Prairie Urbanism

It can be argued that there is oftentimes an intrinsic formal beauty latent in midwestern cities, especially the smaller ones. Why no great architects, at least to my knowledge, have pursued making this beauty more apparent or manifest is most unfortunate..

Daylight variability and contrast-driven architectural effect

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 2011.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (p. 127-130).Natural light is a dynamic and ephemeral tool for expressing the quality of architectural space. As a compliment to more traditional avenues of daylighting research that assess performance in terms of quantitative illuminance goals and glare-based discomfort, my thesis defines light variability and contrast as a finely tuned architectural effect. Under the rapidly growing context of energy conscious research, my thesis attempts to re balance our definition of "performance" to include those perceptual and aesthetic aspects of light that are often disregarded by the world of simulation. Contrast is important to the definition of space and it is essential in understanding how architecture is enhanced and transformed over time by the dynamic and variable characteristics of daylight. Through an analysis of contemporary architecture from around the world, this thesis has developed a new typological language that categorizes architectural space in terms of contrast and temporal variation. Using this system of categorization, my thesis proposes three new metrics for the quantification of contrast and light variability to provide a more holistic analysis of daylight performance.by Siobhan Rockcastle.S.M

Dynamic Annual Metrics for Contrast in Daylit Architecture

Daylight is a dynamic source of illumination in architectural space, creating diverse and ephemeral configurations of light and shadow within the built environment. It can generate contrasting levels of brightness between distinct geometries or it can highlight smooth gradients of texture and color within the visual field. Although there are a growing number of studies that seek to define the relationship between brightness, contrast, and lighting quality, the dynamic role of daylight within the visual field is underrepresented by existing metrics. This study proposes a new family of metrics that quantify the magnitude of contrast-based visual effects and time-based variation within daylit space through the use of time-segmented daylight renderings. This paper will introduce two new annual metrics; Annual Spatial Contrast and Annual Luminance Variability. These metrics will be applied to a series of abstract case studies to evaluate their effectiveness in comparing annual contrast-based visual effects

Celebrating Contrast and Daylight Variability in Contemporary Architectural Design: A Typological Approach

The perceptual performance of architecture can be greatly altered by the ephemeral quality of daylight. Unlike artificial light sources, which can be adjusted to meet performance criteria regardless of geographic location and time of day, daylight is a variable source of illumination. When used to illuminate the static environment of a building, sunlight can dramatically alter our perception of interior architecture. Despite a wide range of daylight design strategies, neither high nor low levels of contrast and variability are synonymous with performance: it is the specific conditions that must be engaged appropriately within the context of each architectural work. While there have been several attempts at quantifying brightness and luminance diversity in daylit architecture (through the use of digital images), we have yet to see a method that can measure the spatial and temporal diversity of light within the visual field. In order to establish the importance of luminous composition within interior architecture, this paper presents a survey of contemporary architecture from around the world to develop a more effective vocabulary about contrast and temporal variability under daylight conditions. This survey allows us to grasp the broad range of design strategies employed within contemporary architecture and develop a matrix of contrast typologies against which each space could be compared on a relative scale from high to low. This matrix allows us to develop a precise language about the composition of perceptual luminosity within each space and helps architects to contextualize and compare the perceptual impacts of daylight within space

Visualizing Perceptual Dynamics in Architecture

When it comes to value how magnificent buildings are experienced, most designers believe that sunlight is essential. Although architecture is a technical discipline, it lacks a consensus about what quantity and what quality of light are required to make a space efficient

Simulation of a turbojet engine on a standard electronic analogue computer for the purpose of control study

http://www.archive.org/details/simulationofturb00roc

A Simulation-Based Workflow to Assess Human-Centric Daylight Performance

This paper will present an annual simulation-based workflow for assessing human perceptual and non-visual responses to daylight across a series of view positions in an architectural case study. Through the integration of mathematical models used to predict visual interest and non-visual health potential, this paper will introduce an automated workflow to assess an array of view positions (located at eye level) under varied sky conditions and across multiple view directions to analyze the predicted impacts of daylight on perception and health in architecture. This approach allows for a spatial and occupant centric analysis of daylight using an integrated simulation-based approach

Contrast measures for predicting perceptual effects of daylight in architectural renderings

Daylit architecture is perceived as a dynamic luminous composition, yet most existing performance metrics were designed to evaluate natural illumination for its ability to adequately illuminate a two-dimensional task surface and avoid glare-based discomfort. It may be argued that task-driven approaches based on surface illumination and glare ignore the likelihood that contrast can provide positive impacts on our visual perception of space. Advances in these metrics to accommodate climate-based sky conditions and occupant behavior have improved our ability to evaluate task illumination and glare, yet the same attention has not been paid to evaluating positive perceptual responses to daylight. Existing studies have attempted to link subjective ratings of composition to simple global contrast metrics without reaching consensus. More advanced metrics have been developed in computational graphics and vision fields, but have not been applied to studies in qualitative lighting research. This paper introduces the results from an online experiment where subject ratings of daylight composition are compared to quantitative contrast measures across a series of renderings. This paper will identify which measures correlate to subjects’ ratings of visual interest, and introduces a modified contrast algorithm, which can be used as a novel prediction model for visual interest in daylit renderings

A human-centric approach to assess daylight in buildings for non-visual health potential, visual interest and gaze behavior

This paper introduces a novel approach for the assessment of daylight performance in buildings, venturing beyond existing methods that evaluate 2-dimensional illumination and comfort within a fixed field-of-view in order to predict human responses to light concerning non-visual health potential, visual interest, and gaze behavior in a visually immersive scene. Using a 3D rendered indoor environment to exemplify this coordinated approach, the authors assess an architectural space across a range of view directions to predict non-visual health potential, perceptual visual interest, and gaze behavior at the eye level of an occupant across an immersive field-of-view. This method allows the authors to explore and demonstrate the impact of space, time, and sky condition on three novel daylight performance models developed to predict the effects of ocular light exposure using a human-centric approach. Results for each model will be presented in parallel and then compared to discuss the need for a multi-criteria assessment of daylight-driven human responses in architecture. A parallel and comparative approach can allow the designer to adapt the architectural space based on the program use and occupants needs

Beyond illumination: An interactive simulation framework for non-visual and perceptual aspects of daylighting performance

This paper presents a proof-of-concept for a goal-based simulation structure that could offer design support for daylighting performance aspects beyond conventional ones such as illumination, glare or solar gains. The framework uses a previously established visualization platform that simultaneously and interactively displays time-based daylighting performance alongside renderings, and relies on a goal-based approach. Two novel performance aspects are investigated in the present paper: health and delight. For the first aspect, drawing from the latest findings in photobiology in terms of effects on sleep, health and well-being, the goal is to integrate time-dependencies of non-visual responses to light into a dynamic light-response model for the non-visual system that can be part of a design process. For the second, the goal is to deepen our understanding of the perceptual qualities of daylight through a dynamic analysis of spatial contrast and its variability over time. The two approaches discussed in this paper introduce a new framework for the Lightsolve simulation environment that includes a Radiance calculation engine combined with an interactive visualization platform for temporal and spatial ‘distribution’ of performance