DAYLIGHT IN MUSEUM SPACES

Daylight in Museum Spaces: Evaluating the impact of Daylight in Museum Environments



Daylight in Museum Spaces: Evaluating the impact of Daylight in Museum Environments

Introduction

The paper proposes the daylight museum archjet6cure and its impact on the environmental architecture. The paper discusses the history of museum architecture and the daylight design strategies and structure that can be used in today's building planning.

The Problem

The sustainable building designs are becoming common in all areas of architecture. Museums are also included in this category. The electric lightening used today increase the cost and has a negative implication to the environment as well. For this reason, the architects aim to bring in innovation in the daylight space design in museums to provide the audience with a natural environment experience.

The History of Museum Architecture

The style in the classical architecture of ancient Greece or Rome is characterized by the repetition, dome, symmetry, carved decoration, large broad terraced based and columns, the buildings like natural history, the Lincoln memorial, the natural gallery west building and the united states capitol depict this classical influence, the cumulative effect if the design was intended to create a monumental core in the countries suggesting splendour, formality, legitimacy and a firm grounding in history (Frampton, 18). On the other hand, the modern museum architecture is characterized by less ornately decorated exteriors, more sheer planes, and abstract shapes. Some of the good example of modern architecture is the Sculpture Garden, the Hirshhorn Museum, and the East Building of the National Gallery of Art. The influence on this design is evident in the symmetry and the reputation of the bays which resemble columns like in Lincoln memorials. Keeping in view the modern modernist aesthetics, the marble planes suggest the columns rather than forming them, the cornice at the top of the building in today's structure is another classic feature but it breaks from the tradition by being supported by the horizontal outriggers to form a shadow cornice. Rather than having a small window typically used in the classical architecture, the museums today feature large glass window which connects the inside of the museum to the outside and provide a view of surrounding that is the monumental core. The classical and the modern characteristics combine to form a building that remembers the past while looking to the future improvement in architecture and design (Botton, 65).

Day Light Museum Architecture

The types of museums and galleries were influenced by illumination criteria. The early illumination criteria of the spaces were primarily developed on the climates of northern Europe during the 18th and 19th centuries (Botton, 72). The illumination criteria were based on the maximizing the collection of available daylight while minimizing the need for windows which reduced the display space and produced the reflected glare. The daylight delivery systems that were used to represent to the illumination needs can be characterized by three solutions namely skylights or luminous ceilings, clerestory windows, and light wells. Although the buildings and site location are different, the impact of the building forms on ...