Thursday, June 17, 2010

Northern Lights

Light is inextricably bound with architecture. Whether it is blocked out or let in, an architect worth anything cannot afford to ignore light. In hot climates, the blockage of light through shading is tantamount to people's comfort. In Scandinavia, however, light is something precious and the architecture worth looking at sculpts and cradles light much as one would a priceless stone. When more than half the year is spent in darkness, light becomes a scarce commodity.

At Asplund's Stadsbiblioteket (Public Library), daylight is a key feature of the main rotunda space. Asplund floods the rotunda with daylight from clerestory windows just above the edge of the frame in the photo below, which washes the white walls above in a cheery glow. The light quality coupled with the sheer volume of the space makes a dramatic contrast with the dark stone and narrowness of the entry. We were fortunate enough to be in the library on a bright, sunny day, to see the room in all its glory. (Even if there were quite a few nasty electric lights turned on.)


I've already shown you how Aalto uses light in his buildings. I'll resurrect two examples.  The first, his home outside Helsinki and specifically, this moment where his desk, situated under a corner window, captures the sunlight streaming in the window.


The windows are high and wide enough to bathe the entire desk in warm sunlight. Even though the desk is in a fairly large room, the different between what is in light and what is in shadow simulates privacy for the architect at work.

Aalto's Nordic House handles light well, especially in the library. The combination of clerestory windows on either side, and the skylight above lets in light from all angles and takes advantage of multiple times of day.



Light does interesting things outside of buildings, too. Stockholm, as an urban city, contained many instances which manipulated light in an intriguing way. On Gamla Stan (Old Town) where our hostel was located, narrow alleys between the densely packed buildings channeled daylight and created shafts of light across the street.


Even though this image is stitched, you can still clearly see the beam of light that comes from the setting sun shining through the buildings. The strength of the light seems almost artificial, but it's entirely natural.

I hope to show more examples of daylighting and architecture, since I've surely talked everyone's ear off about electric lighting.

1 comment: