"Laboratorio de luz" is a research project that aims to experimentally study light as a structural material and expressive element within architectural spaces.
Light, sometimes viewed as an auxiliary element in architecture that aids in perceiving space, becomes the model itself and is studied as a material with its own presence.
To achieve this goal, models or prototypes are created where the space has been emptied of the recognizable, as in a laboratory. The research nature of the project means that variables are reduced, and spatial forms are purified. The result is an abstract spatial model synthesizing light and shadow, with the aim of focusing on the study of light in architecture as a pure and universal language.
"Laboratorio de luz" is an interdisciplinary project involving photography and architecture. Photography not only serves as part of the documentary methodology for each essay but also the photographer's perspective and knowledge act as an active tool for understanding light.
In the essays of this laboratory, the photographer's experience transforms spotlights into models of sunlight, and their understanding of windows or photographic diffusers is applied to create a series of openings that enable and modify the entry of light into space.
Each study or test is formalized in a series of photographs or "atlas" that capture small variations that alter the light, its form of propagation, and its modification of space. These groups of ordered photographs transform or freeze the complex phenomenon of light, slow down time, and allow us to study and compare small nuances or variables that are difficult to perceive with a daily gaze.
These series or "Atlas" not only give formal meaning to the final work but also become a comparative and analytical method between homogeneous blocks of photographs, allowing us to draw conclusions by identifying relationships and links between different series and strategies.
Each of these series is an abstract portrait of light. Although executed with rigorous methodology, these initial 30 essays are not sufficient to fully comprehend this element, even with an expanded awareness of its combination. Nevertheless, they serve as a starting point and, simultaneously, are portraits and final works in themselves, revealing the inherent poetics and beauty of the abstract, infinite, and complex nature of light.
La luz natural no es una cuestión nueva en la arquitectura; es universal y está siempre presente en cada proyecto, incluso si lo hace de manera silenciosa o subestimamos su capacidad para transformar el espacio habitado. El Laboratorio desea revisar los fundamentos de este complejo fenómeno desde su mirada particular, la creatividad y la innovación, con el objetivo de sumar, inspirar y movilizar a otros arquitectos a revalorizar la luz, desarrollar nuevas estrategias y formas de diseñar espacios más conscientes de su relación con la arquitectura y sus habitantes.
These "Atlas" have been made public and accessible for consultation on this website. They have also been exhibited and selected in the "El Cuarto Lúcido" call organized by the Centro José Guerrero and the Colegio de Arquitectos de Granada. The theoretical and research foundation benefiting this project is detailed in the Final Degree Project carried out at the Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura of the University of Granada. The project was undertaken by the photographer and architect Isabel Clara Torres González, under the guidance of Tomás García Piriz.
