Light Lab: Fourth Year Reviews at Carleton University’s Azrieli School of Architecture and Urbanism
Betsy Williamson will be joining the fourth year options studio headed by Dr. Shelagh McCartney for their final review. The option studio addresses the experiential substance of light and the power of light to articulate architecture, to make space literate and to activate the interplay between thought and form.
As quoted from the studio brief, “The human eye is naturally attuned to twilight. It sharpens our vision and engages our imagination. The excessive bright light in most contemporary buildings blinds our range of vision. Removing light creates an opportunity to use of our imagination in space, eradicating visual excitement, to experience being and creating a sense of space and widening the methods to appreciate spaces, from being visually pleasing to mentally stimulating as the foundation of design. Students will explore the sensuality of light in space, using light to unravel details or to layer spaces at scales that build throughout the term. Through both reading the buildings of masters of light and sculpting the design of shadow, students will further master the equilibrium between the illuminated and unlit, aiming to allow space to bask in a sensuous and mentally‐stimulating atmosphere. Giving light a particular weight, temperature, viscosity, sound or to slice in a directional sheet to cut through the darkness of space.”