Perception and experience of daylight – Reflections of an architect

Abstract

The information contained in light from our surroundings is often taken for granted because of its ubiquity, and the subliminal nature of the way we normally use it. Revealing the richness and depth of our common human experience through the unexpected qualities of light is seen as an artistic opportunity. An architectural training enables the integration of a subjective and qualitative experience, with the ‘objective’ structures that we are surrounded by. The built space can act as a ‘neutral’ reference onto which the complexity of daylight is superimposed. The author, trained as an architect, has been involved for more than 30 years in the design and construction of non-gallery artworks that engage the experience of natural light in public and semi-public spaces. This practitioner reflection discusses the relation of the position of the observer and sources of light, and how the movement of the viewer acts as a catalyst for revealing their situation through six works of various scales that the author worked on in New York; Boston; Abu Dhabi; London; and Berlin.