Often taken for granted, our everyday access to daylight is closely connected to our health and well being. Our rituals during the day is tightly connected to daylight, not only a minimum percentage of daylight, but to the subtle changes in light during a day that is tightly related to climate and geographical position.

This seminar course explores the relationship between daylight and architecture. We will introduce daylight from both a phenomenological and a natural science perspective through lectures and seminars, reference studies and hands-on explorations in models in a daylight-laboratory.

The aim of the seminar is to explore possible ways of using daylight in the design of architectural spaces: —this spring more specifically in housing projects. The students will investigate how daylight works with the geometry and proportions of a space and with the openings in the façade. The seminar works with daylight in relation to climate conditions and geographical positions.

The effect of the light on the room also depends on whether it is illuminated with only skylight or also sunlight. At our latitudes, the room is illuminated 2/3 of the time with diffuse sky light from cloudy skies, something we must keep in mind when we design architecture in the Nordic countries.