Light
Making of Form & Order

The purpose of this project is to design a proposed non-denominational chapel located on the campus of Farmingdale State College. The College wants this to be a profoundly spiritual place that people of all faiths can worship and reflect on life’s events.

The College believes this can be achieved by the creative use of light. This project requires creative methods of controlling the entrance of light into a space and requires a solution for the conflict between the built environment and the natural environment.

I came up with a solution for that conflict by analyzing the patterns on the existing campus site and by looking at the seasonal light patterns and angles. I used the analysis to influence the site location and the orientation and design of the chapels.

Background Research

Section of Notre Dame du Haut. The uniquely shaped openings cause rays of light to illuminate the space at an angle.

I researched the Notre Dame du Haut (Our Lady of the Heights). The Roman Catholic chapel was designed by the French architect Le Corbusier and built in 1955 in Ronchamp, France.

Inside view of the belltower that acts as a light cannon.

From the inside you can see the techniques that Le Corbusier used. There is a thin opening at the top where the wall and ceiling meet. The bowing shape of the roof (shown in section) controls the flow of light into the room.

Contextual Analysis & Sun Angles

Winter

Summer

Spring

Fall

Site Plans & Sorting

W

S

E

My analysis of campus circulation and the sun angle analysis helped influence my decision of where to place my site. The site I chose would allow the chapel to receive a lot of direct sunlight from the South.

I also placed it here since it is right near a main entrance into the campus (the macro-vehicular circulation is pictured above). This would mean the chapel would get a lot of attention and draw people to come in and enjoy the space.

Building in Surrounding Context:

Hierarchy:

1. Main Chapel
2. Memorial Chapel
3. Meditation Chapel
4. Secular

Sorting of Spaces:

Religious: Secular:

Main Chapel
Memorial Chapel
Meditation Chapel

Offices
Conference Room
Library

Design Process

Inspiration from Le Corbusier's Belltower in the Notre Dame du Haut.

Light cannon was influenced by Le Corbusier's Convent La Tourette. Different shaped openings were inspired by his use of varied window sizes/shapes in the Notre Dame du Haut chapel as well.

The use of angled openings and slabs on the exterior of the Meditation chapel were inspired by Le Corbusier's method of making light enter a space at a sharp angle.