Application of climate-based daylight simulation to assess lighting conditions of space and artworks in historical buildings: the case study of cetacean gallery of the Monumental Charterhouse of Calci

Abstract

• A novel procedure to assess the daylight conditions in museums is discussed. • The procedure is applied to Cetacea’s Gallery of the Charterhouse of Calci (Pisa). • The assessment relies on simulations with climate-based data and dynamic daylight metrics. • The conclusions are based on accurate software simulations, validated by measurements. • 4 courses of action are compared considering both artworks’ conservation and visitors’ needs. Exhibits are often displayed in spaces originally not designed to be museums. Thus, is common for those spaces to fail adequate lighting display conditions, both in terms of the artworks’ conservation and visitors’ comfort. In order to objectively assess if an exhibition meets the required standards it is necessary to establish a proper evaluation method. This work proposes a novel procedure relying on climate-based data and dynamic daylight metrics. The procedure, that considers both artworks’ and visitors’ needs, can provide museum curators with scientific, repeatable data. These data can help them screen out potential interventions until the most adequate is found. The main advantages of the new approach are that, if properly validated, the simulations can substitute annual measurement campaigns (thus leading to time and costs savings), and the results are very reliable (thanks to the use of climatic data specific for the site in exam) and that the effectiveness of potential interventions can be predicted simulating as many sceneries as needed. The novel procedure can be applied to assess the exhibits’ display conditions in historic building whenever daylight is the main light source. The validity of the procedure is demonstrated through its application on a case study: the Cetacean Gallery of the Monumental Charterhouse of Calci, near Pisa. The outcome of the assessment demonstrated that the Gallery is over-lit and the exhibits are being damaged, for this reason four potential interventions have been analysed and compared. The accuracy of the simulations was validated through a comparison with on-site measurements.