March 20, 2014

Daylighting for Museums

The Integrated Design Lab at Montana State University School of Architecture has a very good short guide to daylighting for museums (PDF) with basic guidelines and many good examples. It is a good sign that they open with a photo of the Kimball Art Museum and a quote from Louis Kahn:
So this is a kind of invention that comes out of the desire to have natural light. Because it is the light the painter used to paint his painting. And artificial light is a static light . . . where natural light is a light of mood . . . the painting must reveal itself in different aspects if the moods of light are included in its viewing, in its seeing. I think that’s the nature, really, of a place where you see paintings.