In today’s houses, natural light is everywhere. It certainly wasn’t the case when they were building fortress, as the smallest openings could be an entry door to the enemies or their weapons. Natural light and architecture have had a fascinating relation through time. Here is a brief overview of it.
Architecture is a Reflection of Culture
Historians and sociologists would both tell you that when you study architecture, you are observing the mind of the people and their culture at a given time in history. Of course, it is not just about natural light, but there is something to be said about being able to install cheap flat roof windows on our house today, when they were reserved exclusively to the rich not so long ago, still. It certainly shows how everyone can live well these days. Especially if you compare our generation to the ones gone by.
Architecture also shows how ingenuous and advanced some societies were. The pyramids are a good example of that in the ancient world, and the cathedrals vaulted roofs are another in the middle-age. In all cases, they treated natural light as an important factor, but in a totally different way from one another. Back in Egyptian time, openings that would let the sun inside were not widely used. In regards to the cathedrals, they treated the natural light as an embellishment, using stained glass as windows. And in today’s societies, we build high glass towers, which is the ultimate sign of our openness to the world.
From Cultural to Comfort: Natural Light Always plays a Part in Innovations
The reason why so many constructions in the past had few windows, is not only for safety purpose. The light was also part of many myths and played a role in religions as well, back in the days. However, it was also about human’s comfort and health. If you make an opening on the wall, and you cannot close it with glass, the people who are inside the house will feel cold in winter time. To the previous societies, the lack of natural light inside buildings was mainly to protect people from getting sick.
In our day and age, we have a very different view of being healthy inside our homes. If we can’t open windows to let the air in and out, we know that we are bound to accumulate stale air in the house, which can make us sick, or at least not feeling optimal. Now, what natural light is really about, is our comfort. Making sure that we can keep the heat inside in winter time and the cool air in summer time, is one of our main preoccupation. But our comfort also comes from our capacity to feel as if we are part of our environment, even when we find ourselves inside our homes. That is why large bay windows have become so popular in the modern world.
Our relationship to natural light is still changing, nowadays. Two generations ago, the house was meant to protect the family from the view of others. Today, it needs to melt with the garden, through floor to ceiling windows. No doubt it will keep changing throughout the future as well.
