The fascination with light

This leads to the premise that our values are not necessarily market driven and that architecture can still be an emotive force.

Since the technical and commercial development of large-scale glazing systems during the second half of the nineteenth century, the notion of transparency has exerted a seductive hold on the architectural imagination. This trend continues with increasing sophistication, presenting architects with new, richer and dramatic possibilities. Jean Nouvel, Nicholas Grimshaw, Von Gerkan and Sir Norman Foster are amongst the numerous contemporary architects pursuing the experimentation with light in architecture. Susan Roaf, of Oxford Brookes University, claims that whilst this century has been the century of electricity and nuclear power the next century will be the century of the sun. When light is able to play a major role it is a reminder that our most important values are not market driven and that the ability to move ones soul is still possible in architecture.

The positioning of windows and glazing is not just a response to the practical issues of providing light, views in and out and natural ventilation. The therapeutic quality gained by the capturing and framing of light are often the essential ingredient, which can transform an otherwise banal and sombre space. Technological advances are themselves self-serving unless applied in a socially beneficial manner.

With a thorough understanding of building physics, climatic influences, latitude and how to control glare the benefits of passive solar gain through glazing can also be exploited. Often perceived as weightless, the attributes of a glazed or translucent fabric roof can bring the interior closer to the sky and enhance an inter-relationship with nature. The Leipzig Messe hall is the largest steel-and-glass structure in Europe.

It is 243 metres long and 79 metres wide and can hold 30,000 people. From the inside the hall appears to be a seamless vaulted glass membrane, weightless and infinite. The objective of the environmental strategy was to generate a modified external climate that never falls below 8°C. In winter the temperature is raised by underfloor heating coils. In summer these coils are used to circulate cold water for cooling, but the main means of temperature reduction is by natural ventilation: the crown of the vault opens, as do panels at lower level, to encourage higher ventilation rates. Protection against overheating is provided by fritting the glazing above the normal view lines on the south side.

The introduction of glass also represents a contrast from the solid elements of a building.

Thus the quality of an internal and external space is achieved by the manipulation of the key components which can exert a powerful influence 24 hours a day. At night the light can transform the introvert into the exuberant extrovert.