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Showing posts from January, 2018

Daylight

S unlight connects architecture directly to nature, and it allows people to perceive space constantly changing around them. It is continuously revealing new areas, edges, curves, and surfaces 1 . This natural phenomenon shapes our sense of time and space, and it transforms the way we perceive our daily environments.  The appropriate use of daylight is extremely important when designing a building or an open public space. Daylight can change dramatically the sense and feel of an area throughout the day in different seasons of the year 2 . A building’s function, feel, and performance deals directly with the way daylight is controlled and used. When and how sunlight enters a structure or a particular area is crucial. Openings, colors, materials, textures, shapes, and sizes are directly influenced by sunlight. It highlights the building’s design, and it defines the character of its spaces. It makes the built environment dynamic.  In addition, daylight has the potential of impr

Human Scale

T he way we experience a building, an interior space or an outdoor area is related to our perception of space and scale. Our senses provide us with our own understanding of space. Likewise, our bodies are fundamental to forming our understanding of scale. Intuitively, we identify the way our human bodies relate to different objects in space. Consequently, we perceive scale based on our own physical dimensions in relation to our surroundings 1 . Different emotions and reactions can be triggered by the character of a space. Some areas feel confining and other areas feel ample based on our sense of space in relation to our bodies 2 . Thus, it is important for any project to have an appropriate human scale. It is imperative to consider the human anatomy when designing architecture 3 . The human body provides a basic design module. It is an essential unit when designing environments for human activities. It guides the way individual architectural elements work. This is true of