Designing with Light

01_DWL_Front_Matter rev 10/1/06 4:12 pm Page 1 175L Designing with Light Victoria Meyers P1 01_DWL_Front_Matter rev 10/1/06 4:12 pm Page 2 175L 175L Designing with Light Victoria Meyers Laurence King Publishing P2 P3 01_DWL_Front_Matter rev 10/1/06 4:12 pm Page 4 175L 175L Designing with Light Published in 2006 by Laurence King Publishing Ltd 71 Great Russell Street London WC1B 3BP Tel: +44 20 7430 8850 Fax: +44 20 7430 8880 E-mail: [email protected] www.laurenceking.co.uk Architecture and Light A Cross-Disciplinary Approach Text © Victoria Meyers 2006 This book was produced by Laurence King Ltd All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Page 8 Page 20 Color Lines Form Glass Page 22 Page 34 Page 48 Page 60 Windows Sky Frames Shadows Reflection Page 80 Page 94 Page 104 Page 118 ISBN-13: 978-1-85669-483-4 ISBN-10: 1-85669-483-6 Book design: Wayne-William Creative, Inc. Printed in China P4 P5 01_DWL_Front_Matter rev 10/1/06 4:12 pm Page 6 175L 175L P6 P7 6 Designing with light is an intimidating endeavor for most, even though the examples collected in this volume make it seem almost effortless. “So what we’re aiming for isn’t greater intensity of light… Not ‘More light!’ but ‘More colored light!’ should be our motto,” wrote Paul Scheerbart in 1914 in his Glasarchitektur. The designers and artists featured in this book indeed know how to modulate light and color and achieve the space Scheerbart dreamt of, an architecture of fields, rather than walls. Paola Antonelli Curator, Department of Architecture and Design Museum of Modern Art, New York The idea that light is a material with a presence seems more scientific than artistic. Light is the set of electromagnetic waves whose frequency lies in the narrow (but visible to the human eye) spectrum of 3.9 x 1014– 7.5 x 1014 Hertz range. But, of course, despite its weightlessness and its general invisibility, light is always deeply significant because it allows us to see and for us to see it. Nature and technology are both illuminated discourses, both uneasy with the obscure. Light is a substance—a continuous force—through which we move as it moves through us. It is mostly an apparition—an appearance that suffuses our existence so completely that we forget it until we see how often we use it in an optimistic language that wants its influence; enlightenment, light music, light humor, light of my life, light my fire, light brigade, light touch, light reading, light hearted, light house, light bulb, making light, the light of reason, shed light on, the speed of light, let there be light. Light is always making waves in our words and our worlds. It is artists who suffuse their work with issues of light. In this book there is still very strong evidence that although artists don’t necessarily use northern light in their studios anymore, their concern for the particulars of light burn as ardently bright as ever. Bruce Ferguson Dean, Columbia University School of the Arts New York Opposite n Steven Holl Architect, Chapel of St. Ignatius, Seattle, Washington. 01_DWL_Front_Matter rev 10/1/06 4:12 pm Page 8 175L 8 Designing with Light A Cross-Disciplinary Approach LIGHT Newton, Goethe, and Wittgenstein. In my practice, hanrahanMeyers architects, Newton’s Opticks of 1704 was the we have pursued investigations into light result of an investigation dating back as an area of special interest. Light goes to antiquity, to Arabic scientists, and to hand-in-hand with architecture, as it does medieval authors such as Al-Hazen, and, with many of the arts. We have pursued later, Bacon, Kepler, and Huygens. Light light by developing new window and sky- has always been the source of new light prototypes, and through the use of concepts in physics.1 color both as a direct and reflected medium in our projects. This area of interest is directly con- Mary Temple, Reflection, acrylic paint on existing interior wall surfaces. relativity also inspired artistic innovations. create illusions of depth of field. It can work of Marcel Duchamp, arguably the create drama, a sense of openness, most influential artist of the century. More recently, in her ground-breaking primary means of reading our world. work at Harvard, Lene Hau has slowed We live in an age when ‘light’ as a the speed of light to 0 miles per hour. concept is challenged as never before. No one yet knows the implications this In the eighteenth century, discoveries discovery holds for the future of scientif- were made about the refraction of light. ic research. What can be surmised, At that time it seemed a miracle that however, is that every aspect of culture, something as clear as ‘white’ light, when including the arts, will be affected by bent through the medium of a prism or this development. It is this celebration a raindrop, would yield color. Today our of ‘the new’ that is most exciting about concept of light, along with other natural light. To study the history of advance- phenomena, continues to be tested and ment in science and scientific research, altered by science. is to study the development of theories on the maximum speed of light in a 9 In the early twentieth century the Its influence is particularly evident in the Einstein’s theory of relativity, based ‘White’ light when refracted through the medium of a prism yields color. philosophical ramifications of the theory of nected with vision and visuality. Light can and a sense of spirituality. Vision is our 175L about light. Just as ‘all roads lead to Rome,’ all vacuum, e = mc 2, set the standard for advances in science, art and architecture scientific and philosophical reflection in lead to light. Relativity led to a new, rela- the twentieth century. Einstein’s theory tivistic set of developments in the arts is based on the premise that nothing and in architecture. Now that the speed can exceed the speed of light, and it of light can be controlled, a new world of made the speed of light the yardstick of artistic and cultural interpretations will modern physics. Although light can be follow. The architecture of the twenty- slowed as it travels through various first century will incorporate this new media, nothing can exceed the maxi- milieu of scientific thought and revolution mum speed of light. When light beams into itself. It is this on-going revolution in refract through a raindrop or a prism, thinking that this book attempts to for example, the act of slowing the address and chronicle. speed of the light creates colors, yielding a rainbow. Light and the refraction of light has THE INSPIRATION OF COLOR AND LIGHT: GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE engaged the attention of thinkers such as Abbot Suger, the Abbot of the Church of Aristotle, Pliny, Leonardo, Descartes, St. Denis in the twelfth century, saw color P8 P9 01_DWL_Front_Matter rev 10/1/06 4:12 pm Page 10 175L Bill Viola: Chott el Djerid (A Portrait in Light and Heat), 1979. Videotape, color, monosound; 28.00 minutes. Photo: Kira Perov. 10 175L and light as the most important aspects employ state-of-the-art technologies and century Impressionist painters. Both seen gradually moving from dark areas of of church design. Suger set about are distinguished by their precision and attempt to put the viewer into direct con- shadow into areas of bright light. The redesigning the abbey church of direct simplicity. tact with the phenomena of reflected and cloth material diffuses the light, and the St. Denis as a reflection of his belief that Since 1972 Viola has used video to refracted light. They immerse viewers in images dissipate in intensity and focus as light and color are the closest represen- explore the phenomena of sense percep- the atmosphere of other places through they penetrate further into the scrim lay- tations we have of spirit. When St. Denis tion as an avenue to self-knowledge. His the representation of light. ers, eventually intersecting each other as was completed in 1144, the Gothic style work focuses on universal human experi- was born from Suger’s search for an ences: birth, death, and the unfolding of projected toward one another from two Recorded independently, the images of architecture of light. consciousness. It has roots in both directions to create an impression of the man and the woman never coexist in Eastern and Western art as well as images moving toward one another. The the same video frame. It is only the light ing element of architecture, art, music, Islamic Sufism, Christian mysticism, following text describing The Vieling was from their images that intermingles in and life. That inspiration has altered in and Zen Buddhism. written by Viola for the Whitney catalog the fabric of the hanging veils. The cone to describe his installation at the Whitney of light emerging from each projector is Museum in 1998: articulated in space by the layers of Light continues to be the most inspir- response to developments in the sci- Viola has carved a niche as a unique Viola’s The Veiling uses beams of light ences, reflected in the arts and philosophy artist working in a new medium. His of each era. work is deeply enmeshed in intersecting “Thin parallel layers of translucent What follows is a brief survey of con- gossamer presences on the central veil. material, revealing its presence as a spiritual traditions, from ancient to con- cloth hang loosely across the center of three-dimensional form that moves temporary culture, including video art, temporary. He has been instrumental in a dark room. Two projectors at opposite through and fills the empty space of the light art, and sculpture; as well as new establishing video as a vital form of con- ends of the space face each other and room with its translucent mass.”3 developments in science, music and the temporary art, and has helped to expand project images into the layers of materi- theater arts. This brief survey attempts its scope in terms of technology, content, al. The images show a man and a woman LIGHT ART: THE ART OF LIGHT to convey the far-reaching effect that and historical reach. as they approach and move away from How we see is crucial to our perception the camera, viewed in various nocturnal of art. Beginning with the Renaissance ideas concerning light have on contempo- In Viola’s installation Chott el Djerid 11 rary culture. Following this survey, the (A Portrait in Light and Heat), desert landscapes. They each appear on sepa- invention of one-point perspective, and second half of the book is dedicated to mirages are set against images of the rate opposing video channels, and are through the nineteenth-century fascination the influence of light on contemporary bleak winter prairies of Illinois and architectural practice. Saskatchewan, Canada.’2 Chott el Djerid Top left n Central scrim— Images from both projectors meet and align so that figures superimpose. Left n Receding and advancing figures—the parallel surfaces of the scrims catch the light of the image, which passes through to the deeper scrim layers. Bottom left n Image light passes through layers of material. It expandss while getting more dim and diffuse. Light from one projector crosses with the other. Below left and right n Bill Viola, The Veiling, 1995. Layers of translucent scrim material can catch and diffuse the light of the images. is the name of a vast, dry salt lake in the VIDEO ART: FILM AND LIGHT Tunisian Sahara Desert, where mirages Film and photography are made possible often form in the midday sun. Here the by light. Both art forms originate from intense desert heat manipulates, bends, early experiments with light, specifically and distorts light rays to such an extent the development of the camera obscura that you actually see things that are not (‘dark chamber’ into which light is admit- there. Trees and sand dunes float away ted through a double-convex lens, forming from the ground, the edges of mountains an image of external objects) and the and buildings ripple and vibrate, color camera lucida (‘light chamber’ wherein the and form blend into one shimmering rays of light from an object are reflected dance. by a prism to produce an image). The Viola’s video deals poetically with video installations of Bill Viola are immedi- the phenomena of light reflection and ate and primitive to the point of allowing refraction, recording naturally occurring viewers to re-enter the space of these light distortions. Image number ten original instruments of film. (opposite below), cut from the video, Viola is widely recognized as a leading video artist on the international scene. His video installations—environments that envelop the viewer in image and sound— shows forms in the desert landscape hovering in the sky. There is a resemblance between these images and the works of the nineteenth- P10 P11 01_DWL_Front_Matter rev 10/1/06 4:12 pm Page 12 175L 12 Top to bottom right n Dan Flavin, Untitled, installation at the Chinati Foundation, Marfa, Texas, 2000. Pink, green, blue and yellow fluorscent light. with light revealed in Impressionist art, to Opposite top n Rei Naito, One Place on the Earth. Tent installation illuminated by candles. Opposite bottom n Mary Temple, Reflection. Acrylic paint on existing gypsum wall board, wood floor, and carpet. Richmond Hall is the result of a project 175L cent lights of six barrack buildings at the the contemporary era and the prolifera- commissioned by the Menil Collection in Chinati Foundation, a former military tion of light art by artists such as James Houston, in 1996. Flavin had been base. The six buildings are planned in an Turrell and Robert Irwin, light is not only discussing an installation of his work here alternating scheme. Two fixtures and the means of illuminating a subject, but since 1970. tubes are always attached back to back, becomes the subject itself. Built in 1930, Richmond Hall has a illuminating the space in two opposite Contemporary light art could be said simple rectangular shape with a store- directions. The first two buildings glow in to date from the 1960s when a number front and an open interior reflecting its pink and green, the following two in blue of southern California artists began using former life as a grocery store. The main and yellow, and the last two bring all four fiberglass, cast acrylic, polyester resin, part of the installation is in the large colors together to make ‘white light.’ and glass as media for their works. open interior space, 125 feet (38 These new atmospheric works presented metres) deep by 50 feet (15 metres) work of the artist Rei Naito. Her work light as a medium of experience to view- wide. An arrangement of 4-foot (1.2- relates ancient traditions of Japanese cul- ers. Instead of looking at a work of art, metre) fixtures extends along the two ture to new technologies. By constructing the viewer is placed inside it so that the longer walls. Mounted about 4 feet (1.2 environments in a process reminiscent of work becomes an experience. metres) above the floor, running the an Ise Shrine, Naito creates the sensibility length of the walls, filtered ultraviolet of the Ise Shrine, using modern technolo- between painting, sculpture, and architec- lights face into the room and separate gies and natural light sources. Her work ture, making color and light, and their vertical fluorescent lights. These are off- consists of installations that illuminate dispersal in space the subject of the art. set, the top bulbs facing the back wall of with light, almost invisible drawings titled Particularly relevant to this use of light as the room, the bottom row facing the front namenlos/Licht, and performance/art a medium for art is the work of Dan wall. The bulbs alternate in a sequence, installations. Flavin. Born in New York City in 1933, of pink, yellow, green and blue. These works blur the boundaries Flavin had his first solo exhibition of The central, horizontal ultraviolet Light is also the primary focus of the Naito’s work brings viewers into contact with a unique sense of space and assemblages and watercolors in 1961 at light blends the colored lights to form time, and proportion and light. Much like the Judson Gallery. The year also marked white light. A skylight in the center of Dan Flavin, Naito develops her installa- the beginning of Flavin’s use of electric the space allows daylight into the room, tions as holistic environments. Light is a light as a medium for artistic expression. and gives visitors a tabula rasa, where key aspect of each environment, creating In 1963 Flavin began to they can check the coloration of Flavin’s the perimeter of the space and the mood work solely with commercially produced mixed light (white light) against daylight. of the piece. fluorescent bulbs with the completion This piece works with fluorescent light One Place on the Earth is Naito’s of the diagonal of personal ecstasy (the to produce a very similar effect to the best-known work. In 1997 this piece rep- diagonal of May 25, 1963). For the composer, Arvo Part’s, musical composi- resented Japan at the Venice Biennale. rest of his career Flavin’s medium was tion, Für Alina (see page 15). Both One Place on the Earth, like an Ise fluorescent light. Flavin’s art inverted the typical museum experience of moving from room to room to view pictures. Instead, his Richmond Hall and Für Alina blend chro- Shrine, has been reconstructed many matic scales of light to produce a times. The piece was originally shown at mixture, yielding white light. Sagacho Exhibit Space in Tokyo in 1991. Flavin was associated with other artists In One Place on the Earth space is installations highlighted the spatial con- of the Minimalist school, including Carl created by a large white tent with a con- tainers where they were displayed. ‘The Andre, Donald Judd, and Robert Morris. tinuous perimeter of glowing candles. voids... became the means by which he It was through his close friendship with The project deals with the physical reconceptualized sculpture and space, Donald Judd that Flavin’s most recent senses of touch, vision and perception. investing corners, baseboards...in short, installation was planned and finally every place but that traditionally reserved executed at the Chinati Foundation in a space about perception, elucidation, for the display of art, with a previously Marfa, Texas in 2000. The installation and the act of seeing and understanding, consists of interior lighting with fluores- through light. Naito’s tent installations unacknowledged presence.’ 4 P12 13 The tent for One Place on the Earth is P13 01_DWL_Front_Matter rev 10/1/06 4:12 pm Page 14 175L Right n Lene Hau conducting experiments in manipulating the speed of light. 14 175L have clearly defined perimeters, marked PHYSICS AND LIGHT: will improve the performance of comput- ating musical compositions related to the by a ring of candles that hold the edge of NEW BREAKTHROUGHS IN SCIENCE ers enormously. Recently Hau won a properties of white light: ‘I could compare the space. Science and changes in scientific ideas MacArthur Fellowship for her work on my music to white light which contains all The contemporary light artist, Mary have, through the centuries, been precur- stopping light and was appointed to the the colors. Only a prism can divide the Temple, bases her work around light and sors of changing ideas in the arts. Today Royal Danish Academy of Sciences in colors and make them appear: this prism perception. A particularly interesting we are once again in the midst of a scien- April 2002. could be the spirit of the listener.’ aspect of Temple’s work is that she stud- tific revolution through the work of Lene ies light by never actually portraying real Hau, the physicist who has succeeded in MUSIC AND LIGHT 1976, after long years of preparation, is light. Instead she plays with the viewer’s slowing the speed of light to 0 miles per Historically, music has been compared to the sustained octave in the low bass at emotional and perceptual relationship to hour. the other arts through musical harmony the start of the piano piece Für Alina. light by painting images of window reflections in windowless rooms. The first seminal note Part notated in and proportioning systems. In architec- Above it sounds, for the first time, the ing the results of her experiments on light ture, from the fifteenth to the eighteenth connection of triadic notes that character- On February 18, 1999, a paper report- Temple’s work plays with and modifies was published on the cover of the leading centuries, the harmonies of the musical izes his ‘tintinnabuli style.’ Für Alina was aspects of environmental perception. Her scientific journal Nature. Hau, the leading scales served as evidence that exact one of seven works performed in Tallinn in window sculptures appear as light and author of the paper, with her colleague ratios underlay our perceptions of beau- 1976, at a concert premiering the initial shadows cast on a wall from a nearby Steve Harris, and two of her Harvard ty. Since measure was as important in results of the new compositional style. window. The shadows may be from plant students, reported the results of their architecture as in music harmonies life surrounding the window, or just the experiment in which a beam of laser light similar to those found in the musical that the artistic concept of Part’s record- geometry of the structure of the window was slowed to the astonishingly low scale were sought to account for the ing, Für Alina, harkens back, and it It is to this period of new departures 5 frame. They are comprised of an image speed of 38 miles (61 kilometres) per harmonious disposition of buildings. of light painted on the wall. The concep- hour. By comparison, light in a vacuum Musicians and composers have tual sculpture created by the viewer lasts travels at about 186,000 miles (299,338 collaborated with architects and artists this recording embodying the fundamen- for only that moment when she or he is kilometres) per second. throughout history, and there are many tal traits of the ‘tintinnabuli style.’ Three convinced that what they are seeing is actually light and cast shadows. does so through transformation. Part establishes a link between two works in examples of the fruits of these discus- interpretations of the duet Spiegel im Institute for Science in Cambridge stud- sions. A famous example is the Spiegel, written in 1978, become formal Hau’s laboratory at the Rowland Speaking about her work, Temple sum- ies the interaction of lasers with a matter collaboration between the composer pillars positioned before, between, and marizes her relationship to light, art, and called Bose-Einstein condensate. By shin- Xenakis and the architect Le Corbusier. after two solo renderings of Für Alina. architectural space thus: “Imagine a win- ing precisely tuned lasers on a dowless room in which there appears to condensate, or cloud, of ultra-cold sodi- reference light in their musical composi- for ‘mirror’) is a precise description of be strong light raking the wall and pool- um atoms, Hau and her team reduced the tions reverses this relationship of music what happens in this piece. The part for ing onto the floor. The rectangle of light speed of a light beam to a pace slower to the other arts. In this instance, light, the stringed instrument is constructed seems to be coming from a nearby win- than 38 miles (61 kilometres) per hour. which inspires the visual arts, is taken as as a mirror. The phrases it plays—each the inspiration for musical works. one successively adding one more note dow, and as you turn to find the source, Initially, Hau’s group succeeded in The work of three composers who Arvo Part was born on 11 September The title of Spiegel im Spiegel (German of the scale—always return, by steps or you understand the shape, size, and loca- reducing the speed of light to 56 feet (17 tion of the (non-existent) window, as well meters) per second. Most recently, they 1935 in Paide, a town just outside the jumps, to the mirror axis, the central A. as the time of day the light references. have stopped a light pulse altogether, Estonian capital, Tallinn. Part’s Third The piano mirrors the violin part twice When painting these site-specific trompe parked the pulse in a cold atom cloud, Symphony, premiered in 1971, marked with pure F-major triads, once at close l’oeil installations, I rely on the viewer to and then controllably revived it. Hau’s an intermediate step on the way to his range above it, but also with a layer of complete the architectural intervention by work on ultra-slow light and atomic-wave mature compositional style, presented alternately higher and lower pitches conceptualizing a window. In this work guides for cold atoms has forged entirely for the first time in the 1976 piano recreating on a large scale the narrower and other recent projects I’m interested new paths in optics and nonlinear optics. piece, Für Alina. This system of musical tonal space traversed by the violin. in what informs the emotional stability of This achievement, noted by newspa- compositional, which Part calls the The piano also confirms the melody a site, how tenacious or fragile our mem- pers, magazines and broadcasters ‘tintinnabuli style’, has formed his notes of the violin with parallel thirds ory of an environment is, and how I might around the world, heralds many new approach in all works written since then. and octaves. Mirror images allow three affect conceptual modifications to physi- practical applications. These include the cal places.” development of optical switches that P14 “I could compare my music to white light which contains all colors.” —Arvo Part Commenting on the ‘tintinnabuli style,’ Arvo Part explained how his idea for cre- further voices to unfold from the core voice. P15 15 01_DWL_Front_Matter rev 10/1/06 4:12 pm Page 16 175L The CD Für Alina is Part’s poetic inter- 16 works which interpret the relationship transform light frequencies into sounds. pretation of white light—using musical his ideas about random musical composi- between music and light. Vitiello is ‘Listening’ to the buildings through the chords as representations of various col- tion to light. He describes the film, titled among the most versatile younger artists medium of light Vitiello found a way to ors of light. These ‘colors’ are overlaid in One11, comparing its characteristics to in the medium of contemporary ‘sound record an intimate experience with a the piece and recombined to produce those of light: ‘One is a film without sub- work.’ Born in New York in 1964, Vitiello tower that had, initially, been oppressive ‘white light.’ ject. There is light but no persons, no started playing in punk and noise bands and distant. in the 1970s and later collaborated on On Vitiello’s CD recording, Bright and ation. It is meaningless activity which is projects with the multimedia artist Tony Dusty Things, light becomes sound when ing material, which fulfills its function nonetheless communicative, like light Oursler. In 1991, he organized a concert passed through a ‘light pen.’ A photocell when two of its surfaces are inclined itself, escaping our attention as communi- with the video artist Nam June Paik and is a device that a photographer uses to toward one another at a specific angle. cation because it has no content. Light is, the Bad Brains. In the late 1990s, Vitiello measure light levels. As Part explains: ‘A prism acting on white as McLuhan said, pure information, with- began to operate as a solo artist and light is the analyzing instrument that sep- out any content to restrict its composer of site-specific work using pointed a photocell at lights in his arates its constituent rays into their transforming and informing power.’ sound. studio, including the green and red lights One11 was produced by the German Vitiello’s piece in the 2002 Whitney lowed by a second, the ‘colorific rays’ production company Lohner Ranger and Biennial, World Trade Center Recordings: improvisations. Once the photocell tone can be brought together again and so premiered on September 19, 1992, in Winds After Hurrican Floyd, derives from was established in the room, Vitiello recreate white light.’ 6 Cologne, with the WDR Orchestra per- a 1999 artist residency on the 91st floor brought musicians Pauline Oliveros and forming Cage’s 103, composed one year of Tower One, where he recorded sounds David Tronzo on board to collaborate constituent colors, that is meant to be earlier and with which it is frequently inside and outside the building. At his with his light beams. Vitiello created the recombined, through the interpretation simultaneously performed. 91st-floor studio in Tower One, Vitiello tracks for Bright and Dusty Things by to make pure, white light. on his mixing board, setting the basis for was struck by his view of New York. What asking the musicians to listen carefully studio in Munich by cameraman Van he couldn’t get over, however, was how to his previously recorded ‘light’ tracks The film was shot at FSM television Carlson of Los Angeles, under the flat and unreal the view was. He set from the World Trade Tower, and composer John Cage (1912–1992) direction of Henning Lohner. The film was about finding some way of ‘unflattening respond with their own ‘light improvisa- created musical works that expound on shown alone at Symphony Space in New the view.’ He achieved it by translating light tions.’ Light was the fourth, and most ideas of relativity and the philosophical York (with a tape of the WDR perform- into sound. Vitiello started working with prominent, player in the recording ses- implications that extend beyond science, ance of 103), on November 1, 1992, and light as a result of his search for a way of sions for Bright and Dusty Things. into the realm of Buddhist philosophy at Cage’s memorial Cagemusicircus, an interpolating the World Trade Towers. Vitiello continues to develop sound and art. event organized by John Kennedy and ‘It was only when I recognized the pieces based on his interpretations of A contemporary of Arvo Part, the silence, shut in by windows that could not light. For his CD, Light from Falling Cars, beloved American composer, John Cage’s In describing the making of the film, be opened, that I found a clue to how I Vitiello recorded the light beams from influence, although already profound, has Cage said: ‘Chance operations were used should proceed. The challenge was to headlights of cars driving over the yet to be fully felt. From around 1950, with respect to the shots, black and bring the sound from outside in, through Brooklyn Bridge at night. and throughout the passing years, Cage white, taken in the FSM television studio very thick, sealed windows.’ departed from the pragmatism of precise in Munich by Van Carlson, a Los Angeles musical notation and circumscribed ways cameraman. The producer and director the Towers. The first was achieved by through light at the Cartier Foundation in of performance. His principal contribution was Henning Lohner. The executive affixing contact microphones to the win- Paris. Eight solar cells mounted around to the history of music is his systematic producer was Peter Lohner. The light dows. The second set of recordings was the perimeter of a room translated light establishment of the principle of indeter- environment was designed and done with a technician and friend, Bob frequencies into sound, which was then minacy. By adapting Zen Buddhist programmed by John Cage and Andrew Bielecki. In this second set of recordings transmitted to a microphone in the street practices to composition and perform- Culver, as was the editing of the film, Vitiello searched for a way to respond outside the gallery. ance, Cage succeeded in bringing both done in video format at Laser Edit East with sound to the lights that he saw after authentic spiritual ideas and a liberating in New York.’ dusk. A small photocell wired to audio Part used light as a medium to produce cables pointed into the eye of a tele- sound. These inventive interpretations of scope enabled Vitiello to locate and the visual medium of light enable listen- A singularly inventive and much attitude of play to musical enterprise and the wider art world. Essential Music. Stephen Vitiello, a third contemporary composer, has also become known for P16 Vitiello made two sets of recordings of 17 For Bright and Dusty Things Vitiello original classes. If the first prism is fol- of the audience who listen to the piece, Above left and right n Film clips from the video One11 produced with the German production company Lohner Ranger, premiered September 19, 1992, in Cologne, Germany. 11 things, no ideas about repetition and vari- Part presents light, broken into Top Diagram of the television studio where One11 was filmed. In 1992 Cage produced a film, applying construction of transparent, light-refract- An optical prism is a simple, regular n 175L Above n View from World Trade Center: Night View, Stephen Vitiello, courtesy of the artist. Left n Solar Cell 1, Stephen Vitiello, courtesy of the artist. In 2004 Stephen Vitiello mounted an installation featuring sound generated Stephen Vitiello, John Cage, and Arvo P17 01_DWL_Front_Matter rev 10/1/06 4:12 pm Page 18 175L 18 Light is a key aspect of the drama that is stagecraft. Through the thoughtful use of light an audience can be made to focus on a person or a concept on stage. 175L ers to ‘hear’ their environment through a sciences allows Wilson to pursue innova- the Beach presented a new approach to series of inventive, aural images. tions in theater through the thoughtful musical theater. The structure of the use of light. work has a mathematical precision and THEATER AND LIGHT In July 1996 a workshop was convened dreamlike, allusive content. The play is a Theater takes everyday life and makes it at Wilson’s Watermill Center to discuss a precise statement of light, movement, larger. Light is a key aspect of the drama means of defining the Cultural District of design, and duration. that is stagecraft. Through the thoughtful Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, using light. Einstein’s life revolved around the use of light an audience can be made to Wilson believed that light as a poetic brilliant application of mathematical for- focus on a person or a concept on medium would define the space inhabited mulae to natural phenomena. his most stage. By darkening a stage and creating by visitors to the District. This project was important discovery, the theory of relativ- a single focal point of light a single per- sponsored by Carnegie Mellon University, ity, changed life in the twentieth century. former within a crowd becomes a focus. Carnegie Institute, the City of Pittsburgh, Wilson’s play, Einstein on the Beach, is a foundations, and corporations. mapping of changes wrought by Einstein’s The word theater is derived from the Greek theaomai, ‘to see,’ and the Collaborating with architect Richard word spectator is derived from the Latin Gluckman, Wilson devised a multi-dimen- At the core of relativity is light, and the spectare, which means ‘to look.’ The sional, multi-scaled light installation as speed of light. Movement throughout the part of a larger program commissioned play references the speed of light. open air, usually on a hillside, and placed by the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust to breathe Relativity’s overarching cultural implica- so that the afternoon sunlight came from new life into the city’s historic downtown. tions are presented as a continuous march of cultural change and technologi- behind the audience and flooded the per- For the Pittsburgh project Wilson and forming area with light. Until the sixteenth Gluckman extended ideas about theatrical century the theater continued to be basi- lighting beyond the controlled interior of cally an outdoor institution. a theater to the street and the city. Light Albert Einstein’s work, so it is also a cal advancement as the play proceeds. Just as light was the central focus of became a means of establishing cohe- central theme in the work of Wilson—a other painters, theater designers began siveness in a district consisting of many brilliant, unpredictable, and challenging to ‘paint with light’—putting light where different aesthetics and ideas. artist of the theater. it created greater dramatic effect. The work was an attempt to establish Today light serves as a unifying medium a new image of the city of Pittsburgh, a for the stage. It is a mobile and changing former coal-mining town. The Pittsburgh accent that reinforces the action, sus- Project is an attempt to give the commu- tains a mood, and focuses the attention nity a new identity as a ‘city of light.’ of the audience.7 One of the most innovative practition- Prior to the Pittsburgh project, one of Wilson’s most famous productions ers in the use of light to create theater is focused on the most influential contem- Robert Wilson, who includes light as an porary theory of light. Albert Einstein’s important staple in his repertoire of the- theory of relativity was the focus of atrical invention. As Wilson explains: Wilson’s 1976 production, Einstein on ‘Everything begins with light—without light the Beach. Premiered in July 1976, in there’s no space. And space can’t exist Avignon, France, Einstein on the Beach without time: they are part of one thing.’ 8 was presented by the Byrd Hoffman Wilson founded the Watermill Center on Foundation, in association with the Long Island where he works on theatrical Festival d’Avignon, Venice Biennale, and productions and hosts conferences, the Region of Lombardy. including the Aventis Triangle Forum, for scientists. This meshing of the arts and Below left and light n Robert Wilson and Richard Gluckman, installation in Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, Pittsburgh, 2001. investigations and discoveries. classic Greek theater was built in the Borrowing effects from Rembrandt and Left n Robert Wilson and Richard Gluckman, sketch view for future light installation in Pittsburgh, from a workshop at Watermill, July 7, 1996. The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust. Written and directed by Robert Wilson, with music by Phillip Glass, Einstein on P18 P19 19 01_DWL_Front_Matter rev 10/1/06 4:12 pm Page 20 175L 20 175L Architecture and Light 21 The history of great architecture is about buildings that adapt creatively to light. One focus Newton’s research on light. The building was conceived as a perfect sphere, with apertures of architecture is the connection between what people see and a building’s construction. representing galaxies in a spherical skin. During the day one could stand inside the sphere Architects rely on light and its ability to reveal form as a way of creating that connection. and view the stars. At night the sphere sent out beams of light celebrating Newton’s European Gothic churches inspire awe as an architecture of color and light. Gothic accomplishments. architects reduced the mass of their cathedrals to lines of structure in order to maximize Modern architecture follows this march toward transparency and opening to light and the area of glass. Cathedrals were representations of the universe, and the light flooding nature through the use of steel framing, the diminishment of mass, and an extensive use of into them through stained-glass windows held together the Medieval world with light. glass. Mies van der Rohe’s Farnsworth House—an all-glass house in Plano, Illinois—is During the Renaissance, domes representing the heavens dominated church construction. Light brought in through the oculi and other light sources enhanced the sense probably the most famous example of this modernist ideal. Glass tends to seem invisible, and architects’ fascination with transparency has led to a that the dome above the nave was a recreated sky, framed and imbued with metaphysical concentration on invisibility and reduction. The thread that links the history of achievement in properties. The dome is where the appearance of divine light was expected and architecture is the search for new ways to celebrate the intersection between the wall and symbolized. In addition to capturing divine light, Renaissance churches were also used by nature; to capture the moment and to frame the place where light enters the building. contemporary scientists such as Galileo for optical experiments. Several Renaissance The following chapters present varying aspects of light in architecture. We begin church roofs in Italy have holes where light beams enter so that on certain saints’ days a with Color, and continue with Lines, Form, Glass, Windows, Sky Frames, Shadows and, line of light traces a path through the church, a tribute to God and to science. finally, Reflections. Each chapter presents projects that show how architects have In the eighteenth century the French architect Etienne-Louis Boullée designed a ‘Cenotaph to Newton’ (1784). This conceptual building, never realized, was a celebration of P20 manipulated this life-giving aspect of nature to make its presence palpable as the focus of architecture. P21 02_DWL_Color.qxd 10/1/06 4:14 pm Page 22 Color Color and light were explored in Medieval cathedrals, where stained glass windows illustrated Biblical books in bays of the building. Color, a precious commodity during the Middle Ages, created a sense of awe in these buildings, adding to the sense of theater generated by the scale of the space and the structure. Color and light were seen by Medieval church designers as direct representations of the Left n Hanrahan Meyers Architects, Red Hook Center for the Arts, Brooklyn, New York: the intersection between an interior skylight and an exterior window. Colors— yellow and red—appear on the surface of the soffits. The red surface is the result of reflection—the surface itself is painted white. The building establishes a play between surfaces that are colored through reflected and applied colors. divine spirit. n In contemporary architec- ture, color and light still inspire awe, in secular settings as well as religious ones. The work of color and light artists such as James Turrell and Dan Flavin has involved the general public in a celebration of light and its physical properties as an exciting formal element of architecture. This enjoyment of light and its constituent colors is a component of sev- Opposite n Hanrahan Meyers Architects, Red Hook Center for the Arts: the surface of the wall, which appears to be red, registers reflected color from the skylight. eral contemporary architectural projects. 02_DWL_Color.qxd 10/1/06 4:14 pm Page 24 25 24 Left and opposite n Hanrahan Meyers Architects, Red Hook Center for the Arts: the building entrance is also a gallery. This view looks toward the gallery, which is separated from the entry vestibule by a red, plaster-finished wall. 02_DWL_Color.qxd 10/1/06 4:14 pm Page 26 27 Left n Hanrahan Meyers Architects, Schrom Television Studios, Queens, New York: the view from the conference room looking toward an interior gallery space. The room appears to be yellow. The color of the room is created by the skylight above, which has a filter that can be controlled electronically to create yellow or white light. Above n Hanrahan Meyers Architects, Schrom Television Studios: a detailed view looking into the ‘light cone,’ situated just below the filtered skylight. 02_DWL_Color.qxd 28 10/1/06 4:14 pm Hanrahan Meyers Architects, Schrom Television Studios: from different perspectives in the gallery, looking toward the conference room, with its ‘light cone’. Page 28 Below left and right n Hanrahan Meyers Architects, Schrom Television Studios: this view looks into the gallery, toward the television stage area. Colors in selected locations throughout the space are reflected and participate in the creation of a spectrum of light. 29 02_DWL_Color.qxd 30 10/1/06 4:14 pm Page 30 Left n Steven Holl Architects, Sarphatistraat Offices, Amsterdam: colored lights in the corners of the space, juxtaposed to actual windows, create a play of color and light that question which ‘openings’ define windows, and which are objects that insinuate spaces beyond. The project is an exploration of ‘porous architecture’ inscribed with a concept from Morton Feldman’s music, ‘Patterns in a Chromatic Field.’ Right n Steven Holl Architects, Sarphastistraat Offices: view from one corner of the space, with the entrance below. Rectangular openings, surface mounted lights, and areas of reflected color create a space where the depth of field of the windows and other apertures is questioned. Color animates an otherwise minimalist white room. 31 02_DWL_Color.qxd 10/1/06 4:14 pm Page 32 Left n Hanrahan Meyers Architects, Schrom Television Studios: the architects designed the east-facing wall of the studio as a ‘light wall,’ pierced by a series of variously sized apertures, each lined with different colored surfaces. The wall is four feet thick, and the apertures vary in size from six inches square to four feet long by two feet high, with surfaces cut at various angles Opposite n Hanrahan Meyers Architects, Arts International, New York: walls painted in bright blues and reds adjacent to exterior windows reflect colored light into the gallery, which is, otherwise, a minimalist white room. A blackened, highly polished floor reflects the colored lights. to the exterior window wall behind. Below n Hanrahan Meyers Architects, Arts International: this view looks toward the gallery and performance space from the entrance. Red light washes the floor, projected from a window behind the gallery. 33 03_DWL_Lines.qxd 10/1/06 4:16 pm Page 34 Geometry is one of the architect’s Lines 34 primary tools for making statements in space. Le Corbusier published manuals on the topic, titled ‘The Modulor.’ Lines are the most basic elements of geometry. n The following projects make extensive use of lines of light. Combining the basic form with light results in Michael Gabellini, Jil Sander Worldwide Showroom, Atelier and Offices in Milan: at the entrance to the space, a line of natural daylight marks the edge between the stair hall and the public space. powerful spaces. John Pawson, Walsh House, Telluride: the fireplace is long and horizontal. The mantel accentuates the horizontality of the composition. This includes the light that is mounted behind the stone, which casts a line of light along the wall. At the top of the wall occupied by the fireplace, Pawson creates a gap that he again accentuates with light. 03_DWL_Lines.qxd 36 10/1/06 4:16 pm Michael Gabellini, Jil Sander Showroom: the linearity of the exterior wall is emphasized by the slot of space created by pulling the ceiling back from the exterior wall. Page 36 Michael Gabellini, Jil Sander Showroom: another view of the same space, showing the interior surfaces. The room is a composition of horizontal lines, marked using light. 37 03_DWL_Lines.qxd 10/1/06 4:16 pm Page 38 Left n Michael Gabellini, Jil Sander Showroom: the ceiling differentiates the room into different zones using light. Opposite n Michael Gabellini, Jil Sander Showroom: this view looks toward the public staircase. A line of light at the corner of the room, at the stair landing, defines the vertical circulation. 03_DWL_Lines.qxd 10/1/06 4:16 pm Page 40 Opposite n Hiroaki Ohtani, Layer House, Kobe, Japan: a slated skylight allows the sun to cast patterns on the walls. Right n Hiroaki Ohtani, Layer House, Kobe, Japan. 03_DWL_Lines.qxd 42 10/1/06 4:16 pm Page 42 Opposite and left n Hiroaki Ohtani, Layer House, Kobe, Japan. 43 03_DWL_Lines.qxd 10/1/06 4:16 pm Page 44 Opposite n Kalach and Alvarez architects, 666 House, Mexico: the strong Mexican light in contrast to the heaviness of masonry construction creates opportunities to bring strong lines of light into interior spaces. Right n Rick Joy, architect, 400 Rubio Avenue, Tucson, Arizona: a line of light enters through the corner of the room, defining the edge between two heavy planes of the exterior shell. This is the architect’s studio, which he describes as ‘a building of walls, but with blurred boundaries—earthen walls and glass walls, all reaching to the sky… .’ 03_DWL_Lines.qxd 10/1/06 4:16 pm Page 46 47 46 Rick Joy, architect, Pima Canyon House, Tucson, Arizona. Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, Bohlin Residence, Waverly, Pennsylvania. 04_DWL_Form.qxd 10/1/06 4:17 pm Page 48 Form 48 Below n Joseph Giovannini, Giovannini Loft: a series of sculptural forms define space and serve as functional objects. Opposite n Joseph Giovannini, Giovannini Loft: dining area. As a painter, sculptor, and architect Michelangelo Buonarotti used light as an integral part of his spatial compositions. At the tomb of Guiliano de’ Medici, the Laurentian Library Ricetto, and the dome of St. Peter’s in Rome, Michelangelo sculpted space both literally and with light. Gianlorenzo Bernini used light as an important component of sculpture and architecture. In The Ecstasy of St. Theresa, the Cornaro Chapel, and the Scala Regia at the Vatican, carved surfaces of sculpture and architecture are manipulated to receive and render light dramatically. The Baroque era made use of light in a manner that echoed to the revelations of contemporary science, including the discoveries of Descartes, Newton, Galileo, Kepler, and Pascal. Through the physical discoveries of this era, the religious significance of light was diminished, but it became instead a metaphor for truth. n In the following pages contemporary works are presented that display a similar aim, with surfaces rendered dramatically by light. These expressionistic projects produce active and restless spatial paradigms that explore light as an element of formmaking. A post-modernist attitude toward light, as we move into an era where the speed of light can be fully manipulated, is evident. 04_DWL_Form.qxd 50 10/1/06 4:17 pm Below n Joseph Giovannini, Giovannini Loft: the sculptural form of the main living space creates a dialogue with the owners’ collection of minimalist and abstract art. Page 50 Right n Joseph Giovannini, Giovannini Loft: looking toward the main sitting room from the living space, light cuts through, marking edges of forms and supplying ambient light. 04_DWL_Form.qxd 52 10/1/06 4:17 pm Page 52 Joseph Giovannini, Giovannini Loft: the space is as much a play on abstract form as the art in the collection. A skylight brings light into the space as part of the overall abstract composition. Throughout the apartment, light defines the formal composition of the space. 53 04_DWL_Form.qxd 10/1/06 4:17 pm Page 54 Opposite n Steven Holl Architects, Simmons Hall, MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts: a stair that moves like a piece of sculpture. A perforated metal baluster accentuates the formal play of the stair, casting light over it and accentuating its undulating form. This page n Charles Deaton, Deaton House: the very fluid form of this stair crafted out of poured-in-place concrete, registers in light. The blackened handrail helps to delineate the sculptural form. 04_DWL_Form.qxd 10/1/06 4:17 pm Page 56 Opposite n Michael Gabellini, Davide Cenci Boutique, Rome, Italy: the organic shape of the stairs is accentuated by the placement of skylights and clerestory lights above. Below n Steven Holl Architects, Simmons Hall: a student lounge on an upper floor of the dormitory. Organic forms situate themselves in the gridded massing of the building, and create organically shaped public spaces for use as student lounge areas. The rooms are vessels that channel light into the building’s public areas. Light accentuates the organic forms of the plaster surfaces. 57 04_DWL_Form.qxd 10/1/06 4:17 pm Page 58 Opposite n Steven Holl Architects, Simmons Hall: the undulating main public stair, from below. The poured-inplace concrete form of the stair undulates through the public space. Light pours in through the surrounding abstract, grid wall that simulates the pixelation of a computerized image. Right n Steven Holl Architects, Simmons Hall: the square apertures that let in the light contrast with the organic form of the stair. 59 05_DWL_Glass.qxd 60 10/1/06 4:18 pm Page 60 Glass The artist Marcel Duchamp’s sculpture, the glass, so that windows become an The Large Glass, was prescient in its use interior radiant heat source. of glass as a medium for a work of art development of high-strength ceramics that operates simultaneously as a disser- for the Space Shuttle Program has result- tation on future cultural ideals. The Large ed in the development of structural glass n NASA’s Glass was itself a narrative about relativity, (e-glass): a transparent material with the and included in its construction ideas strength of steel. Glass floors, swimming about industrial production (The Large -pool enclosures, and other structures Glass was fabricated from a mass- are becoming part of the contemporary produced, industrial steel-frame glass ouvre. Bearing in mind the need for window). At around the same time that sustainable structures, e-glass is avail- Duchamp’s sculpture was presented in able in double- and triple-paned units the public realm, glass and transparency that provide environmentally sound-proof became the basis for early twentieth enclosures with the ability to perform as century movements in architecture. n 61 weather-resistant surfaces equal to much Modernism in contemporary architecture heavier materials such as masonry. is intimately tied to the use of glass. Modernist architecture continues to move Glass creates the least obtrusive barrier closer to an idealized condition of pure between inside and outside. Its trans- transparency. parency glass allows light to penetrate seems ubiquitous, was once a rare into interior space while maintaining a material used only sparingly in ancient visual connection with the outside world. structures. Through advances in industrial n Contemporary advances in glass tech- production techniques, glass has become nologies include electrostatic glass walls, readily available as a contemporary build- where a flick of a wall switch can make a ing material. Today, a primary mark of glass wall change from transparent to a building’s modernist sensibilities relates translucent. Invisible electrostatic films to how glass is used. This section applied to the surface of windows can presents examples of several innovative also generate heat across the surface of contemporary uses of glass. n Glass, which today Opposite n Daniel Rowan and Frank Lupo, White Apartment, New York: a wall of etched glass creates privacy, while allowing light and a sense of transparency to divide the space. Left n Michael Gabellini, Olympic Tower Residence, New York: a plane of etched structural glass separates the kitchen from the dining area. This is set at a 90-degree angle to the exterior curtain wall, with views to the city beyond. 05_DWL_Glass.qxd 10/1/06 4:18 pm Page 62 Opposite n Bohlin, Cywinski, Jackson, Apple Store, Soho, New York: the transparency of the structural glass stair against the etched structural glass floor creates a composition that is fluid, reflective, and ephemeral. Right n Bohlin, Cywinski, Jackson, Apple Store, North Michigan Avenue, Chicago: view of the store entrance, from behind the stair. Lit from below, the stair treads suffuse light. 05_DWL_Glass.qxd 10/1/06 4:18 pm Page 64 Opposite n Bohlin, Cywinski, Jackson, Forest House, Connecticut. Right n Hiroyuki Arima + Urban Fourth, Second Plate House, Fukuoka, Japan: a small glazed bridge links the entry foyer to the living room. 05_DWL_Glass.qxd 10/1/06 4:18 pm Page 66 66 67 Left n Hanrahan Meyers Architects, White Space: this view looks toward the living room from the entry area, which is extended by a structural glass floor. A transluscent glass wall marks the partition between the master bath/bedroom area and living area. Above n Michael Gabellini, 785 Park Avenue Residence, New York. 05_DWL_Glass.qxd 10/1/06 4:18 pm 68 Page 68 69 Right n Hanrahan Meyers Architects, White Space: detail view of the translucent glass wall in the master bath. Far right n Hanrahan Meyers Architects, White Space: a detail view of the glass wall separating the kitchen from the dining area. 05_DWL_Glass.qxd 70 10/1/06 4:18 pm Below n Hanrahan Meyers Architects, DelMonico/ Washburn Residence, New York: a glass wall separates the master bedroom from the public living space. The open area of the bedroom joins a south-facing window. A sense of continuous glass and light marks the end of the living space. Page 70 Opposite n Hanrahan Meyers Architects, Arts International Headquarters: the glass wall at the end of the conference room is almost invisible. The adjacent wall is also able to ‘disappear’ by being movable. When the arts organization needs to expand the adjacent public space, the conference room can be packed up, like a suitcase, and disappear. 71 05_DWL_Glass.qxd 72 10/1/06 4:18 pm Page 72 Left n Hanrahan Meyers Architects, Holley Residence, New York: a glass wall separates the master bedroom and master bath. Hanrahan Meyers Architects, Schrom Studios, New York: this is the end elevation of the conference room, looking toward the east ‘light wall.’ Right n Hanrahan Meyers Architects, Holley Residence: the glass wall separates the master bedroom from the public space. In the public space the only full-height wall is the glass wall. 73 05_DWL_Glass.qxd 10/1/06 4:18 pm Page 74 Opposite n Rick Joy, 400 Rubio Avenue, Tucson, Arizona: a glass wall separates an exterior courtyard space from an interior space. The two spaces appear to flow together into one. Right n Hiroyuki Arima + Urban Fourth, Second Plate House and studio, Fukuoka, Japan. Thin ceiling and wall planes appear to pull apart. 75 05_DWL_Glass.qxd 10/1/06 4:18 pm Page 76 76 77 Opposite n Hanrahan Meyers Architects, White Space: a composition of different types of glass, including handmade glass tiles, a free-standing glass plane, and a frameless sheet of translucent glass in the master bath. Left n Hanrahan Meyers Architects, White Space: handmade cast-glass tiles frame a view toward Central Park. 05_DWL_Glass.qxd 78 10/1/06 4:18 pm Below n Hanrahan Meyers Architects, White Space: a detail view of the structural glass floor. Page 78 Right n Hanrahan Meyers Architects, White Space: a view toward the entry with structural glass floor in the foreground. 06_DWL_Windows.qxd 10/1/06 4:19 pm Page 80 Windows Windows mark the most prominent difference between classical and contemporary architecture. Prior to the twentieth century most buildings were constructed using bearing walls, greatly restricting the size and the placement of glass and windows. Twentieth-century steel construction techniques allowed windows to be a much freer element in the façade of buildings, and the expression of joining the interior to the exterior space became a paradigm for modernism. Le Corbusier, one of the most famous architects of the modernist movement in twentieth-century architecture, felt this freedom so strongly that he made the reinterpretation and reinvention of modern windows a strategic part of his architecture. n The window was also portrayed as an icon of modernism in Marcel Duchamp’s The Large Glass. By addressing the theory of relativity and the philosophical changes Left n Michael Gabellini, Architect, Jill Sander Worldwide Showroom, Atelier and Offices in Milan: a glowing white light makes an abstract composition with the window that sits adjacent to the stair. The window becomes a minimalist object, a simple square punch in the wall. Opposite n TEN Arquitectos, Hotel Habita, Mexico City, Mexico: a window with an etched finish creates a screen, allowing suffused light to enter through the etched portions of the glass. In an urban setting, where privacy is an issue, the etched surface of the glass creates privacy while the clear portion allows a partial view. inferred by contemporary physics, The Large Glass set the window as the arena of philosophical discourse for architects whose work followed. n The pages that follow present images of contemporary windows that address the constructional implications of contemporary technologies. How architects detail and insert the language of the window into their designs frames their position to contemporary theories and dialogues about the meaning of space in the contemporary world. 06_DWL_Windows.qxd 10/1/06 4:19 pm Page 82 Opposite n Hanrahan Meyers Architects, White Space: a bedroom window overlooking Central Park, New York. Right n Michael Gabellini. Olympic Tower Residence, New York. 83 06_DWL_Windows.qxd 84 10/1/06 Marcio Kogan, BR House, Araras, Brazil: a large plate-glass window gives a view toward Atlantic Rain Forest. 4:19 pm Page 84 Below left and right n Simon Conder Associates, London, Nicholson Garden Room: the project is the garden of an existing house in north London. The Garden Room is a simple glass box that feels part of the garden it sits within. 85 06_DWL_Windows.qxd 86 10/1/06 4:19 pm Rick Joy, Catalina House, Tucson, Arizona: the thickness of the tamped earth construction is apparent wherever windows interrupt the solid walls. A square frame gives a view to the landscape around the house. Page 86 Marcio Kogan, BR House, Araras, Brazil. 87 06_DWL_Windows.qxd 10/1/06 4:19 pm Page 88 89 Opposite n IL Kim, The White Box: a window view from the living room toward the courtyard.. Below n IL Kim, Tokyo House: the study window. 06_DWL_Windows.qxd 10/1/06 4:19 pm Page 90 90 Above n John Pawson, Walsh House, Telluride, Colorado: the windows mark the perimeter of the room. The architect uses common windows in a strong, minimalist and simple way. Opposite n Adria, Broid, Rojkind, F-2 House: a minimalist and sculptural room, framed in concrete. Frameless glass fills the openings in the concrete wall, creating views to nature. 06_DWL_Windows.qxd 10/1/06 4:19 pm Page 92 Hanrahan Meyers Architects, Holley House: a view toward the living area. A 12-foot (3.6-metre) high wall of sliding glass panels looks out toward nature. An aperture through the living room’s stone fireplace creates a space for storing wood, and gives a view toward the nature beyond. 92 Above n Hanrahan Meyers Architects, Holley House: the wall in the foreground marks the edge of a pavilion that creates the entry to the house to the north, and houses guest bedrooms. The large opening to the yard looks into the guest bedroom hallway. Left n Hanrahan Meyers Architects, Holley House: view of the window to the living area. 12-foot (3.6-metre) high walls of glass and cypress enclose two pavilions that house the main living spaces of the house. 07_DWL_Sky.qxd 10/1/06 4:21 pm Page 94 In Renaissance, Baroque, and Rococo 94 Sky Frames cycle on the face of the dome, was a n his buildings in a way that celebrated architecture the dome, its oculi, and the central focus for these buildings. In light as a piece of ‘found’ nature. The lantern above were the focus of atten- contemporary architecture light is also projects that follow are successful in tion. Bringing the sky down into the brought in from above, but in a more bringing the sky and, by extension, building interior, creating a frame for objective, naturalistic way. The early nature into dialogue with contempo- it, and making a story from how the modernist Alvar Aalto was particularly rary spaces. heavens are presented through a painted skilled in bringing light from skylights into Andrew Berman, architect, Whitespace Studios, New York: a brutalist minimalist space, where cuts in the ceiling provide the main sense of connection between inside and outside. The space is a former stables and the architect has added a second and third floor, including extensive skylights. 95 07_DWL_Sky.qxd 10/1/06 4:21 pm Page 96 Andrew Berman, architect, Whitespace Studios: the line of the skylights picks up the line of the window. IL Kim, architect, The White Box: a view showing a ‘sky frame.’ 07_DWL_Sky.qxd 10/1/06 4:21 pm Page 98 98 99 Left n Steven Holl Architects, Sarphatistraat Offices in Amsterdam: the skylights accentuate the space as a random composition of color and light. Above n Steven Holl Architects, Sarphatistraat Offices in Amsterdam: looking up at the ceiling, the skylights are covered in a film of perforated metal. The perforated metal becomes a unifying skin covering and uniting all surfaces. 07_DWL_Sky.qxd 100 10/1/06 4:21 pm Page 100 Left n Joseph Giovannini, Giovannini Loft: the skylight above becomes another form, animating the space. Opposite n Raphael Moneo, Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, Los Angeles: a window folds up into the ceiling and becomes a skylight. 101 07_DWL_Sky.qxd 10/1/06 4:21 pm Page 102 Steven Holl Architects, Simmons Hall, MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts: an organically shaped opening onto the sky is created. Light washes down over an organic threedimensional form below. Steven Holl Architects, Simmons Hall: organic, random openings in the building canopy make reference to the organic forms inside the building. 08_DWL_Shadows.qxd 104 10/1/06 4:22 pm Page 104 Shadows Shadows create drama and emphasize light. At the Shrine of the Sybil in Delphi, Greece, a series of tall arches carved into the face of a mountain made dramatic lines of shadow and light. When the Sybil appeared she stood at the end of this row of arches, shadows emphasizing the length of the hall of the Shrine, and Below n Ricardo Legorreta, Greenberg House: a row of columns at the edge of an aperture generate strong linear shadows. Opposite n Ricardo Legorreta, Greenberg House: another view screamed answers to questions posed of the collonade shows how the bright light of the southwest United States makes shadows that cut sharp figures. Shadows become important formal elements in the space, equal in value to solid walls and columns. by sycophants. The hypostyle halls of Egyptian temples created dramatically shadowed sequences to inner sanctuaries. In Mexico, the Pyramid of Chichen-Itza uses shadow as a means of conveying information. On March 21, the spring solstice, the body of the serpent metaphorically descends from the temple on top of the pyramid and arrives at the heads at the foot of the staircase. n Shadows are transitory, moving forms that depend on a source of light for their stability. As the sun makes its daily transit from east to west, shadows convey a sense of time. The landscape is constantly changing in response to the seasons, the weather and the time of day. The recording of this movement and change through the reading of form in light, as well as a contemporary unfolding of the phenomena of the physics of sunlight, is presented in the pages that follow. 08_DWL_Shadows.qxd 10/1/06 4:22 pm Page 106 107 Left n Rick Joy, Pima Canyon House, Pima Canyon, Arizona: strong southwestern light passing through a linear trellis creates a space striped with bands of light. The interaction between form and light becomes the subject. Left n E. Fay Jones. Thorncrown Chapel, Eureka Springs, Arkansas: Thorncrown Chapel is nestled in a wooded setting and rises 48 feet high (14.5 metres), with over 6,000 square feet (1,829 square metres) of glass. 08_DWL_Shadows.qxd 108 10/1/06 4:22 pm Herzog and DeMeuron, Dominus Winery, Yountville, California: the winery wall is made from local field stones embedded in a wire wall. Light filtering through the stones creates strong forms on the walls, floor and roof. A view toward the wall gives a sense of the light entering through the gaps between the stones. Page 108 109 08_DWL_Shadows.qxd 10/1/06 4:22 pm Page 110 111 Above n Moshe Safdie, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada: a skylight casts shadows whose dramatic effect is equal to sculpture in the courtyard. Right n Moshe Safdie, National Gallery of Canada: a skylight with dramatic forms casts shadows, marking an otherwise blank floor with patterns of light. 08_DWL_Shadows.qxd 10/1/06 4:22 pm Page 112 Below n E. Fay Jones, Thorncrown Chapel: a wood structure opens to allow light to penetrate. The patterning on the ground creates a sense of seamless connection to the surrounding trees. Opposite n Antoine Predock, Arizona State University, Nelson Fine Arts Museum, Tempe, Arizona: a poured concrete skylight with patterned openings creates a pattern of light in the entrance area for the Nelson Fine Arts Museum. The shadow from the surrounding light screen on the walls, and above, creates patterns that allow sun and air to penetrate the entrance court, while modulating the heat. 113 08_DWL_Shadows.qxd 10/1/06 4:22 pm Page 114 115 Ricardo Legorreta, Architect, Greenberg House: a wood trellis above an outdoor stair creates linear patterning that underlines the rhythm of the treads below. Following pages: Ricardo Legorreta, Greenberg House: the wood trellis at the edge of an outdoor space creates a frame to a garden. 08_DWL_Shadows.qxd 10/1/06 4:22 pm Page 116 09_DWL_Reflections.qxd 118 10/1/06 4:23 pm Reflection Page 118 n At the Acropolis in Greece, an important reflection and refraction an important in Los Angeles, California. In the part of the architectural sequence from aspect of the architectural composition. projects that follow light refracted and/or the town below, was through the The Ames Gatehouse Lodge by H.H. reflected through water, or other media Propylaea gate, past the Erechthion. Richardson uses water as part of an such as glass, establishes a special The Erechthion contained a pool of overall compositional ode to the impor- mood in the architecture. Refraction water said to have been produced by tance of the four elements: earth, air, fire generates reflections of light that are Poseiden’s trident. A pool forms part of and water. Frank Lloyd Wright also refer- bent, fractured and dispersed, lending a reinterpretation of the Acropolis in Mies ences these four elements at Fallingwater a special quality to light that allows the van der Rohe’s Barcelona Pavilion, where and in his design of the Hollyhock House viewer to know that water is nearby. This page n Steven Holl Architects, Sarphatistraat Offices, Amsterdam: the elevation of the Sarphatistraat Offices reflected in the adjacent canal generates a second façade for the building. Opposite n Steven Holl Architects, Sarphatistraat Offices: colors are magnified in this image that shows the refracted image of the façade. That part of the elevation that is solid disappears and the ephemeral light of the building takes precedence. 09_DWL_Reflections.qxd 10/1/06 4:23 pm Page 120 121 Opposite n Steven Holl Architects, Simmons Hall, MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts: a highly reflective floor reflects points of light from the ceiling. Above n Hanrahan Meyers Architects, Arts International, New York: the floor is highly polished and blackened so that surfaces reflect in it. Lights on the floor reflect the lights and colors on the walls. 09_DWL_Reflections.qxd 10/1/06 122 4:23 pm Page 122 123 Hiroyuki Arima + Urban Fourth, Second Plate House, Fukuoka, Japan: a view toward the entry shows the 2-inch (5-centimetre) deep reflecting pool in the foreground. 09_DWL_Reflections.qxd 10/1/06 4:23 pm Page 124 Opposite n Hiroyuki Arima + Urban Fourth, Second Plate House, Fukuoka, Japan: the house and studio buildings flank a 2-inch- (5-centimetre) deep, triangular reflecting pool. Above n Hiroyuki Arima + Urban Fourth, Second Plate House, Fukuoka, Japan: a view toward the reflecting pool from the living room. 09_DWL_Reflections.qxd 10/1/06 4:23 pm Page 126 Opposite n Marcio Kogan. BR House, Araras, Brazil: a lap pool is sited under the house’s main volume. Above n Marcio Kogan, BR House, Araras, Brazil: the lap pool. 09_DWL_Reflections.qxd 128 10/1/06 4:23 pm Page 128 Below n Hanrahan Meyers Architects, Singer Residence Poolhouse, East Hampton, New York: a blue pool of water in front of the poolhouse addition reflects the color of the sky onto the pavilion. The poolhouse itself has a blue wall that mirrors the color of the pool, linking the water to the house. Opposite n Ricardo Legorreta, Laviada House: a window onto an adjacent garden frames a view of nature. The green from this view is reflected in the foreground pool. 09_DWL_Reflections.qxd 10/1/06 4:23 pm Page 130 Opposite n Patkau Architects, Vancouver House, Vancouver, British Columbia: a glassbottomed pool creates a space of reflection. Right n Patkau Architects, Vancouver House: the glassbottomed pool is also a skylight to the room below. 131 09_DWL_Reflections.qxd 10/1/06 4:23 pm Page 132 132 133 Bohlin, Cywinski, Jackson, Mountain Retreat, Park City, Utah: a pool pavilion with a reflective ceiling generates an image of the adjacent natural setting both in the pool and on the pool ceiling. 09_DWL_Reflections.qxd 10/1/06 4:23 pm Page 134 Opposite n Adria, Broid, Rojkind, F-2 House: the pool’s surface merges with the interior space. Right n IL Kim, The White Box: there is a glass walkway to house entry areas. 135 09_DWL_Reflections.qxd 10/1/06 4:23 pm Page 136 137 Opposite n Rick Joy, Tubac House, Tubac, Arizona: a reflecting pool edged in steel makes a similar image to the adjacent exterior window. Both reflect the natural setting. Right n Rem Koolhaas, Guggenheim Museum, Las Vegas, Nevada: a glass window gives a view to the outdoors. Light is reflected, both in the window and the structural glass floor. 09_DWL_Reflections.qxd 138 10/1/06 Below n Rick Joy, Catalina House, Tucson, Arizona: soft light filters into the living area accentuating, a modeled wall of tamped earth. The surface modulates softly in the bright desert light which accentuates the wall’s square cut-outs. 4:23 pm Page 138 Right n Rick Joy, Catalina House: an exterior wall with a skylight, looking toward the dining area. A window at the base of the wall accentuates the depth of the tamped earth wall. Light from an overhead skylight washes across the tamped earth surface, accentuating the nature of the material. 139 10_DWL_Endmatter.qxd 10/1/06 4:25 pm Page 140 Notes 140 Notes and further reading 1. Forster, Kurt W.: “Light in Architecture” in Light in Architecture and Art, Marfa, Texas: The Chinati Foundation, 2002, p. 10 2. Viola, Bill: “Chott el-Djerid (A Portrait in Light and Heat” in Bill Viola (exhibition cata- logue), New York: Whitney Museum of Selected publications, exhibitions and events John Cage Writings Through John Cage’s Music, Poetry and Art, David W. Bernstein and Christopher Hatch, eds, Chicago: The Universtiy of Chicago Press, 2001 Musicage: John Cage in Conversation with Joan Retallack, Hanover: University Press of New England, 1996 Progressive Architecture, Awards Issue, 1993; featuring Inside-Out House and Hudson River House Bill Viola: The Sleep of Reason, exhibition catalog, Jouy-en-Josas: Fondation Cartier pour l’Art Contemporain, 1990 Hanrahan Meyers Architects Emerging Voices in Architecture, Gallery of Functional Art, Santa Monica, California, 1990 Bill Viola: Statements by the Artist, exhibition catalog, introduction by Julia Brown, Los Angeles: Museum of Contemporary Art, 1985 Architects design music, presentation of “light score” at the Kitchen Experimental Performance Space, New York, 2004 Progressive Architecture, Young Architects Issue, 1990; featuring Crafts Production Center Pratt Pavilion, AIANY Chapter Design Award, 2004 An Interpretive Center, Columbia University, 1989 GSAPP miniseries and exhibition; catalog, J. Ockman, ed. “Light speed reduction to 17 metres per second in an ultracold atomic gas”, Nature, 397, Lene Vestergaard Hau, S.E. Harris, Zachary Dutton, and Cyrus H. Behroozi, 1999 John Cage: Composed in America, Marjo Perloff and Charles Junkerman, eds, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1994 Wonder Women WaterFall Table, presented at ICFF weekend in New York, 2004 3. ibid., p. 120 The Roaring Silence—John Cage: A Life, David Revill, New York: Arcade Publishing, 1993 AIANY Chapter, exhibition of Arts International and Schrom Studios, 2002 4. Ragheb, J. Fiona: “Of Situations and John Cage: An Anthology, Richard Kostelanetz, ed., New York: Da Capo Press, 1991 Four States of Architecture, London: WileyAcademy, 2002; monograph on Hanrahan Meyers Architects American Art, 1997 Sites” in The Architecture of Light, New York: Guggenheim Museum Publications, Empty Words: Writings ‘73–78, John Cage, Middletown: Wesleyan University Press, 1981 Experimental Music: Cage and Beyond, Michael Nyman, New York: Schirmer Books, 1974 The Architect, Maggie Toy, Mulgrave: Images Publishing, 2001; featuring V. Meyers’ biography and selected projects: Sagaponac, Red Hook Center for the Arts, WaveLine, and MoMA Tower Apartment Cambridge: MIT Press, 1995, p. 241 Silence: Lectures and Writings, John Cage, Middletown: Wesleyan University Press, 1967 Architectural Record, March, 2001; featuring Red Hook Center for the Arts, 6. Zajonc, Arthur: Catching the Light: The Dan Flavin Dan Flavin, Michael Govan, London: Serpentine Gallery, 2001 Architectural Record, September, 2001; featuring Record Interiors, Schrom Television Studios Dan Flavin: The Architecture of Light, J. Fiona Ragheb, ed., New York: Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, 1999 Manhattan Lofts, Ivan Richards, London: WileyAcademy, 2000; featuring Holley Loft (on cover) and MoMA Tower Apartment Dan Flavin, Dan Flavin, Michael Govan, and Julio Sanchez, Buenos Aires: Fundación Proa, 1998 “Space and the Perception of Time” in Journal of Architectural Education, V. Meyers, November, 1999 Dan Flavin: Fluorescent Light, etc., Mel Bochner, Dan Flavin, Donald Judd, and Brydon Smith, Ottawa: National Gallery of Canada for the Queen’s Printer, 1969 The Un-Private House, The Museum of Modern Art: New York, June 1999; exhibition catalog of new housing prototypes and residential design “Writings by Martial Raysse, Dan Flavin, Robert Smithson” in Minimal Art: A Critical Anthology, Gregory Battcock, ed., New York: E.P. Dutton, 1968 Architecture for the Next Millennium, exhibition and symposium, American Academy, Rome, 1999 1999, p. 14 5. Evans, Robin: The Projective Cast, Entwined History of Light and Mind, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995 7. Oxford English Dictionary: see explanatory sections 1–8 on theatre, pp 881–2 8. Lang Ho: “Robert Wilson Sees the Light” in Architecture, February, 2000, p. 57 Lene Vestergaard Hau “Frozen Light” in Scientific American, Lene Vestergaard Hau, July 2001 “Observation of coherent optical information storage in an atomic medium using halted light pulses” in Nature, 409, Hien Liu, Zachary Dutton, Cyrus H. Behroozi, and Lene Vestergaard Hau, 2001 “She Puts the Brakes on Light” in The New York Times, Malcom W. Browne, March 30, 1999 Glasgow 1999, Glasgow, April 1999; invited to participate in publication and exhibition Lofts: Living and Working Spaces, Francisco Asensio Cerver, Barcelona: Arco Editorial; featuring Holley Loft, 1998 The New American Apartment, New York: Watson-Guptill, 1997; featuring Holley Loft Designing with Glass, Carol King, ed., New York: Rizzoli, 1996; featuring Holley Loft 581 Architects in the World, Aaron Betsky, coordinator, Tokyo: TOTO Shuppan, 1995; featuring profile of Hanrahan Meyers Light and Heat, group exhibition of artist- and architect-designed lighting fixtures, Gallery 91, New York, 1989 House for Artists, Architectural League, exhibition of work, New York, 1986 Rei Naito MOT Annual 1999: Modest Radicalism, exhibition catalog, Tokyo: Museum of Contemporary Art, 1999 Rei Naito: One Place on the Earth, exhibition catalog, XLVII Venice Biennale, 1997 Rei Naito: Being Called, Frankfurt am Main: Sonderausstellung des Museums für Moderne Kunst, 1997 “Rei Naito at D’Amelio Terras” in Art in America, May 1997 “Impossibility of Art and ‘Potential Aspects of Life’” in Art Today, 1994 A Quality of Noticing: Rei Naito, Caoimhin Mac Giolla Leith, Llandudno: Oriel Mostyn, 1993 Arvo Part Ex Oriente: Ten Composers from the Former USSR, Valeria Tsenova, ed., Berlin: E. Kuhn, 2002 Arvo Part (Oxford Studies of Composers), Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997 “Discovering the Music of Estonian Composer Arvo Part” in Choral Journal, August 1993 Contemporary Composers, Brian Morton and Pamela Collins, eds., Chicago: St. James, 1992 Bill Viola Bill Viola, exhibition catalogue with contributions by Lewis Hyde, Kira Perov, David A. Ross, and Bill Viola, New York: Whitney Museum of American Art, 1997 Reasons for Knocking at an Empty House: Writings, Robert Violette, Bill Viola, eds, Cambridge: MIT Press, 1995 Bill Viola, exhibition catalog with interview by Deirdre Boyle, Paris: Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, 1983 Bill Viola: Installations and Videotapes, exhibition catalog, Barbara London, ed., New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1987 Stephen Vitiello “Stephen Vitiello” in Frieze, James Trainor, May 2002 “Music Boxes and Photocells in a Land Beyond Time” in The Village Voice, Kyle Gann, May 1–7 2002 “Spiritual America, From Ecstatic to Transcendent” in The New York Times, Holland Cotter, March 8, 2002 “Music from the 91st Floor” from the article “The View from Downtown” in The Wire, Stephen Vitiello, November 2001 Stephen Vitiello, Paulo Herkenhoff, New York: Clocktower Gallery, P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center, 2001 “Don’t Quit Your Day Job”, in New Music Box, Kenneth Goldsmith, The American Music Center, April 2000 Interview with Tony Oursler, Stephen Vitiello, and Constance De Jong by Lynne Cook, in Tony Oursler, Kunstverein Hannover, 1999 Robert Wilson Robert Wilson, Franco Quadri, Franco Bertoni, Robert Stearns, eds, New York: Rizzoli,1998 “Hamlet as Autobiography, Spoken in Reflective Voice”, interview by Marion Kessel in The New York Times, July 2, 1995 “Works on Paper” in Performing Arts Journal, no.43, vol.15:1, 1993 “A Propos de Doctor Faustus Lights the Lights”, excerpt from an in interview in Theatre/Public, April 1992 “Robert Wilson: Director, Designer, Theater and Visual Artist, New York City” from an interview by Dodie Kazanjian in Artsreview: America’s Opera, no5:1, 1988 Text-Sound Texts, Robert Wilson, Richard Kostelanetz eds, New York, 1980 ‘A Letter for Queen Victoria’ in The Theater of Images, Bonnie Maranca, ed., New York, 1977 141 10_DWL_Endmatter.qxd 142 10/1/06 4:25 pm Credits Index Page 142 Acknowledgements I would like to acknowledge and thank Bernard Tschumi, Dean of Columbia’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, as well as David Hinckle, Assistant Dean, for their unwavering support of me and of this project. Without it this book would not have been possible. This project received funding from Columbia’s GSAPP. 16 One, Lohner Ranger 17t View from World Trade Center, Stephen Vitiello 17b Solar Cell 1, Stephen Vitiello 19t View for Future Light Installation, Pittsburgh, Robert Wllson and Richard Gluckman I would also like to thank Clay Odum, Dan Cheong, Kathy Chang, and Akira Nakamura. 19b Light Installation, Pittsburgh, Robert Wilson and Richard Gluckman I have had help from various people in the arts community. Special thanks to Betty Freeman, who put me in touch with Arvo Part. 22–25 Red Hook Center for the Arts, New York Photos: Eduard Hueber Special thanks as well to James Trulove who acted as the Production Advisor for this book, and to Andy and James at Wayne William Creative who laid out the book. Finally, many thanks to Philip Cooper at Laurence King Publishing. Picture Credits Pictures courtesy the artists/architects unless otherwise indicated 26–29 Schrom Studios, New York Photos: Peter Aaron/Esto Photographics 30–31 Sarphatistraat Office, Amsterdam Photos: Paul Warchol 32 Arts International, New York Photo: Peter Aaron/Esto Photographics 33t Schrom Studio, New York Photo: Peter Aaron/Esto Photographics 12 Marfa Project Photos: Florian Holzherr 13t One Place on the Earth, Rei Naito 13b Reflection, Mary Temple 14 experiment with light manipulation, Dr. Lene Hau 15t Portrait of Alvo Part Photo: Harri Rospu 15b Music score, Alvo Part 61 Olympic Tower Residence, New York Photo: Paul Warchol 62–63 Apple Store, New York Photo: Peter Aaron/Esto Photographics 64 Forest House, CT Photo: Peter Aaron/Esto Photographics 65 Second Plate House, Fukuoka, Japan Photo: Kouji Okamoto 66, 68–9 White Space, New York Photo: Michael Moran 112 Arizona State University, Neilson Fine Arts Museum, Tempe, AZ Photo: Timothy Hursley 85 Nicholson Garden Room, London, UK Photo: Chris Gascoigne/VIEW 86 Catalina House, Tucson, AZ Photo: Bill Timmerman 87 BR House, Araras, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Photo: Nelson Kon Lighting designer: Maneco Quinderé & Ass. 113 Thorncrown Chapel, Eureka Springs, AR Photo: Timothy Hursley 114–116 Greenberg House, Los Angeles Photos: Timothy Hursley 118–119 Sarphatistraat Office, Amsterdam Photos: Paul Warchol 120 Simmons Hall, Cambridge, MIT, MA Photo: Paul Warchol 88–89 The White Box, Tokyo, Japan Photos: Toshihiro Komatsu 121 Arts International, New York Photo: Peter Aaron/Esto Photographics 90 Walsh House, Telluride, CO Photo: Undine Prohl 122–125 Second Plate House, Fukuoka, Japan Photos: Kouji Okamoto 91 F-2 House, Mexico City Photo: Undine Prohl 94–96 White Space Studios, New York Photos: Michael Moran 128 Singer Residence, New York Photo: Peter Aaron/Esto Photographics 71 Arts International, New York Photo: Peter Aaron/Esto Photographics 97 The White Box, Tokyo, Japan,2004 Photos: Toshihiro Komatsu 129 Laviada House Photo: Undine Prohl 35 Walsh House, Telluride, CO Photo: Undine Prohl 72 Schrom Studio, New York Peter Aaron/Esto Photographics 98–99 Sarphatistraat Office, Amsterdam Photos: Paul Warchol 130–131 Vancouver House, Vancouver, BC Photos: Paul Warchol 40–43 Layer House, Kobe, Japan Photo: Kouji Okamoto 73 Holley Loft, New York Photos: Peter Aaron/Esto Photographics 100 Giovannini Loft Photo: Michael Moran 132–133 Mountain Retreat, Park City, UT Photos: Nic Lehoux 44 666 House Photo: Undine Prohl 74 400 Rubio Avenue, Tucson, AZ Photo: James McGoon 101 Cathedral of Our Lady, Los Angeles Photo: Undine Prohl 134 F-2 House, Mexico City, Mexico Photo: Undine Prohl 45 400 Rubio Avenue,Tucson, AZ Photo: Bill Timmerman 75 Second Plate House, Fukuoka, Japan Photo: Kouji Okamoto 102–103 Simmons Hall, Cambridge, MA Photos: Michael Moran 135 The White Box, Tokyo, Japan Photo: Toshihiro Komatsu 46 Pima Canyon House, Tucson, AZ Photo: Bill Timmerman 76–79 White Space, New York Photos: Michael Moran 104–105 Greenberg House, Los Angeles Photos: Timothy Hursley 136 Tubac House, Tubac, AZ Photo: Bill Timmerman 47 Bohlin Residence, PA Photo: Mike Thomas 80 Jil Sander World Wide Showroom, Atelier, and Office, Milan, Italy Photo: Paul Warchol 106 Pima Canyon House, Tucson, AZ Photo: Bill Timmerman 137 Guggenheim Museum, Las Vegas, NV Photo: Michael Moran 34, 36–39 Jil Sander Worldwide Showroom, Atelier, and Office, Milan, Italy Lighting designer: Michael Gabellini Photo: Paul Warchol 11 The Veiling (sketch) Sketches: Bill Viola Photos: Roman Mensing 60 White Apartment Photo: Michael Moran 84 BR House, Araras, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Photo: Nelson Kon Lighting designer: Maneco Quinderé & Ass. 70 Del Monico (Washburn Residence), New York Photo: Jordi Miralles 7 Chapel of St. Ignatius, Seattle, WA Photo: Paul Warchol 10 Chott el-Djerid (A Portrait in Light and Heat) Photos: Kira Perov 57–59 Simmons Hall, MIT, Cambridge, MA Photos: Paul Warchol 110–111 National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario Photo: Timothy Hursley 92–93 Holley House, Garrison, NY Photos: Michael Moran 33b Arts International, New York Photo: Peter Aaron/Esto Photographics 9 Prism photograph: Andrew Davidhazy 56 Davide Cenci Boutique, Rome, Italy Lighting designer: Ross Muir Photo: Ross Muir 83 Jil Sander World Wide Showroom, Atelier, and Office, Milan, Italy Photo: Paul Warchol 126–127 BR House, Araras, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Photos: Nelson Kon Lighting designer: Maneco Quinderé & Ass. 2 Schrom Studios, New York Photo: Peter Aaron/Esto Photographics 8 Reflection, Mary Temple 55 Deaton House Photo: Undine Prohl 48–53 Giovannini Loft Photos: Michael Moran 54 Simmons Hall, MIT, Cambridge, MA Photo: Paul Warchol 67 785 Park Avenue Residence, New York Photo: Paul Warchol 81 Hotel Habita, Mexico City Photo: Undine Prohl 82 White Space, New York Photo: Michael Moran Index Page numbers in italics refer to captions Aalto, Alvar 95 Adria, Broid and Rojkind 90, 135 Apple Store, North Michigan Avenue, Chicago 63 Apple Store, Soho, New York 63 architecture 8, 10, 20–1 Arima, Hiroyuki 65, 75, 122, 125 Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona 113 Arts International HQ, New York 33, 70, 121 Berman, Andrew 95, 96 Bohlin Cywinski Jackson 47, 63, 65, 133 Bohlin Residence, Waverly, Pennsylvania 47 Boullé, Etienne-Louis 20–1 BR House, Araras, Brazil 84, 87, 127 108–109 Dominus Winery, Yountville, CA Photos: Timothy Hursley 138 Catalina House, Tucson, AZ Photo: Wayne Fuji 139 Catalina House, Tucson, AZ Photo: Bill Timmerman 144 Author photograph: Russell Baur Michelangelo 48 Mies van der Rohe, Ludwig 21, 118 Moneo, Raphael 100 Mountain Retreat, Park City, Utah 133 music 15–18, 19 Naito, Rei 12, 13–14, 141 National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa 110, 111 Nicholson Garden Room, London 85 Ohtani, Hiroaki 41, 43 Olympic Tower Residence, New York 61, 83 Cage, John 16–17, 140 Catalina House, Tucson, Arizona 86, 138, 139 Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, Los Angeles 100 Chapel of St. Ignatius, Seattle, Washington 6 color 8–10, 12, 13, 16, 99, 118, 121 Part, Arvo 12, 15–16, 141 Patkau Architects 131 Pawson, John 35, 90 Pima Canyon House, Tucson, Arizona 46, 106 Predock, Antoine 113 Deaton, Charles 55 Deaton House, Denver, Colorado 55 DelMonico/Washburn Residence, New York 70 Dominus Winery, Yountville, California 108 Duchamp, Marcel 8, 60, 80 Red Hook Center for the Arts, Brooklyn, New York 22, 24 reflection 10–11, 22, 29, 33 Richardson, H.H. 118 Rowan, Daniel 61 Einstein, Albert 8, 19 Safdie, Moshe 110, 111 Sarphatistraat Offices, Amsterdam 31, 99, 118 Schrom Television Studios, Queens, New York 27, 28, 29, 33, 72 Second Plate House, Fukuoka, Japan 65, 75, 122, 125 785 Park Avenue Residence, New York 67 shadow 11, 41 Simmons Hall, MIT, Cambridge, MA 55, 57, 59, 102, 103, 121 Simon Conder Associates 85 Singer Residence, East Hampton, New York 128 666 House, Mexico 45 skylights 20, 22, 27, 41, 110, 111, 113, 131 speed of light 8, 14–15 Steven Holl Architects 6 color 31, 118 form 55, 57, 59 reflections 118, 121 skylights 99, 102, 103 F-2 House, Mexico City, Mexico 90, 135 Flavin, Dan 12–13, 140 Forest House, Connecticut 65 form 21 400 Rubio Avenue, Tucson, Arizona 45, 75 Gabellini, Michael form 57 glass 61, 67 lines of light 34, 36, 37, 38 windows 80, 83 Giovannini, Joseph 49, 50, 53, 100 glass 21 see also skylights; windows Gluckman, Richard 18–19 Greenberg House, Los Angeles 104, 115, 117 Guggenheim Museum, Las Vegas 137 Hanrahan Meyers 8, 140–1 color 22, 24, 27, 28, 29, 33, 121 glass 67, 68, 70, 72, 73, 77, 78 reflections 121, 128 windows 83, 92 Hau, Lene 8, 14–15, 140 Herzog and DeMeuron 108 Holley Residence, New York 73 Holley House, Garrison, New York 92–93 Hotel Habita, Mexico City, Mexico 80 IL Kim 89, 97, 135 107 Thorncrown Chapel, Eureka Springs, AR Photo: Timothy Hursley Le Corbusier 34, 80 Legorreta, Ricardo 104, 115, 117, 128 light art 11–14, 48, 53, 55, 60, 80 lines of light 20, 21 Lupo, Frank 61 Jil Sander Worldwide Showroom, Milan 34, 36, 37, 38, 39, 80 Jones, E. Fay 107, 113 Joy, Rick 45, 46, 75, 86, 106, 137, 138, 139 Kalach and Alvarez 45 Kogan, Marcio 84, 87, 127 Koolhaas, Rem 137 Laviada House, Mexico 128 Layer House, Kobe, Japan 41, 43 Temple, Mary 8, 12, 14 TEN Arquitectos 80 theater 18–19 Thorncrown Chapel, Eureka Springs 107, 113 Tubac House, Tubac, Arizona 137 Urban Fourth 65, 75, 122, 125 Vancouver House, Vancouver 131 video art 10–11 Viola, Bill 10–11, 141 Vitiello, Stephen 17–18, 141 Walsh House, Telluride, Colorado 35, 90 water 118, 122, 125, 127, 128, 131, 133, 135 White Apartment, New York 61 White Box, Tokyo 89, 97, 135 White Space, New York 67, 68, 77, 78, 83 Whitespace Studios, New York 95, 96 Wilson, Robert 18–19, 141 windows 14, 20, 31, 60, 77 Wright, Frank Lloyd 118 143 10_DWL_Endmatter.qxd 10/1/06 4:25 pm Page 144 In 2002 hMa published The Four States of University, Ithaca. Ms. Meyers has been Thomas Hanrahan believe that architecture Architecture, with Wiley and Sons. hMa’s awarded grants from the New York is an environment, ‘pure space’, manifested interest in light and sound extends beyond Foundation for the Arts and the Graham in nature. The principals of Hanrahan the design of the performance spaces to Foundation. Meyers Architects (hMa) have established the creation of the art itself. In the summer themselves as unique visionaries, incorpo- of 2004, the firm was selected from an rating light and sound into their arresting international field of architects to design a Websites featuring the work of Hanrahan designs of pure forms. Founded in 1987, ‘light score’ in collaboration with composer Meyers Architects: the firm specializes in residences, art Michael Schumacher. This piece was www.hanrahanMeyers.com centers, and community spaces. They performed at The Kitchen in New York as www.victoriameyers.com design spaces from a vision that connects part of a summer-long festival entitled ‘New www.hMa-home.com visitors in unique conversations with the Sounds New York’. In a current project the natural world. The firm has been recog- firm is designing an anamorphic, sculptural There is also a website devoted to this nized internationally with awards, wooden box to house computer equipment book: www.designingwithlight.us publications, and exhibitions. Currently, for sound installations by various New hMa has projects under construction York composers. The Music Box was com- including WaveLine Performance Center missioned by Schumacher, with whom the in Queens, New York; Holley House in firm has an ongoing working relationship. New York architects Victoria Meyers and 144 hMa and Victoria Meyers Garrison, New York; Pratt Design Center, Brooklyn, New York; Tenth Church of Victoria Meyers is a founding partner at Christ Scientist in New York; and Ojai hMa. She has been principal on a number Performance Pavilion, Ojai, California. of award winning projects in the firm, hMa’s community center at Battery Park including Holley House, Red Hook Center City’s North Neighborhood is adjacent to for the Arts, Marfa Theater, Schrom Ground Zero. This project is being designed Studios, Arts International, Sagaponac as a LEEDS certified building, incorporating House, and Ojai Festival Performance Shell. state-of-the-art lighting and solar technolo- In addition to numerous public projects, gies as key elements of the design. In Ms. Meyers works with residential clients 2003 hMa were invited to participate in on award winning houses, loft apartments, the international development of houses in and furniture. In 2004 she was featured as Sagaponac, New York, published by Rizzoli one of twelve ‘Wonder Women’ at ICFF in in The Houses at Sagaponac. hMa’s resi- New York. Ms. Meyers works closely with dential work was featured in The Un-Private several galleries and assists private clients House exhibition mounted at the Museum and galleries with the design of spaces for of Modern Art in New York in 1999. hMa contemporary art collections. In 2004 she has received awards from Progressive was invited to design a ‘light score’ as part Architecture magazine, AIA NY Chapter, of the Kitchen’s celebration of New Sound Architectural Record magazine, and from New York: Architects design music. Ms. MIT they received the Eugene McDermott Meyers received her M.Arch from Harvard Award for Outstanding Design Talent. hMa’s and an A.B. in Art History and Civil work has been featured at the Museum of Engineering from Lafayette College. Modern Art, and published in Architecture, She has taught at Columbia University Architectural Record, Domus, Lofts, The Graduate School of Architecture and New American Apartment, GA Houses, DBZ Planning, New York; City University, New Magazine, A + U, and Harper’s Bazaar. York; Pratt Institute, New York; and Cornell