Lighting in heritage is complex because of the forms intervening in it. The historical evolution of cultures has not been analytical and therefore, the shapes involved differ greatly from the cuboids typically found in 21st century architecture. As a vector, light inevitably attaches to surface sources. In this research, we focused on 3D curved geometries. Following a different trail to radiative transfer by virtue of detailed knowledge of the spatiality of volumes, we present new expressions, previously undefined in the literature, that are derived from a combination of surfaces that we have found in many archaeological sites around Asia. In the discussion, we start from the particularities of spherical surfaces where a normal vector has to pass through the center. By means of easy calculations, we deducted innovative laws. These in turn, allowed us to formulate several new expressions for configuration factors based on the adroit use of spherical fragments. The method easily extends to organic shapes that are often contained in the sustainable architecture of the past. The method finishes with suitable algorithms to assess the reflections in such curved forms. Finally, we implemented the results in our creative software. In this way, we enhanced the sustainable paradigms for heritage structures in Asia that we present as a conclusion of the article.
Heritage issues have increased significantly in recent years. However, they tend to remain in the cultural sphere and are often resistant to scientific analyses. If we have to deal with the contradictory matter of sustainability in design for ancient buildings, such hindrances appear frequently. A crucial aspect in Architecture has always been its capacity to dispose internal spaces and apertures in a manner that enhances the balance of light and thus provides attuned perception and well-being. Poor performance in that respect raised objections against the prestige of admirable works and famed artists. If we reject the absurd idea of accurately reproducing identical buildings in the same place repeatedly, how are we supposed to benefit from the said knowledge without the help of any objective design tools? It is easy to agree that at least we would need some scientific support to transmit such proper effects. Aware of the former notions, authors have developed a novel simulation software called DianaX, which is based on mathematical models and equations produced and expanded by Joseph Cabeza-Laïnez, from roughly 1990 to 2018. This non-commercial software deals with radiative exchanges in all kinds of surfaces (for instance domes, vaults, cylinders, hyperboloids and curves in general). It also includes direct sun in the simulations unlike most programs. Therefore, it is ideally suited for the analysis of heritage architecture and especially that which identifies with the Renaissance, baroque and neoclassical epochs. The case of temples from the baroque period resumes the conflict expressed in the first paragraph and the Jesuit Church of Saint Louis (1699–1731) is one of the most relevant examples of efficient illumination found in Mediterranean latitudes, having been recently restored. In this article, we would like to discuss the subtle and interesting implications of employing our simulation software for lighting in such a complex baroque temple. The methodology would be to identify the main energy sources within the church in order to construct a suitable model for simulation. Subsequently we apply the said software DianaX to such model and establish the most significant results trying to compare them with available on-site measurements. Finally, a strategy to enhance day-lighting and supplement it with other light sources in the church is proposed.
This article clarifies the often overlooked facts attributed to European missionaries in Asia, especially Jesuits, who acted as catalysts of a kind of nuanced acculturation named Accommodatio (adaptation). To a great extent, they became harbingers of culture and science more than faith itself to the dismay of many, including the Roman Church. Such cultural and scientific transference was actually two-pronged, for simultaneously they presented in Europe unique findings related to language, e.g., the Chinese characters (considered to be the sole natural language), geography, cosmology and even governance. Here we try to prove that such procedure contributed positively to the modern scientific notions of sustainability and to provide the kind of accoutrements that model the modern world as we know it. However, in the process, many Jesuits clearly became sinified and eventually acculturated.
Radiation fireballs are singular phenomena which involve severe thermal radiation and, consequently, they need to be duly assessed and prevented. Although the radiative heat transfer produced by a sphere is relatively well known, the shadowing measures implemented to control the fireball’s devastating effects have frequently posed a difficult analytical instance, mainly due to its specific configuration. The objective of this article is to develop a parametric algorithm that provides the exact radiative configuration factors for the most general case in which the fireball is located at any distance and height above the ground, partially hidden by a protective wall over an affected area at different positions with respect to the said fireball. To this aim we use methods based on Computational Geometry and Algorithm-Aided Design; tools that, departing from the projected solid-angle principle, provide exact configuration factors, in all cases, even if they do not present a definite analytical solution. This implies dealing with spatially curved radiative sources which had not been addressed formerly in the literature due to their mathematical difficulties. Adequate application of this method may improve the safety of a significant number of facilities and reduce the number casualties among persons exposed to such risks. As a similar radiative problem appears in volcanic explosions; we hope that further extensions of the method can be adapted to the issue with advantage.
The American architect Antonin Raymond carried out intense work in Japan from 1920 to 1970. Firstly, coming to Japan to collaborate with Frank Lloyd Wright in the Imperial Hotel almost as an apprentice; unexpectedly, he was to change the game for Nipponese design and construction arts, creating at the same time the path to what currently stands out as a key example of modern environmentally conscious architecture. Due in part to his advanced stance in the profession, architects who now seem pivotal to the rising of a progressive movement in the island-nation were related to Raymond’s wake and influence, including Junzô Yoshimura, Kunio Maekawa, and Kenzô Tange. For these reasons, and given the fact that most of the building typologies he designed were previously nonexistent, his oeuvre caused a great impact and consideration, straddled as it is between nature and culture. Such prominent and visionary work, ahead of stylistic Western postulates, often related to mere abstraction, has not been sufficiently recognized in the history of building design. Consequently, the authors propose to settle in this article some of the most significant developments of Raymond’s work through his projects and ideas that intended to preserve the environment, such as integrated landscape and orientation to benefit from the sun and breezes, favoring ventilation through adroit design and extensive use of local material left untreated. These hard to assimilate notions would show that Raymond embodied in his work a profound respect for nature and traditions, rooted by its part in Daoism and Shintoism, which paved the way for subsequent innovations of early sustainability in the architectural domain.
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