“Architecture is the learned game; correct and magnificent of forms assembled in the light”
- Le Corbusier in Toward an architecture, 1927.
When we discuss light and architecture, the sense of vision, as well as the tactical, are directly related to the sensible experience of a space. Whether natural or artificial, light has always been a reference for us, also an essential phenomenal factor for our life. It guides us in the way in which it is arranged in space or by its immaterial dimension, so we feel.
Light allows us to see, to discover a space in its dimensions and proportions. We perceive time in relation to the day and night, to the rhythm of the seasons and the hours. Since humanity's existence, we have taken maximum advantage of the use of light, thus bringing beliefs and meanings that we keep until today.
Emotions through the light in a space are a complex subject due to the multitude of possible feelings. Feel an architectural space will be experienced by each individual in a personal way, depending on their physical and mental conditions and also our culture. Explore the actions of light on the “interiority” of humans, can be important to giving space an intangible quality, sensitivity, from the spatial and technical approaches that are already know as forms, dimensions, openings, colors, materials, etc.
Certain sensations, such as sight and touch, will be stimulated by the "caress of light" on a body and / or in a space. The latter, when it is illuminated, can tell us a lot about a place through what we see and at the same time. It can evoke an emotion in us, both positive and negative.
For example, we can imagine a street in which we must enter via an underpass. If this passage does not have correct visibility, before entering it we will have a certain apprehension, a feeling of fear or worry. We are moving forward in a place in which we cannot anticipate anything.
We can imagine this place differently by adding some colors or even some spots of artificial light, it will already change the emotion of pedestrians.
Feeling a space allows giving an experience that will be lived differently by each one and will also depend on the contact of the architecture with the physical elements or natural phenomena, such as water, smoke, and others. We cannot impose the way by which a space will be perceived, even if we can build a space with the intention of evoking a specific emotion.
Building those atmospheres will depend on the spatial aspects and the control of the solar rays, but the emotions will remain subjective. However, the cultural background of each one will play an essential role in giving another dimension to space, thus being able to transmit their sensibilities to us. The experience of a space touched by a light can be an even more enriching experience when it is linked to different cultures. For example, the way that shade can touch us in the East or the West which has completely different meanings. While one works in the shade to create a majestic space, the other instead seeks to illuminate the space so as not to have a “dark” room.
AUTHOR
ARTHUR C. MACEDO
Arthur is 25 years old, from Rio de Janeiro. He moved to France in 2015 to finish his studies in Architecture. He wrote his master thesis on light and architecture as sensitive tools. Currently, he is preparing his final master's project in Strasbourg and he would like to develop the same subject because architecture must move people.