Daylighting

Picture a space, one that feels vibrant, comfortable, warm, and healthy. Now visualize someplace cheerless, depressing, and dull. What changed in your mind\’s eye? Most likely, lighting –specifically natural lighting– played a significant role. Yet, none of these terms explicitly relate to light or darkness. This is the emotive power of daylighting. In addition to enlivening a space, daylight can connect us to nature, mark the passage of time, maintain circadian rhythms, and save energy. Conversely, poorly considered daylighting can lead to overheating, visual discomfort, and wasted energy.

This course explores the theme of daylighting in architecture. Because daylight design can be an unintuitive process, and because today\’s computerized tools offer designers a powerful tool for evaluating their ideas, this course includes a detailed focus on daylight simulation. Other topics include, design precedents, rules of thumb, and shading strategies, as well as the technical fundamentals of light, sun position, solar heat gain, and glare. This is primarily a technical course. Both studio-based and research-based students are encouraged to participate.