ZEMCH 2019 International Conference Proceedings April.2020 | Page 352
Figure 1, An inside view of the largely transparent office of
Gropius’ Fagus Factory showing the use of curtains [4] .
Figure 2. The transparence of Mies van der Rohe’s Lakeshore
Drive apartments’ facades is greatly reduced because of the
occupants’ use of the external solar protections [6] .
3. Frank Lloyd Wright and Alvar Aalto: the importance of context
Although belonging to the same Modernist Movement, but a different design approach, Gropius
and Mies, Franck Lloyd Wright and Alvar Aalto took into consideration the natural milieu of the project.
Wrightʹs contribution to daylighting design is more qualitative than quantitative because he based his
design on his own intuition and did not use system calculations [9]. However, this approach also leads
to some daylighting problems inside his buildings. Their interiors are often seen as dark spaces [7]. This
character is more accentuated by the cladding materials that are unreflective and dark colored [10]. At
Oak Parkʹs Unity Temple, in the suburbs of Chicago, the original artificial lighting has been altered in
order to give more clarity inside the buildingʹs nave. When more powerful light bulbs were installed,
they overheated and melted [11]. Similarly, in the Guggenheim Museum the main ramp was well lit
but not the exhibit area. To improve the visual quality of the space, artificial lighting was deemed and
was added, after moult debate among architects in the exhibit area [8].
In the Johnson Wax Offices and Laboratories in Racine (Wisconsin), Wright used innovative
materials and details to emphasize daylighting. A golden, diffuse and shiny light comes down through
glass tubes located between the circular capitols of the columns in the offices (Figure 3) [3,13]. This
novel material was used for the laboratory but horizontally. This translucent glass allows generous
daylight penetration but prevents views to the outside whilst a section of the window area can be
opened by the occupants (Figure 4). Daylight is also controlled by the users through mobile mullions
[14].
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ZEMCH 2019 International Conference l Seoul, Korea