While walking down a narrow lane, you see a repetition of openings in the facades and across the lane you see the same openings, which perforate the plaster façade. You start to wonder, what is the main reason for designing a façade like that? How important are the windows in the façade for the interior spaces behind it? How does light coming through these openings affect the perception of a space? What is its significance in architecture?
Light makes us see everything around us by its reflection- humans, objects, spaces, architecture. Without light, we can see nothing, not even darkness. Louis I Kahn believed that light is an architectural element on par with every other element of a structure. In a 1961 lecture, “ Law and Rule in Architecture”, he explained: “Every space must have natural light, because it is impossible to read the configuration of a space or shape by having only one or two ways of lighting it. Natural light enters the space released by the choice of construction.” In his another article “Silence and Light”, he states: “As soon as I see a plan which tries to sell me spaces without light, I simply reject it with such ease, as though it were not even thoughtfully rejected, because I know that is wrong.”
We can talk about Light in two levels, natural light and artificial light, the latter is created by humans, the former; dynamic daylight created by the sun. As Rasmussen states: “Daylight is constantly changing. The other elements of architecture we have considered can be exactly determined. Daylight alone he cannot control.”
An architect must take into account the design of the space and its approach by daylight through the openings, there should be numerous opportunities to get the desired amount of daylight in t...
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...r now there is to conclude light and shadow belong together. Yet the increasing numbers of artificial light sources on earth are resulting in continuously decreasing zones of shadow and darkness. In architecture, the growing use of glass and other translucent layers questions the very significance of shadows. Light and shadow are a building material, something that needs to be sculpted and to be used.
References- Charles Correa: A Place in the Shade. Penguin (2010) Flagge, Ingeborg: The Secret of the Shadow: Light and Shadow in Architecture. Wasmuth, Tübingen. 2002. Louis I. Kahn : Silence and Light: The Lecture at ETH Zurich, February 12, 1969. Park Books, Zürich. 2013. Pallasmaa, J. (2005) The Eyes of the Skin: Architecture and the Senses Rasmussen, S.E: Experiencing Architecture, (1964) Ryan Fischer: An Architect of Light : Louis Kahn, November 9, 2010
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In comparison to his peers, Renzo Piano was in a way, different, or stood out against the other up and coming architects of the time. Whilst these other architects, Kahn, Gehry, and Ando’s design philosophies are mostly focused on the development of the form and the experience, Piano’s design intent was almost always on the function, could he build a building that functions, while keeping it light, especially in structure.
Architecture is described as the design of a structure able to house people or objects. The visual appeal, the colors, the building materials, and the dimensions contribute either negatively or positively to human behavior. The most elementary and basic architectural tools may be adeptly manipulated to promote a positive and humane environment even under severe constrictions. Architecture operates as an essential tool in the restoration of positive and healthy human consciousness. Therefore, environmentally conscious architecture is a critical step toward a more progressive understanding of human health (Ouroussoff, 1999).
Jencks believes “the glass-and-steel box has become the single most used form in Modern Architecture and it signifies throughout the world ‘office building’” (27). Thus, modern architecture is univalent in terms of form, in other words it is designed around one out of a few basic values using a limited number of materials and right angles. In...
Interior design is one of the most important professions. When thinking of design and architecture industry, it is necessary to keep in mind that the professionals emphasis on matters of everyday life when commencing a project. Important sectors of interior design consist of: residential, commercial, hospitality, healthcare, education and corporate designs. Thus, the field deals with numerous factors and affects almost everyone in some way. Design is goal-oriented– it strives to achieve a certain purpose. An essential goal of interior design is to create functional spaces that convey a specific mood for an audience using design elements, thus outlining a design for communities versus individuals.
To pursue the impossible and the unknown and seek for the unique is one the most distinctive characteristics of our human nature. Exploring limitations and possibilities in resolving problems has driven societies to evolve and realize the secrets of our incredibly intricate world as well as understanding our own nature and producing philosophical notions which developed our culture. This characteristic has also been part of architecture, translated in radical designs capturing the imagination of architects who explore philosophical and spatial possibilities or to experiment the built form. The work of Boulle, PiranesI and Ledoux, and in the twentieth century the projects of Tatlinb and Sant’Elia continue to inspire and stimulate the practice of architecture.
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