DAYLIGHT & ARCHITECTURE BY MAGAZINE VELUX

AUTUMN 2007 ISSUE 06 FRAMING DAYLIGHT 10 EURO

AUTUMN 2007 ISSUE 06 FRAMING DAYLIGHT 10 EURO DAYLIGHT & ARCHITECTURE MAGAZINE BY VELUX

FRAMING DAYLIGHT FORM AND IMPRESSION DISCOURSE At the VELUX Daylight Symposium in Bilbao in the spring of 2007, the insight into how America treats its children gave particular cause for reflection. In Cal- BY ifornia, pupils are forced into derelict, shabby, unattractive rooms with no day- light. You don’t need to be a professor of psychology to realise that depressing environments of this kind, with a complete absence of experience, lead to prob- KIM lems with unhappy and maladjusted children. The atmosphere is evidence of a lack of welfare provision that appears to be contagious. It is not surprising that DIRCKINCK- the performance and happiness of the children improves by up to 25% when daylight is let into the rooms (as architect and researcher Lisa Heschong dis- HOLMFELD covered) – and, importantly, through windows that the children are able to see out of. Lisa Heschong’s research has produced clear evidence that daylight and a view are imperative for physical and mental health. But what about all the other factors that contribute to a complete spatial experience? How does our environment affect us? The town, the building, the room, the landscape – even the last is designed by humans. When it comes down to it, our entire environment is the work of humans. But is it also humane? Space plus form equals impressions. But how are they created? We know very little about this, and science can help us little in understanding more about it. There are too many factors that work together here. We need to develop different methods to ensure that architects and builders build for people instead of jump- ing on the next mega-trend in the international flying circus of architecture. There is not enough research that is able to qualitatively analyse building environments and consequently provide support for planners and constructors. There are various approaches to this, but there is no real research carried out about the mental and emotional effects of architecture. At least we do know something about human behaviour in different types of urban space and under different climatic and cultural conditions. Among others, architect Jan Gehl and a network of urban researchers addressed this subject, and for a genera- tion, it has been one of the basic principles for avoiding social planning errors. Even if, in building projects, many other objectives often elbow this informa- tion out, there are also already certain guidelines for humane urban develop- ment based on a behaviouristic approach. But we still know little about what exactly goes on inside people. In many ways, architecture has become removed from its origins, in other words, the intention of creating a stimulating framework for human life. Mov- ing in time with technological development (and assisted by helpful comput- ers) we are faced increasingly with newer, more fantastic and seductive designs, that sprinkle a builder’s glittering magic dust over projects. But what is it really like living and being in these phantasms that express more what we can do that Kim Dirckinck-Holmfeld is an architect and one of the what we actually want? most renowned architecture critics in Denmark. He was The architect’s responsibility is still to create a humane, healthy, sustain- editor of the Danish specialist magazines Arkitekten able and life-affirming space for the lives that flow through the channels of and Arkitektur DK for many years, and is the author of architecture. numerous books about architecture.

1 VELUX EDITORIAL get skin cancer due to too much sun. From ancient for schoolchildren, offering a great deal of daylight REFLECTIONS 34 DAYLIGHTING 40 VELUX DIALOGUE 56 FRAMING DAYLIGHT times it has been known that sunlight has a disin- and fresh air, but also an opportunity to provide fectant effect on surfaces and clothes, and the heal- the pupils with hands-on experience and knowl- ZONNESTRAAL HOME AWAY MORE LIGHT ing effect of sunlight, fresh air and hygiene has been edge about sustainable building and sustainable SANATORIUM FROM HOME known in sanatoria for almost 100 years. choices of lifestyle. This is a vital aspect for White The history of sunlight and health is told by Ri- Design, a company committed to designing build- chard Hobday, who, in his article, discusses the con- ings for human beings rather than, as they put it, The Zonnestraal sanatorium in Hilversum is the Approximately 80 disabled children, many of them Architects and light planners have rediscovered tributions of the ancient Egyptian priest and master places for machines to live in. perfect embodiment of the ideals associated with with multiple disabilities, attend the special school their appreciation of daylight. But the complex- builder Imhotep, the British nurse Florence Night- The importance of daylight to architecture and architectural modernism in respect of light, hy- in Schwechat near Vienna. The building created by ity of the matter still makes many of them wary ingale, the Danish physicist and Nobel Prize winner people’s quality of life is a keystone in the found- giene and health. The building designed by Jan architects fasch&fuchs establishes a balance be- of dealing with the issue intensively and in depth. “Light is a drug that stimulates the production of se- Niels Finsen and Le Corbusier, who all knew about ing of our company. “Bringing light to life” is our Duiker, Bernard Bijvoet and Gerko Wiebenga was tween the imperatives of protecting the children During the second VELUX Daylight Symposium in rotonin, dopamine and gamma-aminobutyric acids the relationship between sunlight and health. philosophy in everything we do linking natural re- the expression of a medical and architectural at- and allowing them to make contact – not only with Bilbao, projects were presented as examples and in the human body, enhancing impulse control, mo- In our days, not only sanatoria, hospitals and sources with human needs. Therefore we find it es- titude which still took the sun seriously as a last- other pupils but with nature outside the building. new solutions aimed at facilitating daylight plan- tivation, muscle coordination, calmness and focus,” thermal baths take care of people’s well-being. sential to explore and illustrate how daylight can ing source of life. Entering the building through the numerous win- ning were discussed. says Lisa Heschong, who led a project team that ‘Wellness’ has become a mass phenomenon of pro- contribute to and enhance human health, learn- dows, natural daylight illuminates the interior and analysed the impacts of daylighting on human per- viding well-being and relaxation by means of light, ing and productivity. With this issue of Daylight penetrates right down into the basement. formance, and gave a lecture on this issue at the heat and water in countless variations. A good and Architecture we focus on how outdoor and in- second VELUX Daylight Symposium in Bilbao. example of this is the new spa designed by Beh- door climates, views and most notably daylight can Studies show that daylight considerably affects nisch Architekten, Bad Aibling in Upper Bavaria. substantially effect our lives. Through the frames motivation and the ability to concentrate. And day- They created a spacious spa landscape focusing of daylight. light and an outdoor view stimulate the learning on views of the surrounding area. ability of school pupils in the classroom. Sunlight Daylight and an outdoor view stimulate the Enjoy your read. is vital for human health and well-being. Sunlight children’s learning abilities at the special school in can help cure diseases like tuberculosis and rickets, Schwechat near Vienna, designed by architects speed up the healing of wounds and even relieve fasch&fuchs. The new primary school in Kings- pain. Significantly more people contract diseases mead in the north of England, designed by Craig due to lack of light in their lives than people who White, is not only an ideal learning environment

AUTUMN 2007 CONTENTS ISSUE 06

1 Discourse by Kim Dirckinck-Holmfeld NOW 4 MANKIND 8 VELUX INSIGHT 48 2 VELUX Editorial AND ARCHITECTURE 3 Contents LEARNING THROUGH 4 Now LIGHT AND LIFE LIGHTNESS 8 Mankind and architecture FROM THE SUN Light and Life from the Sun 18 Daylighting Bad Aibling 32 Universal Light Jean Nouvel’s planned new Louvre building in Abu Many people do everything they can to avoid ex- Photo by Julian Calverley Dhabi stands out due to its filigree cupola – as well posure to the sun; the fear of sunstroke and the un- 34 Reflections as his masterful renderings. Video stills adorn the healthy effects of UV light are simply too deeply Zonnestraal Sanatorium colourful facade of the Netherlands Institute for engrained. Any yet, even in times of global warm- 40 Daylighting Sound and Vision in Hilversum, greetings to the ing, sunlight is one of the best things that nature Home Away from Home bereaved, the plastic-film cupola in the Atocha has to offer to the human body. Richard Hobday Special school in Schwechat memorial in Madrid. Also: The retrospective of a explains why, and what consequences this could 48 VELUX Insight master photographer in Düsseldorf. have for architecture. Learning through Lightness Primary School in Kingsmead 56 VELUX Dialogue More Light VELUX Daylight Symposium 6–7 May in Bilbao 62 Books With their primary school in Kingsmead, a town Reviews in the north of England, White Design created an 64 Preview outstanding example of how to build a sustainable construction as a learning environment. With its ver y dynamic roof construction, the wooden build- ing is not only based on modern technologies which save energy and raw materials but also allows the schoolchildren to experience these features. Day- light plays an important role in this, ensuring a pleasant learning climate and enabling the school to make substantial energy savings.

2 D&A SPRING 2007 ISSUE 05 3 The things that make architecture tick: LOUVRE WITH If one is to believe Sheikh Khalifa bin the responsibility of Frank Gehry; vious coastline, a complex of small NOW events, competitions and selected new devel- Zayed Al Nahyan, ruler of Abu Dhabi, the Performing Arts Centre is being buildings – museum pavilions, open A LACE CAP the largest of the seven United Arab planned by Zaha Hadid, and the Mar- terraces and water basins – is start- opments from the world of daylighting. Emirates is set to become one of the itime Museum bears the hallmarks of ing to emerge. This complex will be world’s foremost cultural metropo- Tadao Ando’s work. For the Museum crowned by a broad, flat dome with a lises over the next ten years. In early of Classical Art, the Emirate has en- diameter of some 180 metres which, 2007, the desert state presented gaged Paris-based architect Jean according to Jean Nouvel, repre- plans for four prestigious cultural Nouvel – and one other high-profile sents a link between the world cul- projects to the public: an offshoot partner from France: Abu Dhabi has tures. The dome “is made up of a web of the Guggenheim Museum, the paid around EUR 700 million for the of different patterns interlaced into Saadiyat Performing Arts Centre, a privilege of giving the completed new a translucent ceiling which lets a dif- maritime museum and a museum of building the name Louvre Abu Dhabi. fuse, magical light come through in A FLICKERING classical art. All four establishments Moreover, France has pledged to sup- the best tradition of great Arabian FACADE OF FILM are to be based on the 27 square kilo- ply this desert outpost with works of architecture”. The presence of water metre Saadiyat Island, in English: the art from the Louvre Paris for its first and the constant sea breeze should Island of Happiness. The list of the ten years of existence. make for a pleasant climate under- architects leading the projects reads Jean Nouvel’s design is a study neath the dome. Henri Matisse meets Nam June Paik like a Who’s Who of world architec- of the museum’s location, between – these or similar associations are ture: the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi is desert and sea: just beyond the pre- those evoked by a first look at the Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision in Hilversum. And the thought of Korean video artist Paik, at least, sums things up pretty accurately: the Dutch artist Jaap Drupsteen used 748 stills from the films stored in the four underground levels of the build- ing for his facade concept. The Insti- tute for Sound and Vision houses an archive of all the audio and visual ma- terials it receives from Dutch radio and television history. In its seven upper floors the building, which was designed by Neutelings Riedijk Archi- tects, offers room for offices, a mu- seum and a multimedia library. The above-ground and underground sec- tions of the building are connected via a cruciform plenum: looking north- south, the eyes drift upwards the atrium; looking east-west, a chasm- like light well falls away right down to the fourth underground level. The fa- cade and front entrance of the build- ing face south, allowing the afternoon light to penetrate and illuminate the foyer in an almost magical way. The Institute’s facades are a joint project of Neutelings Riedijk, Jaap Drupsteen and glass-maker Saint- Gobain, who commissioned a new production line especially for the manufacture of the required panes of glass – more than 2,100 in all. The film stills were transferred onto the panes using a recently developed dig- ital printing process with ceramic inks. In a second step, the blank side of the glass panes was engraved with a relief of the same image, so that all 748 images can be seen on both sides of the glass – sometimes in two di- mensions, sometimes in three. The reliefs were first milled as negative moulds made of MDF, then given a ceramic coating before finally serv- ing as moulds for the viscous glass at

PHOTO: DARIA SCAGLIOLA & STIJN BRAKKEE STIJN & SCAGLIOLA DARIA PHOTO: temperatures of 820 degrees. JEAN NOUVEL ATELIERS RENDERINGS:

4 D&A AUTUMN 2007 ISSUE 06 5 , 1997 SILVER GELATINE PRINT, 149,2 X 119,4 CM. SEAGRAM BUILDING SEAGRAM PHOTO: ENRICO CANO ENRICO PHOTO: ROLAND HALBE PHOTO: SUGIMOTO: HIROSHI PRIVATE COLLECTION (ARCHITEKT: LUDWIG MIES DER VAN ROHE) GRAPHICS: SANGWOOK PARK, HONORABLE MENTION IN INTERNATIONAL VELUX AWARD 2006, PROJECT NO. 369. NO. PROJECT 2006, AWARD VELUX INTERNATIONAL IN MENTION HONORABLE PARK, SANGWOOK GRAPHICS:

THIRD LIGHT OF TURIN FIRMAMENT THE BLUE VOID HIROSHI SUGIMOTO: TOMORROW RETROSPECTIVE IN DÜSSELDORF

On 1 October, the third International practicing architects and represent- In Italy’s automobile capital Turin, The church building itself is also On 11 March 2004, exactly two and was constructed from 15,000 imbri- Continuing until 6 January 2008, the targeted use of soft focus. Although VELUX Award for students of archi- atives from UIA and EAAE and the there is much at the start of the new highly symbolic, with the sacred a half years after the attacks on the cate bricks, each measuring 30x20x7 Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-West- the images are stripped of all de- tecture, Light of Tomorrow, opens. students must submit their projects millennium that heralds the end of number seven playing the central World Trade Center in New York, ten centimetres and made of solid, colour- falen art museum in Düsseldorf is tail, the buildings remain recognis- The Award event runs every sec- before 8 May 2008. All submitted one era and the beginning of a new role. The church is constructed in bombs went off during morning rush less glass. The bricks are self-support- currently showing a retrospective of able, but other aspects come to the ond year, with the first being held in projects will be exhibited at the XXIII one. One of the epicentres of renova- seven elements, each 35 metres in hour at Madrid ’s Atocha st ation . 191 ing and were joined together using the work of Japanese photographer fore: reflections of the sunlight, the 2004. It is targeted at students and UIA World Congress of Architecture tion in the city is located in its north- height, arranged like slices of a cake people were killed and 1,800 injured; acrylic adhesive. Inside the glass cyl- Hiroshi Sugimoto. Born in 1948, the texture of a cloudy sky, or dramatic teachers at schools of architecture in Turin in summer 2008. west quarter. Once dominated by and that come together around a in the days that followed, thousands inder hangs a bell-shaped interior artist, who has been living in the USA contrasts of light and shade on the all over the world. The Award is in- The jury members in 2004 the furnaces and mills of heavy in- central hollow cylinder, like the key- of Madrid’s residents and tourists dome made of ETFE foil, upon which since 1970, is one of the most impor- buildings’ surfaces. tended to encourage and challenge were Glenn Murcutt, Craig Dykers, dustry, in the years to come the area stone of a church vault. The seven left messages of condolence at the the messages received from all over tant photographic artists alive today. In his latest series, Sugimoto re- students of architecture to explore John Pawson, Ole Bouman, Ahmet is earmarked for the development ‘towers’ are open to the interior of the site of the bombings and on the Inter- the world in the wake of the bombings In his great, incredibly detailed large- mains a devotee of representational the theme of sunlight and daylight in Gülgönen, James Horan and Michael of housing for 15,000 people. For church below and glazed to reveal net. A selection of these now adorns have been imprinted. The tautness of format photos – mostly rendered in photography; however, his subjects its widest sense in order to create a Pack; in 2006, Kengo Kuma, Róisin Turin Cardinal Severino Poletto, this the sky above; their skylights, set at a the interior dome of the monument the foil dome is maintained by a series black and white – Sugimoto deals are becoming even more reduc- deeper understanding of this source Heneghan, Omar Rabie, Douglas was reason enough to give the new 45 degree inward angle, allow abun- erected for the victims, which was of fans which create a constant vac- with subjects such as time and mem- tive. In Colors of Shadow, a series of light and energy. The IVA seeks Steidl, Per Olaf Fjeld and Massimo quarter a religious hub as well. With dant daylight into the church inte- unveiled on the third anniversary of uum between the two shells and thus ory, reality and representation. Using of colour photographs of an unfur- to explore the boundaries of day- Buccilli. The jury members for the Mario Botta, he commissioned one rior. Outside, the towers are flanked the attacks: one example reads “Hace “suck” the foil upwards. extremely long exposure times, mas- nished Tokyo apartment, Sugimoto light in architecture, including aes- 2008 Award are currently being of the most prominent church ar- by a corona of side chapels, which falta mucha fantasia para soportar The memorial can be visited via terful use of light and selective soft explores the interplay of light and thetics, functionality, sustainability, appointed. Jury evaluation will take chitects of our time to design a new for their part are supplied with day- la realidad (A great deal of imagina- the Atocha underground station: focus, he is able to portray reality in dark, surface and space created by and the interaction between build- place in June 2008, and VELUX will church building, conference hall and light through lower-level roof open- tion is needed to in order to bear re- from here, the visitor can gain access a way never before perceptible to the the daylight falling on the abstract ings and environment. The Award is announce and celebrate the winners community centre with a 700-per- ings reminiscent of light shafts. The ality)”. And the five young architects to an austere blue space extending human eye. Sugimoto’s rise to fame white walls. The Conceptual Forms not restricted to the use of VELUX at an award event in November 2008 son capacity for the quarter. inclined roof areas between the tow- from the Estudio FAM 2003 practice over almost 500 square metres, the started in the mid-1970s with his series shows plaster representations products. to which the winning students will, Santo Volto church stands on the ers are faced with maplewood; the certainly proved their capacity for “vacio azul” (blue void), as it is called Theaters series; long-exposure im- of mathematical models from the The concept of the Award is that of course, be invited. Previous Award site of what was once a steelworks side walls and floor of the church, on imagination when they won the com- by the architects. Estudio FAM as- ages of movie theatres and drive-ins. Tokyo University collection, which teachers nominate student projects events were held in Paris and Bilbao belonging to the Fiat Group. Its 60- the other hand, are surfaced with red petition to build the memorial. Their sociates a certain claim to eternity The exposure of the film in the cam- Sugimoto elevates to the status of completed during the academic where the winning students and metre high chimney is now a church Veronese marble. From the door- renderings showed an irregularly with its structure: the intention is era lasted as long as the film on the abstract sculptures through effec- years 2006/07 and 2007/08. An their teachers had the opportunity tower and provides a distinctive way, the eye is immediately drawn curved glass dome in whose interior for future generations to be able to screen, thus allowing a single photo- tive use of lighting. internationally acclaimed jury will to meet the jury members and other landmark for the new church which to the church’s altarpiece: a raster- the inscriptions seemed, in some read the messages of the mourners graph to show the sum of all the de- The Düsseldorf exhibition is the evaluate all the submitted projects representatives from the interna- can be seen for miles around. Around ised image of the Shroud of Turin. In mysterious way, to be floating. too. Whether the unusual structure, tails of the film, which – how could first stop on a tour which will take on the criteria of conceptual idea, ex- tional community of architects and the outside of the tower winds a helix order to achieve the desired effect, In its execution, the dome may which has never yet been tested on it be otherwise – blend together to in three further stages. It comprises perimental thinking and critical dis- building professionals. Read more at made of high-grade steel with hori- the architects used stones with two have lost its extravagant shape, but such a scale, will be able to deliver on form a dazzling white square. nine series of works a s well a s , at the cussion and will award a total sum www.velux.com/IVA. zontal ‘thorns’ designed to be rem- different types of surface that con- it has in no way lost its apparent this score remains to be seen. In the Architecture series (1997 centre of the exhibition, Sugimoto’s of €30,000 to the winning students iniscent of Christ’s crown. A metal verge in the sidelights to form the weightlessness – and this despite onwards) Sugimoto creates alien- aluminium sculpture, Onduloid. and teachers. The jury consists of cross at the top provides the finish- face of Jesus. weighing a good 160 tonnes. Its outer ated images of much-photographed acclaimed professionals including ing touch. shell, an 11-metre high glass cylinder, icons of modern architecture by a

6 D&A AUTUMN 2007 ISSUE 06 7 MANKIND Mankind as the focal point of architecture: By Richard Hobday AND ARCHITECTURE interior views of a corresponding relationship. Kept to within reasonable limits, direct sunlight is the best thing that nature can do for our health. Some of its effects have been known for thousands of years. This makes it all the more astonishing that physicians and architects have long reacted to this knowledge with ignorance or rejection. And, all too often, this LIGHT AND LIFE reaction remains unchanged. FROM THE SUN

Medical practice has often had a direct and very profound influence on the development of architecture; and nowhere is this more evident than in the guiding principles of the Modern Movement. The ideas which first informed Mod- ernism were formulated at a time when the building profes- sions were in the vanguard of a battle against tuberculosis. Throughout Europe, hundreds of thousands of people were dying each year from the `white plague’, which, although in retreat, was still taking more lives than smallpox, typhoid, scarlet fever and all the other infectious diseases of the era combined. Many of the pioneers of modern architecture were involved in the construction of tuberculosis sanato- ria. They were familiar with the medicine of their day and sometimes worked alongside doctors who used sunlight to cure their patients. In , the Nobel Prize for medicine was awarded to Dr. Niels Finsen, the Danish physician and scientist who discov- ered that ultraviolet radiation could heal Lupus Vulgaris, a form of tuberculosis thought to be incurable. Finsen’s Nobel Prize followed the discovery by two British scientists in  that the sun’s rays could kill bacteria, and could do so having passed through glass. Their work prompted other scientists to investigate the effects of exposing bacteria to the sun’s rays, and it was not long before sunlight was being hailed as `nature’s universal disinfectant’ and an important weapon in the fight against infectious diseases. Sunlit rooms were held to be hygi-

enic, while those that did not admit the sun’s rays were not. PHOTO: ERICH LESSING / AKG-IMAGES Architects began designing hospitals with large south-facing windows to admit direct sunlight and prevent the spread of Opposite: Iris of a human eye. The Above: Imhotep is regarded as tuberculosis and other pathogens. They built terraces and bal- fact that bright light has a positive the first master builder to be effect on the human psyche has known by name in human history. conies where patients with tuberculosis could be exposed to been known for a long time. The But Imhotep was also an early the sun under medical supervision, a practice which became receptors in the eye which all-round scholar. He was an known as heliotherapy. responsible for this, however, astronomer, doctor and priest of During the First World War, military surgeons used the were not discovered until 2002. the ancient Egyptian cult of the sun and thus personifies the link sun’s rays to disinfect and heal the wounds of casualties on between the sun, architecture both sides of the conflict. Then in , medical researchers and medicine. proved that sunlight could cure rickets, a crippling bone dis- ease that had been endemic in England, and elsewhere, for nearly  years. The discovery of the sanitary and then the therapeutic properties of sunlight brought about by Finsen

PHOTO: JOE MCNALLY / GETTY IMAGES GETTY / IMAGES MCNALLY JOE PHOTO: and others had a marked effect on building design from the

8 D&A AUTUMN 2007 ISSUE 06 9 Left: Florence Nightingale (1820- Below: Our genes also determine 1910) is regarded as the pioneer how we react to sunlight; this of modern nursing. Her example varies from person to person. inspired her admirers, who Scientists even assume that the included Henri Dunant, to found tendency to suffer from skin the Red Cross. In her books cancer depends more on the ’Notes on Nursing’ and ’Notes on genes than exposure to sunlight. Hospitals’ in the middle of the 19th century, she pointed out the antibacterial and healing effects of sunlight. PHOTOS: DIANA NEELY / TAXI / GETTY IMAGES

turn of the century onwards. In his influential manifesto The Today, Imhotep is remembered as the master-builder of one eclipse and rediscovery When Florence Nightingale made these observations, archi- Athens Charter, Le Corbusier proclaimed that: of the world’s great monuments; but he also personifies the However, in the years that followed the Fall of Rome, doc- tects and doctors were still largely unaware of the health ben- “To bring in the sun, that is the new and the most imper- historic link between the sun, architecture and medicine. The tors attached rather less importance to sunlight, hygiene and efits of getting sunlight indoors. Her thinking on the subject ative duty of the architect.” ancient Egyptians worshipped the sun for its healing powers sanitation. There is barely a reference to the sun in western was in advance of scientific opinion and ran counter to the In fact, there was nothing new about it. Throughout the and used sunlight as a medicine. The Ebers Papyrus, one of medical literature until the end of the th century. And it prevailing orthodoxy, which was to keep patients out of direct ancient world, architects and engineers built for the sun. They the oldest surviving Egyptian medical texts, recommends it. was not to be until the latter part of the th century, follow- sunlight. She believed that a view of the sky and especially sun u nder took much of t his work to faci lit ate su n worship a nd ma rk Some of the most distinguished doctors in Greece, Rome and ing the rediscovery of the sun’s health benefits, that buildings was of the utmost importance to the sick. Something else she the sun’s path through the heavens. They also appreciated that the Arabic world practised sunlight therapy. The Romans built were arranged to admit its rays again. In England, the govern- insisted on was fresh air, and lots of it. The air within a hos- sunlit buildings could prevent disease. Nearly five thousand solaria where they could sunbathe for health, and their best vil- ment had introduced a Window Tax , and while this tax pital ward had to be as pure as the air outside, without chill- years ago, work began on Egypt’s first pyramid; the Step Pyr- las, baths and health temples were carefully oriented for the sun. was in force, windows were bricked up and houses were often ing the patients. Air was not fresh if it was not warmed by the amid at Saqqara, near Memphis. The architect in charge was Indeed, the citizens of Imperial Rome considered sun exposure designed with the minimum of fenestration to avoid payment. sun, nor was it safe if it came from anywhere other than an also a doctor, and the high priest of an Egyptian solar cult. so important they had right-to-sunlight legislation. Unfortunately the tradition of inadequate windows extended open window. In the s, the effect of poor ventilation on well beyond the abolition of the tax in . In addition, the the sick and the well were not generally recognised. It was not air pollution and dismal housing that accompanied the Indus- unusual for medical staff to keep ward windows hermetically trial Revolution meant that sunlight was in very short supply closed for fear of lowering the air temperature. outside buildings as well as in them. Florence Nightingale was an advocate of the pavilion sys- While legislators may have been ignorant of the relation- tem, originally a French arrangement of separate ward units. ship between sunlight and occupant well-being during this The Nightingale ward, as it became known, was extensively period, high levels of natural light were encouraged in hos- glazed by the standards of the day. A minimum of one large pitals by a few enlightened individuals, including Florence window for every two beds provided patients with copious Nightingale, the pioneer of modern nursing. Miss Nightingale amounts of fresh air and natural light. However, it was to be considered sunlight vital in providing a healthy environment many years before her ideas gained acceptance. In , the for the sick. This was emphasised in her Notes on Hospitals Royal Institute of British Architects published a report on sun- of  as follows: light penetration in buildings, in which they referred to the “Direct sunlight, not only daylight, is necessary for speedy principles described in Notes on Hospitals, as follows: recovery, except, perhaps, in certain ophthalmic and a small “It is gratifying to note that some architects are at last, number of other cases. Instances could be given, almost although half a century too late, beginning to take advantage endless, where, in dark wards or in wards with a northern of Florence Nightingale’s common sense…” aspect, even when thoroughly warmed, or in wards with With the discovery that sunlight could cure rickets and borrowed light, even when thoroughly ventilated, the sick tuberculosis, and that it could kill bacteria, there were good could not by any means be made speedily to recover... All grounds for getting sunlight in and around buildings. The hospital buildings in this climate should be erected so that architectural language that Le Corbusier developed from the as great a surface as possible should receive direct sunlight s onwards reflects this; drawing its inspiration from the – a rule which has been observed in several of our best hos- sunlit ward of the sanatorium, and the terraces of the heliother- pitals, but, I am sorry to say, passed over in some of those apy clinic. His iconic Villa Savoye, built near Paris in , is most recently constructed. Window-blinds can always mod- designed for sunbathing. The living quarters on the first floor erate the light of a light ward; but the gloom of a dark ward of face into a sun terrace. This incorporates a ramp that goes up is irremediable... The escape of heat may be diminished by to a sunbathing enclosure on the roof, which is sheltered by a plate or double glass. But while we can generate warmth, screen of straight and curved walls. Le Corbusier believed the we cannot generate daylight, or the purifying and curative sun conferred physical and moral regeneration on those who

PHOTO: ADRIAN NEAL / STONE / GETTY / IMAGES STONE / NEAL ADRIAN PHOTO: effect of the sun’s rays.” exposed themselves to its rays. He was a keen sunbather, and

10 D&A AUTUMN 2007 ISSUE 06 11 P 11: Sunlight has often been Previous and below: The person completely ’blocked out’ of as the starting point and goal hospitals since the middle of the of architectural design: Le 20th century. It is only in recent Corbusier’s ’Modulor’ symbolises years that they have become this standpoint even today. In aware of its benefits again. Le Corbusier’s architecture, Studies have shown that sunlight large roof terraces on which the can sometimes considerably residents could sunbathe were speed up the healing process. taken for granted. It was only later that scientists began to be sceptical and realised the damaging effects of UV radiation.

was greatly concerned about the dangers of tuberculosis. This is clear from the book he wrote in the s on one of his later buildings; L’Unité d’Habitation or Marseille Block: “Doling out cosmic energy, the sun’s effects are both phys- ical and moral, and they have been too much neglected in recent times. The results of that neglect can be seen in ceme- tery and sanatorium.” L’Unité d’Habitation was the realisation of the mass hous- ing schemes that had exercised Le Corbusier since the s. He designed L’Unité to alleviate a severe post-war housing shortage in France. This milestone of modern architecture is arranged for sunlight and incorporates many of the features of a heliotherapy clinic. Balconies on both the east and west facades serve as sunscreens or ‘brise-soleil’ that shade the apart- ments in the summer months. They are also what Le Corbusier called an ‘open-air extension’ of each living room. In addition, L’Unité d’Habitation has a terraced roof that provides ameni- ties for the residents, including a solarium.

the decline of the sun – again

Until the middle years of the last century, natural lighting largely determined the plan of a building and the design of its external envelope. But with the advent of low-wattage flu- orescent tubes in the s, and air conditioning, reflective glass and cheap energy, the urban landscape began to change.

Daylight was no longer a critical design element, as these tech- ARTUR / FRAHM KLAUS PHOTO: nological advances made lighting deep-plan buildings a prac- tical proposition. Medicine was changing too. Improvements in living standards led to a decrease in tuberculosis and rick- ets; and the arrival of antibiotics in the s meant that infec- tious diseases were much more amenable to treatment. This is reflected in hospital design where sunlit, airy wards came to be replaced by structures that were more complex, and were closed to the elements. Gradually, the emphasis shifted from putting hospital patients in wards that supported healing and prevented infection, to ones that created a comfortable and more convenient environment for patients and staff. Sixty years ago, it was well recognised that sunlit wards have fewer bac- teria in them. Today it is not. However, strains of tuberculo-

PHOTO: PETE TURNER / THE IMAGE BANK / GETTY IMAGES sis have emerged that are resistant to antibiotics, and one of

D&A AUTUMN 2007 ISSUE 06 13 A hot bath relaxes body and mind – and all the more so if it is combined with a spot of sunbathing. Luminous intensi- ties of around 2000 lux and more stimulate the circadian system and the human psyche.

the so-called `superbugs’ that infect our hospitals is becoming established in the wider community. The mrsa bacterium, or methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, has long been a serious problem in wards and nursing homes where it infects patients weakened by disease or injury. But a strain has emerged that can infect healthy young people who have had no prior hospital exposure. With drug-resistant bacteria posing an ever- greater threat to public health, sunlight’s germicidal proper- ties merit rather more attention than they receive. So too do the therapeutic properties of sunlit spaces.

bright light

In Greece and Rome, physicians called the emotion associ- ated with gloom and darkness `melancholia’; and the idea that lethargy, sadness and despair can be triggered by low light lev- els is certainly a very ancient one. During the s, scien- tific evidence emerged of a link between depressive illness and light deprivation. Based on this and other more recent find- ings, it has become clear that building occupants do not get enough bright light to have a positive impact on their health and emotional stability. The light levels required for this are much higher than those needed to perform visual tasks. Elec- tric lighting developed under the assumption that the only sig- nificant purpose of light for humans is to see. Until recently, the impact of artificial light on physiological and psycholog-

PHOTO: MICROZOA LIMITED / PHOTONICA / GETTY IMAGES ical well-being was not generally considered. A major breakthrough came in , when scientists dis- Sensitivity to light and the covered a new sensory system in the human eye. This is not susceptibility to certain skin involved in vision: it is there to receive and respond to light, diseases resulting from it is hereditary. Nevertheless, all sending signals directly to the body’s biological clock. This people depend on vitamin D clock, in turn, regulates the secretion of hormones and neu- synthesis by the skin, for which rotransmitters in the brain. These have a direct influence on sunlight is essential. our health and the amount of light and darkness we expose ourselves to dictates when, and how much of them, is secreted. Although bright light is known to have health benefits, and has been used to treat conditions such as seasonal affective disorder (sad) and non-seasonal depression for some time, no one knows exactly how, or why, it works. The discovery of this new photosensitive system explains a great deal about

the ways in which light affects our well-being. PHOTO: MASAAKI TOYURA / TAXI JAPAN / GETTY IMAGES

14 D&A AUTUMN 2007 ISSUE 06 15 Freckles are genetically INTERVIEW determined deposits of WITH PROF. pigmentation in the skin ANGELA SCHUH and often appear due to the influence of sunlight. Especially people who have a fair skin and are sensitive to light frequently have freckles. PHOTO: RICKY JOHN MOLLOY / STONE / GETTY IMAGES

In April , a study published in the American Journal of beginning to work out how vital adequate levels of vitamin Professor Schuh, many positive ef- What positive effects of sun- exposed, in a controlled manner, to You‘re right. That is indeed paradox- Psychiatry concluded that bright light therapy is as effective as d are to our health, others are starting to recognise just how fects of exposure to sunlight, for light are also effective indoors if the same natural changes in tem- ical, as it means the body is work- medication in the treatment of major depressive illnesses and common vitamin d deficiency really is. A number of recent example its palliative effect on a building is designed with the sun perature and air movements oc- ing with temperature changes that winter depression (seasonal affec- in mind and naturally lit? curring outdoors? are far too extreme. This overtaxes that it has fewer side effects. These and other findings support studies have found disturbingly low levels of vitamin d across tive disorder) are now well known. its thermoregulation mechanism and t he a ge- old belief t hat we need to be able to see some brig ht lig ht, all age groups in Britain, the usa and elsewhere. The problem Others, such as the antimicrobial The effects of visible light also pen- Spending time in artificially air-con- exposes it to excessive strain. A mod- or live in sunlit spaces, to stay healthy. Unfortunately, oppor- is so bad that rickets is making an unwelcome return. effect of the sun, seem to be al- etrate buildings. Thus, if a building ditioned buildings is generally seen erate level of air-conditioning with tunities to benefit from light of sufficient intensity to have a The focus on the harmful effects of the sun’s ultraviolet most completely disregarded in has been designed accordingly, light as less than ideal from a medical interior temperatures ranging be- modern medical practice. Has the can also work against seasonal de- perspective. Large, openable win- tween 20 and 25 degrees Celsius favourable impact on our health can be limited in the modern rays in recent years has rather overshadowed the benefits they medical profession lost sight of the pression and general anxieties inside dows, on the other hand, are ben- would be much more appropriate. world. This may explain why depression is becoming so com- can bring and the dangers of not getting enough of them. positive effects of sunlight? it. However, it is important to ensure eficial. The same applies to open mon. According to the World Health Organisation, depres- For much of its history, humanity has revered the sun as a that the light‘s intensity will exceed inner courtyards, conservatories Here we need to differentiate be- 2500 lux. and balconies, in short: for all areas sive disorders are the fourth leading cause of ill health among source of light, life and well-being. The ancient Egyptians tween two components of daylight By contrast, human skin is pro- that allow us to expose ourselves adults worldwide, and by the year  severe depression will worshipped the sun’s healing powers and made good use of that have different effects on the tected from the effects of UV light to changing temperatures and sun- be second only to cardiovascular disease as the main cause of them, as did the Greeks and Romans. Lack of sunlight has body: visible light and UV light. Visi- by almost all types of window glass light, at least every once in a while. death and disability. Significantly, recent studies also suggest long been associated with weak bones, weak muscles, mood ble light affects our melatonin levels in use today. So in order to synthesise The body‘s thermoregulation func- via receptors in the eye and thus de- vitamin D3, for example, people actu- tion needs constant exercise, and it Florence Nightingale was right about the positive impact of disorders and ill health. The pioneers of Modernism appre- termines whether we feel awake or ally do need to go outdoors. is therefore an ideal situation when sunlight on the recovery of hospital patients. Research shows ciated this, and so did the architects of Imperial Rome more tired. Bright, visible light is also an fresh air can reach the skin at regular that heart attack victims stand a better chance of recovery if than a thousand years before them. As the old Italian prov- effective remedy for winter depres- Modern human beings often intervals. A constant, artificial uni- they are in sunlit rooms. Depressed psychiatric patients fare erb points out: sion. This has been known for a long spend 70–80% of their time in- form climate, on the other hand, al- better if they get some sun while in hospital, as do premature “Where the sun does not go the doctor does.” time and is used accordingly in treat- doors. How important is it in such lows our thermoregulation muscles ing this condition. cases to allow them to experience to become flabby. babies with jaundice. In addition, patients in hospital wards UV light has also been used ex- the same light changes that occur Incidentally, a similar effect is suffer less pain following surgery if they can see the sun. tensively by the medical profession during the day outdoors? generated by laminar air flows, such in the last few decades, for exam- as those created by tilted windows ple in treating skin diseases. This is I think the most important thing is or ventilation slots. They form a con- sunlight deprivation true for both artificial UV light and to ensure sufficient and consistent stant draught to which the cold re- sunlight. Therefore I would not use light exposure both outdoors and in- ceptors of the skin adapt, preventing The sun’s apparent motion through the sky each day regulates the word ‘disregard’ here. However, doors during the day. When evening any further counter reaction from the many of the body’s hormonal and biochemical processes. Fur- it is true that sunlight‘s good name comes, on the other hand, people need body. That is why we so often catch has been significantly tarnished re- to start preparing for night with the cold when exposed to draughts. Tur- thermore, as well as being our external timekeeper, the sun cently due to its carcinogenic ef- aid of suitable lighting. In other words: bulent air flows, such as those gen- is also our natural source of vitamin d. Of course, solar radi- fect, and it is thus often overlooked soft light, nothing too bright. With- erated by forced ventilation systems, ation can trigger skin cancer in susceptible individuals but, that this effect is heavily dependent out this change in light levels, the body are better than uniform flows. paradoxically, the rays that cause tanning and burning are on the dosage received. In sensible doesn‘t produce any melatonin, and the same ones that synthesise vitamin d in the skin. There is doses, the positive biological effects we don‘t feel tired so easily. Comparative studies of mortality of sunlight by far outweigh the neg- rates in different countries have little of this in the normal diet – so anyone who stays indoors ative: vitamin D3 synthesis, to name Around 50% of the population are shown that the “ideal” ambient Professor (Prof. Dr. Dipl-Met.) when the sun is out may have very low levels of it. Vitamin just the most important. Vitamin D3 sensitive to weather conditions in temperature for good health seems is formed on the skin exclusively via one way or another. Rapid revers- to be lower for northern Europeans Angela Schuh is a Professor of d has long been known to be essential for strong bones and Medical Climatology at the Insti- teeth, but recent research shows that it also plays a pivotal role solar radiation. It boosts bone me- als in conditions and sharp falls in than it is for their southern neigh- tabolism, prevents osteoporosis, temperature are among the most bours. Is it not paradoxical, then, tute for Health and Rehabilitation in maintaining a healthy immune system. There is a growing generally strengthens the body and widespread meteorological phe- that it is often the hotter countries Sciences of the Ludwig Maximil- body of evidence that low levels of vitamin d increase suscep- enhances performance. Moreover, nomena to have negative effects that have air-conditioned build- ian University, Munich. Her re- Dr. Richard Hobday is a recognised authority on sunlight and health in build- Vitamin D even protects against a on human well-being. To what ex- ings that are even cooler than in search focuses mainly on the effect tibility to some very common and potentially fatal conditions 3 of climatic therapy in different cli- such as heart disease, stroke, depression, obesity, cancer of the ings. He is a Research Fellow at the School of the Built and Natural Environment, number of forms of cancer. tent should architecture try to temperate or high latitudes? University of the West of England, Bristol, as well as the author of The Light shield people from these extremes mate areas, climatic treatment and breast, colon, prostate and pancreas, multiple sclerosis, diabe- Revolution: Health, Architecture and the Sun (Findhorn Press, 2006) and The of weather – and to what extent rehabilitation concepts and the tes, and tuberculosis. And just at the time that scientists are Healing Sun: Sunlight and Health in the 21st Century (Findhorn Press, 1999). should people inside buildings be healthful effects of heliotherapy.

16 D&A AUTUMN 2007 ISSUE 06 17 DAYLIGHTING The natural gift of daylight put to practice in architecture

A THEME PARK DEDICATED TO WELL-BEING

Thermal baths in Bad Aibling By Ursula Baus. Photos by Torben Eskerod & Adam Mørk.

For a long time now, sanatoriums, nursing homes and health spas have not been alone in dedicating them- selves to human well-being. ‘Wellness’ has become a mass phenomenon and an integral part of the leisure industry. Take Bad Aibling, for example: where once invalids sought relief in therapeutic mud baths, a spa theme park, designed by Behnisch Architekten, has now been opened to provide a variety of health and relaxation services with the aid of lofty architecture, light, warmth and water.

Winter is on its way and with it the accom- these companies, with an eye to their pre- Previous: The Bad Aibling spa is panying attacks of coughs, sniffles and sore mium accounts and the ageing population, located in a meadow with a throats. As we all know, hot baths work won- are becoming more and more conservative stream running through it near the centre of the town and it ders for these symptoms – and for those in their approval. This strategy has natu- features a free view of the whose bathtub at home is just too small, rally had an ongoing impact on traditional outlines of the Bavarian Alps to the option has been available since 13 Sep- spas such as Bad Aibling, with retail ranges the south. Behnisch Architekten tember to visit the new spa complex in Bad that had previously revolved around support exploited the location by opening the building up to the Aibling near Rosenheim instead. The first hose, orthopaedic shoes, hearing aids, cafes outside environment through mud baths facility in Bavaria was built here; and ladies’ fashions for size 42 and above. It the integration of large glass in 1838, two country doctors and an apoth- was thus a happy chance that drilling work, facades. The inside and outside ecary had the idea of using the area’s natural right at the spot where the existing stand- areas form a unified bathing landscape. peat deposits for medicinal purposes. They ard open-air swimming pool lay next to a then conducted seven years of research and leisure and sauna centre, resulted in the dis- Opposite: Anyone looking for thus laid the foundations for the Solen- und covery of a hot water spring. The idea of a extravagant materials and Schlamm-Bade-Anstalt (brine and mud thermal baths, which could go beyond the ornamental details in the spa will be disappointed. But the clever baths complex). Since then, invalids have health spa business in attracting guests to combinations and lighting design come here to seek relief from their suffer- Bad Aibling from near and far, could admit inside the building generate ings in a range of more or less appetising no delay in implementation. atmospheric density. peat and mud baths. Marshland equals peat: Four years ago, the architectural firm architects know it, heat makes it. During a Behnisch Architekten won the competition peat bath, this slowly penetrates and ben- to design a new baths complex with a unique efits the body, strengthening the immune concept: next to the existing sauna facility, system, stimulating the metabolism, and they created a spacious spa landscape focu- doing wonders for the hormonal balance and sing on views of the surrounding area and nervous system. Whereas in the past, treat- – something that no other competitor had ments like these often used to be paid for proposed – they relocated the new, sepa- by the German health insurance providers, rately accessible open-air pool, which will

D&A AUTUMN 2007 ISSUE 06 21 23 Previous: All-inclusive view from continue to delight the locals on hot sum- things. When Peter Zumthor built the ther- the south. Two of the seven mer days, to the roof of the thermal baths mal baths in Vals/Switzerland, he created a domes interrupt the roof’s edge building. The thermal spa and beauty centre yardstick that all kinds of spa architecture on the south side of the building. Even from outside, the different is primarily aimed at attracting guests from – especially in and around the Alps – had window sizes provide an inkling further afield. To be precise, three hundred to be compared with. However, Zumthor’s of the lighting moods inside. thousand visitors a year will have to turn up cryptic style, ritually internalising the moun- to make the investment worthwhile - that’s tain backdrop, is hard to retreat from once Above: Bathing as an experience in the outdoor area: massage 822 guests every day. entered; e specially a s in Vals there is no need showers, bubble baths and a fast- At this point , it mus t be s aid that human to get into the water and tolerate every flow channel are features to well-being is based on deeply subjective fac- square metre as a spa experience. Neither promote the well-being of the tors. Some people are more comfortable is this a must in Bad Aibling. Here Behnisch bathers. The thermal water of the spa is extracted from a with wellies and welding than with the ‘well’ Architekten chose a completely different depth of 2000 metres below of wellness, in the pursuit of which they are path, one which had to be attractive to a ground. willing to be kneaded, rubbed, scrubbed, very broad cross-section of the public – peeled or given who knows what treatment including families with small children, hair- Opposite: Coloured tiles suggest what awaits the guests. The at the hands of total strangers. For example, dressers, bakers wishing to be kneaded like ”hot and cold dome” invites them to me Ayurveda is snake venom and saunas bread dough – and had to give them their to participate in an intensive make me claustrophobic. But although this money’s worth. Beauty for men? Yes, Bad experience of temperature in may be a heavy burden on the path to beco- Aibling offers that too, mindful of a soci- water. In contrast to the other domes, it is not made of ming a wellness fan, at the end of the day ety that counts the visual appearance of its concrete but of a part transpar- it is irrelevant to one’s appreciation of spa members as a success factor. ent, part Plexiglass cupola. architecture. Harmonising a complex room sche- Therapeutic jargon, of course, makes dule, including a sauna, thermal spa, subtle distinctions: the ailing receive treat- beauty area and separate open-air swim- ments, while in the beauty and wellness ming pool with demanding, in some ways, world we speak of applications – there is a 1980s-style structure demanded a pow- reluctance to stigmatise the need for such erful concept from the architects. The spa

24 D&A AUTUMN 2007 ISSUE 06 25 Above: The outdoor pool from landscape mentioned above was broken up who say at this point that a sauna is just a credit as a contribution to the field of buil- the spa: the idea is that guests should feel the diver’s perspective. by the installation of a number of enclosed sauna would be mistaken: with garden sau- ding within existing structures. Here there as though they are in a conservatory within Powerful jets ensure a constant domes in water-free areas, containing pools nas, dry saunas, wet saunas, infusion sau- was no single-minded quest for a contrast, which the themed domes, although they stream of water. or ”experience zones” with various themes. nas, log cabin saunas and mud saunas, there any contrast, between the old and the new, have their place, are not intended to domi- Opposite: Floating, letting Under one dome, visitors can harden them- is much to be learned here. no concealment of the old behind a new shell; nate. The vegetation, moreover, underpins oneself go, listening to music selves to cold and hot temperatures with There are thus three themes between what the architects achieved was more of a the interleaving of interior and exterior that under water – things are contrast baths, under another they can drift which the architects performed a tricky, feeling of natural continuity. is a central feature of this light-drenched spa comparatively peaceful in the thermal dome. Bathers who are away to the music of the spheres floating up sure-footed balancing act during this pro- To ensure that the heterogeneous concept. Daylight spills into the entire large lying down can look outside from under the water. One can ‘experience ject: the design from scratch of a thermal interior, designed to accommodate large space from the sides, but the domes too are through the three arc-shaped water’, bathe in bubbly water like a 21st cen- spa complex, the refurbishment of a 1980s numbers of spa enthusiasts, continued to also skilfully designed to be generously pro- windows. tury Marilyn Monroe in a ‘champagne pool’ architectural structure and the design of a constitute a uniform spa complex, the archi- vided with natural light: where they pierce – real champagne costs extra though – but classical outdoor pool. The thermal baths tects covered the floor in all areas – from the the roof areas, a broad strip or ring within also recuperate mentally with music and is unmistakably divided into zones within foyer to the poolside – with the same mate- the roof surrounding each dome is glazed video projections. Then, of course, there is a which the year’s three hundred thousand rial: pale stoneware, the different formats to allow ample daylight to penetrate all the Kneipp basin and a mud baths area, but also bathing enthusiasts of all categories can of which prevent monotony, aid orientation way to the ground. The domes themselves, a toddlers’ area, discreetly decorated with feel they are in good hands . They c an remain and provide the non-slip surface the facility depending on their theme, incorporate small mythical creatures and supervised by qua- largely undisturbed in their favourite pools, requires. Beside this, a range of tiles such or large, many or few skylights – daylight lified staff. The new family-friendly policy although how the acoustic atmosphere will as those found in every DIY store greet the accompanies the visitor through the entire is becoming a key feature, and one greatly develop at peak times was not something we visitor in all raised or sunken areas – plin- complex and makes a significant contribu- appreciated by stressed parents mothers could predict on the basis of our visit. The ths, basins and so on – which look exactly tion to its pleasant atmosphere. and fathers; in Vals, under-fives are not allo- achievements of the architects in the subtle the same in public swimming pools as they And finally, the locals of Bad Aibling wed into the baths. In the spacious facilities conversion of the 1980s architecture – in the do in one’s bathroom at home. However, it can also rejoice: a simple 25-metre pool of Bad Aibling, there is a niche for every taste sauna area – are in a league of their own: is these tiles that make one think at times on the complex roof, from which a view in leisure or relaxation. pale wood next to the darkness of the open, more of hygiene than of well-being – to sug- of the Wendelstein can still be enjoyed, a Importance was also attached to the old beamed roof, wine-red painted reminis- gest a synonym for the concept of ‘wellness’. non-swimmer’s area, a toddlers’ pool and a reinvention of the sauna area into which the cences between classical modern and post- Apart from this uniform flooring, plants are slide that, depending on the angle of the hill- existing facility was to be integrated. Those modern iconography. All this deserves great used to provide a consistent feel throughout side, can disappear into its surroundings, all

26 D&A AUTUMN 2007 ISSUE 06 27 Left: The relaxation dome is in the west part of the thermal spa and is darker on the inside than the other domes. Gentle music and video projections on the ceiling transform it into a kind of multi-media cavern.

Left: The dome of the senses is the largest of the seven domes and has a steam bath on the inside. LEDs which are mounted in the ceiling and change their colour immerse the room in a constantly changing light, which almost becomes tangible due to its reflection in the highly moisturised air.

Opposite: View to the west from the dome of the senses. Several circular skylights illuminate the room, which is immersed in a deep blue colour.

28 D&A AUTUMN 2007 ISSUE 06 29 Bad Aibling is a spa for the whole Facts family. It not only has a special Type of building thermal spa children’s area but also contains Client Public Services features everywhere which Bad Aibling, Germany encourage the play instinct such Architects Behnisch Architekten, as these floating lights in the Stuttgart, Germany dome of the senses. Location Lindenstrasse 32, Bad Aibling, Germany

Ground plan with lighting concept. Underwater lights fill the pools with a magic, bluish glow at night.

come together to form a top-notch open-air services in an almost religious way for a well- swimming experience. Here, the scenic the- heeled public accustomed to luxury, but to mes explored in the spa complex experience attract a broad cross-section of the public. have been completely avoided, and it is preci- Economic pressures have left certain traces sely this which gives the outdoor pool a qua- in Bad Aibling, which could manifest them- lity that had to be sacrificed in the themed selves in an all too densely packed diversity ”islands” of the spa complex. of experiences in the spirit of the motto: Here in Bad Aibling, the architects had something for everyone, so that everyone to succeed in nothing less than a balancing will come. The architecture of the facility act between a log cabin sauna and Turkish does accommodate this complexity; howe- bath, a provincial open-air pool and a more ver, it is kept in check with a wink in favour or less sophisticated thermal baths com- of a consistent concept. plex. Behnisch Architekten has succeeded, at the very least, in performing an impres- sive ‘spread eagle’ with a quirky mixture of informal conservatory style architecture, cheerful references to pop culture and con- scientious functionality. A multicultural spa landscape has been engineered and a theme park has been filled with aquatic pleasures within which a rubber duck would not excite Dr. Ursula Baus is a freelance architectural histo- the disapproval of piqued VIP guests. Bad rian and critic. Her publications in magazines and Aibling is expected to attract a different cli- books focus on contemporary architecture and ar- entele from that visiting Vals – and the archi- chitectural theory as well as on the history of en- gineering in architecture. She is the co-founder of tects have more than catered to this market. frei04 publizistik and, since 2004, has been teach- The concept of the thermal baths is aimed ing architectural criticism and theory at Stuttgart not just at providing beauty and wellness University.

30 D&A AUTUMN 2007 ISSUE 06 31 19°40’56.70”N 80°05’06.91”W www.juliancalverley.com REFLECTIONS Different points of view: ideas beyond By Hans Ibelings those of everyday architecture. Sunlight and fresh air, hygienic living and better working conditions for the masses were the main goals of architectural modernism. The latter had its roots in the fight against devastating epidemics and therefore found its purest form of expression in the large sanatoriums of the 1920s, such as the ‘Zonnestraal’ building by Jan Duiker in Hilversum.

Zonnestraal sanatorium (–) in Hilversum is ies: the architects Jan Duiker (–) and Bernard Bijvoet ZONNESTRAAL regarded both inside and outside the Netherlands as one of (–), and the civil engineer and concrete expert Jan the high points of functionalism. In the Netherlands it is Gerko Wiebenga (–), who also had a hand in the equalled only by the more or less contemporary Van Nelle Van Nelle Factory. SANATORIUM Factory in Rotterdam, designed by the firm of Brinkman & The client who commissioned Zonnestraal was a trade The embodiment of light, air and space Van der Vlugt. Both buildings embody in a convincing, even union, the Algemene Nederlandse Diamantbewerkersbond compelling form, the essence of functionalist architecture – (General Union of Dutch Diamond Workers, andb), which the provision of light, air and space. In the case of Zonnestraal, had already demonstrated an interest in architecture. Around designed by Jan Duiker, Bernard Bijvoet and Jan Gerko Wie- the turn of the century, h.p. Berlage, the godfather of modern benga, the name alone – ‘ray of sun’ – says it all. Sunlight and architecture in the Netherlands, had built the union’s head- fresh air were essential for the recuperation of Zonnestraal’s quarters in Amsterdam. The same Berlage was approached by tuberculosis patients and so functionalist architecture was an the union at the end of the s with a request to design a con- entirely logical choice. valescent centre for tuberculosis patients but, too busy to do It is certainly no accident that functionalism found such it himself, he passed the commission to his young colleagues. wide acceptance for hospitals and related building types. Zon- His choice of Duiker and Bijvoet was no arbitrary decision, nestraal, Alvar Aalto’s sanatorium in Paimio, the French hospi- but closely related to a recent competition for a building to tal designs of Paul Nelson, as well as various open-air schools house the Rijksacademie van Beeldende Kunsten (State Acad- and the modernist holiday camps built throughout Fascist Italy emy of Fine Arts). Berlage, who had been on the jury of this to build up the strength of undernourished city children – they competition, was greatly impressed by Duiker and Bijvoet’s are all examples in which modern architectural principles and entry which had been awarded first prize. contemporar y medical thinking coincided, united by the com- Zonnestraal Sanatorium was paid for by members of the mon theme of hygiene. The significance of hygiene in medicine diamond workers union, who had been contributing since  is obvious, but hygienic principles are just as firmly entrenched to the Koperen Stelenfonds (Copper Handles Fund). The fund in modern architecture. With its dazzling white, shiny, smooth- was made up of the proceeds of the recycling of the copper tiled, chromium-plated, glazed and plastered surfaces, mod- handles that the diamond cutters used to position their stones ern architecture appears as clean and spotless as freshly washed during cutting. This ductile and pliable metal made it possi- and ironed bed linen. Modern architecture was also implicitly, ble to fix the diamond at precisely the right angle in relation and often even explicitly, regarded as a form of medicine. It to the wheel used to cut the facets. In time, the copper han- offered an architectural and town planning ‘cure’ for human dles snapped off as a result of metal fatigue and were collected beings and for the built environment itself. From this perspec- by the Koperen Stelenfonds, which was so successful that the tive, just about all modern architecture and town planning can andb soon found itself with more money to spend on com- be construed as medication for a dying city, insalubrious liv- batting tb than the Dutch government. As such, there was no DRAWING: WWW.VEERKAMP.NL DRAWING: ing conditions and unhealthy, sometimes even life-threatening longer any need to restrict their aid to their own members. working conditions. Behind many of the principles of func- The success of t hese col lect ions made it necessa r y, a nd fi na n- tionalism, from the spatial separation of home and work to the cially possible, to expand the nursing capacity for tb patients. Above: In 1998, the Netherlands flat roofs of the building and P36–37: Zonnestraal at dusk. emphasis on row housing for optimum insolation, lie hygienic The result was a plan to build their own convalescent centre. artist Joost Veerkamp drew this the occupants were thus The sanatorium is located in a considerations prompted by the conviction that the city and its After some vacillation and a false start elsewhere, a piece of view of Zonnestraal’s main encouraged to spend long large park without any direct building. The southern facade is periods outside during the day. neighbours. As a result, the inhabitants should be made healthy. In few buildings do archi- woodland in Hilversum was purchased in  and Duiker almost completely glass. Large buildings, which are transparent tecture and health coincide more convincingly than in the Zon- and Bijvoet were commissioned to design the complex. In , sun terraces were created on the on all sides, extend far into the nestraal Sanatorium, whose architecture is as radiant as its name. Duiker delivered the definitive design, comprising a main build- landscape. Zonnestraal was a collaborative effort by three contemporar- ing and four pavilions, only two of which were actually built.

34 D&A AUTUMN 2007 ISSUE 06 35 PHOTO: MICHEL KIEVITS / SYBOLT VOETEN SYBOLT KIEVITS / MICHEL PHOTO: XX

36 D&A AUTUMN 2007 ISSUE 06 37 Left: The large hall on the top Below: Semicircular staircases Right: The facility as a whole floor of the main building was such as this one lend structure to from a bird’s eye view (drawing used as a dining hall. Duiker the building on the outside as by Jan Duiker). On both sides of and Bijvoet adorned it with a well in that – often with large the main building, there are the wide roof lantern in order to windows – they serve as oriels bed pavilions, each of which bring daylight into the middle next to the facades. For the housed 50 patients and had their of the room. occupants, this allows views to own terrace or balcony. To the the outside and the entry of north-west of the main building, direct sunlight. there is the in-patient section (left), which is protected from the sanatorium but connected to it by a bridge between the buildings. PHOTO: MICHEL KIEVITS / SYBOLT VOETEN SYBOLT KIEVITS / MICHEL PHOTO: NEDERLANDS ARCHITECTURINSTITUUT / DUIKER JAN DRAWING:

At the time when they received the commission, the work of at Zonnestraal, usually without much publicity being given came within view when the hospital, after a regional merger, Duiker and Bijvoet still belonged to the (brick) tradition of to their provenance owing to the unfounded but nevertheless no longer needed the Zonnestraal complex and a new user Berlage, which was no doubt one of the reasons why the old existing public fear of infection via these products. Altogether appeared on the scene in the form of an institution for pre- master held their work in so high regard. In the early s, Zonnestraal provided work for nineteen different occupational ventive and curative therapies, a programme not all that far however, Duiker and Bijvoet emerged as leading exponents groups, from book binders to market gardeners. removed from the original function of Zonnestraal. of functionalism. In the same period, Wiebenga realized the By the s, the success in combatting tuberculosis had During the arduous, decades-long process, the steadfast building that is often regarded as the first example of function- rendered the complex obsolete as a tb sanatorium. Thirty years commitment of the Department for the Preservation of Mon- alism in the Netherlands, the Intermediate Technical School after Zonnestraal’s construction, tuberculosis had been brought uments and Historic Buildings and, more especially, of Hubert- in Groningen (). under control in the Netherlands. So in  Zonnestraal Jan Henket and Wessel de Jonge, was of immense importance. During the design of Zonnestraal, Duiker and Bijvoet became a general hospital, a change of use that required numer- For many years, these two architects, who have carried out the went their separate ways. Duiker went on to build the Open- ous constructional modifications. Initially these were designed restoration along with the necessary modernizations and addi- luchtschool voor het Gezonde Kind (Open Air School) in by Bijvoet and Holt but later on other architects were engaged. tions, have campaigned on behalf of Zonnestraal and of other Cliostraat, Amsterdam, a building closely related to Zon- Little by little, the main building and one of the two buildings examples of modern architecture. They are the founders of Doco- nestraal in architecture and approach, and, also in Amster- for patients, the Henri van der Meulen Pavilion, underwent momo, a worldwide association dedicated to the documentation dam, the Cineac, a cinema that showed non-stop newsreels. a radical transformation. For example, the sun terraces were and conservation of the architecture of the Modern Movement. Bijvoet moved to Paris in  where he worked with Pierre enclosed and integrated with the hospital wards. The other part The knowledge and expertise that Henket and De Jonge have Charreau on the celebrated Maison de Verre and from where of the complex, the Dresselhuys Pavilion, remained empty and accumulated over the years in dealing with modern architecture he kept in touch with his former partner. In  he returned over the years it degenerated into a modern ruin. from the first decades of the twentieth century makes them pre- to the Netherlands to complete the Grand Hotel Gooiland in Since the s, architects and architecture lovers have eminent experts with respect to those early experiments in con- Hilversum which Duiker had been working on at the time tried to preserve Zonnestraal from damage and deterioration. crete, steel and glass. Given the many stumbling blocks inherent of his premature death. After the Second World War and in Architect Jaap Bakema (who carried on the Brinkman & Van in experimentation, this did not always result in the most per- partnership with the younger architect Gerard Holt, Bijvoet der Vlugt practice together with Jo van den Broek) even went fect architecture imaginable. Moreover, energy efficiency stand- re-emerged as the designer of a large number of high-quality so far as to argue that this high point of modern architecture ards have changed dramatically since those days. Henket and concert halls, although they never attained the architectural should be treated with the same respect and solicitude as Rem- De Jonge have the necessary architectural and constructional heights of Zonnestraal. brandt’s Nightwatch. know-how to reconcile those erstwhile experiments with con- The building is copybook example of the functionalist Despite Zonnestraal’s high reputation among aficionados, temporary requirements in an outcome that does full justice to

ideal of a strict separation between the loadbearing construc- VOETEN SYBOLT KIEVITS / MICHEL PHOTO: it was not until well into the s that the dilapidated com- the airiness and transparency of the original functionalist archi- tion – in this case reinforced concrete – and the facades, which plex finally acquired listed status. Oddly enough, this pro- tecture, introducing the necessary contemporary additions in a here consist mainly of glass in very slender steel frames. The mum amount of sunlight. Each pavilion accommodated fifty voked an equivocal reaction from the surviving hard core of subtle, often barely visible fashion. Emblematic of that subtlety almost total transparency of Zonnestraal satisfied the med- patients, all with their own room opening onto a sun terrace functionalists and Duiker experts who claimed that it would is the virtually transparent lift that has been inserted into the ical demand for light and well-ventilated rooms while at the where the patients, if necessary with bed and all, could recu- be contrary to Duiker’s functionalist spirit to treat a building main building of Zonnestraal. Anyone placing photographs of same time allowing Duiker and Bijvoet to demonstrate the perate in the bracing open air. conceived as a purpose-built ‘implement’ which had since lost the building in  alongside those of the current situation will functionalist character of their building. In addition to the main building and the two pavilions, that original purpose, as a sacrosanct monument. In their view, be hard put to spot the differences. Zonnestraal consists of a main building flanked by two Zonnestraal comprised a range of outbuildings which included Duiker himself would have seen the eradication of tuberculo- pavilions. On the first floor of the main building was a din- a servants’ house, De Koepel, since reconstructed by Delft sis as a reason to declare the building redundant. Hans Ibelings (Rotterdam 1963) is the editor and publisher of the maga- ing and recreation hall, while the ground floor housed all the architecture students, and several workshops. Under the motto Listed status did not lead to a speedy return to former glory, zine ‘A10 new European architecture’, which he founded in 2004 together core facilities, from treatment rooms to the kitchen and from ‘recovery through work’, patients who were considered strong but it did prove to be Zonnestraal’s salvation. It safeguarded with graphic designer Arjan Groot. He studied architectural history at the offices to the boiler room. The boiler room’s prominent loca- enough were set to work, which gave them something to do the complex from further modifications and encouraged the University of Amsterdam, worked as a curator at the Netherlands Archi- tecture Institute in Rotterdam and was visiting professor in architectural tion in the main building served to underscore the functional, and also enabled them to repay (part) of the cost of their own user to be more circumspect in its treatment of this piece of history at the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL). He is the machine-like aspect of this architecture. care. Among other things, bicycles, summer houses, sailing national heritage. It also served to keep the idea of restoration author of several books, including ‘Supermodernism: Architecture in the

The two V-shaped pavilions are angled to catch the maxi- boats, furniture and tools for the diamond industry were made XX on the agenda from the s onwards. The actual restoration Age of Globalisation’, originally published in 1998.

38 D&A AUTUMN 2007 ISSUE 06 39 DAYLIGHTING The natural gift of daylight put to Text by Jakob Schoof. practice in architecture Photos by Adam Mørk. The fasch&fuchs special school in Schwechat offers its 81 pupils a rehearsal stage for life, upon which they can practice all important human behavioural patterns. Just as the outside of the building gives a dynamic impression, the rooms inside allow just as HOME AWAY FROM HOME much freedom of movement for the pupils – and not Special school in Schwechat only in the gymnasium, the open mid-point of the new building. P40–41: The special schoolchil- This page: The open-plan interior “A child has three teachers: dren experience their most concept of the building also The first teacher is the other intensive contact with the sun performs a didactic function: the on the south side of the building, intention is to enable the school- children. The second teacher where the glass roof slopes children to get used to living in a is the teacher. The third down to the ground and encloses community. Two staircases in teacher is the room”. a series of light-filled winter the west and east connect the garden. A mobile sun-shade three levels of the building. Otto Seydel, Educationalist system made of aluminium slats provides protection against the sunlight.

The room as a teacher – who would not want competition throughout the EU for a new of Brendani Gardens to the north, with traf- to agree with that? But much is demanded school building. “Effective sound proofing, fic rushing by day in and day out on federal of this teacher every day at school – to pro- low-energy building and favourable building Highway 10 to the south. Furthermore, the vide space, room to develop and shelter. And costs were some of the hard facts the builder- proximity of Vienna-Schwechat airport on top of that (as every good educational- owner had demanded,” recalls Hemma Fasch meant considerable disturbance from noise. ist is aware), it must be responsive to the of the architectural firm fasch&fuchs even The school (including the gymnasium, which individual needs of the children and ado- today. “The users, in particular the headmis- is half buried in the terrain) therefore opens lescents. “81 schoolchildren with 81 learn- tress, tried to communicate the ‘soft factors’ outwards to the north over three levels with ing objectives,” as headmistress Ingeborg early on in the competition: the behaviour of large areas of glass but ducks under the traf- Schramm says, attend the ten classes of the the pupils, their position in society and the fic noise in the south. Here the glass skin of special school in Schwechat. Many of them challenge to promote their development and, the roof reaches down to the ground and have multiple disabilities and require partic- in so doing, to support them in leading a ‘nor- encloses a conservatory that also serves ularly intensive attention and care, besides mal life’ as far as possible.” as an extended play and adventure area for the ‘normal’ school day. For disabled children ‘to live normally’ pupils in the special teaching rooms. Three So it is all the more astounding that the does not just mean gaining the self-confi- of these rooms for physically and multiple- special school was housed for a long time in dence to see themselves as a part of a com- disabled schoolchildren, a teaching kitchen a traditional schoolhouse on the town’s main munity and yet still being able to withdraw and the physiotherapy area with swimming square. Despite the central location, contact if they want. “The children need protection pool are situated on the south side at ground between pupils and the public was almost zero. from the outside world and from ‘enemies’, level. A sliding sun-shade of aluminium Looking back, Ingeborg Schramm describes such as unwanted people, bad weather, lamellae is intended to protect the rooms the rooms as “unacceptable” – there were noise and information overload, without from extreme temperature variations. “The neither enough classrooms in the school nor feeling locked in,” adds Hemma Fasch. The building shell offers the children the possi- a staff room or working rooms – not to men- relationship between inside and outside, bility of observing their surroundings from tion facilities for intensive mentoring. as well as between openness and protec- the shade of their hideout; it enables them A window into the future was opened tion, was thus a central topic of their dis- to make contact and to step freely outside. for the special school in 2000, when more cussions with teachers and schoolchildren. By first interacting through the facade, the

XX than 100 architects took part in an open The special school borders on the public park children can decide whether they want

42 D&A AUTUMN 2007 ISSUE 06 43 contact with the outside world or prefer to up to this point. The children can observe The swimming pool is one of the Above: The sports hall with a stay inside,” say fasch&fuchs, explaining the them and still be sure they can withdraw school’s most popular facilities. gallery for an audience is the advantages of the complex roof and facade again at any time. The centre is thus opened It is an extension of the open core of the building: it is conservatory on the ground floor used for teaching and also for construction. to the world and at the same time a kind of and is also used for therapeutic numerous events. Even the The reasons for the open spatial con- protective shield for the privacy of the chil- purposes. corridor at the rear of the hall cept of the school with its numerous views dren.” lead to the semi-private and private receives direct daylight. – also between the levels – are to be found in parts of the building via the stairs to the Previous page: In the north, the classrooms project over the two- Left: View into the corridor from the architectural stance of the architects, classrooms and terminate at the intimate storey sports hall. The ground the classrooms on the upper floor. as well as in the children’s need for feeling withdrawal alcoves. Seven of the ten class- was dug up here to allow direct The complex folded roof shape safe and secure by knowing where they are rooms are situated on the north side on the access to the outside from the enabled architects fasch&fuchs basement as well. to supply nearly all areas with in the building at all times. “The inner trans- upper level above the gymnasium. Two of daylight from two sides. parency gives the children an impression them separate a so-called ‘time-out’ room, of all the activities taking place inside the a cushioned cell which is lighted from above, building,” states Hemma Fasch. The open, in which pupils can quickly calm down if they emotional centre of the new building is the become aggressive. The corridor in front of two-level gymnasium that extends from the the classrooms is also totally different from basement to ground level. Wall bars sep- the traditional ‘barracks style’ school archi- arate the hall from the surrounding corri- tecture: at both ends it offers views of the dors and equipment rooms in the lower level. surroundings and is interrupted here and A gallery on the entrance level above runs there in front of the classrooms by niches around the hall; step seating invites pas- to hang clothes that help encourage commu- sers-by to linger and watch. “Every child is nication between the schoolchildren. a member of the community and at the same Virtually every room in the building gets time a Robinson Crusoe,” comments Hemma daylight from at least two sides – includ- Fasch. “Here in the middle of the building, ing the roof areas. This reduces the glare children can experience companionship and from incident light. Many inner partition strangers are also allowed into the building walls are not the same height as the level

44 D&A AUTUMN 2007 ISSUE 06 45 1–2: The winter gardens, by far INGEBORG SCHRAMM the part of the building with the HEAD TEACHER most light, allows the schoolchil- dren to experience the movement of the sun. This encourages them to make their own experiments with light and shadow.

3: Cross-section on north-south direction with daylight concept.

4: Ground plan of ground floor

1 2

3 Facts they are on but connect with the ceilings by real second home for the children, as is obvi- Type of building Special school for approx. At present, our school has 81 pupils light to project shadow figures onto come to school at weekends too, be- never felt ‘at home’. On the 10 Jan- skylight strips. Such details are essential to ous from the comments. Not just because 80 pupils in 10 classes between the ages of six and eighteen the wall. cause they really like to be there and uary, my son and I were on our way Builder Special school community divided into ten classes. They are at In contrast to our old school play in such a nice environment. I’d giving the user the impression of transpar- the schoolchildren are looked after here to the new school in Schwechat with Schwechat, A school five days a week from 8 am building – a simple structure with also like to mention that it is not just heavy hearts at the prospect of an ency and the feeling of seeing daylight eve- from 0800 to 1700, whereas most schools Architects fasch&fuchs, Vienna A to 5 pm. They all have special educa- badly lit cave-like classrooms – our the children who like to spend their unknown future in the new school. rywhere in the rooms. “Planning with light in Austria are only half-day tuition institu- Location Schrödlgasse 1, tional requirements. Some of them new school is a bright and calm build- time at our school – even the teach- Then we took our first steps into the means, of course, a lot more than just using tions. Ingeborg Schramm tells us that the Schwechat, A suffer from Down’s syndrome, some ing that lets you experience nature’s ers use their time to chat, prepare school and all the sorrows were left from Pelizeus-Merzbacher disease changes during the year. their classes or sit together and so- glass to bring light into the building,” write children feel so at home in the building that behind on the street. The school felt and others have various congenital The sports hall is the heart of the cialise at the school. like an oasis of light and hope. Its the architects. “The use of specific day- some of them simply do not want to go genetic defects. There is also one In- school. It is a meeting point for the Every evening we have to ‘fight’ wonderful atmosphere of harmony light systems permits us to create different home at the end of school. This is probably tensive Care class for children with pupils during the break and other with some children who simply don’t engulfs every person from the first atmospheres that vary greatly throughout a much more essential quality criterion than extreme behavioural handicaps and events. want to leave school and go home. moment. Maybe this sounds like an other development related learning The children can move around Hanna, for example, cries every day the day. The daylight in the interior of the interdisciplinary benchmark tests and other exaggeration, but it is just as I have handicaps. freely without putting themselves when she has to leave school. She has described. Thank you for this won- school changes all the time, both during the offspring of educational bureaucracy, par- All those different needs place or others at risk. Even though more a loving and caring family but her derful building.” day and the seasons.” ticularly for a special school. special demands on the physical de- pupils attend this school now than mother often has to wait for an hour But there’s also a saying in Aus- The daylight concept has been devel- sign of the school building. One ex- in the old school, it seems that eve- or so until Hanna is ready to leave. tria: where there is light, there is ample of such a design decision is rything calmed down a little bit. You When I became principal four also shadow. That’s also true for oped by fasch&fuchs in a quite traditional that the classes for the seriously can feel this during the classes as years ago we had 57 pupils. Now I get our school. A building with a lot of way – initially with their own experience handicapped children take place well in the school breaks. two or three calls a week from parents glass doesn’t only have advantages. and with the help of numerous working on the ground floor and are easily Except for the ‘Snoezelen Room’ asking if we can accept their son or The glass parts in the winter garden models, but without computer-aided sim- wheelchair accessible. Each of those every room is lit by direct sunshine. daughter in our school. Everyone de- are dusty and dirty from the rain, classes also has direct access to the The children often stand by the big scribes our school as a place of peace but cleaning is pretty expensive – ulation. If one asks the users what they 4 garden via a winter garden. glass windows in the upper floor to and harmony. People often mention so the glass stays dirty. In the school think, the response is overwhelmingly pos- One of the pupils in those classes look out and enjoy the view or to just qualities like openness and friendli- kitchen the glass is equipped with a itive: “Although some rooms can get quite is Minnea: she suffers from Cri-du- talk and learn or play. The overall ness when they visit our school. rain sensor, so you can’t open it when warm in summer, our school is a paradise chat syndrome (cat cry syndrome) mood during the day is calm and re- One of our parents recently ex- it is raining and on very sunny days and is severely mentally handi- laxed. Even in the teaching breaks, pressed his thoughts about our new the winter garden gets hot. That’s all for the pupils, teachers and visitors,” says capped. She loves playing with light when it used to be noisy and hectic school in a letter: – honestly! headmistress Ingeborg Schramm. A mother and shadows and spends a lot of in the old school, it is nice and calm “I love my Pascal, even though a whose son started school a few months ago time in front of the huge glass wall now. One of our special features is handicapped child can bring a lot of described the school as “an oasis of light and that separates the garden from the the indoor swimming pool. Some chaos to the family. To us, it brought classroom and uses the incoming children ask me daily if they may hope.” Above all the school has become a a divorce and a lot of sorrow, and we

46 D&A AUTUMN 2007 ISSUE 06 47 VELUX INSIGHT Architecture for people – building with VELUX.

LEARNING THROUGH LIGHTNESS Primary School in Kingsmead Text by Oliver Lowenstein. Previous: The Kingsmead Photos by Torben Eskerod. Primary School was made almost completely of wood. Its robust architecture leaves With his highly regarded new primary school in Kingsmead, enough leeway for artistic a town in the north of England, Craig White and his office, creativity and the children’s White Design, achieved two objectives: the building is not only need to move about freely. an ideal learning environment for schoolchildren, offering a Below: Cross-section with great deal of daylight and fresh air, but also allows them to ventilation concept gain first hand knowledge of the advantages of a new, lightly built architecture which is oriented to ecological criteria. Opposite: The concave entrance side of the school faces the street. The teacher’s room and the offices are located here. The schoolchil- dren can park their bicycles under the projecting roof.

When Cheshire County Council placed their such attention has propelled the whole housing estate. The developer donated the tain the staff, admin and other office rooms ments in the school’s design – the other is of warmth characteristic of this renewa- advertisements for new teachers to run project process into a small group of exem- site to the County Council in exchange for to the front of the building and classrooms the super-insulation. Each of the classrooms ble material. The sustainability dimension their new £2.4 million sustainably designed plars for many aspects of the programme. allowing the development of the estate. on the far side, opening onto the playing is bathed in light from two sizeable roof win - is also immediately evident in many other school showcase they were taken aback by It has also been remarkably prescient for While many children walk to school from field through five facade buffer winter gar- dows, while much of the rest of the school examples throughout the building. This is the level of interest in the posts – over four all involved, as mainstream British culture these local homes, it would be interesting to den spaces; in effect potential greenhouse – along the corridors to the library and hall – because White Design’s approach to school hundred applications – remarks the head has been rapidly, if belatedly, waking up to know how sustainable the estate design and learning rooms as well as fire exits. Flexibil- also benefits from access to daylight. Stew- buildings seeks to promote the sustainabil- teacher, Catriona Stewart. That interest, the challenges of global warming and envi- construction process actually were. ity has been designed into the classrooms, art talks of how even on dull, overcast days ity elements as learning and teaching instru- however, was only the beginning for Kings- ronmental issues in general over the past The building itself sits on a piece of open with partitioned walls enabling class sizes to they do not have to switch on any artificial ments, helping children to become more mead primary school. Ever since opening in two years. land amid a new residential development, be increased or reduced according to need. lighting. As Stewart observes, ‘the natural aware of how the different aspects of a sus- the autumn of 2004, Stewart and her col- Kingsmead was an early result of a curving in a concave semi-bow shape away The class and admin rooms are bathed in daylight is more human to work under and tainable building actually work. So while the leagues have been showing architects and Cheshire County Council policy review from the entrance, protecting the large well-provisioned natural light, and the north- reduces light fatigue and the ‘institutional’ inverted roof holds a £28,000 photovoltaic planners, educationalists and teachers, as document in 2002/3 that committed the playing field on the far side of the school. facing classrooms benefit from more con- feel to the school, as well as cutting our car- solar energy array, 4 Solartwin water pan- well as politicians and journalists round Council to a further ‘greening’ of its build- The entire single-storey building is clad in stant light levels and lack of sun-glare. The bon emissions.’ She mentions another head els (heating an expected 30% of the school’s Kingsmead primary school’s friendly, warm ing stock. The County Council worked in a Western Red Cedar and held up by a glu- building employs natural ventilation tech- teacher she met at a recent schools confer- water needs) and a rainwater run-off sys- spaces on a regular basis. The school in north partnership that included developers Will- lam timber frame column and beam system niques to maintain optimum temperatures, ence who had taken over another brand new tem, far more interesting for the children is west England has won a string of awards mott Dixon Construction and White Design, from a Danish factory. Although the initial with the air entering via controlled opening school and found her budget being eaten a vertical perspex pipe in the foyer recep- in the UK, and set new standards for sus- who applied a joined-up sustainable sys- brief was to use timber available locally this and closing of facade and roof windows by a away by the need to light not only much of tion area. Rainwater runs through this pipe tainable school design, to the extent that tems approach to the design and construc- proved impossible. The school furniture is building management system. Even though the school but also much of the playground before being re-used in the toilets around Sunand Prasad, the new president of the tion process. Titled Re-thinking Education, also mostly wooden, with bamboo used in these techniques are backed up by a bio- – and this in daytime. That school’s electric- the building, vividly demonstrating to the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), the approach draws into the mainstream some of the flooring and recycled materials mass boiler to cope with seasonal variations, ity bill was equivalent to a part-time teach- children exactly how much run-off there is stated at the time that the building then led many well-known sustainable ideas – includ- in some of the carpeting. natural lighting and ventilation are impor- ing post, she says, further demonstrating and how it is being re-used. Similarly, there the field in the UK. ing using local contractors, emphasis on nat- The raised central entrance projects out tant articles of faith to White Design. The to Stewart the pragmatic, economic bene- is an electronic measuring device in the cor- All this would have been praise enough ural materials, minimising waste through towards arriving visitors; inside, the recep- practice is committed to designing buildings fits of designing in natural lighting and ven- ridor showing how much water is being col- at any time. However, coming as it did recycling and high value design. The long, tion foyer opens onto a circulation corridor for human beings rather than, as they put it, tilation. lected and in the adjacent library, a Solartwin early in the present British Government’s north-facing, crescent-shaped building, following the curve of the building. To the places for machines to live in. Kingsmead school’s appreciation of panel has been donated by the manufactur- programme massive £45 billion Building comprising 7 classrooms for 210 children, side of the foyer, a sports hall space joins the For Stewart and her staff, the natu- these natural features, is underlined by the ers, providing tactile ‘before your very eyes’ Schools for the Future (BSF) programme, is in the middle of a new mid-range private two wings of the buildings. The wings con- ral lighting is one-half of the two best ele- use of timber, giving the school the feeling experience of how this piece of kit works.

50 D&A AUTUMN 2007 ISSUE 06 51 Left: Kingsmead is intended to allow the schoolchildren to appreciate the benefits of lightweight and ecological building. The construction of the school was therefore left openly visible and would even be usable for gymnastics.

Opposite: The spacious classrooms are on the north side of the school building and receive uniform light through the roof windows – ideal for art lessons, for example.

Stewart has also made the most of the els of efficiency but these issues are being specially designed corridor area, which addressed. Since Kingsmead’s completion, includes a cooking and home economics White Design has been refining this build- area. The cooking area is used to introduce ing model for a number of other schools in elements of the maths and science curricu- different parts of the country. Today, almost lum, through counting and measuring proc- three years since the school opened, the esses. The school also uses the area to cook architects have moved on to what they call the school meals from fresh raw materials, Kingsmead 2, with a new primary school which, while not particularly new to some building in South Wales about to open. With parts of European educational thinking, has the BSF programme well and truly kicking not been much incorporated into recent Eng- into gear – the third and fourth of its fifteen lish educational practice. With an extensive waves are now at different stages of com- expanse of open land, the school has been pletion – schools like Kingsmead continue growing organic foods, which, when ripe to set the agenda of what is expected in UK and ready, are then eaten by the children – school building design culture. the ultimate in learning by doing . Apple tree s and a small organic garden are used by the children in a hands-on approach. In terms of its reception across the Brit- ish educational and school design scene, Kingsmead School has been a success. It is used as a template by Cheshire County Council both for further new schools and in Oliver Lowenstein runs the green cultural review other building types across its public sector Fourth Door Review (www.fourthdoor.co.uk) The new edition, no 8, out this autumn features a spe- stock. Post-occupancy evaluation research cial focus on sustainable school buildings, with has shown that many of the sustainability White-Design’s Linda Farrow writing on the role aspects are not working to expected lev- of systems theory in designing schools.

52 D&A AUTUMN 2007 ISSUE 06 53 Facts 1. The facade seen from the north INTERVIEW WITH as individuals, have. And not just in trol or ‘ungreen’ schools. His reported says 500 lux lighting at every desk- Type of building Primary school for 210 pupils is highly varied in spite of the CRAIG WHITE the sense of having seen Al Gore’s An results were higher exam perform- top is a mistake. Dynamic daylight- Location Kingsmead, UK serial method of construction. Inconvenient Truth film. You have to ance and improved teacher retention ing is preferable. And people know Client Cheshire County Council, UK All the classrooms receive consider all the consequences, which and recruitment costs. natural lighting is better at a com- Architects White Design Associates Ltd, daylight through two rows of include the environmental, economic mon sense, intuitive level. Bristol, UK windows, one of which is at eye and social, and look at each of these How important is daylight in your Year of completion 2004 level and one just under the roof. and what their impacts are. People work, and do you think its im- Are you saying that ‘green de- Small winter gardens serve as underestimate what these impacts portance in architecture has in- sign’ is a moral imperative for you emergency exits and extensions are. In terms of specification, people creased over the last decades? and that it should be made legally to the classrooms. have to understand issues such as - I’d like to turn the question around, binding, or is it ‘just‘ a business and do you know the materials and prod- and ask why should it not be impor- ought to be regulated by the free 2. Two solid glued wooden Mr. White, your practice has de- ucts you’re using? Where have they tant? In terms of natural lighting market? trusses along each axis of the signed a number of new schools of come from? and natural ventilation by passive For us designing a building is a moral building support the roof which the highest environmental stand- This comes from the initial ques- means, we introduced natural venti- issue. I would prefer to ask the normal rises towards the north and ards in recent years. What do you tion of knowing that if we build, it lation and natural daylight as a core bulk builders why they would want to south. The facades were panelled consider the main challenges in will have a fundamental impact in principle in our design. These deliver design buildings that deny the spirit with red cedar. contemporary school buildings? one shape or form. We accept that, healthier environments and health- that is working, living, learning and In the UK, one of the main challenges although there are some who say the ier children, which contributes to teaching in it? Why would you want 3. Ground plan is connected with the structural answer to that question is to stop improved learning outcomes. This to build a box that is dulling rather problems of how we provide fund- building. You have to look at all the is backed up by high level research - than uplifting? ing for this massive school building impacts of engineering and designing for instance Lisa Heschong of the He- This ethical dimension is also programme, which is called Build- buildings. In the UK, 48% of carbon schong Mahone Group in the USA2. being seen at a corporate and social ing Schools for the Future (BSF.) emission is attributable to the build- Heschong has contributed signifi- responsibility level, I actually think There is a vast amount of duplica- ing sector and 20% of building ma- cant level research using very, very some of Industry is ahead of the tion in the preparation work. It is a terials end up on landfill sites. This is large samples – around 3,000 - over government and way ahead of the waste of time and is not delivering changing because of more stringent long periods of time. She showed architects. It has set an interesting what we need. One way round this regulation and it’s a matter of both that access to natural light and ven- challenge to the profession. has been the One School Pathfinder carrot and stick. These stringent reg- tilation speeds up the ability to learn In terms of what is happening schools, which is a locally funded al- ulations and energy studies are rais- in both maths and reading. here compared to the rest of Eu- ternative to BSF. Each local author- ing the bar. We would even pose the In the US about a decade ago it rope, although I haven’t practiced in ity is able to test a building and other question of whether it should not was policy to teach in what were, in Germany or Denmark for two years, approaches through this separate be illegal to be building bad-quality effect, enormous, artificially lit barns, these countries are ahead of the UK Pathfinder funding strand. This is schools and other buildings. with neither libraries nor English lit- at a regulatory level in day-to-day happening all round the country, in- Many practices can hardly keep erature classes. Heschong’s research terms. None the less, they can ap- cluding Manchester where we have up with the cycle of new, updated helped get things changed by provid- pear to be a bit lackadaisical, slack just handed over a new school, and regulations every four years. The en- ing solid evidential reasons. One piece and complacent – they take sustain- also Cheshire, which resulted in the vironmental imperative is forcing the of Heschong’s research concerned ability as a matter of course. If things Kingsmead School. industry into having to do this self- two groups of children, each in their have not progressed quite so far in Another challenge is the qual- examination of practice faster. When classrooms for the same lengths of the UK, there is a momentum here ity of the design. We’re able to en- we talk with other practices, we offer time – one in a classroom with natu- at the moment that suggests our ar- gage in design, while many practices the advice that if they aim only to ral daylight and the other, the control chitects could catch up and leap- still consider schools as boxes where keep up with the regulations they’ll group, in an artificially lit classroom frog what is happening in parts of teaching takes place. When archi- be out of date. We say you need to with no daylight. The control group Europe. The challenge really lies not tects are designing a school building, be targeting for 2010 and working of children learned about 20% more in today’s context but in what we will it is important to realise that those from there. The architectural world slowly than those with natural day- able to do by 2050. 1 who will inhabit it are real people. So needs to understand and get beyond light. Heschong factored in possi- a participatory approach for the hun- this short-term approach, although ble external influences as quality of Interview by dreds of people will have great po- it is hindered at present by various space and quality of teaching. Oliver Lowenstein tential. Some architects may pay lip differing guidance conflicts. While This also is an influence on work- service to this but once awarded the some practices continue to adhere place environments. When the nat- contract they will get on with their only to minimum standards, I think, urally-lit building of ING Bank in

ss ss

ss ss design. But the participatory route this will soon be perceived as not Holland was opened, research was ss ss has a very liberating power to it. We being enough. conducted that demonstrated a 10% attempt to engage all the stakehold- improvement in work levels in a new ers – head teachers, teachers, pupils Are health and sustainability issues building. – right from the beginning, to enable particularly important in buildings The conclusion is that artificial them to get the most out of it. It is for children, such as schools? light is significantly less healthy. very participatory, which is very im- Health and well-being in schools are Artificial light gives a uniform level ss portant. Young people, and also staff, intrinsically linked to sustainable de- and transmission of light, which, at have brilliant ideas. These can be in- sign. To reduce energy consumption, a rate of 750 lux, lowers people’s 1 See Brian Edwards ‘Green tegrated by using the school-build- we design buildings to maximise on abilities, sterilises the environment Schools: Speculations on the ing process as part of the teaching natural daylight and ventilation. Both and reduces our ability to learn. At relationship between design and learning process. of these have direct and measurable its extreme, the absence of natural and performance with partic- positive impact on teacher and stu- and continuous artificial lighting is a ular reference to Hampshire’ What does the term ‘sustainability’ dent performance. Professor Brian recognised method of torture. mean to you – and White Design? Edwards from Edinburgh College But when all that is said, I am not 2 Lisa Heschong’s research can First of all it means understanding of Art School of Architecture1 sur- against artificial lighting. We need it be found on her practice’s 2 3 the impact we, both the industry and veyed 42 ‘green’ schools and 42 con- in certain contexts. But the spec that website www.h-m-g.com

54 D&A AUTUMN 2007 ISSUE 06 55 VELUX DIALOGUE VELUX Daylight Symposium For the second time since 2005, VELUX brought together more than 6–7 May in Bilbao 200 experts from all over the world to talk about daylight. With its light- filled architecture, the Guggenheim Museum by Frank Gehry provided a suitable setting for the VELUX Daylight Symposium.

MORE LIGHT!

We all know what daylight is. But do we? The 2nd What do sailing and architecture have in one of the oldest and most environmentally at the University of California and modera- International VELUX Daylight Symposium, held in common? Far-fetched as it may seem, this compatible sources of energy that exists. tor of the symposium, says: “In the past two May at the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, presented question may have arisen in more than one The influence of the climate and daylight decades, medical and health research has a host of new findings about daylight, as well as new participant at this year’s VELUX Daylight on the human body and the latter’s physi- begun to focus more on light and its effect on tools for daylight simulation and evaluation. Symposium, which was preceded by the cal well-being, as well as the goal of not only human health. Beyond sleep disorders, the Daylight is complex and, as many speakers argued, award ceremony of the VELUX 5 Oceans withstanding the elements but also mak- profound role of the circadian rhythm and the architects and engineers will have to embrace this Race. Only four out of seven single-handed ing profitable use of them, were key points cycles of endocrinal activity became unde- complexity in its full scope, while at the same time sailors who had taken up the race in October in the discussions during this year’s VELUX niable. At long last, a unified understand- making it manageable in the design process. 2006 had finished the three legs of the race, Daylight Symposium. This series of events ing of light and its impacts on the human, enduring up to 159 days of thunderstorms, started in 2005 in Budapest and, in future, from vitamin D synthesis to the vast array heavy seas and chronic lack of sleep. the symposiums will take place regularly of body activities directly affected by light, So what do sailing and architecture have every two years to enable representatives has been accepted.” According to Mr. Benya, in common? What is important in both cases from research and practice (light planners, there are two main drivers in the develop- is not only the sparing use of resources and architects, college teachers, home construc- ment of daylighting solutions for buildings the quality of the materials employed, but tion companies and people from the political at the moment: the energy and environmen- also the way in which people and technology scene) to t ake par t in a profe s sional dialogue tal issue, as well as human health and per- interact. However, another important ques- and exchange of ideas. formance. “Studies conducted throughout tion in both aspects of life is how people act the world, as well as a growing number of and react towards nature. Should they try Light and Health: old knowledge and new codes and standards, all support the need to master it while paying the price of failure, discoveries for daylight and a view. While the cause is should they allow nature to direct them as In Budapest in 2005, the symposium had not yet totally clear, the effect is repeatedly it will and go along with the flow, or should focused on how daylight conditions in build- demonstrated through research of many dif- they try to avoid extreme situations by tak- ings could be defined in a simple and under- ferent kinds.” ing appropriate action in advance and thus standable, but comprehensive, way and how Richard Hobday, an expert on daylight still succeed in arriving at their goal? One of the best possible use of daylight in the built and human health from the University of the the reasons why Bernard Stamm from Swit- environment could be achieved. This dis- We s t of England , s tre s sed the impor t ance of zerland, the undisputed winner of the VELUX cussion continued in Bilbao but was com- direct sunlight for life, and hence, for archi- 5 Oceans race was so successful is said to be plemented by a second, equally important tecture: “Sunlight has been used as a med- that he sailed his yacht, Cheminées Poujo- topic: how does daylight, including direct icine for thousands of years. The ancient ulat, in such a way as to minimise stress on sunlight, affect human health and well- Egyptians practised sunlight therapy, as did the material at all times, even in the heav- being, as well as on human learning and the Greeks and Romans who had solaria on iest storms. working performance? the roofs of their houses where they could As in the area of sailing, the use of day- James Benya, head of Benya Lighting sunbathe for health.” According to Hobday, light in architecture concerns new uses for Design, Professor of Environmental Design widespread problems such as vitamin D defi-

D&A AUTUMN 2007 ISSUE 06 57 Left: Due to her committed presentation on daylight in American schools, Lisa Heschong (Heschong Mahone Group) remained in the memory of many members of her audience.

Right: In the breaks during the symposium, the participants had the opportunity to exchange opinions in discussion rounds with a chairman.

ciency and unhealthy conditions in hospital high influence on students’ learning. They Tools for daylighting design: cardboard environment of a space and to compare sev- accurate lighting calculations. Luxion’s lat- measure of daylight provision.” wards are a direct result of sunlight depri- were much more significant, in fact, than the or computers? eral solutions quantitatively and qualita- est software allows for a photorealistic rep- Christian Vogt, lighting designer at vation: “We get 90 percent of our vitamin number of pupils per class or absenteeism One of the main characteristics of the new tively. This intuitive appreciation obtained resentation of complex objects such as cars Vogt & Partner in Winterthur, says: “At the D from the sun, but we spend 90 percent of rates. In her presentation at the VELUX Day- school at Schwechat is its playful complex- by scale models and the three-dimensional in different settings in real-time. These soft- moment, the daylight factor is still the best our time indoors. Therefore vitamin D defi- light Symposium, Lisa Heschong pointed out ity. In this respect it may come as a surprise perception of the light distribution cannot ware solutions are already common in the – and only – measure we have at our dis- ciency has become endemic in our societies. the reasons for this: “Light is a ‘drug’ that that the daylighting design for the build- currently be obtained by use of computer car industry, where they can actually save posal.” Others were more critical towards And even people in very sunny countries do stimulates the production of serotonin, ing was developed entirely with ‘hands-on’ simulations. Moreover, the correct use of a money; design decisions can now be based this measure, which is founded on illumi- not necessarily get a lot of exposure to sun- dopamine and gamma-aminobutyric acids methods such as cardboard models, but daylighting simulation programs is too com- on the computer-rendered images rather nance ratios under a standard overcast sky, light, because they have adopted western in the human body, enhancing impulse con- without the aid of advanced computer sim- plex to be taught in that context.” than on costly clay models in 1:1 scale. And thus insensitive to both the orientation of lifestyles.” trol, motivation, muscle coordination, calm- ulations. This is by no means atypical in con- Zack Rogers, head of daylighting con- if this sounds futuristic already, the Lux- the building and any notion of climate. Lisa Also, there is little point in trying to ness and focus.” temporary architecture. While the building sulting for the Architectural Energy Cor- ion software designers have more up their Heschong says: “The daylight factor is use- escape the circadian rhythms that are Problems with insufficient daylight, lack design process, including structural engi- poration (AEC) in the USA, points out that sleeve; Molecular Appearance Modelling is ful yet very crude. New tools are needed that imposed on us by the sun, says Richard Hob- of a view to the outside world and insuffi- neering and climate design, is largely com- there is a huge variety of computer pro- a method by which the visual appearance of take account of the variability of daylight, day: “The sun is the single major driver of the cient space are nothing but a faint memory puterised already, daylighting design still grammes available on the market that a substance, including colour, transparency and of climate issues.” Yet these tools, she human body’s biological rhythms, more so now at the special school for handicapped largely relies on ‘rules of thumb’, personal assist architects and lighting designers at and refraction of light, can be simulated maintains, must not make things unneces- than the normal daily routines of breakfast, children in Schwechat, Austria, the main experience and, at most, large-scale physi- virtually every step in the design process. based solely on the molecular structure of sarily complicated: “In daylight design, archi- work lunchtime and so on. People who do case study that was presented during the cal models. For how long will this situation He adds: “When designing a building, archi- the substance. tects basically have to deal with too much not expose themselves to the sun can feel first half of the VELUX Daylight Symposium. last? Jan Ejhed, professor at the Royal Insti- tects should think about daylighting from information. The future challenge will be to permanently jetlagged.” Head teacher Ingeborg Schramm, herself a tute of Technology in Stockholm and mod- the very beginning, as questions of siting Beyond the Daylight Factor work this complexity into a simple guide- speaker at the symposium, said: “In contrast erator of the second part of the symposium, and building orientation are vital.” In the discussions at the Budapest Sym- line.” Light and learning: the sun as the ulti- to our old school building – a simple struc- observes: “The complexity of the daylight The demand for easy-to-use tools that posium in 2005, participants had already One concept for a new measure in day- mate teacher ture with badly lit cave-like classrooms – our planning process will increase. As a conse- take into account direct sunlight and shad- perceived a need for new methods to calcu- lighting was presented by John Mard- Few people have conducted as profound new school is a bright and calm building that quence a suitable design methodology and ing, orientation of the building and climate late, simulate and assess daylight in build- aljevic at the VELUX Daylight Symposium. research on the effects of light on human lets you experience nature’s changes dur- new de sign tools have to be developed . Q ue s- data is immense, and computers seem to be ings, and eventually also for new legislation It is based on what Mardeljevic calls ‘useful learning as Lisa Heschong has. Heschong, an ing the year.” The new building, designed by tions that have to be discussed are: What do a more-than-welcome help in this respect, that make their use mandatory. As John daylight illuminance (UDI)’. UDI defined as architect and head of the Heschong Mahone architects fasch&fuchs from Vienna, allows the new tools offer and what do we really as they also allow for greater interactivity Mardaljevic, a researcher from De Mont- the time per year when the illuminance lev- Group in the USA, has carried out studies not only more daylight in, but also provides need? and Is there a risk that we are miss- and quicker changes in the designs. In his fort University in Leicester, explains: “The els in a given spot in space are between 100 with thousands of students in the western more openness in a literal sense, as Hemma ing some really essential qualities?” presentation at Bilbao, Henrik Wann Jensen, Daylight Factor method, established a half- and 2000 lux, i.e. in a range in which daylight USA in which the effects of spatial qualities Fasch, principal of fasch&fuchs, explains: Magali Bodart, a researcher and teacher chief scientist at Luxion in California, pro- century ago, is still the most commonly used can make a substantial contribution to the such as classroom size, orientation, daylight “To plan with light means much more than at Université Catholique de Louvain, is vided the audience with a glimpse into the approach to determine a quantitative meas- lighting of a space, while at the same time and view on pupils’ learning performance just to put glass in a building. Our intention strongly in favour of traditional methods, future of daylight modelling in computer- ure for daylight in buildings. Despite the fact avoiding excessive glare. were assessed. In almost every single study, was also to give a sense of self-confidence especially in architectural education. “Expe- rendered visualizations. To convince a client that its limits are manifest, it continues to be daylight and views out of windows were to the children by exposing them to society rience indicates that it is essential for archi- of a design, he argued, a realistic, unbiased the dominant approach because of its famil- among the most consistent factors with a to a certain degree.” tects to personally appreciate the luminous visual representation is equally important as iarity and simplicity rather than as a reliable

58 D&A AUTUMN 2007 ISSUE 06 59 BACKGROUND SPEAKERS Throughout its history, VELUX has keenly Dr Richard Hobday, University of the focused on the optimal use of daylight in all West of England, Bristol, UK kinds of buildings. This keen interest is nat- Lisa Heschong, Heschong Mahone Group, urally linked to the roof windows, a prod- USA uct which the company has developed and Hemma Fasch, Architect, fasch&fuchs refined for more than 60 years. Through architects, Vienna, A the design and production of its windows Ingeborg Schramm, Director Sonder- and accessories, which regulate the inflow schule Schwechat, A of light and control sunlight, as well as ini- Christian Vogt, Vogt and Partner, Licht- tiatives relating to legislation and research gestaltende Ingenieure, Winterthur, CH in the areas of daylight and indoor environ- Dr Magali Bodart, Postdoctoral ment, the company has continued to express Researcher FNRS, Lecturer at Université its interest in the use of daylight. Catholique de Louvain, B Stimulating an interest in daylight in Zack Rogers, Architectural Energy Corpo- modern architecture is an important mis- ration, LightLouver LLC, Boulder, USA sion for VELUX – not only the daylight that John Mardaljevic, Institute of Energy and enters through the products VELUX manu- Sustainable Development, De Montfort factures – but also daylight in general. From University, Leicester, UK large-scale town planning to the individual Henrik Wann Jensen, Chief Scientist building and its space. The VELUX Daylight at Luxion and Associate Professor, The need for daylight – and for contin- with daylight, don’t fight it, take advantage The atrium of the Guggenheim Symposium and the international award University of California, San Diego, USA ued dialogue of it – but don’t necessarily build the place Museum rises more than 50 assignment for students of architecture – Whatever methods of calculation will that always provides ‘perfect’, uniform light metres above the heads of the symposium participants – a “the International VELUX Award for Stu- DISCUSSION FACILITATORS finally be universally accepted, the need conditions.” homage to daylight which is as dents of Architecture” with the common Steve Selkowitz, Senior Scientist, Law- for a change was perceived by many par- Daylighting, as one of the last fields in unique as the outer form of the theme of “Light of Tomorrow” – are some of rence Berkeley National Laboratory, USA ticipants at the Symposium. “It is time for building design, is now probably replacing museum. the most important initiatives in this area. Marc Fontoynont, Professor, Director architects, engineers and designers world- ‘rules of thumb’ with advanced tools for mod- Laboratoire Sciences de l’Habitat, Dépar- wide to always consider the impacts of day- elling and simulation. The resulting increase FACTS tement Génie Civil et Batiment, ENTPE, F light on human health and performance in of accuracy, speed and interactivity will be a Date: 6–7 May 2007 Werner Osterhaus, Centre for Building the design of the built environment,” says benefit to the whole building sector – if the Place: Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao Performance, School of Architecture, James Benya. “Beyond good design prac- new tools are easy enough to operate for a Victoria University, Wellington, NZ tice, it is perhaps time to demand daylighted broad variety of users. In any case, there PARTICIPANTS Per Olaf Fjeld, Professor at the Oslo environments through codes and standards is plenty of movement in the field of day- Around 300 (architects, lighting special- School of Architecture and Design, that make well-daylighted buildings the rule lighting, and plenty of demand for continued, ists, teachers and others with an interest President of the European Association of rather than the exception. In schools, where interdisciplinary dialogue. The VELUX Day- in the subject) from 24 countries Architectural Education. mankind’s future spends much of its waking light Symposium has proven to be a unique Jens Christofferson, Senior Researcher hours, it’s a no-brainer.” platform in this respect as well as a show- MODERATORS at the Danish Building Research Institute Moreover, daylight has proven to be a case for up-to-date daylighting solutions. James R. Benya, Benya Lighting Design, (Statens Byggeforskningsinstitut – SBI). priceless but cost-free tool to reduce energy As one delegate from Poland put it: “Thank University of California, USA consumption in buildings, as Magali Bodart you very much for inviting us to this confer- Jan Ejhed, Royal Institute of Technology For more information: observes: “In the framework of global cli- ence. It is essential for us to recapture the (KTH), Stockholm, S, President of the www.thedaylightsite.com mate change, the good integration of day- value of daylighting. It may have been aban- European Lighting Designers’ Association light in buildings leads to reduction of energy doned for a while, but it is now definitely (ELDA) consumption and is a way to sustainable coming back.” architecture. However, for most architects, daylight remains a theoretical concept as they never really take tome to study and to experiment this field. For these reasons, it is essential to teach daylight to architects during their studies.” Lisa Heschong points out that archi- tects should by no means be afraid of the complexity of daylight: “Daylight is highly variable. So embrace this variability! Play

60 D&A AUTUMN 2007 ISSUE 06 61 learn building anew with the sun, the return of so-called ‘super-bugs’, DOMESTIC “Domestic Landscapes is also about taken sides for a better environmen- areas develop in which humans are ‘Spa’ in a brilliant way. Colette Gou- BOOKS with architects working and think- highly resistant pathogens whose identity and originality. Every area of tal balance and decried the century- happy with the role of being a viewer; vion takes her readers on a journey ing in terms of harnessing the sun treatment can barely be managed LANDSCAPES the world has its own distinctive cul- long policy of exploitation. Two such Philippe Rahm, however, creates ar- through the baths and spas of the rather than excluding it. ‘The Light even with antibiotics. ture, which is expressed by its cus- people introduce this book, which chitectural areas in which he main- world, from the hot springs of an- REVIEWS revolution’ is about man’s quest to According to Hobday, three fac- Authors: Bert Teunissen, toms, language, cuisine, and all kinds came about during an exhibition in tains total control – at least of the cient Rome to the Japanese onsen, For further reading: construct more hygienic, better ven- tors impede building with the sun. Saskia Asser of traditions. The inhabitants of the the Canadian Centre of Architecture climatic conditions. But the publisher the Russian banja and the hamams recent books tilated and better lit buildings – in a First, direct sunlight is still consid- Aperture houses I photograph still know how in Montreal. of the book, Giovanna Borasi, right- of the Maghreb. The author weaves nutshell, healthier buildings. His pro- ered to be injurious to health and a ISBN 978–1–59711–040–2 something should taste, how it has The French landscape architect fully stresses the things both have in historical facts, beliefs, hygiene and presented by D&A. tagonists are a rather different col- cause of cancer; second, building to be made; they understand the im- and horticultural engineer Gilles common: renouncing artistic form, moral aspects into an inspiring nar- lection from those who generally standards require non-glare for many For about ten years, the Dutch pho- portance of time and maturity, they Clément became famous at the be- the visualisation of the invisible in na- ration about the culture of bathing. emerge in books concerning archi- interiors and therefore favour indi- tographer Bert Teunissen has been know the meaning and value of repe- ginning of the ‘90s for his concepts ture and the preoccupation with the She describes how medical find- tectural history: Imhotep, who was rect daylight or even artificial light; photographing interiors from a tition – every day, every year …” “garden in motion (jardin en mouve- processes of life at a scientific level. ings and the structure of society, a doctor, high priest of the Egyptian and third, the tendency towards en- slowly disappearing world. Houses, There is little to add to Teunissen’s ment)” and “third landscape (triers “Environ(ne)ment” is a visually un- religion and superstitions affected sun culture and building master in ergy saving has resulted in buildings usually in rural regions, built before own representation. ‘Domestic Land- paysage)”. Instead of trying to im- spectacular but nevertheless stimu- the architecture of the baths, and a single person; Vitruvius, in whose in which window areas are minimised the world wars, before electricity scapes’ is a fascinating journey of dis- pose a strange form from the outside lating book on which to reflect about how these nearly completely disap- work the correct alignment of a build- and insulating material thicknesses and running water were introduced covery from the first to the last page, on landscape, Clément’s landscape two artists who have each defined peared during the baroque period in ing to the sun plays just as important are maximised. into human life; and their inhabitants, a book in which time seems to have architecture understands itself only their own trend-setting term for ‘na- Central Europe, for example. Long THE LIGHT a role as formal aspects; George Ber- Hobday’s suggestions for how a nearly always members of the older stood still, the documentation of ‘an- as a framework, within which the ture’ and ‘environment’. upheld prejudices are also dispelled; nard Shaw, the Irish writer, who had new “solar architecture” might ap- generation, often scarred physically other’ Europe beyond that of big city natural diversity of species should for example, the story concerning REVOLUTION a revolving shed built with which he pear remain rather vague. In fact, the and emotionally by a life of manual society, economic growth and great be able to unfold optimally. His pre- the physical hostility of Islam. In Health, Architecture and the Sun could always follow the position of author gives only a sparse number of and low income, but always radiat- visions of the future. “I simply have to ferred places are the residual areas Christian Europe, however, a true the sun; and Florence Nightingale, examples from the 20th century in ing a calm dignity. take these photographs. There is no (spaces that are not used any use- religiously sanctioned bathing pro- Author: Richard Hobday the pioneer of modern nursing, who his book – from Alvar Aaltos’ sana- The motives for the series ‘Do- way I can, or want to, resist the need ful purpose) that have temporarily SPA hibition brought about a hygiene dis- The Findhorn Press insisted on having direct sunlight in torium in Paimio to Richard Neutras’ mestic Landscapes’, which have now to do so,” says Bert Teunissen. or permanently fallen out of favour, aster that, as Colette Gouvion writes, ISBN 978–1–984409–087–7 her wards – Lovell House in Los Angeles – but appeared for the first time as a book, whether protected nature reserves Authoress: Colette Gouvion spurred the Englishman Havelock “It is the unrestricted result of all their description is altogether too su- lie partly in Teunissen’s own biogra- or green spaces gone wild in the mu- German version Ellis to remark that a Christian would Human beings are rediscovering the my experience with the sick that their perficial. The strengths of ‘The Light phy. He writes in the introduction: nicipal area of our cities. Knesebeck Verlag rather let the constantly changing sun. New medical findings in the past need for sunlight is only exceeded by Revolution’ lie clearly in the medical- “Domestic Landscapes is my quest In his essay for this book, Clément ISBN 978–3–89660–423–1 outer surface of his body bathe in dirt five years have repeatedly made their need for fresh air...” historical area. Hobday supports his for the special light and atmosphere ENVIRON(NE)MENT stresses that he “always wanted to French edition: than run the risk of sullying the shin- clear what unimaginable effects the Richard Hobday did not call the thesis of the “healing sun” with a mul- that were so familiar to me when I was work for but never against nature”, Les bains dans le monde ing purity of the immortal spirit. light from our central star has on our first chapter of his book ‘Nothing tiplicity of studies and quotations. a small boy, and that still exist in this Authors: Gilles Clément/ whereas architect Philippe Rahm’s Aubanel Although one would have wished health. Sunlight is just as effective New under the Sun’ without good The fact that he questions a whole world. Because I am sure that they are Philippe Rahm: approach is less philosophical. He ISBN 978–2700604368 a little more detail here and there, against depression as the most com- reason. The ancient Romans knew number of established beliefs held by fated to disappear, […] I would like to Publisher: Giovanna Borasi analyses physical phenomena of na- and the author deals with the great mon psychopharmacological drugs about the disinfecting and psycho- from orthodox medicine and archi- retain them for my children, and yours, French/English ture, such as light, temperature and The culture of spa bathing became European spas of the 19th and 20th – but it has far fewer side effects. Sun- logically stimulating effect of sun- tecture makes his book interesting. to get acquainted with.” Skira Editore the composition of the air we breathe a fringe phenomenon in the fitness century more or less in a subordinate light accelerates wound healing and light. However, the blind confidence ‘The Light Revolution’ is a provocative When photographing, Teunissen ISBN 88–7624–959–1 and their influence on humans, ani- and fun society of the late 20th cen- clause, she has succeeded in writ- suppresses the sense of pain. What in psychopharmacological drugs and contribution to the debate on future always uses only the natural light that mals and plants. In his installations, tury. But in the past ten years it has ing a visually stimulating and, as re- is more, sunlight supplies the body antibiotics allowed the positive ef- preferences in architecture. As such falls through windows into a room. When it comes to the environment, Rahm exposes the viewer to daz- taken the world of tourism and ar- gards content, impressive work with with vitamin D, thus protecting us fects of sunlight to fade into oblivion it should be taken seriously, because This moves his work rather uncon- mankind has always had two world zling light, oxygen deficiency or water chitecture by storm. The reasons ‘Spa’. That she errs in the final chap- against cancer, heart diseases and from about the middle of the 20th he represents a somewhat unortho- sciously – without it ever having been views competing with one another. mist; he classifies whole buildings not are various: stress taking the upper ter by stooping to the depths of the osteoporosis. century – with fatal consequences dox point of view in a highly eloquent his intention – close to the realm of The one sees it as an inexhaustible according to function, but according hand with many town dwellers, a do-it-yourself enthusiast and cos- But does the rediscovery of as Hobday writes. To mention but and well-founded way. the genre and window pictures from reservoir of resources, there to be ex- to the dominant climate zones inside. new awareness for gentle and al- metic industry, and gives furnishing, the sun also have practical conse- a few: Vitamin-D deficiency is ram- the golden age of Dutch painting, ploited for the benefit of the human Shape and function are irrelevant to ternative methods of healing and travel and shopping tips, must be put quences? Richard Hobday, British pant throughout the world with over from painters such as Jan Vermeer race; the other sees it as a highly start with in Rahm’s rooms; they de- probably also the model function of down to ‘customer service’. However, engineer with many years of expe- 50,000 people annually falling victim and Pieter de Hooch. But ‘Domestic complex network of biological and velop only as a consequence of the outstanding buildings such as Peter it suits neither the style nor the pre- rience in solar building, is sceptical in the USA alone as a consequence; Landscapes’ is about more than just physical processes with which man climatic conditions and the reactions Zumthor’s hot springs in the Swiss tensions of the book. Nevertheless, about whether mankind will actu- depression will probably have devel- light, room and atmosphere; it also should not interfere too much for his they provoke in the human body. town of Vals. With the rediscovery this conceptual break cannot really ally be able to turn these findings oped by 2020 to become the world- says something about the life-styles own sake. At first glance, the differences be- of relaxing spa baths, an interest has detract from the overall positive im- into a new sort of architecture and wide second most frequent cause of and customs of pre-industrial Europe But in the last few decades more tween both artists could hardly be also been found in the associated tra- pression made by ‘Spa’. appeals in ‘The Light Revolution’ to death; and mankind is experiencing that have all but disappeared: and more artists and architects have greater. Gilles Clément lets natural ditions. This is satisfied in the book

62 D&A AUTUMN 2007 ISSUE 06 63 Philippe Rahm: Météorologie d’hiver / Interior Weather, 2006. Installation at the Centre Canadien d’Architecture, Montréal. Photo: Michel Légendre / CCA Montréal.

DAYLIGHT & ARCHITECTURE ISSUE 07 2007 SHADES

64 DAYLIGHT & ARCHITECTURE MAGAZINE BY VELUX AUTUMN 2007 ISSUE 06

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VELUX Editorial team E-mail Christine Bjørnager [email protected] Nicola Ende Lone Feifer Print run Lotte Kragelund 90,000 copies Torben Thyregod ISSN 1901-0982 Gesellschaft für Knowhow- Transfer Editorial team The views expressed in articles Thomas Geuder appearing in Daylight & Architecture Annika Dammann are those of the authors and not Jakob Schoof necessarily shared by the publisher.

Translation and re-write © 2007 VELUX Group. Tony Wedgwood ® VELUX and VELUX logo are registered trademarks used under Photo editors licence by the VELUX Group. Torben Eskerod Adam Mørk

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