Lighting has always been deeply involved in our perception and feeling of space. Recently, the last technological evolution in this field has open to new possibilities without equivalent with the other forms of lighting technology. The digital state of light is transforming our urban environment into an ever changing and dynamic space, affecting our spatial perception of it. Our assumption, ways of thinking and methodology about space are challenged by the digital realm, defining a new spatial paradigm. The digital technology promises to enhance the space through informational data-landscape, while dynamic light, as one of the manifestations of this new paradigm, has the potential to bridge the physical and the digital into a re-defined space, hybrid child of these two realities. This thesis proposes to explore the new triangulation of architecture, dynamic light and computation, where lies a new way of thinking light as dynamic tool, able to convey a additional meaning to the space through reactive, responsive and interactive environment.
To investigate in this direction, we have first mapped the problem area, clarify an initial research statement, set the path for an interdisciplinary exploration at the edge of architecture, lighting and computation. A first technological background draws the technological advancement in lighting and computation applied to architecture, through its best manifestation in what is commonly called ‘Media Architecture’. The third part will look at technology under humanistic perspective, looking at philosophy, architectural and social theories. The notion of spatiality will be reviewed under the three main axes of space as form, space as sensation and space as experience, to develop on theoretical concepts that could support the design of dynamic light paired with computation in an architectural context. Finally, the fourth part proposes an analysis of twelve existing cases of dynamic light used in architecture, through the lenses of the precedent technological and theoretical backgrounds. Each of these parts focuses on a particular way of looking at the contemporary question of dynamic light and the computational possibilities converging into our built environment, with the aim to open on new axes for future design cases.