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Tuberculosis was a widespread disease in the 19th and early 20th
Century, particularly among the workers in the diamant industry
in Amsterdam. Collectively they organised the founding of sanatorium
Zonnestraal, one of the architectural masterpieces of the 20th Century
architecture, designed by Jan Duiker. As a typical Modernist he
believed in what he called 'spiritual economy'. This meant a.o.
that the built and natural environment should have a positive influence
on the emotional well being of the patient and therefore on his
curement. Both the arrangement of the buildings, the organisation
of each individual building, the detailing of each space and the
visual appearance were all used to this effect. And effect it surely
had, judging from the memories of previous patients or their relatives.
This memory still lives on.
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