STRUCTURE OF LIGHT
Irina Menzel
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CONTENT 3 9
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PLACE
LIGHT STUDY - LUMINOSITY
DESIGN IDEA
LIGHT STUDY - REFLECTION
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FORM AND MATERIAL
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LIGHT STUDY – OPACITY
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LIGHT STUDY
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MATHS LAWNS
Arial view
THE UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE
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Arial view
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PLACE Ground view
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Ground view
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NIGHT TIME
AMBIENT LIGHT DAY TIME
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Ingkarni Wardli elevation
SCALE & PROPORTIONS
One unit x 1.618
One unit
Barr Smith Library
Proportional systems can be used in developing of design. The Golden ratio is the most used one; it is found in nature . In case of those two buildings I’ve used the Golden rectangle, in which the ratio of the longer side to the shorter is the golden ratio—believing this proportion to be aesthetically pleasing.
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9am
Noon WINTER
3pmm
SHADE & SHADOWS
Noon
9am SUMMER
9am 6
Site Maths Barr Smith Library
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Ingkarni Wardli
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The Braggs
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3
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Movements
Access 1
Active and passive
ACCESS MOVEMENTS PATTERN
activities
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SOCIAL PLACE
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LUMINOSITY
Light is material of architecture through which we can best appreciate the nature of space, surface, colours and object. "Architecture is the masterly, correct and magnificent play of masses brought together in the light and our eyes are made to see forms in light", said Le Corbusier. Hence light is the way it is arranged gives an appreciation of the space and generates specific emotive and aesthetic responses.
Darkness -the absence of light -is part of our experience of light. Just as black is necessary to complete the definition of white, so darkness is necessary to complete the experience of light. Light can reveal or suppress. Darkness, in suppressing visual perception, represents the unknown, provoking many responses.
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Darkness as well as light is rich in associations and carries with it the potential for expressing meaning. Its effects can induce a mood, a feeling, or state of mind. Appreciation of darkness can lead to a contemplative light. Festive light, on other hand, celebrates a holiday or a place. Theatrical light dramatized a setting or an event. Metaphorical light suggests comparison with another place or concept. Symbolic light represents something else, often something even more immaterial than itself, such as the abstraction of infinity. The light then gains meaning through association with that which is symbolized. Divine light is a special aspect of symbolic light that represents the deity.
LIGHT REVILING MEANING
The natural language of light and dark is a powerful one with which to express meaning in architecture. Light, in revealing architecture, simultaneously reveals the meaning in the building, be it sublime or banal.
Louis I. Kahn was a master of massive building volumes. In his oeuvre, he turned away from modernism’s myth of transparency and thus led the way to an “after modernism.” Surrounded by transparent ribs, he sought protecting shell and hollows. For Kahn, light was “animated matter,” that is, light had to be activated by resistant gravity and density of the solid materials. Light was supposed to play with structure and in particular with the mass, whereby, particularly in his later projects, the architecture served as a kind of resonance chamber that passes the light that streams in on the interior as indirect radiation. In his minimalist architectural dialogue, Kahn dispensed with everything picturesque; no superficial detail should disturb the elementary order of his light- optimized spatial structure with shadows from which his building volumes derived their plasticity. And because Kahn believed that the dark shadows is a natural part of light, Kahn never attempted a pure dark space for a formal effect. For him, a glimpse of light elucidated the level of darkness: “A plan of a building should be real like a harmony of spaces in light. Even a space intended to be dark should have just enough light from some mysterious opening to tell us how dark it really is. Each space must be defined by its structure and the character of its natural light.” As result the light as a source is often hidden
behind louvers or secondary walls, thus concentrating attention on the effect of the light and not on its origin. Kahn was the one who rehabilitated the window as a hole that modernism had done away with. The dual function of his famous T-shaped window resolved the construction between satisfying a hunger for light, on the one hand, and a need for security on other.
LOUIS KAHN PURIST LIGHT
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NATURE IS LIGHT
In face of having lost of our constant and natural relationship to the landscape and its light, light can still remind us of places that we know through recreating their particular patterns of light, such as shafts of light that penetrate through leafy brunches of trees. The major concern in urban academic space to provide connection, both real and meta-
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phorical, between inside and outside. Images of light in nature were used as powerful models for creating the luminous qualities of light pavilion.
IDEA 1 12
NATURE IS LIGHT
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IDEA 2 14
NATURE IS LIGHT
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IDEA 3 16
REFLECTION
The turn ‘Reflection’ is a universal property of matter. In inorganic nature, reflection is the process of things reproducing, under the influence of other things, traces or imprints of the things exercising that influence; in organic nature, reflection is an active process, such as in the adaption of animals to their environment or the irritability of plants or other organisms. Here, properties in the organism wish are the outcome of a long process of adaption by the species are manifested actively by the individual in the immediate influence of other bodies in the environment the like of which have been present during this period of development. The concept of reflection, as the correspondence of mental images with material world which is the source of those images, is the basis of the materialist approach to cognition. In politics and society, we often speak of a particular change or even being ‘reflected’ in such and such an event or change.
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Hegel’s analysis of reflection in terms of correspondence between phenomena and their essence is founded on his critique of formal logic.
PHILOSOPHICAL MEANING
Reflection is the interaction between light and surfaces that defines our visual impression of materials, objects and spaces. Without light, surfaces remain unseen, and without a surface to interrupt a beam of light, the light itself remains unseen. A simple change of wall covering, or the addition of a mirror or glazed painting can dramatically alter the lit appearance of a space and bring to us a visual understanding of different types of light reflection such as specular reflection and diffuse reflection.
At the Acropolis in Greece, an important part of the architectural sequence from the town below, was through the Propylaea gate, past the Erechthion. The Erechthion contained a pool of water said ton have been produced by Poseidon’s trident. A pool forms part of a reinterpretation of the Acropolis in Mies Van der Rohe’s Barcelona Pavilion, where reflection and refraction an important aspect of the architectural composition. The Ames Gatehouse Lodge by H.H. Richardson uses water as part of an overall compositional ode to the importance of the four elements: earth, air, fire and water. Frank Lloyd Wright also references these four elements at Fallingwater and in his design of the Hollyhock house in Los Angeles, California. In the projects that follow light refracted and/or reflected through water, or other media such as glass, establishes a special mood in architecture. Refraction generates reflections of light that are bend, fractured and dispersed, lending a special quality to light that allows the viewer to know that water is nearby.
Specular reflectors maintain the integrity of a beam of light, and light striking the reflector at an angle will be reflected at an equal and opposite angle. The trend of mirrored and reflective facades is expanding across architectural segments. Seen in both commercial and residential building, to even include installations, temporary designs, hospitality and museums. Within the trend, architects and designers are exploring the benefits of semitransparency, the idea that modern architecture can extend far beyond its physical scale, blend within its environment, and in some cases almost disappear. The semi-transparency and reflective nature of the materials used allow for each design to become an extension of the environment as opposed to a division. To achieve this look architects seek a number of materials: mirrors, reflective film, tinted glass and even mirrored aluminium composite.
Polished surfaces produce specular reflections which means ‘like a mirror’, and a good specular reflection will not distort the beam of light. This enables us to have mirror surfaces that gives us an image of ourselves or surrounding world.
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SECTION 1 SCALE 1: 500
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SECTION 2 S CALE 1: 500
SECTIONS & VIEWS
SECTION 3 SCALE 1: 500
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PAVILION ABOVE THE GROUND
PAVILION STRUCTURAL LIGHT FEATURES
INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL WALLS
GROUND FLOOR
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EXPLODED PERSPECTIVE
PERSPECTIVE VIEW 1 PERSPECTIVE VIEW 2
M/F/DIS TOILETS RESEPTION SEMINAR ROOM 1 READING SPACE/ RELAXING AREA SEMINAR ROOM 2
EXHIBITION SPACE
LIBRARY
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GROUND VIEW
MOVEMENTS AND ACCESS OUTSIDE OF PAVILION
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AERIAL VIEW 1 AERIAL VIEW 2
ACCESS & MOVEMENTS
MOVEMENTS AND ACCESS INSIDE OF PAVILION
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We can only know what we experience. Our experience of light begins in the personal and proceed to the universal. We learn, in the environment of our childhood, how forms are revealed in light. We learn what forms mean, from the small forms of out toys to the large forms that shelter us.
Some of these meanings are cultural, absorbed through rituals and their settings or simply reflecting an attitude to life. Some of these meanings are personal, associated with particular events or persons. Our cumulative experience of light in places is complex, multilayered, and rich.
The patterns of the light with which we grow up, and which attract our attention in later times, have meaning for us. Some of these meanings are universal, archetypal images that humanity shares.
Through my design I want to bring to people such light experience place that encompasses two distinct aspects: the Light pavilion itself, its physical features and characteristics which determine how it differs at any given moments from any other place; and the particular set of changes that take place within it over time, creating distinctive patterns of diurnal and seasonal changes.
INTERNAL VIEWS OF DAY AND EVENING LIGHT
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3D CONSTRUCTION DETAILS
SELECTED REBBLES
GRASS LAYER GROWTH ON ROOF GROWING MEDIUM SOIL FOAM INSULATION
PRECAST SHELL BEAM
RE-INFORCED CONCRETE CEILING/ FLOOR PLATE ADDITIONALSERVICES SPACE BETWEEN SUSPENDED CEILING AND DOUBLE TEES
CONCRETE BLOCKS
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SMOOTH TRANSITIONS BETWEEN GLAZING AND FRAME PROFILES ENSURE UNOBSTRUCTED RAINWATER RUN-OFF STRUCTURAL GLAZING
OUTSTANDING , SERTIFIED AIRTIGHTNESS
LIGHT AND MATERIALS Light and materials are mutually dependent on each other. Materials are key to understand light in architecture because they directly affect the quantity and the quality of the light.
Combination of skylight and steel spiral structures define the place where light enters. The steel structures bring the rhythm of light, no light. Where the structures are, there is
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OPACITY
Opacity is the measure of impenetrability to electromagnetic or other kinds of radiation, especially visible light. In radiative transfer, it describes the absorption and scattering of radiation in a medium, such as a plasma, dielectric, shielding material, glass, etc. An opaque object is neither transparent nor translucent. When light strikes an interface between two substances, in general some may be reflected, some absorbed, some scattered, and the rest transmitted. https://www.definitions.net/definition/OPACITY
As the semantic phenomenon it is related to the truth conditions of sentential contexts and reflects the paraconsistent character of human languages. Accordingly, a sentential context is opaque in relation to another if the light of the truth-conditions of the later is not allowed to pass through the propositional attitude gluing both contexts together, whereby both explosions are avoided or controlled. https://semanticsarchive.net/Archive/GI0ODM1Z/On%20Opacity06alpha.2.pdf
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PHILOSOPHICAL MEANING
Opacity has been one of the most intriguing and important matters in Philosophy, Logic and in Linguistics. The ‘latu sensu’ notion of opacity can be initially figuratively described as the phenomenon of a sentential context not allowing the light of a semantic/logic principle to pass through, i.e., a certain context is opaque because a certain (mode of) inference is not visibly valid therein.
Alvar Aalto succeeded in translating the modern fluid space into a metaphorical landscape by replacing the sober spatial frame-work with a flexible, highly differentiated spatial image that serves as a stage for light. He was of the view that the various phenomena of light should be combined in the interplay of the materials used and their surfaces with an architectural vocabulary that expressed and characterized the place. As consequence, in his buildings he drew on a number of possibilities in order to make it possible to experience the fleeting Nordic light in his spatial concepts. His approach to light in his buildings is reminiscent of the atmosphere in Finland’s dense forests, in which light is filtered through clouds or foliage. He placed multifarious filters between inside and outside in order to refract the light. Elsewhere he allowed sunlight to penetrate the rooms directly, where it revealed itself as an illuminating sport but never as means of flooding the space. Instead, Aalto created various light accents that varied in intensity over the course of the day. In the Parish Church in Seinajoki, Finland (1958- 1960), Aalto used a specially-shaped vessel to enclose space. The Lutheran interior space, separated from the worldly exteri-
or, is expressed as unity. Although upon first glance the space seems to be a simple volume, in fact the enclosure is very specifically shaped and moulded in light to achieve that impression. The church gets narrow toward the altar, the walls converging and the ceiling sloping downwards. These converging forms, not the light, create a focus on the altar and the cross behind it. The window forms respond to the shape of the enclosure, merging light and space into a seamless unity. Tall slots of clear glazing are centred between the columns at the side, the columns for the most part baffling views from the congregation to them. At the top, the glazing widens to span between the columns, following the curve of the cross vaults at the top so that daylight washes over these surfaces. From the outside, these glazing forms express the interior structure and organization. From the inside, the entering light illuminates the forms nearest it in most strongly, casting shadows that are softened by the light coming from the opposite side. The white surfaces of the interior accept and reflect this light, so that in the end it is coming from all directions, from all the white surfaces. This even light with subtle variations unifies the interior space. The forms do not stand out as strong shapes for their own sake but contribute to the unity of the enclosure.
https://architaliancurrydotcom.wordpress.com/2014/09/02/chiesa-di-alvar-aalto-a-riola/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/jonathanrieke/9399568174/in/photostream/
LIGHT UNIFYING SPACE
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FILTRATION
Most light sources emit a broad range of wavelengths that cover the entire visible light spectrum. For most simple lighting applications, such as interior lights, flashlights, and headlights, this wide wavelength spectrum is acceptable and quite useful. In many instances and for certain applications, however, it is desirable to produce light that has a restricted wavelength spectrum. This can be easily accomplished through the use of specialized filters that transmit some wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation while selectively absorbing or reflecting others. (https://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/optics/lightandcolor/filter.html)
Extrapolating from this process of separation and refinement, the philosophical concept of refinement is the application of an analytical framework against which to review and rank concepts. Separating out concepts worthy of further development. Taking this philosophical concept of Filtration further, it could be applied as a means of purification of Architectural concepts, or alternatively the conceptual filtration of light in a space to through a filtration medium (space/colour/light/ dark) to produce a desired effect.
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PHILOSOPHICAL MEANING
In science Filtration is the act of passing a liquid or gas through a filter to remove impurities, either for the purpose of collection or purification of the liquid or gas, or alternatively the solid.
It seems unlikely that light could conceal structure, since light reveals what is there, and structure is always present in a building. However, sometimes structure is hidden purposefully or thoughtlessly. Sometimes the pattern and rhythm of the light contradicts the pattern and rhyme of the structure. Sometimes the way the structure looks and the way it really acts are not coincident, or are unfamiliar to us, leaving unexpected places open where light can enter counter to our expectations. Such in case in the chapel of Notre Dame du Naut (Atelier Le Corbusier 1950-55) at Ronchamp, France. The shape of the ceiling/ roof construction, sagging in the middle, suggest weight. And yet, along the top of the thick masonry walls that it looks like are built so heavily in order to support the roof, a slit clearly allows daylight to enter. The structure remains a mystery. The roof rests on columns of reinforced concrete located inside the thick rubble walls. The roof itself is constructed in manner similar to the wing of an airplane. A thin external shell is stretched over a framework of beams that defines the surface. Although the roof looks heavy, and its surface is visibly concrete, it is in fact a relatively light weight shell. Le Corbusier intended the passage of light between wall and ceiling to cause consternation.
The interior of the chapel is very dim, due of the small areas of daylight openings into the church. These openings are either deeply baffled or the daylight is filtered through coloured glass and passed through the deep south wall. The contrast between the daylight and the dim interior is great enough that the edges of the splayed openings are veiled in ‘sfumato’, the tones from light to dark blurring so as to conceal the exact form. The light decomposes the edges. The perceived varying shades of grey are due to the way light falls on the surfaces. Some surfaces, such as the deep red surfaces of the light shaft that opens toward the pulpit, are barely discernible. The chiaroscuro effects are played mostly at the low end of the scale, with a few bright counterpoints, such as the window behind the altar that admits daylight unabated, maintaining the high end of the scale so that perceptions of form in light are made relative to that bright light. The materiality of the forms is denied by the way that light and shadow play over them.
LIGHT CONCEALING STRUCTURE http://art-now-and-then.blogspot.com/2015/05/notre-dame-du-haut-ronchamp-france.html
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THE UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE REPRESENTATION II
References: Millet, Marrietta S.Light Revealing Architecture.Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1996. Michelle Corrodi and Klaus Spechtenhauser.Illuminating, With an Essay by Gerhard Auer.Birkhauser Verlag AG, 2008.
2018