light ancient and modern concerns

7/28/2019 Light Ancient and Modern Concerns

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/light-ancient-and-modern-concerns 1/13

LIGHT ON ARCHITECTURE: Ancient and Modern

concerns

Monica A. Rivera

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

College of Architecture Studies

M.Arch 2

October 26, 2004

“ Architecture is the masterly, correct and magnificent play of

volumes brought together in light. Our eyes are made to see forms in

light; light and shade reveal these forms. It is of the very nature of

the plastic arts.” 1

Le Corbusier

Light, magic lamp under which things are given form to our eyes,

creates space and gives them quality. For all times, light has been a vital

matter in architecture, since its absence means blindness to forms. Its

careless use results in low quality of the spaces. Its excess produces

blindness, again.

Not only its functional quality has been the subject of broad studies for

architects and artists, but also its capacity to touch our souls has always

intrigued people. Light has the capacity of amaze us, independently from our

culture, time or geographic situation. The sun, fierce giver of light and life,

was praised by many ancient cultures as the supreme god that reigned over

the universe. For the Egyptians, light would be present when the god Ra was

looking at his people. It was the power of his sight that illuminated the

1Le Corbusier. Towards a New Architecture. Translated by Frederick Etchells, pp 29 (New York: Dover,

1986)

1



produce the corn weevil and other little creatures that are wont to spoil the

grain.” 2

Vitruvius also expresses his awareness about the changing

quality of light and heat during the year and its relation with the use of

the different rooms:

“Dining rooms for Spring and Autumn to the east; for when the

windows face that quarter, the sun, as he goes on his career from over

against them to the west, leaves such rooms at the proper

temperature at the time when it is customary to use them. Summer

dining rooms to the north, because that quarter is not, like the others,

burning with heat during the solstice, for the reason that it is

unexposed to the sun’s course, and hence it always keeps cool, andmakes the use of the rooms both healthy and agreeable. Similarly

with picture galleries, embroiderers’ work rooms, and painters’ studios,

in order that the fixed light may permit the colours used in their work

to last with qualities unchanged.” 3

The modern attitude toward light is quite different. Because of the

modern systems of lighting, heating and cooling, contemporary thought

dissociates light from heat, and sometimes even from the sun. The idea of comfort has changed, and modern standards are more precise in terms of

levels of light, temperatures and humidity, because modern technology

makes it possible to have the same conditions in a room all year round.

Advice in technical handbooks includes specific recommendations for each

use. Desirable conditions and an acceptable range of variation are given, but

the guidelines do not include recommendations about ways to achieve those

conditions. It is assumed that the conditioner systems will modify the

environment as needed.

Regarding the importance of light for the well functioning, health and

hygiene on a house, we find similarities with modern thought in the writings

2 Vitruvius, The Ten Books on Architecture. Translated by Morris Morgan, Book VI, Chapter VI, 2-4.

(New York: Dover, 1960).3 Ibid, pp180-181

3



of Le Corbusier. We could say that he and Vitruvius, each one in accordance

with his time, share this functionalist concern about light and architecture.

In “The Manual of the Dwelling”, when Le Corbusier makes recommendations

about what to demand in a house, with respect to lighting he suggests

windows in every room, because a house only is habitable when it is full of

light and air.4 He argues against architecture that in name of “style” has

degenerated to a “respectful and servile salute to the past”, constraining

people to all its illnesses. He declares,

“A house is a machine for living in. Baths, sun, hot-water, cold-water,

warmth at will, conservation of food, hygiene, beauty in the sense of good

proportion.” 5

The impetuous words of Le Corbusier about the new spirit that

architecture should have were distorted by practice, giving a paper floor to

an architecture, which focused on the function (as a machine) and

technology, leaving the human and environmental considerations on the side.

He continues his criticism,

“Industry, overwhelming us like a flood which rolls on towards its

destined end, has furnished us with new tools adapted to this new epoch,

animated by the new spirit.

If we eliminate from our hearts and minds all dead concepts in regard

to the houses and look at the question from a critical and objective point of

view, we shall arrive at the “House-Machine”, the mass-production house,

healthy (and morally so too) and beautiful in the same way that the working

tools and instruments which accompany our existence are beautiful.” 6

Of course this process was encouraged by the times, and the necessity

of wide reconstruction of European cities after World War II, which allowed a

speedy spread of the “spirit”. In Latin-Americans countries, where

reconstruction was not necessary, his approach became symbols of progress

and modernization. More and more, artificial materials were replacing

4 Le Corbusier 5 Ibid, pp956 Ibid, pp227

4



natural ones, among them light; whose increasingly artificial use significantly

reduced our experience of the outdoors. Corbusier writes,

“Water supply and lighting services are rapidly being evolved;

central heating has begun to take into consideration the structure of walls and

windows. Accepted things so far treated as almost unassailable no longer

hold their own: roofs which need no longer be pointed for purposes of

throwing off water, the enormous and handsome window-embrasures which

annoy us since they imprison the light and deprive us of it.” 7

Delirium for the technology gives us the

freedom of designing without the burdens such

as location and site restrictions that complicated

our free designs. The idea of having power over

nature allowed us to build without regard for it ,

forgetting that man primarily uses materials

from nature to build. The product: “all purpose”

buildings without souls, of great “international

style”, as similar as a clone, that cannot touch

the people who built them, or touch the people

for whom they were built.

Promulgated as the architecture of the

machine era and industrialization, it was

supposed to be the clear result of this spirit. Its form was meant to follow

function, with the expression of the new materials. Pure form and honest

materials would give beauty. On the way, the result was that any function

seemed to fit well to cubic volumes, and from the broad range of materials

available, only concrete, glass and steel were valid to express the new spirit.

“One building, for all nations and climates” 8

was the premise, and the mainfailure, together with the assumption that beauty had the same meaning for

all people and cultures. Even third world countries embraced these

architectural forms as symbols of progress. That these buildings were not

7 Ibid, pp232-2338 Le Corbusier, quoted on Leland M. Roth, Understanding Architecture, Hasper-Collins, Colorado, 1993

pp480, from Précisions sur un état présent de l’architecture et de l’urbanisme, pp64

5



suitable for their climates, the costs of the “new” materials and construction

technology were extremely expensive on those countries, and the fact that

that architecture had no precedent on their countries, was not even

considered. In the following quote, Aalto states a fundamental issue about

tradition, new creation, and the correct balance between them to have

continuity,

“Human life consists, in equal degrees, of tradition and new creation.

Traditions cannot be wholly cast off and regarded as used objects, which have

to be replaced by something new. In human life continuity is a vital

necessity.” 9

“International Style” was built in the same way and with the same

ideas for different people, places, customs and necessities, resulting in

standardized machines for living or working. Machines as architecture don’t

fit us as the human beings. Because light and people behave and react

differently depending on where they are, architecture should be so too.

“When you make a building, you make a life. It comes out of life, and you

really make a life. It talks to you. When you have only the comprehension

of the function of a building, it would not become an environment of a life” 10

Great waste of energy and impact on the environment was also one of

consequences of a complete reliance on technology, and of the indifference

for the relationship between a building and its climatic and environmental

setting.

It’s important to note what the ancients said about this issue. For

example, Vitruvius addressed the relation between place and architecture in

the following way,

“If our designs for private houses are to be correct, we must at the

outset take note of the countries and climates in which they are built. One

style of house seems appropriate to build in Egypt, another in Spain, a

9 Alvar Aalto, “The Architect’s Conscience”, 1957 in Alvar Alto, pp6, (Switzerland, Les Editions

d’Architecture Artemis Zurich), 1970.10 Kahn, Louis, quoted on Leland M. Roth, Understanding Architecture, Hasper-Collins, Colorado, 1993,

pp10, from Conversations with Architects, New York, 1973.

6



different kind in Pontus, one still different in Rome, and so on with lands and

countries of other characteristics” 11

The role of light in architecture is broad. It ranges from the mere

functional to the extraordinary poetic. Light has been used in architecture to

express subtleness as well as to strike with splendor, as a material on

architecture, as well as protagonist of it.

For the ancients,

the most poetic and

metaphysical powers of

light were reserved for

exceptional buildings,

such as temples or

tombs, and for very

important people or

gods.

Reconstruction of The

Colonnade of Amenhotep III

at the temple of Luxor

The setting of the building would be

carefully chosen with regard to the sun. In this

matter Vitruvius makes recommendations in the

case of temples as follows,

“…The temple and the statue placed in

the cella should face the western quarter of the

sky. This will enable those who approach the

altar with offerings or sacrifices to face the

direction of the sunrise in facing the statue in

the temple, and thus those who are

undertaking vows look toward the quarter from

11 Vitruvius, The Ten Books on Architecture. Translated by Morris Morgan, Book V. Chapter I. 1 (New

York: Dover, 1960).

7



which the sun comes forth, and likewise the statues themselves appear to be

coming forth out of the east to look upon them as they pray and sacrifice.” 12

Gipsoteca Canoviana, Possagno, Carlo Scarpa, 1955-1957

The modern concep of man with respect

to himself has evolved. The power of nature

has been extended to our inner realities, so its

charms are not reserved for the gods or beings

that left, but are part of our delight here at the

mundane world. Evocative use of light can be

found in buildings with the most trivial uses.

There are no mental restrictions for that.

A clear and contrasting example of space

where light is used in a symbolic way, with

respect to the ancients is the museum.

Although religious architecture continues to be

the most inspiring architecture, new times

have witnessed the birth of a new kind temple,

one for ourselves, the museum, where man

can admire his own creations and where light

calls also for a redefinition.

Church of the Light, Osaka, Tadao Ando

At all times, architecture has one meaning when the rational spirit

prevails and another when the emotional spirit prevails. In the first case,

light is used only as an element to help a function (program element), itsaction and perception is limited, it doesn’t open the place to further

interpretations. In the second case, in contrast, light is used as an integral

element of the architecture. We would then say that light has become an

architectural form or element that interacts with other architectural parts,

12 Ibid, Book IV, Chapter V, 1.

8



forming a whole, and creating different spatial moments that will activate not

only our eyes, but also our feelings and emotions.

The best example to illustrate this point is Le Corbusier. His works in

the first third of the twentieth century was focused on the pure forms,

“Architecture is the masterly, correct and magnificent play of masses

brought together in light. Our eyes are made to see forms in light; light and

shape reveal these forms; cubes, cones, spheres, cylinders or pyramids are

the great primary forms which light reveals to advantage; the image or these

is distinct and tangible within us and without ambiguity. It is for that reason

that these are beautiful forms, the most beautiful forms. Everybody is agreed

as to that, the child, the savage and the metaphysician. It is of the very

nature of the plastic arts.” 13

“The light plays on pure forms, and repays them with interest. Simple

masses develop immense surfaces which display themselves with

characteristic variety according as it is a question of cupolas, vaulting,

cylinders, rectangular prisms or pyramids.

Absence of verbosity, good arrangement, a single idea, daring and unity in

construction, the use of elementary shapes. A sane morality” 14

He is interested in the pure forms. It seems he is thinking more about

exterior forms, volumes under the light, “not for light striking on, breakingand in any case penetrating these volumes in order to exalt space.” 15 In

Towards a New Architecture, he addresses the interior light just in terms of

quantity and functionality. He emphasizes in the abundance of light that now

is possible to get in the spaces through the “wall of windows” that the new

technology of the concrete built:

“Reinforced concrete and steel allow of this audacity and lend

themselves in particular to a certain development of the façade by means of

which all the windows have an uninterrupted view: in this way, in the future,

inside courts and “wells” will no longer exist” 16

13 Le Corbusier.14 Ibid, pp.158-159.15 Bruno Zevi, “Light as Architectural Form”, World Architecture,1994, N.14, pp. 58.16 Le Corbusier.

9



For architects: a wall all windows, a saloon full of light. What a contrast withthe windows in our houses making holes in the walls and forming and patch of

shade on either side.

His attitude with Ronchamp Chapel cannot be more contrasting. He

doesn’t emphasize rational values, but concentrates more on emotional ones.

Every window has been carefully considered, achieving a mystic and

exceptional atmosphere inside. Several devices have been used to achieve

it. For example on the south side, the massive walls, variable angles of the

perforations, and colored glass endow the light with own life. Henry

Plummer beautifully describes the work of Le Corbusier on Ronchamp,

“In the dim interior, natural light is used not to model the walls, but to

corrode and eclipse them. A tall and deliberately distracting fissure is

inserted in the angle between two main walls, just to the right of the altar,

prying open the volume, and giving prominence to light above ritual. The

upcurving roof is also detached from the walls by what Le Corbusier called “a

horizontal crack of light”, causing the roof to appear to levitate.

(…)Through great embrasures in the massive south wall, daylight

glances along steeply angled facets, perfuming the chambers with transparent

colour, from panes of glass painted by hand with childlike joy (…). Each

chamber is carved a slightly different shape, and aimed to a different part of

10



sky, so no two are lit the same, and the sun awakens each in turn to animate

the wall with ebbing and flowing colour.” 17

In Ronchamp, light is not invisible, but has form, depth, and intensity.

Here light is an architectural form.

Light in architecture can be an inexhaustible topic, even more so if we

pretend to compare it through History. The points of comparison can be

innumerable, and the references too.

The power of light for expressing beauty seems to have had more

continuity. This fact can suggest that the human necessity for nourishment

of spirit, and light as an inspiring means of obtaining this nourishment has

not changed. Perhaps our inner sense is the same.

It is our outer self that looks to prevail over the world that we inhabit.

The false impression that man had mastered nature, leads him to the

dissociation from nature and its elements, among them, light. The effects of

17 Plummer Hernry, “Building with Light”, Escala, Anno 35, N.181, 1998, pp53-72

11



this attitude have become evident, threatening to give us a stranger and

unpredictable world.

A new concern about architecture has reborn. New alternatives are

being explored looking for an architecture that is more energy-efficient, and

responsive to its environment, “gentle architecture” or “green architecture".

New tools let us now “catch” and “keep” the energy of our turbulent

star, but the principle is the same, make maximum use of natural conditions.

The idea that the sun can be the provider of light and heat, together as

energy, for our buildings seems to fit again on our minds.

Bibliography

• Vitruvius, The Ten Books on Architecture. Translated by Morris Hicky

Morgan (New York: Dover, 1960).

12



• Alberti, Leon Battista. On the Art of Building in Ten Books. Translated

by Joseph Rykwert, Neil Leach, Robert Tavernor (Cambridge: MIT

Press, 1988).

• Lethaby, William Richard. Architecture, Mysticism and Myth (New

York, Dover Publications, 2004). [republication of the 2nd edition

1892]

• Le Corbusier. Towards a New Architecture. Translated by Frederick

Etchells (New York: Dover, 1986).

• Ander Gregg, Daylighting Performance and Design, (New Jersey,

Wiley, 2003), Second Edition.

• Guzowski, Mary. Daylighting for Sustainable Design, (McGraw-Hill,

2000)

• Leland M. Roth, Understanding Architecture, (Hasper-Collins, Colorado,

1993).

• Henry Plummer, “Building with Light”, Escala, Anno 35, N.181, 1998,

pp.53-72.

• Bruno Zevi, “Light as Architectural Form”, World Architecture, 1994,

N.14, pp. 56-59.

13

light ancient and modern concerns

Documents