MODELLING

Modelling of a shape derives from its physical form, whether round,
square or otherwise, coupled with the way in which light plays on its
surfaces. This is referred to as its modelling and when this derives from
daylight or sunlight, giving light from a single direction, this provides a
form which is perceived by the eye as having meaning, unambiguous.
This is a different experience again from the form of an object or space
resulting from a room lit by artificial light, where the overall light may be
received from a multitude of light sources.
The most usual daylight modelling is that derived from vertical
windows at the side of a room, giving light from a single direction; this
may be helped by windows from an adjacent wall which adds to the
modelling; as the light will still be from the same overall direction, but
adding to the total modelling.
Two examples might be used to emphasize this, the first, a Greek Doric
column where the light of day gives modelling to the entasis on the
rounded surfaces of the column; light which emphasizes its particular
rounded quality together with its verticality. The second example is the
original David statue by Michelangelo seen in its setting in the art gallery
in Florence, lit from daylight above, where the form changes in time as
the day goes by.

A more modern example of the use of overhead daylight to light a
statue is the Charioteer in Delphi (Case Study pp. 170–171).
Daylight by its nature gives meaning and aids our understanding of a
shape or space by its directional flow; a meaning which is emphasized
even further by the addition of direct sunlight.
Interior spaces are judged to be pleasant, bright or gloomy as a result of
the effects of modelling and interiors are judged by the way in which the
spaces and the objects within them are seen during the day to be natural,
or accord to our experience of the natural world.

Environment , Change and variety . . . modelling . . . orientation . . . sunlight . . . colour . . .

Perhaps the most obvious and certainly the most important aspect of
daylighting is its capacity for change, leading to the infinite variety in
appearance of the daylit interior. Change is at the heart of daylighting,
the human body has a capacity for adaptation, particularly in vision, and
the need to exercise this response.
Perception reacts to a degree of change; it is the natural order of things
that the appearance of interior spaces alter with time; and if we have
confidence in their continuing reality, it is because change in their lit
appearance allows us to continue an exploration of the spaces we inhabit;
an entirely different measure of experience to the static qualities of spaces
lit entirely by artificial sources of light during the day; or where there is
no access to the daylight outside. There is a natural process of renewal in
the photochemical processes of the eye as it adapts to accommodate
changes in daylight
First there is the natural change from day to night, from first light until
dark and the need for artificial sources to take over when daylight fades.
Then there are the changes associated with changes of the weather; from
bright sunny days to dark and cloudy or rainy days, there is little doubt that
the human spirit soars when rising in the morning on a bright day, an
experience which is less likely to happen when it is dark and gloomy outside.
Closely associated with changes in the weather are those of the
changes of season, from the winter snows to summer sunlight; each
season will have its own character, which as human beings we
accommodate to in our own way; but what is important is that the
world outside, as experienced through the window, provides necessary
information of the variety of the exterior world; whilst leading to subtle changes in the appearance of the interior.