136 LIGHT + TECH
The judges also noted their ‘remarkable’ skill in directing daylight both vertically and horizontally into what are often deep-plan and layered building volumes, investing spaces with a particular atmosphere. They ‘bring the light where it is wanted, necessary and comfortable: to work, to read, to stay,’ said the judges. ‘It allows them to create a complex and rich interior architecture, spatially dense, which nevertheless achieves a human scale and intimate environments within tall and large buildings.’
Rather than being merely an element of composition or aesthetic addition, ‘natural illumination heightens the working conditions and sensory qualities of the spaces,’ they commented. ‘Daylight emphasises and celebrates the main spaces in their buildings.’ The sense of integration with the architecture and the resultant ‘comfortable and warm atmosphere in service of the users’ are intertwined in their approach. ‘The daylight does not create monumentality, and it is not a religious or scenographic light. It is a beautiful, soft and humanistic light, perfectly merged with the architecture. This is a light that integrates and creates a unique spatial experience without being demonstrative or imposing.’ Another chararacteristic of the practice’s work is the exploitation of natural light using surfaces as daylight reflectors and modulators. Glazed ceramic flooring is combined with rough brick walls, while satiny dark wood is used with carefully placed apertures, creating ‘rich and intricate spatial experiences’. ‘We describe our architecture as physics of space, physics of culture,’ says Farrell. ‘What we really try to do is capture the environmental conditions of location, for people to enjoy it. It is a cultural relationship. Our relationship with light starts with looking at the angle of the sun, one of the aspects that we look at very deeply.
‘As we move to the future times of sustainability,’ she continues, ‘we should be aware that light is an extraordinary energy, it is not just a visual delight.’
‘Research on light’s widespread effects on humans, independent of vision, has changed architecture in the past decade. It has initiated new lighting standards to incorporate non-visual effects of light as necessary for health. It has reawakened interest in the huge potential of daylight to complement artificial light’ Anna Wirz-Justice
THE DAYLIGHT AWARD FOR RESEARCH Anna Wirz-Justice
Anna Wirz-Justice has carried out pioneering research on how light regulates human circadian rhythms and sleep. She is concerned with defining the key parameters of how light acts as a biological stimulus, including the importance of when we see light, how long we see it, and of what intensity and colour spectrum. Her work, though rooted in the therapeutic use of light to treat mental disorders, has had much wider implications. ‘Anna Wirz-Justice has embedded her science broadly across the public sector,’ said the jury. ‘She has, and continues to reach out to numerous other fields in both the natural and humanistic sciences, to convey the importance of the natural day-night cycle on our psyche and physiology, including through architecture and the world of art. She has been the driving force behind multiple public lectures, exhibitions, installations and architecture projects.’
Left The design of the Toulouse School of Economics incorporates apertures to allow for the maximisation of natural light
Having worked in a psychiatric clinic, Wirz-Justice discerned the connections and correlations between abnormal light exposure, circadian rhythm disruption, and the impact of such factors on mental health. She introduced the use of light therapy to Europe and studied its use in Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), non-seasonal depression, Borderline Personality Disorder and dementia. This work allowed her, and other international groups, to establish both the scientific and therapeutic application of light as a treatment for different areas of mental illness. She and her colleagues have written a manual for healthcare professionals, designed to guide evidence-based light treatment to improve mood and sleep disorders. ‘Research on light’s widespread effects on humans, independent of vision, has changed architecture in the past decade,’ says Wirz-Justice. ‘It has initiated new lighting standards to incorporate
non-visual effects of light as necessary for health. It has reawakened interest in the huge potential of daylight to complement artificial light.’
Widespread research in recent years has revealed that light is essential for health, regulating many aspects of human physiology, as well as circadian rhythms and sleep/wake cycles. Appropriate light exposure synchronises the body clock, allowing people to respond optimally to the diverse demands of the day/night cycle. Without this daily synchronisation, circadian timing systems become misaligned with each other and with the outer world. Research has further shown that the consequences of circadian dysregulation include fluctuations in mood, irritability, impulsivity and reduced concentration, alertness, performance and creativity. Long-term, there is an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, obesity, Type 2 diabetes, cancer and mental illness.
As Florence Nightingale discovered in the mid-19th century, there is also a healing aspect. ‘Recovery from illness can be accelerated by enhanced exposure to daylight,’ says Wirz-Justice. ‘We and many others have collaborated with architects in new hospitals or retirement homes. Schools and workplaces also need enough access to daylight. If young children spend time outside every day, this seems to be a simple strategy to prevent myopia. ‘So, I think we have reached a level of knowledge whereby chronobiologists and architects can talk to each other to improve the quality of the built environment with respect to the health-enhancing effects of daylight.’
The Daylight Award was established by the philanthropic foundations Villum Fonden, Velux Fonden and Velux Stiftung, and is conferred biennially in two categories, The Daylight Award for Research and The Daylight Award for Architecture.
thedaylightaward.com
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