Writer Lyra Kilston will explore the evolution of building for health and its influential export to sun-drenched California. Sunlight used to be considered medicinal, a substance doctors prescribed in measured daily doses. Such early 20th-century ideas about health also impacted architecture. As doctors and architects began collaborating on European sanatoriums, the results ranged from eccentric sun-chasing devices to sleek modernist landmarks. These health-focused designs soon shaped housing and even furniture.

Lyra Kilston is a writer in Los Angeles focused on architecture, urbanism, and lesser-known histories. Her recent book, Sun Seekers: The Cure of California (Atelier Éditions, 2019), looks at three different moments in Southern California history and the many eccentric newcomers, from fervent nature-cure healers to modern architects to barefoot vegetarian hermits, who built up the region’s renown as a center for healthy, natural lifestyles long before the 1960s.

This free lecture is sponsored by the Lanterman Historical Museum Foundation.

No reservations are required. The lecture will be held at the La Cañada Flintridge Library.