Evaluation of the Visual Comfort and Daylight Performance of the Visual Art Classrooms

Abstract

The daylight in classrooms is a crucial aspect that affects the quality of the learning environment and the overall performance of the students. Visual arts, such as painting, sculpture, carving, textile design and photography, require specific lighting conditions, which are different from the regular classroom standards. Due to the limited number of studies in this area, it is necessary to examine the specificities of different types of visual arts and to provide specific design guidelines for lighting enhancement. This study focuses on the evaluation of the daylight performance of the classrooms of the “Jordan Misja” art school located in Tirana, Albania. The research methodology begins with the site survey and observations. Ten art studios are selected, including painting, sculpture, scenography, photography, textiles, carving, drawing, and mixed arts. Further, computational simulations including the illuminance, daylight factor and the glare are conducted in order to evaluate the daylight performance. The daylight satisfaction survey is focused on the visual comfort, glare, usage of artificial light and light control strategies. Based on that, the generalized standards for the arts and crafts studios are revised and specific design strategies and daylight control guidelines are suggested for different types of arts.