Qualitatitive description : light in the urban environment

Abstract

The quality of our built environment is difficult to describe and to regulate; using light as an example, this thesis develops a descriptive framework using elementary, dynamic and connective forms. The combination of these three forms which we are able to perceive create a image of the place. The exchange of these descriptions heighten shared understanding, similar to the tacit understanding shared by architects. Buildings have been pubicly regulated to allow for light to the street throughout history. Qualitative description may offer the public a means of oversight and insight which could create a closer match between the design intention of proposed buildings and the public's understanding of their urban environment. At the same time, qualitative description will equip designers and the public to develop a shared and accumulated understanding of the interaction of contemporary architecture with public space, particularly given the modern technology. Description may be presented with many media and tools, literature, art and photography are used in this text. In particular, the sky-dome projection is explained and used as a descriptive tool. Using light as an example, the thesis (1) explains the descriptive framework,( 2) explains light's characteristics in qualitative and quantitative forms of description,(3) reviews the regulation of buildings for light, and (4) describes a case study: Rockefeller Center in terms of light; the impact of regulation for light on design and puts to practice the qualitative description. Rockefeller Center is chosen as a case study as it is a large urban building complex which has been acclaimed over decades and has been used as a prototype for many other urban building complexes. This thesis draws from the work of Susanne Langer, Kevin Lynch and Christian Norberg- Schultz. In particular, Kevin Lynch's work and his support for the the use of the sky-dome projection have founded this work.