Light Series 2 - Stone Building

The Stone building has such a great presence on UNCG campus. After analysing the lobby outside the main office it was somewhat anti-climatic. It was very dark and uninviting. The one hanging luminaire is not nearly sufficient for people entering. In addition there is such a strong contrast from the outside brightness to the inside darkness that it take a bit for you eyes to acclimate to the light. It can almost be disorienting. As you turn back around and look outside the daylight is so strong that it creates an uncomfortable glare on the glossy floor. A recommendation for this problem could be a change in floor material. Perhaps the glossiness enhances the glare. Also I would recommend more lights in the entrance so that the contrast from outside to inside isnt so stong. Or maybe the luminaire could be a omni-present light the fills the space instead of a direct spotlight like there is now. Here are a few more pictures of the proceeding hallways which seem to be a bit more successful! The overhead lighting are stronger and even provide a directionality aspect to the space. Also it creates a nice rhythm throught the repetition. I think the use of cove lighting is successful too.

Day Light Model

In our private vs public space we were really inspired by Le Corbusier and Alvar Alto's brilliant use of natural light in their buildings. Although the assignment was to create a "daylight box" we thought it would be more dynamic to use cuvilinear forms concave and convex. We wanted to see how this would diffuse the light as it flows through the small slits and hits the surfaces within the building. In addition the small vertical slits played an interesting role in our project. The light from the slits that were higher seemed to fade out (almost fuzzy edges) as they hit the ground and walkway surfaces. The light from the slits that were lower seemed to be more crisp and clear. Also my favorite part is as the sun is setting the effect that it has underneath the walkway/bench. It has a really interesting glow that is a neat way to have a natural "lighted path" giving the space directionality.

March 4th and 5th

March 5th and 6th

I have been noticing that as we are getting closer to sping time that the light in the space is starting to "feel" warmer. Not to mention the space is getting warmer, especially if you are standing right in the streaming sunlight. These two days were really beautiful so I wanted to capture the light from both days instead of just one. The only problem is that while standing in the sunlight (if you are facing it) it is really hard to see and even harder to concentrate. Today we presented our daylight models in the lobby and I noticed that the groups that were up presenting were squinting hard and trying to sheild themselves from the sun. There were several times that people had to stop and restart their sentences just because they were so distracted. I really wish that the designer took this into consideration since it is such a big mult-functional space where students present their hard work. Glare still seems to be a problem as the weeks go on.

Feb 18th -- Light Series 1

Finally a clear and sun shiny day! I wanted to focus on the ceiling in these pictures because it was interesting to see how much the natural light accentuated the

waffle ceilings. However there was a bit of a harsh glare that shined off from the metal HVAC systems. The mullions in the windows portrayed neat shadows on the right wall of the lobby area and the illuminance off the shiny floors made them look glassy.

Light Model -- Johanna, Jessica, Janel, Emily

In our light model we wanted to work with the idea of additive color mixing and spacial hierarchy. To achieve this we fastened colored plastic rectangles to string and meticulously placed them in specific areas of our light model. We tried to angle them so that perhaps a blue and a red would mix and you would see the different colors throughout the white inside. We also found that there were some areas that all three colors (red, blue and green) mixed and were able to create "white light." Creating hieirarchy was in the presice placement of these colored rectangles. The more condensed area seemed more important because the light source was placed there. The less condensed area wasn't as emphasized however we were still about to see the colored shadows and created an interesting backlighted affect. My favorite part of the light model was the movement and rhythm that was achieved by slightly touching the box and you could see (especially the green rectangles) all the colors move around and sway into different places of light.

Feb 1st and 5th, 2008 Lighting Series 1

Feb 1st... The lighting seemed to be a bit bright and hazy again in these pictures. Although it wasn't as hard to see as it was in the previous pictures from January. I didn't feel as thought I were struggling to focus as much as I was before. Perhaps it was because the glare from the glass windows and doors in the front lobby was not as dominant as before. Still showing a prominant glare but it wasn't as strong.

Feb 5th... Here we have another darker view of the day. (Picture taken at about 5:00pm) It was a clear sunny day but was not about to photograph until later so the contrast wasn't as strong as I would have liked to see. The glare on the shiny concrete floor was still present from the windows. Interesting to see how the people reacted to the space. No one one would turn towards the windows because the light that eminated from the outside were somewhat annoying. In this picture you can see the person facing away. The lighting does not seem to be working. It seems as though the architect wanted to make an impressive entrance to the building but paid little attention to what the light would do to the interior space. Almost the opposite feeling of "welcoming"

Jan 19, 2008 Lighting Series 1

These two pictures were taken at different times during the day. The day was somewhat overcast and cloudy so you couldn't tell much of a difference between morning and late afternoon. It was strange to see that the one taken in the morning seemed darker than the one taken in late afternoon. The first picture (taken at about 12:30 pm) has almost a cold and dusky type feeling whereas the second picture (taken at about 4:30) feels a bit warmer and brighter. It seems as though the luminance is stronger with deeper contrast later in the day... although again, the weather was not a clear sunny day.