Bora Malko

     Daylight is an interesting element when it comes to architecture. It is in constant motion, changing by the minute and impossible to be controlled. But it can however be utilized artistically.      There are three main categories of how daylight has become a factor of architectural building and design. The first one is the " Bright Open Hall" which is typical for warm climates. It consists simply of a roof held on supporting columns allowing for a bright and airy interior. Rasmussen mentions Philip C. Johnson's house in New Canaan as a good example of such building typology, which regardless of the transparent glass box effect manages to create an indoor feeling. He also explains the concept of "excellent  light" which refers to the quality of light instead of its quantity. A poor light  for instance would be light coming from a ninety degree angle, or differently called front light. It diminishes the textural effect of the object and provid...

     The Greeks once stated that it makes the soul happy to work with clear mathematical ratios and therefore the tones produced by strings of simple proportions affect our ears with delight. Regardless of the Greek's reasoning, it was obvious that man possessed an intuition which made it possible for him to understand simple mathematical proportions as well as visual dimensions in the physical world.      According to Rasmussen, Architecture employs simple dimensions and is metaphorically referred to as frozen music.  One proportion that has attracted great attention throughout the years is the Golden Section. Le Corbusier based his work (Le Modulor) on this proportion which is most closely related to the ratio 5:8. The Golden Section is said to be better experienced in natural phenomena in which there is a rhythmic progression proportions such as small shells.      Rasmussen has taken a comparison between Palladio's Villa and o...