Selected Bibliography Architecture - Form Space and Order | Page 189

L IG H T

“Architecture is the masterly, correct and magnificent play of
masses brought together in light. Our eyes are made to see forms in light;
light and shade reveal these forms . . .”
Le Corbusier: Towards a New Architecture

Notre Dame Du Haut, Ronchamp, France, 1950–55, Le Corbusier

The sun is the rich source of natural light for the illumination
of forms and spaces in architecture. While the sun’s radiation
is intense, the quality of its light, manifested in the form of
direct sunlight or diffuse daylight, varies with the time of
day, from season to season, and from place to place. As the
luminous energy of the sun is dispersed by clouds, haze, and
precipitation, it transmits the changing colors of the sky and
the weather to the forms and surfaces it illuminates.

174 / A R C H I TE C TU R E : F O R M , S PA C E , & O R D E R