Celebration Light Habitat

First sketch model

Drawing at Monticello capturing light from large, paned windows in observation room.

photo by Brian Peck

Light Effects of Monticello and Fallingwater

Thomas Jefferson contemplated and designed his home, Monticello, to maximize natural light. Beginning with the facade vertical windows are seen as a focal point throughout the home. The private rooms feature large, triple sash windows. The bottom two portions may be raised to form a doorway, or the bottom sash can be raised, the top lowered, to encourage cross-ventilation. The large windows were an integral part of Jefferson's design, influenced by French architecture, providing natural light to bathe the interior illuminating the vast collection of paintings, sculpture, and relics hanging on the walls to the ceiling. Sky-lights flood Jefferson's bedroom and the dining room with light, and third-floor bedrooms at Monticello are lit exclusively with sky-lights. Jefferson has said that he rises with the sun from the sky-lights in his bedroom. He spoke of a half century when the sun awakened him from bed each day, regardless of the time of sleep, by the morning light showering his bedroom. As soon as he could read the hands of the clock in the room, then he would rise with the sun. In many rooms, such as Jefferson's bedroom and parlor, strategically placed mirrors and candles optimize the light within a room, as seen in the photo below:

images found at www.monticello.org

In sharp contract to the house named Fallingwater, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright for the Kaufmann's, the house minimizes natural light. The house was built between 1936-1939. With the house strategically tucked away on a hillside of Ohiopyle, PA, it is designed to protrude from the landscape as a natural expression, extension of the land. All of the surrounding woodlands are kept thick and relatively uncleared with a long, winding drive leading to the house. The first glimpses of the house are obscured from the natural landscape as seen from the drive carved out of the land. The approach to light in the design of Fallingwater, interior and exterior, is to create of sense of a cave-like dwelling that is one with the landscape. With the house designed from north to south, light is filtered throughout the house through small, horizontally positioned windows which limit the amount of light in certain portions of the home. The main living spaces are the most lit during the day with the access areas being the most dim to mimic the meandering through a cave. The effect of the lighting is intended as relaxation, as this home is built as a get-away from the hustle and bustle of city life. The entire design of the home is horizontally oriented over a waterfall as a peaceful, resting space for the Kaufman family. To continue the sense of water inside the home, the stone floor when waxed appears to look wet when the light spans the room.







































Citations:
www.monticello.org
www.flickr.com