View Composition Across Low-Light Winter Transitions: Balancing Skylight, Surfaces and Lighting in Danish Courtyards
Author
Janczura Di Napoli, Mariana
Term
4. Term
Education
Publication year
2026
Abstract
How we light residential courtyards in Nordic cities changes what people see from their windows during the long, dim winter hours. In Copenhagen’s dense perimeter-block housing, enclosed courtyards admit little daylight, so the indoor-outdoor connection depends on reflected light and electric lighting. Yet Danish regulations mainly address daylight and say little about the night-time experience. This thesis introduces the idea of View Composition, which treats the window view as a balance between three elements: skylight, vertical surfaces such as facades, and horizontal surfaces such as the ground. Using a case study in Nordhavn, Copenhagen, the study combines photorealistic renderings and false-color luminance maps produced with D5 Render, Rhino and Climate Studio to test different lighting setups. The results show that what matters is balanced luminance ratios—relative brightness between elements—rather than uniform brightness. During dawn and dusk, higher-contrast combinations of vertical and horizontal surfaces made the view clearer and more engaging, and building facades can serve as passive reflectors at night. Based on these findings, the thesis proposes target luminance ratios and practical lighting strategies. Overall, it argues that outdoor lighting should be used as a dynamic tool that integrates skylight, material choices and surface design to support the window view during low-light winter transitions in Danish courtyards.
Den måde, vi belyser boliggårde i Norden på, påvirker, hvad beboere ser fra deres vinduer i de lange, dunkle vintertimer. I Københavns tætte karrébebyggelser slipper lukkede gårdrum kun lidt dagslys ind, så forbindelsen mellem inde og ude afhænger af reflekteret lys og elektrisk belysning. Alligevel fokuserer de danske bygningsregler mest på dagslys og siger kun lidt om natoplevelsen. Afhandlingen introducerer begrebet View Composition, som betragter vinduesudsigten som en balance mellem tre elementer: himmellys, lodrette flader som facader og horisontale flader som belægninger. Med en case i Nordhavn kombinerer studiet fotorealistiske visualiseringer og falskfarve-luminanskort lavet i D5 Render, Rhino og Climate Studio for at afprøve forskellige belysningsløsninger. Resultaterne viser, at afbalancerede luminansforhold—den indbyrdes lysstyrke mellem elementer—er vigtigere end jævn lysfordeling. I daggry og skumring gav højere kontrast mellem lodrette og horisontale flader en klarere og mere indbydende udsigt, og facader kan fungere som passive reflektorer om natten. På den baggrund foreslår afhandlingen mål for luminansforhold og praktiske belysningsstrategier. Samlet set argumenterer den for, at udendørs belysning bør bruges som et dynamisk værktøj, der integrerer himmellys, materialevalg og overfladedesign for at støtte vinduesudsigten i vinterens svage lys i danske gårdrum.
[This abstract has been rewritten with the help of AI based on the project's original abstract]
Keywords