Abstract
JOURNAL OF ASIAN ARCHITECTURE AND BUILDING ENGINEERING 2021, VOL. 20, NO. 2, 154–164 https://doi.org/10.1080/13467581.2020.1782216 ARCHITECTURAL PLANNING AND DESIGN The weight of LIGHT: Alvaro Siza’s triangular prism in the library of FAUP, Portugal Hanxiao Zhu and Yansong Wang School of Urban Design, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY Received 22 January 2020 The word “Light” has two common meanings, one is illuminant (referred as LIGHT in this Accepted 29 May 2020 paper), and the other is something of little weight (referred as light in this paper). The “Weight of LIGHT” is an art of creating visual illusion applied in architecture design, KEYWORDS which is a new understanding about LIGHT as well as the relationship between LIGHT Light; the weight of light; and users. This study develops the concept of “the weight of LIGHT” through analyzing Alvaro Siza; triangular prism; of the contradictions between the two concepts, and looking into several specific LIGHT container designs to discuss the mediums through which LIGHT acts on buildings and occupants. The author then focuses on the library of Faculty of Architecture of Porto University (FAUP) designed by Alvaro Siza and argues that by providing a unique “Triangular Prism” inside the building, Siza conveyed “the weight of LIGHT” indirectly through the container (size, shape, material) and the relationship between the container and the surroundings (roof, wall, ceiling). 1. Introduction However, the term “weight of LIGHT” is not widely used or discussed so far. The actual weight The word “light” has abundant meanings. In architec- of LIGHT is discussed in physical field firstly in 2001 ture, two most common meanings are illuminant by Robert V. Pound in Weighing Photons, II (Pound (noun) and something of little weight (adjective). 2001). The term appeared in an fiction novel The This paper mainly discusses LIGHT as an optical Weight of Light: A Collection of Solar Futures source in the field of architecture. LIGHT is considered (Eschrich and Miller 2019). In the field of architec- as an indispensable element to buildings, which helps ture, few researchers proposed the concept of the people perceive space and forms of buildings..Many “weight of LIGHT”, as LIGHT is mostly regarded as peculiarities of LIGHT such as colours, intensity, tem- an element that has no mass or gravity when we perature and shadow are widely used in architecture interpret LIGHT. This paper attempts to define the design. Moreover, LIGHT have a great influence on term “weight of LIGHT” from the macroscopic per- creating an atmosphere of the space which affects spective, where the “weight of LIGHT” is sensed the occupants psychologically (Rasmussen 1964). through a visual illusion created by the design of When the two words “light” and “weight” appear architect, providing a new perspective and under- together in architecture, the combination of the two standing about LIGHT. words is “lightweight”, which means lightness or After the introduction, Section 2 of this paper iden- weightless. Early in 1996, an exhibition named “Light tifies the definition of LIGHT and weight, and further Construction” was held by MOMA, which predicted the analyses the contradictions between these two terms. following trend and theme of architecture would be Section 3 looks into the mediums which are able to lightweight. The explorations of lightweight have show certain attributes of LIGHT through three archi- lasted since. Bogle Annette and Schmal Peter Cachola tectural precedents and proposes the medium to explored and pursued light and efficient structure in express the conceptual idea of “weight of LIGHT”. In Light structure (Annette and Cachola 2004). Frei Otto’s Section 4, the author briefly introduces Alvaro Siza and design philosophy of light and moveable buildings his design of Faculty of Architecture of Oporto was stated in Light weight construction, Natural Design University (FAUP). The building is then used as the (2005). He established Institute for Lightweight main case study of “weight of LIGHT” in Section 5. Structures to explore the design of lightweight struc- The author analyses the relationship between the tures. “Lightweight” here is used to express anti-gravity structure of architecture. CONTACT Hanxiao Zhu 512776799@qq.com 514 Mingzhu Yuan, Wuhan University, Wuchang District, Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China In the following paper, the “LIGHT” will be used as noun, and the “light” will be used as adjective. Light Construction [MoMA Exh. #1726,New York, September 20(21), 1995–2 January 1996]. © 2020 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group on behalf of the Architectural Institute of Japan, Architectural Institute of Korea and Architectural Society of China. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. JOURNAL OF ASIAN ARCHITECTURE AND BUILDING ENGINEERING 155 container and the surroundings to explore the concept than those stone or concrete buildings. Apart from of “weight of LIGHT” expressed in Alvaro Siza’s magni- using new material and new construction techniques, ficent work. The last section of this paper concludes design tricks are also feasible to make buildings look the ideas discussed in this paper and evaluation of light, such as hiding weight and showing lightness, design concept of the “weight of LIGHT” in architecture mutualism of blankness and fullness, breaking up the studies. whole into parts, light touching and flowing form (Xiaozhu, Jianfeng, and Zhouyi 2018). 2. Interaction and contradiction 2.3. Contradiction 2.1. Light The idea of “weight of LIGHT” is an unconventional As defined earlier, the commonly used meanings of the concept incompatible to our common knowledge. word “light” are 1) illuminant (noun, referred as “LIGHT” When we talk about the weight of something, we in this paper) and 2) something of little weight (adjec- usually refer to things with volume or shape that tive, referred as “light” in this paper). When the word can be seen by eyes or measured by machine. used as an adjective (light), it describes something of Though LIGHT can be seen by our eyes and can be little weight or something easy to lift, while when it is felt by our skin (heat), it cannot be grasped as it has used as a noun (LIGHT), it has more complex meanings. no entity. Therefore, there is no way to put a certain LIGHT is described in the Oxford Living Dictionary amount of LIGHT into a container and weigh it. It as “the natural agent that stimulates sight and makes seems like that there is no interaction between things visible.” As a fatal optical source, LIGHT helps LIGHT and weight. people see the surroundings. Without LIGHT, people Another way to sense the “weight of LIGHT” is are not able to live or work indoor and at night. For through our eyes and judge it by our common knowl- architects, LIGHT is not only referring to an illumi- edge. This paper is not trying to explain how to weigh nant, it is also a special material which has no entity. LIGHT or to show how much weight that LIGHT has, Other construction materials, like stone, brick, steel but to display the concept from microscopic level. In can be touched and weighed. However, LIGHT could another word, the “weight of LIGHT” refers to the only be seen through the shadow of objects, it is design tricks employed by architects to create the distinguished by its colours, and it is shaped by the visual illusion and provide psychological hints. container on which or into which it moves and can be felt. Though we can see and feel LIGHT, we have no way to weigh it. 3. Medium LIGHT is always one of the most important elements in 2.2. Weight architecture design. “A room is not a room without The Oxford Living Dictionary gives the definition of natural LIGHT. Natural LIGHT gives the time of weight as “the amount or quantity of heaviness or the day and the mood of the seasons to enter.” mass; amount a thing weighs”. The most direct and (Kahn, 1995, cited in Ander 2003, xvi) precise way to know the weight of something is to To some extent, natural LIGHT designing in architec- take a certain amount of the thing and pesare the ture is the art of controlling LIGHT. As interior space is mass and calculate the weight. But when we judge different from external environment, architects design the weight of building or part of the building, it the distinct mediums between natural LIGHT and build- mainly depends on our visual sense and our com- ings to emphasize certain attributes of LIGHT and enrich mon knowledge. their space and create new spatial perceptions. Ancient Roman Architect Vitruvius listed three prin- In order to develop the concept of the “weight of ciples for a good building in The ten books on architec- LIGHT” and understand how to emphasize the materi- ture: commodity (usefulness), firmness (solidity or ality of the immaterial elements, it is vital to analyse strength) and delight (beauty). To ensure the stability those special mediums that used to express the attri- of buildings, stone was mostly used for construction in butes of LIGHT which are commonly applied in archi- particular in pre-modern Europe. tecture design by looking into some precedents. These Richard Buckminste Fuller (1938) proposed an idea attributes of LIGHT are 1) shadow, 2) intensity, and 3) of “More with Less”, which promoted the building colours. conversion of “heavy” to “light”. With the widely usage of glass and steel, buildings looked much lighter Oxford Living Dictionary, Powered by Oxford University, available at: https://sso.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/light , Accessed: 15 January 2020. Oxford Living Dictionary, Powered by Oxford University, available at: https://sso.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/weight , Accessed: 15 January 2020. Translated by Morgan (1914), Vitruvius: The ten books on architecture. 156 H. ZHU AND Y. WANG Figure 1. The shadow in Louvre Abu Dhabi, UAE (Source: Roland Halbe, 2017). Figure 2. The intensity in the Church of Light, Osaka, Japan (Source: Richard C. Levene, 1994). 3.1. Shadow The first attributes of LIGHT discussed in here is shadow. In his fabulous project the Church of Light in Osaka, According to Japanese writer Junichiro Tanizaki, Shadow Japan (1999), Tadao Ando designed a cross in the thick or shade is not as an opposite to LIGHT, but precisely as concrete wall of Prayer room which allows LIGHT to a revelation or epiphany of LIGHT. (Tanizaki 1977) pour into the space throughout the day. There are In his Project Louvre Abu Dhabi, which was built in only a few lamps on the wall providing glimmer illumi- 2017, Jean Nouvel designed an extraordinary double nation for Bible reading and the main optical source dome, 180 meters in diameter, which acted like comes from the cross in the east leads to dark interior a parasol producing a rain of LIGHT. The idea came space. It is the sharp contrast of LIGHT intensity between from the palm tree of Abu Dhabi. In order to cast interior and exterior that makes the occupants concen- a shadow on the floor and wall, every ray of LIGHT has trate on the spiritual and secular within themselves. to penetrate eight layers of the dome which is made In this chapel, the concrete wall with a cross is the from a randomly perforated woven material. The sha- medium. The wall separates inside and outside space dow, together with the LIGHT spots, formed the dome and introduces the floating cross of LIGHT to true dark- which is thus named as “the rain of LIGHT” and the effect ness. Outdoor LIGHT that has been architecturalized and makes it feel as if the occupants are in a large and thickly rendered abstract by the opening in the wall imparts overgrown forest with all kinds of leaf-bearing trees. tension to the space and makes it sacred (quoted in In this case, the specially designed eight-layer dome Francesco Dal and Ando, 1997)(Figure 2). is the medium which breaks LIGHT into small piece and creates the feeling of forest in the building (Figure 1). 3.3. Colour 3.2. Intensity The third attribute of LIGHT is colour. As Le Corbusier once said, “For me, for twenty years, in my work where The intensity of LIGHT is also crucial to space atmo- colour occupied half of my day”. (Corbusier 1932) For sphere. High level of intensity encourages participa- him, colour was an indispensable element both in his tion and increases enjoyment; while low level of life and his design. It is said that Colour and LIGHT are intensity helps a person feel contented, comfortable, inseparable for Le Corbusier, and he always used LIGHT focused, and relaxed. to bring colours into buildings (Samuel 2007). JOURNAL OF ASIAN ARCHITECTURE AND BUILDING ENGINEERING 157 3.4. Weight Through these precedents, it is easy to understand that the mediums can be anything, like a randomly perforated woven material dome, a wall with a cross or coloured windows, as long as they can distinguish the indoor and outdoor space and con- vert natural LIGHT to precisely controlled interior optical source which can provide special space atmosphere. In the same way, the expression of the weight of LIGHT also needs a medium. As LIGHT does not have weight or mass in any real sense, the medium should give the real sense of the volume of LIGHT, like a container filled with LIGHT. And the concept of “weight” is shown through the container and Figure 3. Abundant colors in Notre Dame du Haut, Ronchamp, the relationship with the surroundings. France (Source: Jim Lane, 2015). 4. Alvaro Siza & FAUP In his classic work Notre Dame du Haut in Ranchamp, France (1955) Le Corbusier intentionally 4.1. Design of FAUP by Alvaro Siza designed a thick wall with voids expanding through Alvaro Siza was born in 1933 in Matosinhos, a small the section of the wall smaller on the outside face, coastal town near Porto, Portugal. He graduated with bigger on the inner face. These voids form deep open- an undergraduate degree of architecture in 1955, from ings in the wall which change the direction of the the former School of Fine Arts of the University of entered LIGHT. Windows with different colours are Porto, the current Faculty of Architecture of Porto installed in those various openings through which sun- University (FAUP). light turns into abundant colours. The LIGHT effect Siza is one of the most highly regarded architects of creates sensations in tune with the religious activities his generation, who is known for his sculptural works and promotes the quality of expressive and emotional that have been described as modern poems. He was space. awarded with the renowned Pritzker Prize for his archi- Obviously, in this precedent, the stained glasses tectural designs in 1992. are the mediums. The stained glasses change In 1985, Alvaro Siza, already the preeminent the isotropic natural LIGHT outside into different Portuguese architect, was appointed to design his Alma colours which intensely create religious atmo- Mater, the Faculty of Architecture for the University of sphere (Figure 3). Porto. Figure 4. Site plan of FAUP. (Source: Drawn by the Author). 158 H. ZHU AND Y. WANG Figure 5. Faculty complex Sketch by Alvaro Siza (Source: El Croquis Alvaro Siza 1958–2000, 2005). Siza wanted to make faculty buildings as 1:1 volume but differentiated by systems of openings in scale models for future architecture students to the façade creating different qualities of natural LIGHT. experience different spaces and various architec- (Dias 2009) Siza discussed the relationship between tural elements. Instead of constructing a single LIGHT and sun shield in the administration building. block, he broke the whole building into small He explored the top lighting both in the semi-circular volumes according to specific activities and exhibition gallery and library. In the gallery, he talked arranged the complex of buildings into two wings about the reflection: LIGHT reflected around different to fit in the triangular site. Four pavilions in the levels of ceilings and came gently into the semi- south wing are mainly studios for architecture stu- cylindrical space of the exhibition hall. As for the library, dents while the north wing is occupied by the Siza particularly set a triangular prism to introduce the breakfast hall, administration offices, semi-circular skylight into the library, which will be further discussed exhibition gallery and a library. All buildings are later in this paper. connected by an underground network of build- ing-pathways (Dias 2009) (Figure 4). 4.2. Library and the triangular prism FAUP is a representative “lesson” in architecture edu- cation, in which Siza discusses the LIGHT related to Alvaro Siza (2008) agreed with Frank Lloyd Wright different architecture elements (Figure 5). The four pavi- that a building without windows looked more beau- lions of the studios are almost equivalent in their tiful and he also admired Adolf Luth’s way of setting JOURNAL OF ASIAN ARCHITECTURE AND BUILDING ENGINEERING 159 of visual motivation in visual arts. He illustrated that the size, shape, color and other elements of the visual object would affect its visual weight. (Arnheim [1954] 1974) In the Porto University Library, the metal keeled prism equipped with obscured glass is the container of LIGHT. According to the research by Arnheim, the illusion of “the weight of LIGHT” is affected by features of the container, such as size, shape, material and state. In addition, the location of the container and the rela- tionship between the container and the ceiling also impact the illusion creating (Figure 8). Figure 6. Exterior view of the library of FAUP. (Source: Alvaro SIZA, 2008). 5.1. Container 5.1.1. Size Common sense tells us that with objects that look windows which was not limited by order and align- identical apart from size, the bigger one is always ment but based on people’s activities in the room. heavier than the other. That is, volume is quite an Those ideas had great impact on Siza and he important factor when we judge the weight of believed the location or the shape of the openings in objects. the building were related to special needs of interior In Siza’s library, the volume of the prism seems space instead of architectural form or external imagi- relatively large. Compared to the volume of the nation. The relationship among view of landscape, library, the side length of the prism is 1/3 of the natural LIGHT and the interior space were the keys to roof and the height is almost equal to that of set windows. the second floor. The size of the triangular prism is In this case, the library located between the urban so big that it blocks the view of reading space in road and playground, the acoustic isolation should be the second floor, giving maximum presence to the the first thing to consider. Therefore, no side-window occupants. was set but the top lighting system was introduced to As shown in Figure 9(a), if the side length of the the library (Figure 6). prism shortens to 1/5 of the roof length, the presence Besides, the local climate was considered in the of the prism may decline. People are likely to regard it design. Porto is located in north of Portugal but as a long strip of illuminate hanging on the roof. Worse still belongs to the southern Europe which has still, the shrunken prism is not able to provide suffi - strong sunlight from April to October with over cient daylight for the whole space. 12 hours’ daylight in a day. In order to achieve If the side length of the prism increases to the 1/2 of a more uniform LIGHT for the reading needs of the roof length, shown in Figure 9(c), the prism would the library, the opening in the roof was oriented be much larger than the previous one. The lowest to the north with semi-transparent glass. point of the prism would be lower than the floor slab. Inside the library, there was an inverted triangular The increased volume of the prism makes the illumi- prism crashing into ceiling, sharply cutting the space nate look heavier, but the oversized prism wold break into two, like a blade (Figure 7). The huge glass prism the balance of the library space. became the focus of the space that culminates the The appropriate volume of the prism was chosen in entire sequence. (Frampton 1999) Siza’s work as in Figure 9(b), which was able to provide adequate LIGHT and also gave intense visual impact. Through the container, LIGHT was shaped in huge 5. The weight of LIGHT volume and given the basic impression of weight. According to the analysis of colour, intensity, sha- dow of LIGHT mentioned above, obviously, these 5.1.2. Shape attributes are expressed through the container and The shape of the illuminate is also a distinct factor to the relationship with the surroundings, which can create the feeling of “weight of LIGHT”. The three con- also be applied to the expression of the “weight of tainers with an equal cross-sectional area but in differ - LIGHT”. ent shapes in Figure 10 presents various senses of Based on a large number of studies and experi- “weight”. ments, Rudolf Arnheim listed a large number of According to the foreshortening effects, the closer examples to demonstrate the existence and role distance between the object and the observer is, the 160 H. ZHU AND Y. WANG Figure 7. Library sketch. (Source: Alvaro SIZA, 2008). bigger the object looks. In the Figure 10, it is easy to oppressing sensation which imply the weight of the see that the lowest point of the triangular prism is LIGHT device. (Frampton 1999) closer than the cuboid and the half-cylinder to the observer. Therefore, the triangular shape is seen bigger 5.1.3. Material in the eyes of observer. The material of objects is also a basic criterion to Moreover, when something hanging upside, the judge the “weight of LIGHT” when the objects are shorter the distance is, the more oppressing sensa- of the same size and shape. Different kinds of glass tion the observers receive. Apart from the distance, are used in the library of FAUP and the Louvre the shape of the triangular prism which was Pyramid creating distinct feelings about the glass described as a blade by Frampton also leads to volume in the space. I.M. Pei designed an inverted JOURNAL OF ASIAN ARCHITECTURE AND BUILDING ENGINEERING 161 The volume of the pyramid was quite big and also left a strong visual impact on visitors, but the huge volume could raise the awareness of the weight of LIGHT as they were able to clearly see the structure and the views above ground through the transpar- ent glass. In this case, I.M. Pei took advantage of transparent glass to show the “light structure” of the inverted pyramid which stressed the striking contrast with the “heavy structure” of stone in the old buildings of the Louvre Palace. The prism in Siza’s library was framed by a metal keel and equipped with obscured glass (Figure 12). LIGHT slants through the opening of the slab. Then it reflects and diffuses between the concrete slabs and glass prism, which providing soft LIGHT into the space and creating better reading condition for readers. Siza applied the obscured glass in the prism to block the views behind the prism and stop people thinking about the openings as well as structures of the prism, which helped people concentrate on the LIGHT itself and feel the LIGHT was contained in the prism. 5.1.4. State The slant angle always gives visitors an impression of unbalance. It is general knowledge that the heavier Figure 8. Library of FAUP (Source: El Croquis Alvaro Siza an object is, the greater force that gravitation exerts 1958–2000, 2005). upon it. Just like water in a bottle, if the bottle of water is lifted at any point, the side which contains more water is heavier than the other side and thus pyramid with transparent glass to illuminate the the heavier side will be pulled down under underground entrance to the museum (Figure 11). gravitation. Figure 9. Container size. (Source: Drawn by the Author) Figure 10. Container shape. (Source: Drawn by the Author). 162 H. ZHU AND Y. WANG starts at the floor level of the first floor and the west endpoint stops in the wall about 60 cm higher (Shown in Figure 13). The slant angle of the prism suggested that the east end contained greater amount of LIGHT than the other side, creating an illusion that the west side is so heavy that this side leaned towards the earth. 5.2. The relationship between the prism and the surroundings Figure 11. Transparent glass in Louvre Pyramid (Source: 5.2.1. The position of openings Jianmin Huang, 1996). According to mechanics, when the earth’s gravity acts on an object, the force points toward the centre of the earth. In other word, tilt down force and horizontal force weaken or eliminate the feeling of weight. In the library, the inverted triangular prism crushed into the roof like a giant crater colliding on the earth. The relationship between the prism and the roof gave occupants the illusion that the slot in the roof was cracked by the LIGHT prism under the gravitation. If the position of the prism was changed into exter- ior walls, it would be easy for occupants to think that the prism is pushed into wall under a horizontal force. The weight of the prism (LIGHT) would be neglected therefore (Figure 14). As shown in Figure 15, there was a triangular opening in the wall between the reading room and studying room which emphasis the rigidity of the LIGHT prism that was hard enough to cut the con- crete wall apart. What’s more, thanks to the open- ing in the wall, people could not see the whole prism in the reading room and the volume of the prism would be exaggerated in their imagination. Figure 12. Obscured glass in the library. (Source: El Croquis Alvaro Siza 1958–2000, 2005). 5.2.2. The ceiling and the roof It is clearly shown in the two transverse sections that In the library, Siza set a slant angle to the prism the ceiling of the library is arcuate and the side that the lowest edge of the inverted triangular connected to the prism is relatively lower, which prism is not parallel to the slab. The east endpoint looks like the ceiling is trying to stop the prism Figure 13. Longitudinal section. (Source: Drawn by the Author). JOURNAL OF ASIAN ARCHITECTURE AND BUILDING ENGINEERING 163 Figure 14. The location of openings. (Source: Drawn by the Author). be totally expressed. As for knowledge, the brain was the container, the more knowledge we gained, the more “weight” our brains would get. The design of the LIGHT prism inspired the readers to gain more knowledge when they study in this space. What’s more, the ways to create visual illusions to express the weight of LIGHT have positive effects on cultivating the creative thinking and innovation in education for architecture students. 6. Conclusion The “weight of LIGHT” is an oxymoron in which appar- ently contradictory terms appear in conjunction. The concept is perhaps intangible as well as inconceivable, however, as seen in the discussion above, by exploiting our cognition of weight expressions and using the pre- sence of a void to control the LIGHT is feasible to create a visual and emotional response to the abstract concept. In the library of FAUP, the keel-framed container with obscured glass creates the void and the charac- teristics of the container and the relationship between the container and ambient architecture ele- ments build the visual illusions of the LIGHT’s weight. Figure 15. Openings in the roof and wall. (Source: Rui Morais The size, shape, material and the slant angle of the de Sousa, 1993). container leads to the weight of the “LIGHT prism” perceptible and the openings in the roof and walls as from sinking but failed and curved down under the well as the curving ceiling strengthen the visual force of gravitation (Figure 16). illusions. The creative expression of the “weight of LIGHT” is a totally new understanding of the LIGHT. As we figure 5.3. Space and feeling out the essences of the expression of the weight of LIGHT, we are able to develop other attributes of As we have developed the understanding of the LIGHT, such as volume and thickness which are rich “weight of LIGHT”, we may have a fresh idea spatial experiences for the occupants. about the space of the library that Siza created. A library was always considered to be the symbol of knowledge which has similar qualities to LIGHT Acknowledgments in that they are both intangible and cannot be measured. The prism was the container to contain I am grateful to Penny Lewis, Delia Gallagher and Jing Zheng LIGHT through which the weight of LIGHT could for reading the earlier version of this paper and giving 164 H. ZHU AND Y. WANG Figure 16. Cross sections. (Source: Drawn by the Author). constructive suggestions. Fuller, R. B. 1938. Nine Chains to the Moon: An Adventure Story of Thought. 1st ed. Philadelphia: Lippincott. Jianguo, W., and Z. Tong. 1999. Tadao Ando. 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Journal
Journal of Asian Architecture and Building Engineering
– Taylor & Francis
Published: Mar 4, 2021
Keywords: Light; the weight of light; Alvaro Siza; triangular prism; container
