SOLAR ENERGY: HARVESTING THE SUN (2)

AN ARCHITECTURAL APPROACH THROUGH LE CORBUSIER’S GROUNDINGS.

By Dominique Fretin

However, Le Corbusier’s ideas about how to harvest sun’s light and heat and use it in architecture weren’t new. Most of them were retrieved from traditional or vernacular building solutions, some even from as far as the ancient Greeks time. Xenophon (ca. 430 - 354 BC), for instance, wrote in his Memorabilia (Book III, Chapter VII), citing Socrates describing the advantages of solar orientation of an ideal Greek house: “ Now in houses with a southern exposure, the sun’s rays penetrate the porticos in winter, but in summer, being less inclined, they afford shade. If, then, this is the best arrangement, we should build the south side loftier to get the winter sun, and the north side lower to keep out the cold winds. To put it shortly, the house I which the owner can find a comfortable retreat at all seasons and can store his belongings safely is presumably at once the most pleasant and the most beautiful.” (apud Boyce, 1993). This very first registered concept of a solar house was indeed a judicious one and has been followed by countless architects and builders since then all over the western world (according to sunbeam angles, i.e. local latitude), looking forward to more comfortable dwellings.

Nevertheless, Le Corbusier’s merit certainly was to adapt such solutions to contemporary and modern architectural expressions, as did many architects and builders through the 20th century. He first understood the benefits of sun rays on human health and the advantages of natural lighting. He advocated the requirement of at least two hour of direct sun beam inside new buildings as “medicine had proved that tuberculosis usually settles where the sun doesn’t  sink in …thus, a minimal number of direct sun beam should be fixed for each home[1]..” (LE CORBUSIER, Athens Chart, Item 26, 1933). He also learned to control heat and light, creating wealthy spaces and energy efficient buildings as well as amazing atmospheres. Notre Dame du Haut in Ronchamp (1954) gives an outstanding example of this last assertion.

Search for light was an utmost precept to modern architecture. “Licht” became the Bauhaus architects’ rallying cry ad was heard far and wide. Most of Le Corbusier’s European designs clearly attest this quest for lavish natural lighting, a conceivable attitude considering the scarce luminance of some high latitude countries. It was not, at the time, an energy saving issue but a genuine intent to bring more health, welfare, comfort by aesthetic means as it can be well perceived in Vila Savoye at Poissy (1929 – Figure 2).

Figura 2 – Villa Savoye, Le Corbusier. Photo: Adam Font: internet. http://picasaweb.google.com/adam.caruthers/ParisFrance. Accessed in 22/02/2010.

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[1]  Le Corbusier – La Charte d’Athènes, Éditions de Minuit, Paris, 1957. P. 50.