Abstract
Heritage issues have increased significantly in recent years. However, they tend to remain in the cultural sphere and are often resistant to scientific analyses. If we have to deal with the contradictory matter of sustainability in design for ancient buildings, such hindrances appear frequently. A crucial aspect in Architecture has always been its capacity to dispose internal spaces and apertures in a manner that enhances the balance of light and thus provides attuned perception and well-being. Poor performance in that respect raised objections against the prestige of admirable works and famed artists. If we reject the absurd idea of accurately reproducing identical buildings in the same place repeatedly, how are we supposed to benefit from the said knowledge without the help of any objective design tools? It is easy to agree that at least we would need some scientific support to transmit such proper effects. Aware of the former notions, authors have developed a novel simulation software called DianaX, which is based on mathematical models and equations produced and expanded by Joseph Cabeza-Laïnez, from roughly 1990 to 2018. This non-commercial software deals with radiative exchanges in all kinds of surfaces (for instance domes, vaults, cylinders, hyperboloids and curves in general). It also includes direct sun in the simulations unlike most programs. Therefore, it is ideally suited for the analysis of heritage architecture and especially that which identifies with the Renaissance, baroque and neoclassical epochs. The case of temples from the baroque period resumes the conflict expressed in the first paragraph and the Jesuit Church of Saint Louis (1699–1731) is one of the most relevant examples of efficient illumination found in Mediterranean latitudes, having been recently restored. In this article, we would like to discuss the subtle and interesting implications of employing our simulation software for lighting in such a complex baroque temple. The methodology would be to identify the main energy sources within the church in order to construct a suitable model for simulation. Subsequently we apply the said software DianaX to such model and establish the most significant results trying to compare them with available on-site measurements. Finally, a strategy to enhance day-lighting and supplement it with other light sources in the church is proposed.
Highlights
Famous buildings from the past and the present have brandished their excellence in the respect of lighting control. Their thresholds were praised from an artistic point of view for the way in which solar radiation penetrated their interiors [1]
Knowledge of daylighting has interested many architectural theorists including Siegfried Giedion, Le Corbusier’s colleague, who pointed out: “It is light that induces the sensation of space
We should employ direct measurements if available from the meteorological institute, which we have proved fare well with the algorithm proposed by Pierpoint et al [32] to obtain daylighting intensities for vertical and horizontal surfaces depending on the latitude of the place
Summary
Famous buildings from the past and the present have brandished their excellence in the respect of lighting control. How the design and architectural forms could be improved to achieve an optimal and coherent distribution of natural energies or at least of supplementary energy in the case of retrofit of heritage In this regard, the proposed mathematical model allows us to determine the illuminance vector at every point of the space under study and to immediately obtain the flux lines in the radiant field caused by any architecturally conceived form. The proposed mathematical model allows us to determine the illuminance vector at every point of the space under study and to immediately obtain the flux lines in the radiant field caused by any architecturally conceived form This procedure has been validated in dozens of projects and hundreds of radiation measurements around the world [12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23], see Figure 3.
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