ABBOT SUGER -father of Gothic architecture -Part III

Post 740 -by Gautam Shah

5 Abbot Suger and formation of Gothic Structure —

Basic features of the Gothic architecture, like Rib Vaults, Pointed arches, thin ribbed columns and height, were in use before, but for the first time, all were assembled together. The density and darkness of the Romanesque buildings were due to the heavy load bearing walls required to support the masonry domes. The heavy walls also accommodated the displacement thrusts within their thickness. The heavy walls could not rise up to great heights.

Suger recognised the value of, than sporadically used concept of flying buttresses. Sugar also saw that buttresses placed outside the enclosure skin, made the interiors free of heavy walls. The technical improvements of external buttresses and pointed arch-based vaults reduced the ‘self or dead load’ on columns. The enclosure skin or exterior walls were more or less replaced with columns. These schemes created greater height and larger windows.

The significance of Saint-Denis, then, was not that its master builders pioneered the new forms of construction, it was simply the first time that they were used together with the intention of creating a markedly different effect than that which prevailed in the abbey’s Romanesque contemporaries. By skillfully combining these pre-existing threads, a new architectural creation was created.

Gothic style as it evolved had the columns and the vaults. The new features, like, rib, pointed arches, and column to column windows, all accentuated the verticality. The Gothic architecture intentionally maximized the lightness of the space through height. The abbot was deeply affected by the results of his own alterations and ‘wished to reinforce the same through artistic glass works’.

In the first phase Sugar had to see that during the construction original structure remained substantially functional. The original Romanesque nave, the central space was kept intact. Suger added two bays (of 3 spans and 3 stories each) on new western front entrance, and a new Narthex, with 4 additional bays. The new western extension was completed in 1140. As construction of the western façade was completed, the most important and emotional section for the pilgrims and rulers was taken up. Crypts now had an airy, illuminated and wider space, which made it less suffocating and easy to move area.

https://uk.tourisme93.com/basilica/map-of-the-tombs-saint-denis-basilica.html

‘About forty-two kings, thirty-two queens, sixty-three princes and princesses and ten loyal servants of the kingdom were buried in the Basilica of Saint Denis until the nineteenth century. The kings’ necropolis is one of the most important funerary monuments in the world. This was not always the case. Indeed, the Abbey in Saint-Denis was confronted with competition, especially from Saint-Germain-des-Prés, and only got recognition thanks to the obstinacy of Abbot Suger and the support of the Capetian dynasties’.

It was largely due to Suger, in the 12th C, the Basilica became a principal sanctuary of French Royalty. It was equally important place, like Reims Cathedral, where the Kings were crowned.

To reconstruct such an important place, with a new structure (of double rows of columns + exterior colonnaded wall) was politically and religiously very risky decision. The old structure was preserved till the new 3 parts ribbed roof vaults became ready. The new external wall was full of stained glasses. The improvised new walls of stained glass, reduced the wall area, to minimum. This was completed after Suger’s death, and was known as Rayonnant Gothic or style Decorated Gothic.

Suger was able to design and strategize the first church in the Gothic style. He exploited the stained glass windows in St. Denis as a mural art to depict stories and messages far more brilliantly than the original Romanesque mosaic murals. The rich and famous, now wanted to contribute and participate in the reconstruction. They wanted their names to be included, and also suggested the themes for the compositions. This offered St. Denis huge sum.

The themes of stained glass windows were of three types, dominantly religious, secular or ornamental. First two group are mixed, but the ornamental themes had entire surface.

Suger had planned twin towers on west end, but, in his life, time only the southern one was completed. The northern tower was finished by one of his successors. The south one, twice faced lightening strikes in 1219 and 1837. It remained incomplete ever since.

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ABBOT SUGER -father of Gothic architecture -Part II

Post 739 -by Gautam Shah

Part II of series IV
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4 Abbot Suger and Ideas on Illumination —

Suger, understood lux, as the external light, shining outside the cathedral, coming directly from the sun and nature. This was for everyone, ‘even the heretic and the wicked’. But, once it entered through the windows, it emitted in all directions, and transformed into lumen. It is a new metaphysical light through the tinted glass. This interior light was consecrated and holy, for ‘faith and divine inspiration’. The interior illumination and the new expanse of the space, was perceived as the metaphysical light or Christ’s divinity, not available anywhere else. The new ethereal wall and the illumination functioned much like the ancient temenos, a sanctimonious precinct. ‘Walk in the light, as He is in the light’.

Suger could, somehow, visualize three different Latin terms for Light: Lux, Lumen and Illumination. (The Three terms, perhaps derived from a book* by Avicenna, the Muslim philosopher and physician of 11th C). *Kitab al Shifa =’The Book of Healing or Latin title Sufficientiae’. This was a voluminous philosophical and scientific treatise or encyclopaedia. It covered, topics like logic, natural sciences, psychology, (the quadrivium or four subjects like, geometry, astronomy, mathematics besides music, and metaphysics).

Coloured glass had long been understood as a surrogate for the precious stones. It has been in use even before the Gothic era. The exploitation of colour contrasts (Red -jasper Blue -sapphire, where the red represented the passion, holy blood, and the blue, as the colour of heaven) was rather new interpretation. Incidentally, these two colours, form nearly the opposite ends of the visual spectrum.

Delighted with the effect of light, Suger, inside the abbey church, engraved an inscription to the glory of Light. ‘The heart of the sanctuary glows in splendour, which is united in splendour, radiates in splendour’. He also said that ‘while light is necessary for the worthy glorification of God, the largest possible number of the faithful must also be able to pray without jostling, to approach and contemplate the Holy Relics on feast days’.

Suger transformed the cathedral space into a different place. ‘It was to like bringing heaven on earth’. He wrote, ‘the multicolored loveliness of the gems has transported me from material to immaterial things, sapphire glass of intense blue colour as having the same importance as gems.’ He identified the best Glass makers across Europe, and sourced the glass raw material for the new construction.

The improvement of quality of glass, its popularity and widespread use occurred in this period, mainly because of reduction of colour tonal intensity resulting in increased transparency. A significant feature to emerge in the 13th C, was the development of grisaille glass windows. It is composed largely of white glass, generally painted with foliage designs, and leaded into complicated geometric patterns. Such glass was cheaper and easier to produce. Its introduction made interiors lighter and other art and architectural features, noticeable.

The Gothic Colours of stained glass are prone to mis-use in wrong hands. The interiors often became snazzy with too many colours, but of dark shades. During daytime the stained glass on exteriors are dead grey, and at night time the interiors are lifeless (in absence of significant street illumination). This forced adoption of Grisaille (monochrome) glasses.

The blown glass had technical imperfections such as air bubbles, striations, and ripples, this made the transparency lively, as the light seemed to refract through the mass. The church interiors were now glowing, not just with the light from expansive stained windows, but altars, crosses, other liturgical objects were all richly embellished with gems, draped with brightly coloured and gold lined fabrics, with the new donations.

With the Renaissance, the stained glass was to become varied in colours, faultless, flatter, larger, thinner, but less vivid. The glass joints however could now be thinner and sparser. This thin joints were exploited, as less marked lines for zoning of colours, and more for the articulation of the thematic composition.

The technique of making stained-glass windows was first documented in the Schedula Diversarum Artium, a compendium of craft-information probably written between 1110 and 1140 by the monk Theophilus.

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ILLUMINATION and COLOURS in SHADOWS -Issues of Design 38

Post 737 -Gautam Shah

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This is the FOURTH article on series Illumination and Shadows

Monet said: ‘A Colour owes its brightness to the force of contrast, rather than to its inherent qualities’. He also said that primary colours look brightest, when they are brought into contrast with their complementaries’.

Colour contrast has drawn attention in drawn art forms as well as architecture, sculptures, ceramics, textiles and craft items. Colour contrasts emerge, when a different and lighter or darker colour is placed next to the other one. But colour contrasts also emerge, when a colour comes under differing levels of illumination or shadows. This realization was conspicuous in 3D forms. Such colour contrasts perceptions under natural or other illuminations and related shadows are affected by the ‘local’ reflections. The subtle grades of contrasts emerge due to varied brightness, from objects in different directions and in intensities due to many colours of the reflecting surfaces.

Colour contrasts were realized, first in mosaic arts as a form of ‘highlighting marks’. To make a mosaic figure or image to stand out from other similar entitles that needed emphasis (wider and darker-lighter edges). But mosaics had limited size and colour range, and this was not easy. Early drawn arts like Mosaics were equally ‘flat’. This was perhaps, as the medium of art Fresco, was a method of pigment impregnation onto wet plasters. The colours were zoned with scratched outlines and had little scope (time) for colour mixing or edge diffusion. Details were added in Tempera, for which one had to wait for the surface to thoroughly dry out. As a result fresco artist, used intense contrasting colours in demarcated zones of the fresco.

As the interiors became brighter with larger clerestory windows, there was a clear need to ‘add drama and mystery to the paintings’ through high contrast of colours. Painting themes were now not just depictive but narrative, and in the background included architecture, landscapes and non religious figures (political sponsors and donors). Holy figures were distinguished by bright ‘halo’. These halos and backgrounds, in brighter colours or gold gilding, made everything else seem darker, often gloomy. To lighten the perceived dark effect, many levels of sobered contrasts were added, and the result was a ‘flat’ composition. For the contrasts, the body contours, folds of fabrics, highlighting marks, differences between near-by and far-off objects, were formed of black or darker shades. The use of darker shades, for edge making, however, taught the value of shadowing with illumination.

The shadows formed better depth contrasts. The shadows (related to illumination) were first placed with respect to the local needs. These ‘local needs’ in theme, created many shadows and sources of illumination, and also had as many directions. But soon shadows were modified as related to single the source of illumination. Such ‘related shadows’ made paintings lively and realistic.

Single source shadowing was very difficult in mosaic and very large mural paintings. There were few issues here. FIRST, Shadows were predominantly cast with a source of illumination from the left-top corner. This made objects towards the right-bottom corner suffused with long shadows. SECOND, The shadowing style adopted in artworks, did not match the actual illumination from the openings of the architectural space. THIRD, There was the belief that holy figures do not cast a shadow. These factors required a lot of experimentation. First, the problem required a painting to be narrow or the source of illumination shifted away from the extreme top-left corner. Second required a composition in consideration of the existing conditions of the architecture and the viewers’ position. Third issue was solved by forming graduated dark-light areas for body or dress contours and ignoring the shadows falling on the ground.

From the days Painted Roman interior Murals, the Perspective was used to arrange ‘built or spatial’ elements in compositions. These were scaled for depth, but not specifically illuminated. Objects with visible sides were made darker towards the receding edge for greater effects of the depth. For greater perspective effect some of the parts of buildings or the spaces between the buildings were back lit, but shadows followed the front-based illumination. Illumination and shadows, did not come together in any purposive manner.

It was from 1700s that Capriccio style of art for drawing fantastical architectural buildings and ruins, with inclusion of occasional staffage (figures), truly began to exploit the perspective. Areas of painting were illuminated through a direct single source of illumination or atmospheric distributed light. Areas that did not get illumination were treated to be mildly darker, thus creating a sense of contrast for depth. The illumination and shadows depended on tonal gradation, and this can be recognised and executed, if the areas are fairly large. Tonal gradation cannot be included in micro architectonic elements.

In Asia, perspective did not occur, though some inclined planes indicated the depth. Scaling of elements and figures was extremely illogical. The depth was through spatial zoning, like, frontal areas filled in with elements, dominantly involved in the narrative. The next mid-zone was for supportive elements like architectural and landscape features. The background, was used as a contrasting plane of lighter tones. The ethereal elements included here, served to balance the composition, by their ‘white space’ presence. There was complete absence of graded or directional illumination, and colour shades for shadowing.

Illuminated and shaded areas are nominally differentiated with the tonal variations of the same colour (monochrome) or with different hues. But this effect was enhanced by texture contrast of physical roughening of the surface, like the gesso and impasto in art. Gesso is the base or foundation treatment, which imprints a texture on the art surface. Impasto effect is created by laying the paint in very thick layers, so that it can allow brush or painting-knife strokes to be visible.

It was in 1600s that artists were able to create textures, not just by scrapping the surface, but through directional or random texturing, as a simulated visual effect. The directional texturing became art of intaglio or gravure, and became style of impressionist art. The art of texturing a surface, also became Sfumato style of art, as forming a soft transition between colours and tones to achieve distinct realism.

Shadows depend on the strength and distance of the source of illumination. Candle, Lamp, electric or fire illuminations, unlike the Solar light, are at finite distances and of limited intensity. Both, however, form shadows with respect to the elevation of the objects. Solar light offers vast grades of reflections from nearby surfaces, but, other illuminations can provide small cone of receding strength. The skill to represent the colour tonal variations in shadows from the reflected light was grasped post Renaissance period. The nature of the colour within a shadow is mainly due to the intensity of reflected light and the colour (from the reflective surface).

The ceilings (flat, dome, vault or other configurations) get illumination from windows and clerestory openings, in many directions. The ceilings and upper sections of tall walls were used for illusionistic paintings, with features like floating angels and clouds, foreshortened figures and pseudo architectural elements. The details were seen from distance, so drawn in an impressionistic manner with wild brush strokes. Such ceilings, known as Plafond art, had the lower edge, drawn in dark and contrasting colours and shadows, but the top central portion forming the upper limit of the room, were made with blue of the skies to look ethereal. Plafonds (17th to early 19 C) offered great lessons for treating architectural spaces with illumination and shadows.

‘Mannerist painters and later Baroque artists used extreme intense contrasts between light and dark, almost obscuring their subjects to lend drama and mystery to the paintings’.

When Monet painted his series of haystacks, his main concern was to show that in reality, the colour of light and the colour of shadow, depending of the time of day, both, change simultaneously and dramatically. Artists of 19th C used comparatively, stronger dark shades for heightened impressionistic realism. This began to change with the onset of next century, when lighter colour shades (perhaps due to the Titanium Dioxide) were available. The subject matter changed from realistic to ‘objective’ abstraction. Here the source of illumination was unrecognizable, and so the shadows were nonexistent.

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LE CORBUSIER and ILLUMINATION

Post725  -by Gautam Shah

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For Corbusier history of a window was a struggle for illumination. He typically wanted, at least in the initial years, openings to bring outside in. This was due to childhood memories of Northern Europe day lighting, inferior quality of glazing and interior spaces that had small windows and required artificial illumination often during the day time. He, as a cubist saw the glazing plane as an opaque surface slightly receding due to its placement and surface quality.

Glass was a shimmering plane against the dull surface of the structure. He liked the configuration for illumination to be unbroken, and so preferred a separate ventilation system. For the same reason he did not like framing for the window. He would rather place the glazing plane directly into the masonry. This was continued in many of the later buildings like Ronchamp and Shodhan Villa Ahmedabad.

Corbusier started placing more then adequate openings, like the ribbon windows of Villa Savoy, and invited complaints from the client. The extent openings became more rational in later projects. To cut the excessive glare he began to use an architectural baffle, a brise-soleil, for the first time, in the Algerian office-blocks (1933). Later he experimented with mechanical baffles for an office building in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, but mainly used masonry and cement concrete brise soleil for buildings at Chandigarh and Ahmedabad.

For him daylight was a living light, continuously variable, whereas the artificial light was static and local. Corbusier experimented with the distribution of daylight by positioning an interior plane adjacent to the window. The planes were first in the form of a right angle wall or ceiling, but later became inclined as well as doubly curved. Slit windows close to flat ceilings were used in many buildings. He began to use the same technique for distributing illumination of electric lights by large parabolic reflectors.

Corbusier placed openings to frame specific land views as picture windows or often just apertures. Ends of the ramps, stairs, passages, were marked by such openings. Such linking of openings was also used with apertures or cutout in ceilings. These occurred with another smaller or larger cut out below or with a water body to reflect it.

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BRIGHTNESS and COLOUR

Post 712 -by Gautam Shah

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Brightness and Colour have mutual dependence. Greater brightness leads to sharper visual perception and the colour (spectrum) affects the perceived level of brightness. Physiological and environmental conditions alter the perception of brightness as well as colours. Noon time daylight conditions are accepted as the optimal brightness condition for experiencing the colour. But this condition of high brightness can reduce the contrast between two near by objects and so confuse the colour perception.

Brightness and colour, both are strongly affected by the immediate past experience. Sudden transition from darkness to brightness or one colour to another affects the pupil dilation.

Brightness and colour relate to reflection from a surface. The quality of a surface, the texture and its grain orientation vis a vis the directions of illumination and observation, affect the perception. Most of the objects reveal their multiple surfaces concurrently but brightness and colour on each of the face seems different. In this scenario the source of illumination (if solar) and observers both vary their position. As a result colour perception is very dynamic phenomenon. In Architecture or Interior design colour matching or determination of brightness is always worrisome affair.

Next factor is the context in which objects or scenes are observed. The juxtaposition with a lighter background enhances and darker backdrop setting dulls the perception of brightness and colour.

Colour perception operates at three basic levels, as the capacity of a surface to reflect light, as emission of light from a hot body and the personal capacity to differentiate various colourations. But the conveyance of the ‘colour related experiences’ is even more difficult. The interpretation of colours varies in different setting of locations, cultures and circumstances. Environment and Terrain are two major factors that alter the colour. Environmental conditions like solar brightness, inclination, orientation, cloud-cast conditions, atmospheric refractions, etc. vary depending on the geographic location. These are further attuned by the surface extent, texture, angle and duration of exposure. The terrain offers very pervasive colour context against which everything is observed. The different terrain effects are really not perceived on the site, but experienced through time-space segmented documents like photographs, paintings, videos or movies.

The conditions at ground level such as surface colour, wetness, snow, vegetation cover, topography, orientation, man-made and natural features, surroundings, density, reflection (albedo), absorption, altitudes etc. determine the colour quality of light. Since all these surface conditions are very localized, the colour variations are conditioned by them. The buildings in surrounding areas, immediate terrain and water bodies have a bearing on the quality of illumination entering a building.

Illumination in a space is Natural (daylight, chiefly solar origin), Artificial and often combination of both. Daylight has Four important facets, the illuminance, warmth, colour and the variability. Daylight on an outdoor location is a combination of direct sunlight, diffuse sky radiation, and both of these as reflected from the earth and other objects. The brightness and colour of daylight are governed by the sky conditions, like clouds, fog, smoke, atmospheric pollution, morning and evening twilight zones (when the atmospheric scattering of predawn sunlight takes place).

The solar radiation as received on the surface of Earth varies from place to place, season to season, day to day and even hour to hour. Equatorial regions receive more radiation, than polar regions. Darker surfaces, like the tropical forests reflect very little radiation, 10 %, compared to snow bound high latitude areas, which nearly reflect 80 % of the energy received. Cloudy and dust polluted areas receive less solar energy. Direct sunlight at noon can have illuminance as high as 120,000 lux (Compared to this moon light is <1 lux). Sunlight is a warm colour light, at noon, the colour-temperatures are about 5500°k, bluish-white or ‘cool colours’ and at sunset, these are about 2700-3000°k (degrees kelvin), are yellowish-white through red or called ‘warm colours’.

The reflected light from the exterior surfaces of buildings, roads and pavements affect the illumination on lower floors of the buildings. These cause minor variations due to movements of people, vehicles, ripples on water bodies and leaves of trees. Upper floors of tall buildings, except in similar localities, receive fairly consistent, but very strong daylight from nominal windows. Such floors with low or no sill windows (glass curtain walls) get varying levels of illumination, often strongly coloured.

Reflectance of rooms’ interior surfaces impacts the perception of brightness and colours in a space. The surface reflectance is a function of colour, its texture (matt, dull-sheen, glossy) and the orientation of grains of textures. Extreme levels of brightness, if, are present within the same field of view, can be calibrated by the surface texture and colour. Historic buildings, sites and remains, are conserved with surroundings updated through paved stones of same colour-texture as the original built-form or green lawns. These choices, alter the degree of interior brightness, as well the quality of colour.

Similarly cities conserved with enforced thematic colours (blue -Jodhpur, Pink -Jaipur, both in India, white -Santorini, sienna browns -Italian, Piazza del Campo and ), create monotonous colour tonality in interior spaces.

For artificial illumination sources Brightness and Colour have some sensorial connection. Artificial light sources one commonly accepted rating, the Colour rendering index (CRI). It is supposed to index ‘how the colour will look’. High CRI (nearly equal to daylight in afternoon) will mean colour will look ‘real and right’ and low CRI will mean unreal (weird) and wrong. CRI has limited relevance, if only the illumination source is white (Candles and incandescent bulbs can have high CRI ,but are off-white. The sodium lamps have low CRI but high brightness.

 

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EXTERNAL or INTERNAL ‘REVEALS’ of OPENINGS

Post 685 –by Gautam Shah

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A reveal is a cover strip of wood at the corner (inner or outer) edge of an opening’s frame in masonry. It is often confused (due to very similar purposes) with rabbet, architraves, style, extrados-intrados (for arched openings), etc. The reveal may be formed of wood, stucco, stone bricks or metals. The reveals are placed on all sides of windows or three sides of doors. The reveal may shape-wise merge with the sill or threshold at the bottom. The basic purpose of reveal is to cover up the junction of wall and openings’ frames, but often play important role in framing, masking or enlarging the opening.

Walls are chiefly load bearing entities. The thickness is the third dimension to the nominal planner structure. The third dimension has a functional depth, and architectural character. The Architectural expression of the wall-depth modulates the facade and gives a massing flavour. The functional depth frames the view, and regulates the illumination in the interior space.

Openings in thicker walls have external or internal ‘reveals’ surrounding the frame. The bottom section forms the ledge of the sill. Openings placed on the outer face create deep an inner side or intrados (originally intrados meant, the inner curve of an arch or vault). Similarly openings placed on the inner edge form exterior side or extrados (originally extrados meant, the outer curve of an arch or vault).

The deep interior sides, if ‘square-edged’ (at a right angle to plane of the window), made the perceived size of the opening smaller, then it actually is. This type of setting on interior sides, was not a major issue, where the room spaces were comparatively narrow, and so reflection from opposite walls was available. The narrow spaces were due to the technological restrictions and for functional requirements, such as in long halls and church buildings. In squared buildings the illumination was balanced from windows in the drum perimeter of the dome.

The deep exterior sides, if ‘square-edged’ (at a right angle to plane of the window), made the perceived size of the opening smaller, a desired arrangement to enhance the wall area and de-emphasize the presence of gaps of openings. It reduced the ingress of winds and snow-rainwater. To emphasize the presence of gaps, portals were added as the opening’s treatments.

The ‘square’ edged openings have high contrasting brightness. Such windows require counter illumination to reduce the glare. To distribute the light better in the interior space, inner sides (-intrados with the window fixed on the outer edge) and an outer side (-extrados with the window fixed on the inner edge) were splayed by chamferring. The angled side surface was further carved, fluted with ornate borders or architraves.

Inner vertical sides, window heads and the sill, all were sloped to enlarge the reflective surface area. The chamferred sides on the outer face allowed more light by increasing the sky component, and allowed wider view of the outside.

The effects of square and the chamferred sides of openings were well known to the mural artists (working with different mediums such as tempera, mosaic and frescoes painting), who accordingly composed the stories, shading in the scene, perspective angle, colour’s  hue and tone of artwork.

In Romanesque and early Gothic architecture the windows were fixed on inner face, creating a plain and undisturbed interior surface. But by the time this was perfected, the Gothic walls were completely diminished, and windows were as wide as the gap between two columns.

Side walls of Gothic buildings became thinner due to the arrangement of flying buttresses and use of load-bearing columns. But the same advantage was not available in case of un-buttressed Front wall. The entrance doors of Gothic churches were flush-set on the inner face, and that allowed better view across and fuller distribution of light. But the doors set deep in the thick walls, needed chamferring with serrated sides.

In Baroque architecture the depth of opening was concealed with the projected facade elements like columns, pilasters, cornices, or pediments. In Italian Renaissance the facade had an applique lattice like a pattern that united several openings. In post medieval period, windows began to protrude out of the buildings, over into the narrow street. Bay and oriel windows, Mashrabiya openings in the middle East, and Zarokhas in India transgressed out, mainly to gain sideways view and air. The multi sided mass of the projection became a personal statement.

In post medieval period, window projections created serious fire hazards and issues of encroachment of public lands. Both of these were corrected through improved fire laws and defined easement rights. Fire laws required windows to be within the wall (without any projections like ledges or hanging shutters). Later the Window tax curtailed the number of openings in a building.

Gothic architecture had already shown how to divide large openings with traceries of mullions and muntins. Large windows in thin walls require framing and masking, but small depth did not allow formation of integrated architectonic elements, or scooping out for niche creation. Architectural add-on elements such as half columns, extrados, porticoes, etc. were additives placed to frame and highlight the opening.

The surface of the window was strongly stated by articulated divisions, contrasts between glazed and other surfaces like rusticated masonry. Windows were also placed in inward or sunken bays. The mid-wall between the windows was treated as very shallow niche or bordered frame for murals, paintings or placing a fireplace or library cabinet. Building’s facades of thin walls were also undulated by outward bay windows, ledges and other projections.

Thick walls accommodate the shutters of doors and windows within the gap. But shallow window gaps offer no shading. Some form of external shading system is required. Such shading systems have been used for creating architectural facade system, as in Chandigarh Secretariat building.

Glass curtain walls are thin body construction, often without any projections for solar protection. This now sought through the glass technology, and the ventilation through separate HVAC system. Thin walls save floor space, and so are economic in spite of the compulsory recourse to other compensatory facilities. The nominal architectural play of depth and shadows for 3^rd dimensional visual depth is not available with openings in very thin walls. This is now recreated by volumetric play of the building mass, or by variegated surface finishes. For such surface modulation, other means include visual reflectance and glows (illumination from within).

The vividness of stained glass windows or the colourful lanterns of Gothic eras are now recreated through see through LED glass. At another level the touch screen provides the same fare. The mix of the two will become part of architectural and interior face of buildings.

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PERCEPTION of CONTRAST -Issues for design -18

Post 659 -by Gautam Shah

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Contrast is a deviation from the expected. It is the realization of a thing against, the obvious, existing, notional or ideological percept. Contrast is seen between nominal or obvious things, versus abnormal or non-perceived conditions. Like a full vs empty streets, clear vs fuzzy, pleasant smell vs unpalatable taste, dark-hot vs bright-cool, vibrating but noiseless; These are some such expectations vs perceptions.

Contrast is a comparison and occurs in some reference. The reference forming nexus is proffered in real or a hyper realm. But the ‘thing’ and its context are not always in the same space or time setting. Contrast makes a ‘thing’ stronger by juxtaposition of some weaker, duller or different elements.

Contrast is detected by two distinctive processes. The perception, is a combined experience of different sensorial faculties. And it is also a process of cognition that defines the strongest experience forming the main object or foreground, and all other as the background. The backgrounds offer the context.

Sensorial faculties have their own scale of strength, and some have bipolarity. Typically eyes and ears continuously back up the space-position details. Similarly nose and tastes buds in the mouth, are closely located, and so show time-simultaneity in definition of edible things. The space-time references are filled in by other senses. Multilateral nodes of touch support such a process.

The foreground-background divergence manifests in time-space reference. The juxtaposition, however, is not in the same space or time setting. The nexus could be in real or hyper a real realm. The hyper realm consists of experiences and resulting expectations. One has seen neither heaven nor hell, but both pose concurrently as extreme contrast. One of the two could be real and other through anecdotical knowledge. Here the contrasts are realized through recall. The contrast is relevant till foreground-background simultaneity remains within a fathomable range of perception. Architectural entities contrast in size, scale, style, placement, orientation, and environmental conditions, thematic content etc.

The contrast offers a scale. Objects forming the contrasting zones have shapes, extent, proportion, and indicate a direction. The depth is the obvious phenomenon of foreground-background differentiation. Other two dimensions of the scale are formed by the shape and its extent. The fourth dimension of reality occurs with vivid scenes. Here, if the background is dull or static, the foreground contrasts intensely. And, where the foreground is dull or rapidly varying, the particulars of things and happenings fail to register effectively. The perceiver becomes confused and disinterested, if ‘back and foreground’ elements fail to present relationships in terms of now-then, here-there, far-near etc. In Design, there is always a conflict between context and contrast, requiring equilibrium.

Contrast makes things conspicuous to attract the senses. And the contrast to be obvious, occurs with some reference. The reference is formed by a ‘thing’ that is stronger by juxtaposition of some weaker, duller or different elements, by its power of persistence in reality, and as a recall. Often clues are included in the composition for the recall. The clues could be similarities, leftover trails of the past happenings or subtle insertions relevant only to the person experiencing it or in that time and space. Other design elements that offer contrast include presence of directions, sequences, repetitions, occlusion by frames, thematic continuities, sensorial consistencies, associated fables and explanations.

A design has internal and external context. Internal contrasts are part of the designed entity, so within the ambit of real experience. External contrasts occur through the embedded or implied metaphoric clues for connection.

Architecture occurs in the context of its terrain, environment and stake holders (humans and tasks) and incorporeal parameters like weather, culture, economics, social and politics. These are universal posers, some find them suffocating in creation of outstanding and long-lasting contrast. So contrast is realized by negation of the contextual elements. Architects resort to attitudes like deconstructivist, monumentalist, eccentricist etc. Architecture has been for a very long time and substantially static formation, but now for evocation of contrast, not only the form is made dynamic but the perceiver-users are made mobile and hyperactive. These experiences began in rapidly changing environmental conditions, unsettled positions of perceptions, gyrating conditions, gravity less conditions, videos and movies.

In art work like paintings aberrations of perception arise from how spaces are postulated by extent and depth, and time is suggested with metaphoric details. The way colours are seen or weights are felt is due to such contrasts. Our past experience and desires make us see or experience things before they happen at closer locations.

A silhouette is a very specific condition of contrast. Here the proportion of dark-light is of course important, but the edge conditions like shapes, arrangement, sizes etc. determine the effectiveness of contrast. Silhouette work in two ways: One due to the stark difference between the background and foreground, and Two due the lack of details in the foreground object. A glare is a form extreme contrast which fuzzes the foreground.

Camouflage is in a way opposite of contrast. It forms from the skillful exploitation of the contrast, though the resultant scenario is cacophonous. The noise occurs from anomalous conditions between the perception and its cognition. It is also the difference between real experience and the expectations. Camouflage morphs the foreground with background, alternatively the foreground turns fuzzy due to the reflections, multiple impressions, askew positioning, colour intonation, altered scaling etc.

Contrast occurs due to cascade of light, glare, echoes or reverberation, masking (of smell, taste), screening, covering, hiding reflections, and framing.

This is the 18 th article of 20 topics series on ISSUES for DESIGN

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BLOGS LINKS about PERCEPTION

Post 652 -by Gautam Shah

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These are my select few 91+ blogs (out of nearly 850 placed on my 4 blog sites) written over last 4 years, now compiled under a common theme ‘Space Perception’ with following sub sections.

      0  New series of Lectures (Four) on Perception

1. SPACE PERCEPTION
2. ILLUMINATION
3. MOVEMENT, BALANCE
4. OPENINGS SYSTEMS
5. GLASS
6. GRILLS, TRELLIS, CURTAINS
7. SOUND and NON VISUAL
8. OBJECTS, SURFACES, COLOURS, PATTERNS
9. REALITY, MAKE-BELIEVE

 

0  New series of Lectures (Four) on Perception

0.1 SOME SOUND BITES -Space Perception -I

https://designacademics.wordpress.com/2018/02/12/some-sound-bites-space-perception-i/

0.2 STRATIFICATION of VISION

https://designacademics.wordpress.com/2018/03/02/stratification-of-vision0.2 /

0.3 PERCEPTION of SPATIAL FIELDS -ILLUMINATION

https://designacademics.wordpress.com/2018/03/11/perception-of-spatial-fields-illumination/

0.4 MULTI NODAL PERCEPTIONS of OBJECTS in SPACE

https://designacademics.wordpress.com/2018/05/14/multi-nodal-perceptions-of-objects-in-space/

 

 

1 SPACE PERCEPTION

1.1 PROCESS of PERCEPTION

1.2 PROCESS of PERCEPTION part-I

1.3 SPACE PERCEPTION -through seeing, hearing and touching

1.4 SPACE PERCEPTION – Issues for Design -4

1.5 SPACE PERCEPTION

1.6 SPATIAL DEFINITIONS

1.7 SENSING OBJECTS BEYOND THEIR SIZE MEASURES

1.8 SPATIAL DEFINITIONS

1.9 SPATIAL DISTANCING and BEHAVIOUR

1.10 DISTANCING in SPACE

1.11 SPACES SIZES and SHAPES

1.12 SMALL SPACES and LARGE SPACES

1.13 REACH in SPACE

2 ILLUMINATION

2.1 CONTRAST EFFECT – PERCEPTION

2.2 PERCEPTION of SPATIAL FIELDS -ILLUMINATION

2.3 DAYLIGHTING

2.4 DAY-LIGHTING – in Interior Spaces

2.5 DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS for DAYLIGHTING

2.6 SPACE PERCEPTION and ILLUMINATION

2.7 DAYTIME INTERIOR ILLUMINATION -REALITY and PERCEPTION

2.8 INTERIOR ILLUMINATION through DOORS

2.9 WINDOW LOCATION and NATURAL LIGHTING

2.10 LE CORBUSIER and ILLUMINATION

2.11 COMPARING WINDOWS of FLW, LC and Mies

3 MOVEMENT, BALANCE

3.1 MOVEMENT and BALANCE – Issues for Design -5

3.2 PERCEPTION of BALANCE and MOVEMENT

3.3 BALANCE in DESIGN – Part 1

3.4 BALANCE in DESIGN – Part 2

3.5 VISUAL PERCEPTION of MOVEMENTS

3.6 PERCEPTION through SCALES and CONVERSIONS -Issues or Design -3 

4 OPENINGS SYSTEMS

4.1 LEVELS of OPENINGS

4.2 DESIGNING OPENINGS

4.3 CLASSICAL WINDOW FORMS

4.4 ARCHITECTURAL WINDOWS and VISION in-out

4.5 ARCHITECTURAL WINDOWS and the MEANING

4.6 ARCHITECTURAL WINDOWS and MECHANICS of VISION

4.7 MEANING of a WINDOW SILL

4.8 THIRD DIMENSION of OPENINGS

4.9 LANTERNS in ARCHITECTURE

4.10 CLERESTORY OPENINGS

4.11 SKY LIGHTS

4.12 ROOF LIGHTS

4.13 SHOP WINDOWS

4.14 SHOP WINDOWS – SHOP FRONTS – DISPLAY WINDOWS

4.15 FRAMING of OPENINGS

4.16 MASKING of OPENINGS Part -III -Framing

4.17 MASKING of OPENINGS Part -II

4.18 MASKING of OPENINGS Part -I

5 GLASS

5.1 GLASS in ARCHITECTURE -1

5.2 GLASS and PERCEPTION

5.3 GLASS in WINDOWS – Part • I

5.4 GLASS in WINDOWS – Part • II

5.5 COLOURED GLASS

6 GRILLS, TRELLIS, CURTAINS

6.1 CONTEXT -Issues for Design -12

6.2 ROOFS 3 -Skyline and Silhouette

6.3 HOLISM and DESIGN

6.4 TRELLIS

6.5 GRILLS

6.6 CURTAINS

6.7 TRANSLUCENCY for CURTAINS

6.8 SHEER FABRICS and CURTAINS

6.9 SHEER FABRICS and CURTAINS-2

6.10 NON SILK SHEER FABRICS and CURTAINS

6.11 WEIGHT and TRANSLUCENCY of fabrics for curtains

6.12 SHEER FABRICS

7 SOUND and NON VISUAL

7.1 SOUND

7.2 SOUND, SPACE and PERCEPTION

7.3 PERCEPTION of SOUND and SPACES

7.4 SPACE and SOUND REVERBERATION

7.5 SOUND and NOISE MANAGEMENT

7.6 HEARING and interior spaces

7.7 ACOUSTICS in SMALL SPACES

7.8 SOUND and SMALL SPACES

7.9 SPACE PLANNING and NON VISUAL CUES

7.10 NON VISUAL LANGUAGE -Issues for Design -6

7.11 LANGUAGE EXPRESSION and SOUND PERCEPTION

8 OBJECTS, SURFACES, COLOURS, PATTERNS

8.1 OBJECTS in SPATIAL FIELDS -Issues for Design -14

8.2 COLOURS -Perception and Expression

8.3 COLOURS and BUILDINGS

8.4 FLOORINGS

8.5 FLOORING COLOUR

8.6 FLOORINGS IN INTERIOR SPACES

8.7 PERCEPTION of SURFACE FINISHES

8.8 GLOSS

8.9 TEXTURES and MATERIALS

8.10 JOINTS in SURFACE FINISHES

8.11 MOSAICS

9 REALITY, MAKE-BELIEVE

9.1 SOLIDS and VOIDS -issues for Design -13

9.2 AUGMENTED REALITY

9.3 SPACES and REALITY

9.4 MAKE-BELIEVE in INTERIOR DESIGN

 

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SPATIAL NATURE of WINDOWS

Post 644 –by Gautam Shah

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Windows are surface elements with great presence on both exterior and interior sides. It is fairly a complex entity against the comparatively simplistic wall, but a surface that is penetrable. Its surface is very dynamic, due to the continuous variations in views through it and the vivid reflections on the glass surface. The contextual conditions like climate, illumination, distance and angle of observation and the purpose of use and multifarious position of the shutters continuously reshape the perceived form of the window.

Elbe Philharmonic Hall Hamburg Plaza Germany > http://maxpixel.freegreatpicture.com/Germany-Elbe-Philharmonic-Hall-Hamburg-Plaza-2000436

The external changes are reflected as a reverse mirror image in the glazing surface, and the interiors get revealed through an iridescent surface. A window, as a single picture frame, simultaneously reveals the changes occurring in the interiors as well as exteriors. The dynamism of the window gets enhanced further by the framing, masking and filtration of the perception.

Looking out Chand Baori Stepwell Rajasthan India Flickr Image > https://flickr.com/photos/bpprice/12043141995

A window is like a membrane with degrees of permeability. It may not permit one to go through it, but allows to stretch out through the sensorial faculties. We see, smell, listen and feel the other side through the window. The connection to the other side of the window is always short and casual. The frugal experience stimulates one to go across it, albeit by other means. Doors are dilemmas, either go out or remain in, but a window provides no such options. A person on outside of a window perceives the safety in the interior, and the one in a bounded space realizes the freedom and diversity of experiences available outside. Windows have been used for opening out the interior spaces or for bringing in the exteriors.

The historical window with opaque glazing of heavily coloured pot glass was extremely colourful but dead static. As the glass became thinner and lighter in colour, the changes in outside levels of illumination began to be noticed on the interior face. This was aided by the use of water white Cristallo glass. Interiors seemed now much more natural, and attuned to the outside changes in luminescence. Till 19th C windows were vivid elements in an otherwise static exterior or interior surface. The Cristallo glass, outside was a dull metal like an opalescent surface, but new clear glass with better casting, polishing and fire finishing began to be iridescent.

Reflection in Windows > http://maxpixel.freegreatpicture.com/Reflection-Building-Architecture-Window-Glass-922529

The glass was recognized as having two distinctly different faces. Iridescent on the outside face due to reflections and a ‘water-white’ flawlessly clear and non glossy surface on the interior face. Corbusier used the opaque iridescence of the exterior surface to juxtapose the exterior masonry or cement surfaces. But FLW used the deep shadows to eliminate the exterior iridescence and added colour staining and patterning to break the transparency. Mies used the exterior mirror like gloss to reflect the changes occurring in the surroundings concurrently juxtaposing the interiors. This helped to reduce the massiveness of the built-form.

FLW Window with masking of Pattern > Flickr Image by Hardisty

Window glass is now often used to assimilate the realities of interior and exterior on a very large joint-less screen. The mix creates a very vivid object, like a water body reflecting both the sky and the floor. Metalized opaque glass belies the two-way transparency of a see-through element.

https://www.pexels.com/photo/architecture-building-business-city-245618/

Wall to wall glass openings dissolve one or many sides of a volumetric space, reshaping its perceptive size, scale and extent. The spatial illusion becomes more intriguing when such a large reflective glass surface is used. Wall corners, large stretches of surfaces, acutely angled spaces, stubborn elements like columns and piers are dissolved by illusion of windows through mirroring effect of glass.

Corner in Glass > Flickr image by Wonderlane > https://www.flickr.com/photos/wonderlane/4889566212

We are conditioned to expect certain spatial effects in a space. And glass is an effective tool for breaking that anticipation. A narrow space visually gets widened by a glass opening. Skylights and clerestories add ‘lightness’ to the space. Lights such as roof holes focus the attention. Openings, depending on their location and nature redefine the space configuration. The stratification of view to the outside offers different scale to the space. Significantly bright areas highlight the details, and so are perceived and registered, more effectively then darker zones. A window becomes an element for changing a space, intentionally and accidentally.

Madrid Crystal Glass palace Pixabay image by IvanPais Espanol

Madrid crystal glass palace > Pixabay image by IvanPais Espanol

Windows are furrowed gaps into an otherwise solid barricading mass. The depth is highlighted due to the dark interior, and shadows cast by strong and directional light. The shadows as a form creating element was very well exploited by L. Kahn in his Asian buildings. The same effect at a micro scale and in repetition creates a lattice, used in Indian Architecture. Windows like, bay, bow, Mashrabiya and oriel have been used to enlarge interior spaces and also to correct the interior shape of the space. Zarokhas add to the interior space but have also been used to undulate the exteriors.

Gothic window tracery Snettisham Norfolk England > Flickr Image by Spencer Means > https://flickr.com/photos/hunky_punk/7511302668

Masking has been very commonly used to change the character of the windows. Greek and Roman architecture subdued the openings as a secondary and less visible layer. Romanesque windows once again came to the surface, but openings were framed by the semi circular arch. Coordinating several windows was a difficult design issue, as the height of the rounded arch was defined by the width of the opening. Gothic architecture solved the problems of geometric composition, by of pointed arch. It also created a system of subdividing the window opening through mullions, transoms and glazing bars. The window opening was masked by traceried patterns. Window masking became an effective tool to overcome the deficiencies of glass, size, clarity and impurities. The deficiencies made the windows subservient entity of the load-bearing structure. Glass houses, orangeries, etc. allowed windows to define a space without the use of a wall. The need for very large and deep sun lit spaces for bus depots, railway stations, markets, and factories redefined the Windows’ spatial nature.

Pot Metal Glass stained Window Exhibit in Krannert Art Museum > Wikipedia Image

Framing is a property of all openings. Openings have their sides and mid members within the view cone depending on the point of observation. Palladio masked and framed the exterior face of the opening. The double-hung sash windows did the same on both, exterior and interior face. Framing is now used as an inevitable joint management system, and but often made imperceptible. Stratification (window openings’ position @ low, mid or higher level with reference to height of the user or the task plane) is an important ergonomic parameter that affects the spatial perception.

Elgin Cathedral > Wikipedia image by Billreid

Transparency is a quality of the glass, and the most important aspect of the surface of the opening. A window opening in the form of a glass curtain wall or shop front, shows up the space in its exterior surface configuration, and also the spatial depths of its interiors. The simultaneity of the exterior and interior spaces adds to the dilemma of the physical reality vs the virtual reality.

Glass house by Philip Johnson New Cannan, CT USA > Wikipedia image by Staib

This re-composed article is based on my earlier BLOG > here >

http://talking-interior-design.blogspot.in/2009/12/spatial-character-of-windows.html

AND the BLOG was based on my Lecture Notes > Interior Components and Systems: Windows >>

http://www.gautamshah.in

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DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS for DAYLIGHTING

Post 593 –by Gautam Shah

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Daylighting is illuminating the interiors of built spaces with the sunlight, as available during the sun up period. This is controlled entry of natural light and diffuse skylight into a building to reduce electric lighting and saving energy. The ‘direct’ daylight arrives through openings like doors, windows, skylights and other gaps. ‘Indirect daylight’ is brought in as Diffused sky light from surface reflectors or Transmitted light through tubes and other devices.

Haveli Courtyard, Near begum Samru’s palace > Flickr image by Varun Shiv Kapur

Daylighting depends on the external conditions, such as the season of the year, climate, dust, fog or cloud cover, time of the day, terrain or surroundings. Daylight can be designed through buildings, size (spread or massing, depth, floor heights), form or shape, orientation, scheduling and location of tasks, configurations of openings, etc. It is closely linked to saving energy used for lighting during daytime. Daylight is substantially dependent on openings like doors and windows, and this help creates stimulating and natural environment.

Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport Mumbai Departure area > Wikipedia image by Nancy Beaton

■ Daylighting is dependent on external conditions. The season of the year determines not only the ‘sunshine’ days and brightness, but the direction (solar inclination) of the light. The climatic conditions govern if fenestrations can be kept fully open or closed. Local atmospheric conditions like dust, fog, cloud cover and pollution affect the intensity of daylight. Activities must be scheduled according to the diurnal cycle and positioned as per the available exposure. The surroundings’ factors, such as the terrain slopes, colour (of white sand beach fronts, green lawns or foliage, water bodies), and reflective capacities determine the brightness level of illumination.

Sahara Town Ghadames Libya > Wikipedia image by Luca Galuzzi http://www.galuzzi.it

■ Daylighting and building design, have mutual dependence. The exposure of the face, surface area, perimeter and form of the buildings can be advantageously exploited for better gain of daylight.

■ Daylighting for energy saving must be conceived with a view to reduce the artificial illumination requirements of deep-set spaces, low height spaces, isolated interior entities like vestibules and corridors. A synergetic system to calibrate the electric illumination can be created for task-need and occupancy of the space, compensative distribution (elimination of glare-contrasts) and low heat output.

High sill windows Abbaye d’Acey Jura France > Wikipedia image by Arnaud 25

■ Fenestration and Daylighting are linked. Fenestration location (wall, skylights), height, shape and construction affect the daylighting. Fenestration also serve the purpose of comfort (ventilation requirements such as heat gain-loss, air-moisture control, interior pollutant dilution, air movements) and view in-out, so must incorporate these requirements.

Daylight used for illuminating interior spaces, exploits the ever-changing quality in terms of intensity, colour and direction of the light. The daylight-design, scatters the light over a wider extent, diffuses its intensity and subdues the strong directionality, alters the colour quality, and shifts the location of the source.

Screening for daylight and view Wikipedia image by Margaret Bourke-White

● Light intensity is a function of season, orientation and fenestration design. These are important considerations for siting an activity. Light intensity is perceived against the brightness level of the background scene or the surfaces. It can also be altered by illumination from other directions or additional artificial sources.

Tony Rich Training Centre Uni of Essex Consistent illumination by skylight and support by electric light> Wikipedia image by Rwendland

● Colour of the daylight as reflected sky component have small colour variations, except the occasional colour scattering at sun rise and set periods. Daylight received from reflected surfaces such as terrain, near by buildings and plants has a colour tinge. The colour of the glazing material, colour of the opening cover systems like Venetian blinds, curtains, overlay films, etc. side-surfaces of fenestration systems.

Colours of the surroundings > Flickr image by Darron Birgenheier

● Direction of the light is an important consideration for ingress or avoidance direct sunlight. North light (South light in S-hemisphere), are designed to access best natural illumination for industrial plants. East side facing openings allow ‘cool’ brightness in comparison to West faces.

Darker surface does not equalize the light > Pixabay image

● Scattering the light over a wider area achieves equal brightness by avoiding high-low contrast or patchy areas. This is done by multiple openings or by masking the opening with diffuser screens. Scattering is avoided where dramatic effects are intentionally created such as vestibules, entrance halls, etc. Equalization of illumination in space is also achieved by electronic sensors that activate electric illumination in required intensity.

Taliesin West drafting studio illumination > Wikipedia image by Steven C. Price

● Diffusing the intensity of light is resorted to reduce the high level of brightness on summer or clear sky afternoon periods. This is done by automatic masking devices or by baffles or louvers with apertures attuned to non-bright exposure-directions and schedules. Diffusers are also used to reduce the level of brightness in areas that act as transition spaces to darker environments such as auditoriums.

Strong light source and contrast > Pixabay image (of woman by window)

● Calibrating a strong sense directionality with illumination is necessary to reduce the dynamism of direct natural illumination. Architectural openings like doors and windows bring in variations of brightness (movement of clouds), shadows of moving objects (trees, vehicles, other traffic), and variations of colours into the interior spaces. This changeability is often an irritant for work areas like laboratories, libraries, bedrooms, etc. By sourcing the daylight from multiple directions, the illumination can be made static and multilateral.

Contrast reduced by additional illumination from side openings >Window at the East end of Choir in Month of Feb, Wells Cathedral Somerset > Wikipedia image by IDS.photos from Tiverton, UK

● Altering the colour quality where colour perception is important such as in surgical and pathological areas of hospitals, colour and dye manufacturing plants, film and media editing rooms. Here not only the colour must be neutral but consistent. This is achieved by avoiding light reflected from external sources, such as pavings, walls and lawn or green foliage.

● Shift the location of the source is important for space planning design at micro level. The available natural source may have strong left or right, up or down delineation and may need the shift of illumination location. This is done by external and internal reflecting surfaces or use of light transmission tubes.

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