings, from an era when the sun was considered a remedy, remind us of the contradictions of a medicine centred on the individual without addressing the structural causes of diseases. Leysin, a bastion of heliotherapy, embodies this paradox: a promise of freedom and healing on the one hand, a place of rigid exile on the other.
Swiss sanatoriums have now surpassed their medical role to become architectural and cultural symbols. Between care and control, light and shadow, they testify to a complex relationship with the sun, an agent of regeneration as much as of discipline.

At the beach

A New Space for Sociability

In the twentieth century, the beach emerged as a place where well-being, sociability and the appreciation of bodies converged. Once the preserve of an elite, the beach gradually opened to a wider public, thanks to the development of seaside resorts and railways. Coastal areas became popular destinations, offering a rare space where idleness and public lounging were socially accepted. Thus, the beach acquired an iconic status as a sanctuary of leisure.
The first paid vacations in 1936 contributed to this paradigm shift. Bathing cabins, promenades and restaurants transformed beaches into spaces for socialising and leisure, where families shared games, swimming and contemplation. However, while holidaying by the sea became widespread, in practice it was far from standardised, people’s quest for well-being clashing with the commercial logic that shaped destinations and activities.

Performance and freedom: the Californian example

In California, the beach became a stage for physical performance. At Muscle Beach in the 1930s–1950s, sculpted bodies connoted self-discipline and social success, while surfers in Malibu performed a version of freedom in harmony with nature. These Californian practices often advocated, or appeared to, body ideals, alienating those who did not conform to them.

Naturism and nudism: two philosophies of the body

In Europe, naturism, influenced by movements like Lebensreform, advocated a harmonious relationship with nature through nudity, emphasising environmental respect and acceptance of self. In France, places like Cap d’Agde embody this philosophy. Unlike nudism, which primarily values simple nudity in various social contexts, naturism claims an ecological and spiritual grounding. However, it remains marginal, if sometimes exploited by the tourism industry.

Tanning: between aesthetics and health

Long associated with agricultural labour, tanning became a marker of elegance in the twentieth century thanks to figures like Coco Chanel and the rise of paid vacations. Yet this aesthetic quest has had a downside: prolonged exposure to UV rays is now criticised for its harmful effects, such as skin ageing and an increased risk of cancer. As a privilege of those who can afford sunny leisure activities, tanning is a marker of social inequality.

Sea, Sex and Sun

Summer’s fashion, advertising and exposed bodies

Each summer, fashion magazines combine to stage the female body, sculpted by light and bearing the stigma of rampant consumerism. Beneath this well-lit surface, the sun illuminates both bodies and commercial strategies. This "summer body", a concept defined by historian Christophe Granger, both embodies an aesthetic ideal and reflects the products designed to enhance it.
Fashion photography has relied on light – natural or artificial. Light magnifies golden complexions, transforming skin into a screen onto which the aspirations of an era are projected. Fashion enables this alchemy: light fabrics, daring cuts and accessories enhance bodies that are transformed into a visual discourse of desire and consumption. In shaping such idealised summer bodies, magazines such as Vogue impose often unattainable aesthetic standards.

Commodification

Every summer, a new array of products invades the advertising pages: sunscreens, shimmering oils, minimalist swimsuits. But what is really being sold? The dream of a body perfectly aligned with cultural notions of summer. Such marketing follows a cyclical temporality: the deep tanning of the 1980s has adjusted to public health concerns and been replaced by today’s natural glow. Behind these adjustments, the economy that renews itself remains intact.

Female bodies under pressure

The evolution of summer bodies reflects societal changes. The bikini of the 1960s became a symbol of emancipation, while the 2000s valued a slim and toned body, reflecting the rise of the gym. Today, self-acceptance dominates the discourse of women’s bodies but remains undermined by contradictory injunctions. These bodies, both subjects of freedom and commercial objects, crystallise the tensions between emancipation and alienation.
More than just a star, the sun is a provider, a supplier of aesthetics inviting commerce and social aspiration. Are we spectators or actors? With each summer cycle, these memorial bodies revive an unending quest for freedom and desire, leaving a lingering question: where does the dream end and servitude begin?

Heliotropism

Monte Verità

Under the Sun of Sanat­ori­ums

At the beach

Sea, Sex and Sun

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Under the Sun of Sanatoriums