Assessment of Design Configurations for the Therapeutic use of Daylight

Abstract

The relationship between light and architecture has been long and fruitful. Ancient to medieval temples were built in careful relationship to the motion of the sun in order to worship its existence, marie time and dramatize rituals. The ancient and Renaissance architects Vitruvius and Alberti both wrote how sunlight was to be placed in proper relationship in design. (1, 2) Not until the mid 19^th century did medical design advocates like Florence Nightingale begin to promote the healthful qualities of light in houses and hospitals. Nightingale noticed that patients on the sunny side of a hospital had higher spirits than those, located in darker areas. (3) This resulted in her promotion of the pavilion hospital plan that consisted of patient wings allowing ample light penetration and cross ventilation. (4) At the turn of the century it was found that sunlight could help cure tuberculosis resulting in hospitals with sunbathing balconies. This was also the dawn of modem architecture from which Frank Lloyd Wright and Le Corbusier began to promote the health qualities of light and air in their designs. The most celebrated therapeutic use of light in modem architecture occurred in 1927 with Richard Neutra’s “Health House.” Designed for Dr. Lovell, a staunch promoter of environmental therapies who wrote a weekly health column for the Los Angeles Times, the house allowed ample southeastern light through two story windows and provided multiple places for private sunbathing and exercise.