The Building Envelope as Light Filtering Skin in Architecture

THE BUILDING ENVELOPE AS LIGHT FILTERING SKIN IN ARCHITECTURE

Essay by Vessela Pendeva Towards The Immateriality of The Building Envelope Intensive Lecture and Writing Workshop | spring semester 2016 AUIC School | Politecnico di Milano | Dr. Stamatina Kousidi

THE BUILDING ENVELOPE AS LIGHT FILTERING SKIN IN ARCHITECTURE

INDEX Introduction 1. Treatment of light in architecture: key moments of the XX century ● Transparency: from an opportunity to a signature ● The building envelope as an interactive junction 2. Towards the responsibility of the building envelope ● The Standard-of-living package ● Innovative solutions rising in the middle decades of the XX century 3. The light motif in architecture. From an innovational approach to a precisely studied ornament ● Study case 1: Jean Nouvel, The Institute of Arab World. 1988, Paris ● Study case 2: Peter Zumthor, Kolumba Museum. 2007, Cologne Conclusions List of captions Bibliography

introduction Qualche volta la luce non è quantità di lux; qualche volta la luce è il cielo completo che precipita nella stanza.

– Sotsass, Ettore. Foto dal finestrino. India, 1985

Human beings, plants and animals are part of the organic nature of our planet and, as such, share a complex frame of living essentials: air, light and nourishment. Unlike living organisms, architecture consists of artefacts, commonly perceived as non-living, non-breathing, inorganic. Nevertheless, series of features relate the inorganic nature of the artefact to the dynamics of the human being: light, air and space are all predispositions that influence architectural organisms from two perspectives – as indisputable necessities (utilitas) and as purposes defining the perception of space (venustas).

The characteristics of a space are strongly connected to the way in which light integrates with it. It is in the nature of human beings as biological creatures to perceive the differently illuminated environments and objects in different ways. The dynamic daylight and the regulated artificial lighting can influence not only the physical and measurable conditions of a space, but can also trigger and stimulate various feelings and experience on a visual level. Therefore light constitutes an essential role in the discussion of quality in architecture as a living environment for humans.

Image 1: Photo by Morey, Hal. 1930. New York City Grand Central Terminal.

1920

1940

1960

Throughout this essay I shall trace the evolution of treatment of light in the architecture of the XX century in order to demonstrate the dynamics of evolution of the topic with reference to 4 poles: Opportunity: breakthroughs and innovations conferred by new technologies, industrialization and digitalization in architecture, which gave greater freedom of choosing the rhythm and the complexity of openings to natural light.

Theory: a concept or a philosophy that solicited a discussion on quality in architecture in terms of treatment of light.

Creativity: aesthetic approaches to form and style achieved through ornaments of light and shadow.

Responsibility: principles of eco-sustainability as a transversal approach to the architectural project. In particular, strategies of energy saving related to the regulation of sunlight access.

The main element that this research aims towards is the building envelope, as the architectural component which is mostly exposed to the external influences of the dynamic natural environment.

Peter Zumthor’s Kolumba Museum and Jean Nouvel’s Institute of Arab World are two case studies that I took inspiration from. They illustrate the result of the historical path of studies on treatment of light and put a stress on the visual effect of light as an ornament in architecture - an aesthetical element that not only decorates space but also gives birth to very individual perceptions.

01 TREATMENT OF LIGHT IN ARCHITECTURE AT THE BEGINNING OF THE XX CENTURY ● Transparency: from an opportunity to a signature Transparent surfaces became a common pertinence in the 1920’s as a result of the technical opportunity conferred by industrialization in architecture. The possibility of separating the structure from its enclosure gave greater freedom of choosing the rhythm and amount of openings on the building façade. Treatment of light was strongly connected to treatment of glass in architecture.

When it comes to bringing light to architecture, the School of Bauhaus has made a great contribution. It is no exaggeration to say that the School’s representatives are liable for the significant shift in the design of buildings. One of the most permanent and affecting of their topics was the role of light in modifying interior space and remodeling exterior image. For the Bauhaus, bringing in a major amount of light meant openness, freedom and interaction, and this translated into projects that emphasized on the use of glass as a melting boundary between internal and external space.

Images 2, 3: Bauhaus Dessau Building designed by Walter Gropius in 1926. Dessau, Germany.

The Bauhaus building in Dessau designed by Walter Gropius was inaugurated in 1926. Manifesting the School’s ideas so vividly, it resulted into being called a “giant light cube”1. The “light cube” in this context pointed out both the vivid daylight that penetrated from the outside and the brilliance of the structure due to the artificial lighting by night. For the representatives of the School, glass escalated into becoming a matter of style and transparent façades were the signature.

Droste, Magdalena and Bauhaus Archiv. 2006. Bauhaus: 1919-1933. Koln: Taschen GmbH.

1

Images 4, 5: Bruno Taut, Glass Pavilion 1914

The use of glass as a metaphor of continuity between interior and exterior spaces was actually experimented with before the dawn of the Bauhaus. An example for this is the Glass Pavilion – a geodesic dome designed by the German architect Bruno Taut (18801938) presented at the exhibition in Cologne in 1914. The decorated coloured transparent plates on the facade acted as mirrors.

Taut described the effects of his landmark of glass as “...reflections of light whose colors began at the base with a dark blue and rose up through moss green and golden yellow to culminate at the top in a luminous pale yellow.”3 The realization of the structure was made possible by the technological advance of glass manufacturing at that time. “A pavilion devoted to the glory of glass exclusively, a pavilion that demonstrably had a far greater immediate effect on the imagination of German architects than Gropius’s did, for sundry descendants of it can be identified in designs done after the war […]. This pavilion cannot be comfortably fitted into the history of the Modern Movement – particularly if that history, like Giedion’s is slanted for continuity – because it is so wrong for its time.”2 Influenced by the innovative glass structures of the main current of that time, but interpreted and taken to another level, was the work of Mies Van der Rohe. He served as the last director of the Bauhaus and then took his own path in the post-war period. The French architect was recognized for his “transparent” structures. His works introduced a new level of simplicity throughout transparency, and

Banham, Reyner. 1959. “Glass Paradise.” In: A Critic writes. Essays by Reyner Banham, Banham, Reyner and eds. Banham M. et al. Berkley: University of California Press. 1996.

3 Housberg, Paul. Glass Project. 2016. “Bruno Taut’s Glass Architecture.” Accessed July 9, 2016. http://www.glassproject.com/2014/02/05/ bruno-tauts-glass-architecture/ 2

Image 6: Mies van der Rohe, Friedrichstrasse Glashochhaus, 1921-22

were often referred to as “skin-and-bones” architecture for their emphasis on steel structure and glass enclosure. To Mies, glass was an expression of the current age of industrialism as he believed that a building should have been “a clear and true statement of its times.” With his unbuilt design for two skyscrapers in Berlin in 1919 and 1921, Mies is commonly considered the master of the original steel and glass skyscraper. The looming structures, which may appear commonplace to modern-day viewers, were the result of groundbreaking innovations in material technology.

Another name that cannot be omitted when making a point on treatment of light in architecture is Le Corbusier. He stated that: “Architecture is the masterly, correct and magnificent play of volumes brought together in light”4, a phrase that puts one of the strongest emphasis on light in architecture, as it indeed constitutes a definition of what Architecture is. With the cooperation of reinforced concrete pilotis the construction was liberated from the burden of the bearing wall and this gave the opportunity to introduce wall-to-wall openings that did not have to obey rigid structural principles. The fenêtre en longueur (horizontal window) that cuts the façade along its entire length and lights rooms equally, became one of the famous Five Points towards a New Architecture that constituted the main doctrine of Le Corbusier. Villa Savoye and Maison La Roche are two of the many examples of residential villas that applied the principle of the all-length window. They adopt the idea of major transparency and openness, as well as a sense of continuity between external facades and interior walls.

Le Corbusier and Benton, Tim. 2012. “Glass, the Fundamental Material of Modern Architecture.” In: West 86th: A journal of Decorative Arts, Design History, and Material Culture 19: 2 (2012): 282 4

“Now the room is full of light because the walls are illuminated.

There are no walls in shadow or half-light. Our senses are enchanted; our animal being is delighted. We have the sun in our room. It is bright in our house. And we say: our house is cheerful.”5

Image 7: Pan de verre - Le Corbusier, Couvent La Tourette, Eveux, France

Image 8: Brise-soleil - Le Corbusier, Unitè d’Habitation, Marseille, France.

Image 9: Le Corbusier, Unitè d’Habitation, Marseille,

Larger transparent surfaces however meant that major attention has to be dedicated to heating, lighting and privacy controlling systems. It did not take long before Le Corbusier arrived to that conclusion himself. The pioneer was one of the first to put light on that aspect as one of the negative outcomes of major transparency. In order to tackle the problem, in the 1930’s Le Corbusier experimented with pan de verre, a “glass wall” composed of elements of some level of opacity. Yet, the issue still existed in case of direct contact with sunlight, since glass surfaces did not insure protection against the radiant heat of the sunrays. Finally, as a result of the research of architecture in tropical environments, Le Corbusier introduced another alternative solution to the problem – the brise soleil that gave birth to a whole new approach to sun control in that period. External blinds have been widely used in post-war buildings, but even today the term refers to shadings of different and more advanced nature.

Le Corbusier’s development of the “sun-breakers” as an auxiliary device resulted from his study of North African and Arab vernacular architecture. The moveable screens took a cue from the wooden Moucharaby6, present in the Arab Buildings. He was impressed by the effectiveness of such elements in providing shading and facilitating natural ventilation, so he wanted to interpret the mechanism in Modernist terms. In adjunction, deep reinforced concrete cavities were attached to the façade in order to provide natural cooling through shades and draughts. With this approach, however, Le Corbusier did not aim to build a boundary for the sunlight access; on the contrary, his aim was to underline the possibility of a harmonious convivium of excessive sunlight and wide openings of the building envelope.

For the first time in architecture, the brise-soleil was conceived by Le Corbusier for an office building in Algiers in 1933. It was also adopted for the project of the building of the Ministry of Education in Rio de Janeiro, designed by Lucio Costa and Oscar Niemeyer in 1937. The most emblematic for the use of brise-soleil is Le Corbusier’s project Unite d’Habitation in Marseilles.

Image 10: Le Corbusier, Palace of Assembly, Chandigarh, India.

5

The pioneer’s consideration for sunlight regulation was also his major task in his works in tropical climates. “Comfort is coolness,

Le Corbusier. 1926. “Notes a la suite.” In: Cahiers d’art. no.3. Paris, France.

Moucharaby - a projecting second-storey window or balcony enclosed with latticework. (Collins English Dictionary online. http://www. collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/moucharaby ) 6

it is the current of air, it is the shade”7. A good example is his project for The Legislative Assembly in Chandigarh in India, regarding which he states: “do not hesitate to make grand empty naves [full] of shadow and air currents”8. Revolutionary for their time, the environmental strategies that Le Corbusier brought to light were a synthesis of a necessity and an innovative idea: from a strategy of sunlight control to a formal modernist expression of its own.

In future architectural works, it became essential for architects to incorporate a shading technique in buildings, which certainly reduced the dependency on artificial means for thermal comfort and minimized the environmental problems due to excessive consumption of energy and other natural resources. The evolution of the built form started to shift towards climate responsibility, sustainability and environmental friendliness.

The first decades of the XX century represent a vast palette of solutions to bringing light in architecture. The less dependent the envelope became, the more these solutions could afford to be governed by studies on how light affected the interior space and the exterior form of architecture. Attention to interior space was firstly given in terms of maximum possible illumination; later, it became necessary to think of sun-control systems. Strategies of exterior perception (façade) included both effects of visual permeability and reflection during the day, and an illusion of a body emitting light during the night. Cavities and sun-breakers ornamented with shadows the building envelope, creating moments of rooms of different depth. The work of the leading representatives of the period gave a solid basis for further research and new ideologies in the course of the XX century. ● The building envelope as an interactive junction.

Technological innovations opened a field of exploration and discussion not only to those who were strictly involved in the scientific field, but to philosophers, artists and critics, as well. The boost towards new horizons of exploration was provoked by theories and experimented through prototypes.

This is not about solutions, but directions…9 A former Bauhaus member Siegfried Ebeling distanced himself from some of the main points of the School’s doctrine. In his essay “Space as a Membrane” (1926) he suggests that the element exposed to the external influences of the dynamic natural environment the most, should be taken to another level. In fact, he states that the building envelope should be liberated from its static Le Corbusier. 2006. Oeuvre Complete de 1952–1957. Basel: Birkhauser. Originally published 1929-70.

Idem.

9 Ebeling, Siegfried. 1923. Space as a Membrane. London: Architectural Association Publications.

7 6

Image 11: All-metal circular house, Siegfried Ebeling, 1930/31

function of a “bare necessity”10 and interpreted as a fundamental element of interaction. In order to guarantee the most suitable indoor environment for the inhabitant as a natural being, the building envelope could offer itself as a synchronizing element.

The conflict between traditional systems and climate factors was a conflict of static versus dynamic disjunction. The quality of architecture could be easily determined by a “law-governed” interaction with the inhabitants inside. This supposed what was roughly hypothesized by Le Corbusier with his first experimentations of light-regulating filters, introduced earlier. The theory was, however, taken to another level: “The solution to the problem (how to bring in light) does not depend on the clear expanse of a window opening, and certainly not on its form, but rather on a material structure or the light filter we use, developed in a specific way.”11 Siegfried Ebeling was a foreseeing figure for his time. He suggested alternative approaches relevant to environmental sustainability. As a hypothesis of a material embodiment of his theories, he presented the All-metal circular house: an energy-autonomous dwelling which elements were intended to capture and convert radiant energy so that it resulted as a self-sufficient unit. This idea may have been seen as a brave hypothesis in the 20’s but it certainly had a point, a starting line for further experimentations.

Later in time another architectural critic, Reyner Banham, unfolded theories and points of criticism to the Modern Movement.

Throughout his writings about “environments fit for human activities”12 he supported the possibility of a technology-driven climate that would substitute massive constructions.

Ebeling, Siegfried. 1923. Space as a Membrane. London: Architectural Association Publications.

Idem.

12 Banham, Reyner. 1965. A Home is not a House. Art in America, volume 2, NY:70-79.

10 11

Banham dug into the principles and practices of the architects of his time. As in that period environmental issues became an emerging topic, sustainability was considered of an importance to the architectural process – but, as Banham expressed in “The Architecture of the Well-tempered Environment”, it occurred in a disappointing way. He called it the “paranoia” approach of coping with energy problems – that was - returning to traditional models of heavy-weight construction. Alternatively, what Banham urged for was making a big step forward and considering solutions of light-weight constructions and new technologies. This would have led to collaboration between science and architecture not only on a formal level, but also as a new standard of comfort achievable through integration of mechanical environmental control.

“Man started with two basic ways of controlling environment: one by avoiding the issue and hiding under a rock, tree, tent or roof [...] and the other by actually interfering with the local meteorology, usually by means of a campfire, which, in a more polished form, might lead to the kind of situation now under discussion.

Unlike the living space trapped with our forebears under a rock or roof, the space around a campfire has many unique qualities which architecture cannot hope to equal, above all, its freedom and variability.”13 The alliance between tradition and technology is the main topic of another Banham essay – “Stocktaking”. Explaining the term “tradition” he mentions that “…the most significant aspect of the rigorous scrutiny of the history of the Modern Movement (is) the rediscovery of science as a dynamic force, rather than the humble servant of architecture.”14 His vision of “architecture as a service to human societies” stands in the “provision of fit environments for human activities”. The “fit” environment, as he defines it, is no longer static, purely formal or merely celebrative for its author; instead, it is dynamic and integrated. Mechanization of the environment, on the other hand, did not mean that the engineer should substitute the architect, but it offered a major stimulus for the professional activity of the latter.

In the synthesis of various roles and charges architects find the true manifestation of their profession. Similarly, architecture can be referred to as an expression of the fusion between functionality and aesthetics of form. This is why the hypothesis of a new approach to the building envelope as a dynamic element that would satisfy a necessity presupposed a formal reinvention.

The following pages illustrate how the Banham’s theories of a technology-driven approach to the building envelope were made specific in the consequent decades. The idea of a dynamic membrane gave a broad field of exploration related to light-filtering and regulation.

Banham, Reyner. 1965. A Home is not a House. Art in America, volume 2, NY:70-79.

Banham, Reyner, 1960. “Stocktaking” in A Critic Writes. Selected Essays by Reyner Banham. Banham, Reyner. 1999. California: University of California Press.

13 14

02 TOWARDS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE BUILDING ENVELOPE

● The Standard-of-living package In the middle of the XX century the interest for new lightweight technology-based solutions got affirmed and gave a fertile soil for further explorations. In his essay “A Home is not a House”, Reyner Banham evolved the theory by introducing Buckminster Fuller’s idea of the standard-of-living package. The formal role of architecture was excluded in merit of a kit of “sophisticated inventions”, which would have been sufficient in order to guarantee the living comfort of the inhabitant. It showed cause in the following way: “When your house contains such a complex of piping, flues, ducts, wires, lights, inlets, outlets, ovens, sinks, refuse disposers, hi-fi reverberators, antennae, conduits, freezers, heaters – when it contains so many services that the hardware could stand up by itself without any assistance from the house, why have a house to hold it up?”15 The idea of a mobile high-tech bubble was a project of extremity that had the task to illustrate a point. The advantage of pushing tendencies to such extremes is that they indicate future possibilities in a clear light. In the case of Fuller’s standard-of-living package, Banham confirms the possibility of an alternative, dynamic way of interfering with environmental issues.

Image 12: Transportable standard-of-living package, Reyner Banham, 1965

15

Banham, Reyner. 1965. A Home is not a House. Art in America, volume 2, NY:70-79.

● Innovative solutions rising in the middle decades of the XX century.

The new conception of the building skin started altering essentially the way in which architects approached design, treating issues of performance away from the traditional formal and physical characteristics of building envelopes.

In the 1940s Jean Prouvé applied façade solutions that integrated light-filtering elements: blinds, glass sheets and shutters. The opening was no longer considered as a single transparent (most frequently glass) element, but as a complex system of filters that connected interior and exterior. Jean Prouvé, for example, developed and applied what Le Corbusier had hypothesized and various critics had theorized further. The ecosociologist Ramón Folch states that: “Until architects understand that the whole enclosure of the building must be a filtering membrane, you will not achieve reasonable buildings.”16 The energy efficiency required a response, and the French architect offered a well-designed solution.

Prouvé abandoned the typical for the Modern current excessiveness in the use of glass and focused on modular facades formed by a series of windows designed as complex filters. “He stretched their design as far as the technology of the time allowed, and well beyond what the accepted comfort level demanded.”17 He also diverged from the idea of an ever more lighter membrane, believing that conventional opaque fillings can very well serve as filtering elements. For him, this element was the window panel – a prefabricated sheet, inserted into an opening provided with a jamb.

The story of that invention began in the 1944; the sheets used for the production were wooden. Some of them incorporated the parapet and were introduced into many of the urban facades between the 40’s and the 50’s. An example of that is The Square Mozart Apartment House, built in the 1954. The window system applied incorporates sliding shutters which also tilt outwards to act as canopies, demonstrating a great elegance of intervention. It is a project that embodies the most detailed expression of the panel façade that became of common pertinence in that period.

Images 13, 14, 15: Window system in the Square Mozart building.

Contrary to the naked glass panels of modernity, Jean Prouvé tooled up his projects with sophisticated systems of climate control. This step forward was major both in relation to the responsibility of energy efficiency and as a design of a new, rhythmically ordered façade.

Paricio, Ignacio. 2011. “Complex Skins: the Facade of Windows.”. Translated by Mulas, Laura and Carino, Gina for AV Monografías 149: Jean Prouvé 1901-1984.

17 Idem.

16

Image 16: Montreal Expo Dome, Buckminster Fuller.

Montreal, 1967.

Different was the responsibility of the building envelope interpreted by Buckminster Fuller. At the Expo of Montreal in 1967 he introduces one of the first responsive structures ever – The Biosphere Geodesic Dome. Together with Safdie’s Habitat ‘67 and Frei Otto’s Steel Cabled Pavillion, the Dome was one of the most attractive and attended sites. The project accomplished many of the hypotheses for a dynamic element of interaction between interior and exterior. The skin of this geodesic dome was made of transparent cladding of acrylic panels, with interior canvas sunshades controlled by a computer program that would adjust their position in coordination with the movement of the sun. Geometrically, it was a 20-sided shape formed by the intersection of pentagons into a hexagonal grid. The structure resulted to be efficient in terms of material weight, distribution of tension and resistance, but it was not suitable for urban environments and it required too much attention to fire prevention systems and sound insulation.

This is why the Montreal Biosphere remained more as a prototype – a very foreseeing one, because the computer-adjusted skin came to be commonly used only several decades later.

“The ability for a building envelope to change and adapt its configuration relative to the sun (either by blocking its rays to prevent overheating and/or glare, or by allowing them to penetrate for passive heat gain and/or daylighting), has been a primary source of formal and technological innovations in intelligent building skins.” 18 Velikov, Kathy., and Thun, Geoffrey. 2012. Responsive Building Envelopes: Characteristics and Evolving Paradigms. Michigan: University of Michigan Press. http://www.rvtr.com/files/HPH.pdf 18

Image 17: A photograph of Joseph Beuys in Buckminster Fuller's iconic geodesic dome of the Expo 67 pavilion on Montreal's Île Sainte-Hélène

The abovementioned two cases are the first examples of fragmentation, perforation and computerization of the building envelope in order to create various filters of sunlight. The main reason that urged innovative architects to invent new solutions may have been the increase of efficiency of the building, but their efforts resulted in improvements in other areas as well. These first experiments gave a solid base for more research in the use of the filter as a generator of ornaments of light.

03 THE LIGHT MOTIF IN ARCHITECTURE: FROM AN INNOVATIONAL APPROACH TO A PRECISELY STUDIED ORNAMENT It is essential to approach the adaptive systems with a strong conceptual basis. The mechanical complexity should not stand in the way of the formal expressiveness of the structure; on the contrary, it should be interpreted as an alternative way to stress on the concept, demonstrating that architecture and technology should not walk separate paths, but intertwine into a line of fusion instead. So it is not only about the environmental comfort, but it also regards the reinvention of concept; or trying to take it even further - to the intent to satisfy a necessity in combination with aesthetic purposes.

Image 18: Kobogo House, Marcio Kogan. Sao Paolo, Brazil, 2015

Image 19: Moucharaby window at Alhambra of Granada. Andalusia, Spain.

Today the building envelope as a filter of light opens a whole new world to explore. A considerable number of architects in the current age of computer-aided design and manufacturing apply complex lace-like wall facades and sprawling textures in order to accentuate various features of their projects. The moving pattern of lights and shadows enriches the facade while controlling the sun ray access and creating ornate shadow effects. A long time ago before mechanization had become a massive approach to architecture that specific compositions of “positives“ and “negatives“, applied to the building envelope, have collaborated to create vigorous images and emotions. References to cult and tradition like the Arabic Moucharaby19 window, gothic rosettes, Japanese customs and others, are evidences that the study of openings to natural light creating scenography effects has deep-seated origins. From individual cuts and perforations to specific brick layering systems, the ways in which the correspondence between Materia and its negative can give birth to ornaments and perception are numerous and site-specific.

Moucharaby - a projecting second-storey window or balcony enclosed with latticework. (Collins English Dictionary online. http://www. collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/moucharaby ) 19

study case JEAN NOUVEL, INSTITUTE OF ARAB WORLD. PARIS, FRANCE. 1988 A case of an example of the use of adaptive sunray filtering elements is the Institute of the Arab World designed by Jean Nouvel in 1988. It is one of the first buildings to employ a sensor based responsive envelope which has an automated response based on environmental conditions. The south façade is composed of 240 modules embroidered of photosensitive mechanical devices that act like automated irises of light control. There are 30 000 light sensitive diaphragms on 1600 elements, which function like the lens of a camera. The system is guided by a central computer which causes the opening and the closing of the irises on the base of the amount of daylight present. The design of the single panel follows the original Arabic ornaments seen in patios and balconies in the Arabic countries. The main focus is on the specifically shaped play of light.21 The design of the building’s skin is less significant for its technical characteristics; the motivation of the author is to represent a foreign culture in both its traditional and transformed states in a modern European context. This is why, the idea of a screen as a mutable boundary is charged with a strong meaning. It was, indeed, doubly loaded: metaphorically, a flexible boundary between the expression of Arabic Space within a western setting; and urbanEdupuganti, Siva Ram. 2013. “Dynamic Shading: An Analysis”. MSc diss., University of Washington Fierro, Annette. 2006. “Cultural Projections. The Institutions of Jean Nouvel.” In The Glass State. The Technology of the Spectacle. Paris.

1981-1998. Fierro, Annette. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.

20 21

Image 20: Jean Nouvel, Institute of Arab World.

Paris, France.

istically, the boundary condition presented by the site’s position between coherent XIX century fabric to the north and west and the ragged composition of modernist university buildings to the south and east.22 Nouvel adopted a technological approach in order to create strong and fascinating images for the public. He referred to the two-dimensional iconography of the late XX century commercial culture, stating that: “In cultural terms, architecture has become petrified, but for me it is essentially a means of producing images and is thus influenced by all other forms of image production, past and contemporaneous.”23 The play of light and shadow inside the Institute is fascinating and it gives the visitor an impression of an ornament of space, an extra element of exposition that accompanies the two- and three-dimensional artefacts exhibited at the museum. The exterior effect of the dynamic panels of the façade is of no lower significance, as it serves as a bi-dimensional lacelike culturally-charged decoration that covers the south side of the building, giving it a monumental image.

As long as image is concerned it can always be discussed whether Nouvel managed to reach his aim or not. But when it comes to the issues of performance, The Institute of Arab World reveals some of the real problems of the experimental systems. Various failures caused by the mechanical complexity and the very expensive maintenance have obstructed the system’s proper operation.

Fierro, Annette. 2006. “Cultural Projections. The Institutions of Jean Nouvel.” In The Glass State. The Technology of the Spectacle. Paris.

1981-1998. Fierro, Annette. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.

23 Idem.

22

study case PETER ZUMTHOR, KOLUMBA MUSEUM. KÖLN, GERMANY. 2007 Emblematic, because of the vibrant atmosphere it creates, is the case of Peter Zumthor‘s Kolumba Museum in Köln. The architect‘s idea is of an approach in which the sensibility for “the light on things” should be inseperable and omnipresent since the very beginning of every project: “So the first of my favourite ideas is this: this to plan the burlding as a pure mass of shadow, then, afterwards, to put in light as if you were hollowing out the darkness, as if the light were a new mass seeping in. [...] The second idea I like is this: to go about lighting materials and surfaces systematically and to look at the way they reflect on light.”24 In this case the building envelope is not composed of responsive computer-guided elements, but obtained through a careful brick-layering system instead. The specificity of the project lies in its nature of a volume that adds up to the ruins of a Late Gothic Balisica with an extreme respect to the original structure. The use of the traditional, “heavy” system of brick-layering is, in fact, one of the searched effects. Zumthor manages to create a fusion of Gothic and Contemporary in a very elegant way: the heavy walls resemble the morphology of the structural elements of religious sites, whereas small and fragmented openings that guarantee a well-defined stream of light are inspired by the visual effects present in the Late Gothic places of cult.

24

Zumthor, Peter. 2006. Atmospheres: Architectural Environments - Surrounding Objects. Basel: Birkhauser.

Image 23: Peter Zumthor, Kolumba Museum.

Koln, Germany.

When it comes to treatment of light in the case of Kolumba Museum, shadow is of a big significance. The negative of light contributes to the creation of an atmosphere which is rich on enchantment and immateriality. In order to ease the burden of weight of the utilized material, well-studied vibrations of light punctuate the interior space transforming it to be moving and unpredictable. The space itself becomes an ornament of the interior perception of the museum. When it comes to the exterior aspect of the façade, the small perforations contribute to the creation of a minimal bi-dimensional superficial ornament. The level of depth changes scale with light crossing the diaphragm of communication between exterior and interior.

No minor attention has been given to the openings of the upper levels of the museum – more extended and “unprotected”, but still of a well-studied disposition and dimension that refer to the needs of the interior space of the museum. The case of Peter Zumthor’s Kolumba Museum can be assumed as an embodiment of what Le Corbusier called “the masterly, correct and magnificent play of volumes brought together in light”25, only taken to another level. In this case, light itself designs the space, which hierarchizes it to assume a role that can almost be considered equal to a building material.

25

Le Corbusier. 2004. Towards an Architecture. Eastford: Martino Fine Books. Originally published 1923.

conclusions More and more, so it seems to me, light is the beautifier of the building.

- Frank Lloyd Wright

The building envelope as a filter of light in architecture is an example of how an artefact can be treated as an auxiliary apparatus that guides the natural elements which we experience inevitably every day. The definition of the term filter integrates selection, absorption and passage. These three collaborate with different greatness in order to obtain diverse results in the various periods in the history of architecture and design.

In the first decades of the XX century the opportunity given by the separation between structure and enclosure led to the tendency of creating wide openings and continuous glass facades. Later in time it became necessary to protect the room from excessive sunlight in order to guarantee the needed comfort for the inhabitants.

This thought of consciousness was motivated by various theories and new technological opportunities that stimulated the building envelope to evolve into a more fluid and dynamic element.

Over tendencies and technological progress, one feature remained unaltered and taken into consideration: the influence of light on the perception of space. The two study cases which were analyzed are projects in which the extreme and delicate attention to treatment of light literally shaped and designed the space. The phenomenon demonstrates how a quality can be generated by accentuating what is there – which is, to me, one of the unique features of architecture.

captions Image 1: Morey, Hal. 1934. New York City Grand Central Terminal. Source: http://www.lionshare.org/blog/2015/2/18/uhd99kcbqmb0rz2rv0xbkavdltmn2t Image 2: Consemüller, Erich. 1926. Dessau Bauhaus: View from the Stairwell during the Building’s Official Opening (December 4-5, 1926). Source: https://it.pinterest.com/pin/426153183466453882/ Image 3: Workshop Wing of the Bauhaus Studio. Dessau, Germany. 19251926. Source: https://it.pinterest.com/pin/407294360026399294/ Image 4: Glass Pavilion at the exhibition of Werkbund. 1914. Source: https://en.wikiarquitectura.com/index.php/Glass_Pavilion_at_the_exhibition_of_Werbund Image 5: Bruno Taut, Glass Pavilion for the 1914 Werkbund exhibition in Cologne. Source: https://it.pinterest.com/karinrevierkuck/bruno-taut-glasspavilion-for-the-1914-werkbund-ex/ Image 6: Friedrichstrasse Skyscraper Project. 1921. Photomontage - Mies van der Rohe. Source: https://immaterialita.wordpress.com/transparency/ Image 7: Plummer, Henry. 2011. Corridor to atrium cadenced with sunshine in late morning. Monastery of Sainte Marie de la Tourette. Éveuxsur-l’Arbresle, France. Source: http://www.archdaily.com/597598/ light-matters-le-corbusier-and-the-trinity-of-light/54da5557e58ececf16000010-corridor-to-atrium-c Image 8: Davies, Shelley. 2013. Unitè d’Habitation. Source: http://shelleysdavies.com/unite-dhabitation/ Image 9: Smith, Melissa. The House of the mad man. 2010. Source: https://agingmodernism.wordpress.com/2010/07/04/the-house-of-themad-man/

Image 10: Norsworthy, Scott. Chandigarh, India, a city designed by Le Corbusier. 2013. Source: https://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/ travel/2013/07/27/chandigarh-india-city-designed-corbusier/tyCaUgtlK9d7DdlRzkGghI/story.html Image 11: Ebeling, Siegfried. All-metal circular house, Siegfried Ebeling, 1930/31. Source: Space as a Membrane. London: Architectural Association Publications.

Image 12: Dallegret, François. 1965. Transportable standard-of-living package. Source: Banham, Reyner. 1965. A Home is not a House. Art in America, volume 2, NY:70-79.

Images 13, 14, 15: Window system in the Square Mozart building. Source: Paricio, Ignacio. 2011. “Complex Skins: the Facade of Windows.”. Translated by Mulas, Laura and Carino, Gina for AV Monografías 149: Jean Prouvé 1901-1984. http://filt3rs.net/sites/default/files/study/149%20 AV%20Monografias%20Jean%20Prouv%C3%A9%20-%20Complex%20 skins%20the%20facade%20of%20windows.pdf Image 16: Biosphere. 2011. Source: https://lejugg.wordpress.com/ Image 17: Duchesnay, Robert. A photograph of Joseph Beuys in Buckminster Fuller’s iconic geodesic dome of the Expo 67 pavilion on Montreal’s Île Sainte-Hélène. Source: https://it.pinterest.com/pin/26599454021065934/ Image 18: Kon, Nelson. Kobogo House. Source: http://www. archdaily.com/175686/cobogo-house-marcio-kogan/50160eec28ba0d159800094b-cobogo-house-marcio-kogan-photo Image 19: Arnaud & Claire. Alhambra, Spain. Le Grand Voyage. Source: http://legrandvoyage.be/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/moucharabieh-01536.jpg Image 20: Pendeva, Vessela. Jean Nouvel, Institute of Arab World, Paris, France. 2015. Source: Author.

Image 21: Jean Nouvel, Institute of Arab World, Paris, France. Source: https:// it.pinterest.com/pin/478577897872417065/ Image 22: Jean Nouvel, Institute of Arab World, Paris, France. Source: http:// www.abeasley.com/jean-nouvel-architecture-studios-arab-world-institute-in-paris-completed-in-1987-featuring-240-photo-sensitive-motor-controlled-apertures-to-control-the-amount-of-light-andheat-entering-the-buil/ Image 23: Peter Zumthor, Kolumba Museum. Koln, Germany. Source: http://modernheritage.com.au/mhm/heritage_travel/kolumba-museum-cologne-germany/ Images 24, 25: Peter Zumthor, Kolumba Museum. Koln, Germany.

Source: Dal Buono, Veronica. 2009. “Progetti: Kolumba Museum, Colonia” in Costruire in Laterizio. http://costruire.laterizio.it/costruire/_pdf/ n125/125_04_09.pdf

bibliography Banham, Reyner. 1965. A Home is not a House. Art in America, volume 2, NY:70-79.

Banham, Reyner. 1959. “Glass Paradise.” In: A Critic writes. Essays by Reyner Banham, Banham, Reyner and eds. Banham M. et al. Berkley: University of California Press. 1996.

Banham, Reyner. 1960. “Stocktaking” in A Critic Writes. Selected Essays

by Reyner Banham. Banham, Reyner. 1999. California: University of California Press. 1996.

Dal Buono, Veronica. 2009. “Progetti: Kolumba Museum, Colonia” in Costruire in Laterizio. http://costruire.laterizio.it/costruire/_pdf/n125/125_04_09.pdf Droste, Magdalena and Bauhaus Archiv. 2006. Bauhaus: 1919-1933.

Koln: Taschen GmbH. Ebeling, Siegfried. 1923. Space as a Membrane. London: Architectural Association Publications.

Edupuganti, Siva Ram. 2013. “Dynamic Shading: An Analysis”. MSc diss., University of Washington Fierro, Annette. 2006. “Cultural Projections. The Institutions of Jean Nouvel.” In The Glass State. The Technology of the Spectacle. Paris. 19811998. Fierro, Annette. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.

Housberg, Paul. Glass Project. 2016. “Bruno Taut’s Glass Architecture.”

Accessed July 9, 2016. http://www.glassproject.com/2014/02/05/bruno-tauts-glass-architecture/

Kaltenbach, Frank. 2009. “Simply brickwork? How bricks can be made to sing.” In: Detail, n.10/2009 . Germania, Detail.

Le Corbusier. 2004. Towards an Architecture. Eastford: Martino Fine Books. Originally published 1923.

Le Corbusier. 2006. Oeuvre Complete de 1952–1957. Basel: Birkhauser.

Originally published 1929-70.

Le Corbusier and Benton, Tim. 2012. “Glass, the Fundamental Material of Modern Architecture.” In: West 86th: A journal of Decorative Arts, Design History, and Material Culture 19: 2 (2012): 282 Paricio, Ignacio. 2011. “Complex Skins: the Facade of Windows.”. Translated by Mulas, Laura and Carino, Gina for AV Monografías 149: Jean Prouvé 1901-1984. http://filt3rs.net/sites/default/files/study/149%20 AV%20Monografias%20Jean%20Prouv%C3%A9%20-%20Complex%20 skins%20the%20facade%20of%20windows.pdf Velikov, Kathy., and Thun, Geoffrey. 2012. Responsive Building Envelopes: Characteristics and Evolving Paradigms. Michigan: University of Michigan Press. http://www.rvtr.com/files/HPH.pdf Winstanley, Tim. 2011. “AD Classics: Institut du Monde Arabe / Jean Nouvel, Architecture-Studio, Pierre Soria and Gilbert Lezenes” In: ArchDaily. Accessed July 9, 2016. http://www.archdaily.com/162101/ad-classics-institut-du-monde-arabe-jean-nouvel Zumthor, Peter. 2006. Atmospheres: Architectural Environments - Surrounding Objects. Basel: Birkhauser.