E-raamat: Daylight, Design and Place-Making

Architects not only design functional spaces for a specific purpose, but also attempt to create meaningful aesthetics in their placemaking, taking into account both context and culture. Daylight is an essential contextual and cultural ingredient of place-making. While there have been numerous previous publications addressing the role of daylight from a technical or even sustainability perspective, there is very little on the role of daylight in creating and revealing the wonders of our heritage and contemporary architecture. Different cultures have used light in architecture to different extents, depending on various historical, technological and social aspects. There is a current revival of interest in contemporary architecture of using daylight as an essential contextual ingredient in the design process. By examining the architecture of daylight in different locales and setting this in a historical context, this book argues that appropriate use of daylighting will ensure not only visual and thermal comfort in the urban setting and aid to energy efficiency, but also will contribute to the place identity of new buildings, particularly in urban regeneration projects. It brings together analyses of technical aspects of daylight performance and the environmental impacts with discussions of the psychology of daylight and its influence in shaping perceptions of our built environment. The book concludes with a new approach to rethinking identity with an emphasis on the changing role of daylight in contemporary architecture.