The Daylight Award Community

Paola Jara

Architect. MDesSc. Sustainable design and illumination
Daylight is life. It is essential for our health, biological functions and phycological feelings.
— Paola Jara

FEATURE

What does daylight mean to you?

Daylight is life. It is essential for our health, biological functions and phycological feelings. Hence, a space designed for people should enhance this natural human necessity.  

 

How did your interest in the subject rise?

My interest arose when I was an architecture student. In my first two years, in the workshop unit, I was taught to use an analogue sun-path. With it, we had to perform several architectural daylight exercises. Between them, through paper folds, each student had to design an illuminated place on her or his birthday. Since then, shape and daylight have been on my mind.

 

How do you work with daylight in your research?

Until now, in my research projects, I have explored daylight in two ways. The first of them, it is through the design of a daylight device. In this topic, I have proposed and evaluated an alternative prototype of laser cut panel for scattering of sunlight at high latitudes. The second and more recent topic that I am starting to explore, it is daylight and vernacular architecture in my country (Chile).

Which project/publication describes your work the best?

Shaping an artefact through sun light, it is a process that I really enjoy. To experiment with light, in general, it is fascinating. Hence, to design a daylight device that could contribute to improve or optimize daylight into spaces for people living, at the moment and as a starting researcher, it represents my work the best. 

 

According to you, what is the most important focus for the future?

It is difficult to say because there are several important areas to put attention on. However, I would say that climate and human health responsive design in architecture, it is a very important and challenging area to focus on. This, not only to understand and practice a sustainable way of inhabiting our planet today, but also, for visualizing our way of living under extreme climate conditions due to climate change. Therefore, I believe, architectural design for extreme climate scenarios, it is a subject-matter that it needs to be continuously researched.

 

Who or what has inspired you?

Nature and ancient civilizations have inspired me. I deeply admire, the manner as sunlight and climate weather patterns are and were translated into a morphology for living, observe, venerate, contemplate, among others. 

Links to publications

“Toward new design of laser cut panels for scattering of sunlight at high latitudes”:

http://boletin-faup.ucentral.cl/publicaciones_labbio/plea_2017_2.pdf

 

“Bioclimatism and Sewell’s architecture: Lessons from a design adapted to the central Andean climate”:

http://revistas.uach.cl/index.php/aus/article/view/6871/7777

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