The same light that delights the eye can also blind or burn when concentrated and reflected from highly reflective glass or metal, as Archimedes, who is said to have used parabolic reflectors during the Siege of Syracuse to set fire to approaching Roman ships, was well aware. Some of the acclaimed artist Brendan Neiland’s work – paintings of reflections in the glass and mirrored architecture of the 21st-century city reveals the dynamic of this living, shifting, visual architectural intricacy, a subject that John Cage, writer and composer, also found enchanting. It is important to remember that members of the public also often find beauty in the reflective facades of urban architecture. In large modern cities, characterised by tall buildings with ever more geometrically complex and reflective facades, the interplay of multiple reflection and refraction, light and shadow, from and between buildings, can become as mathematically complex as it is visually beautiful. But eyes need time to adapt (4), so sudden glare is potentially dangerous for the aircraft pilot, a vehicle driver at night, the train driver trying to read coloured signals, and for the pedestrian or driver in a city of glass towers.Īrchitects clearly delight in the play of light and play with light, reflected and refracted, both inside and outside buildings. The range of light perception by the human eye (3) is from about 0.001 lux – in black space/ night sky – to 100,000 lux – bright sunlight. Light reveals a building’s contours and shadow, its depth.

Through light and shadow architecture acquires shape and meaning. Sunlight allows space and form of architecture to change.

Light as we use it in architecture is perceived not directly, but through reflecting surfaces. The refraction of light gives the human eye its sense of vision. “Light is the opium of the architect and shadow its form.” (Ian Ritchie, 2002) It is divided into two categories: Disability Glare which impairs vision, and Discomfort Glare which is annoying and causes eyestrain. Glare is a visual sensation caused by an uncontrolled light far brighter (2) than its surroundings creating an excessive range of luminance in the eye’s field, or because there is simply too much light over all.

Blinded by the light meaning