The present thesis concerns the field of daylighting in architecture. In particular,udthis thesis examines the topic of the aesthetic perception of daylit indoorudenvironments.udMost daylighting studies seem to use photometrical measurements to describe theudlight in a space. Moreover, most studies seem to focus on comparing metrics toudestablish an adequate illumination for optimal visual and task performance.udHowever, lighting considerations should go further than merely visual and taskudperformance guidelines; good lighting should also contribute to the aestheticudperception of any environment. This is an important distinction to establish: a roomudwith enough light for performing tasks can be described as an ‘adequatelyudilluminated room’, whereas a room that also provides a pleasant visualudenvironment can be considered a ‘well-lit room’. Yet little literature investigatingudthe aesthetic quality of architectural spaces lit by daylight can be found.udTherefore, the present study seeks to explore how different daylighting designsudaffect the aesthetic perception of indoor built environments. The fields ofudarchitecture and daylighting are taken as starting points. In addition, the aestheticudperception of environments entails studies of environmental psychology, e.g.udenvironmental aesthetics and measurement of environmental perception. Daylightudand aesthetic quality are thus terms of paramount importance in the presentudresearch. In the scope of the work presented here, two types of daylighting design have beenudconsidered in the study: windows as the most basic daylight collectors in buildingsud(primary daylighting design), and daylighting systems as advanced measures toudcollect and distribute daylight deeper in interiors (advanced daylighting design). Toudexamine the aesthetic quality of an architectural space, nine aesthetic attributesudwere selected: Pleasantness, Excitement, Order, Complexity, Legibility,udCoherence, Spaciousness, Openness, and Spatial Definition.udConsidering that humans spend most of their waking time indoors, and that most ofudthis time is spent at home and at the workplace, two small environments were theudfocus of the presented work: a student room and a single office unit.udExperimental research using a mixed method approach was selected as the researchudstrategy. Thus, two main experiments were carried out to investigate: i. the effectsudof windows on the aesthetic quality of a student room, where three differentudwindow sizes were considered in a room lit under overcast sky conditions; andudii. the effects of daylighting systems on the aesthetic quality of a small single office, where two types of venetian blinds and two types of light shelves wereudconsidered under overcast sky and clear sky conditions.udThe summarised results confirm that daylighting design (within the scope of theudpresent research; i.e. daylight delivered by windows and/or daylighting systems)udhas a significant impact on the aesthetic impression of a small room. Moreover, theudcollective findings of the present work suggest that photometric measurements areudnot always the perfect predictors to judge the nine selected aesthetic attributes.udAlthough photometric studies are necessary, other parameters not connected toudlighting metrics (e.g. the location of light patches in the room and the physical andudgeometrical characteristics of the daylighting systems) impact the aestheticudperception of a small room and should be considered.udFurthermore, the study presents a new experimental method that can be used inuddaylighting and aesthetics studies. This experimental method is based on the use ofud3D or stereoscopic images of environments, taken with two cameras and projectedudfull-scale on a silver screen. The method was tested in an experimental procedureudand analysed using a method comparison statistical model. The findings show thatudstereoscopic imaging is a valid and accurate method for use in daylighting studies.udDaylighting in relation to environmental aesthetics is still an incipient body ofudknowledge, as there is still much that we do not know. The aim of the presentedudwork was set to shed new light on different aspects of daylighting studies, such asudthe aesthetics of a lit environment. The presented results provide new knowledgeudthat could serve as a departure point for the development of new theories andudassumptions that could improve the understanding of this interdisciplinary topic.
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