Sunlight in Modern Interiors - La Caixa walkway

One of the more interesting problems in lighting an architectural illustration is depicting natural sunlight’s effect on an interior space.  

Traditional buildings with a limited number of punched windows can be quite dark during the daytime.  A person walking through such a space might have no problem maneuvering around furniture, but a photograph will show considerable darkness, and reading away from the window would require artificial lighting.

On the other hand, a modern atrium surrounded by glass seems no different from an outdoor space.  Direct sunlight is strong, and even an overcast day affords enough light to read by.

But what about a structure with a solid opaque roof, and glass walls on one or more sides?  In that case the architect or illustrator should test different sun angles to see which presents the space in the most flattering way.  The following project presented just such a choice, and is related here to suggest one solution among many.  Note: this is one of my “ancient” projects, produced in a one bedroom apartment – I am frankly surprised that I still have the preliminary drawings reproduced here.

The La Caixa bank of Barcelona, Spain had two buildings which needed an interior connecting walkway.  The firm of Pei Cobb Freed Architects was commissioned to produce a design.  The red bar connecting the white model buildings gives a rough idea of the location and context of the walkway.

Above is a quick modeling of the walkway presented as a section perspective. 

Here is the same view with further development of the existing building.

The following four views show variations on the idea of a one point perspective seen as if walking within the structure.  The changes from view to view are minor, but were important to the client’s need to see the water feature on the right, the detailing of the walkway itself, and the entry plaza outside the walkway on the left.

The image immediately above is a line printout of the final chosen view.

Now for the question of sun angle…  The following 3 sketches present 3 different sun positions.  Each emphasizes a different aspect of the design, and provides a different focus for the composition. (These sketches are pencil and pastel on 8.5x11 inch bond xerox of the layout)

Sketch 1 uses a high angle sun from the right.  Because of the configuration of the water feature this angle will actually downplay the effect of the splashing water.  In addition the railings of the moving sidewalks will obscure the shadow line on the floor.  The only thing that recommends this sun angle is the diagonal shadow on the far entry wall outside the walkway on the left, which nicely frames the white Picasso sculpture.

Sketch 2 shows a high angle sun from the left.  The dappled light on the floor and columns creates a pleasant and warm atmosphere, while the partially shadowed water is a nice distraction.  

Sketch 3 brings the afternoon sun deeply into the space.  The water feature is well lit, and the whole walkway will receive lots of reflected light.  I also liked the dynamic feel of the large light area on the left balanced by the water on the right.  The client preferred this sketch, and I spent time refining some of the reflected light effects, such as warm tones on the ceiling to the left, and the dappled “caustics” reflecting off the water on the ceiling to the right.  The tree shadows were clunky, but I figured that could be resolved later.

Above are further studies working out people, tree and light placement.  

And above is the final. It is about 16x21 inches, and was done with airbrush acrylics on matte photographic paper.   I can pick it apart now, but for the time and technology (and the experience I brought to it)… not bad.  I am still proud of the handling of the light in this rendering, especially the ceiling reflections, but I was still struggling with the tree shadows when time ran out.

The moral of the story… When dealing with spaces like this, the sun angle is a major factor.  Bringing the sunlight into the space can change the entire composition, set an inviting mood, and convey an entertaining story.  In short, light can spark the imagination.

Inspiration - The Dreams of Lebbius Woods

I first saw a drawing by Lebbius Woods while I was working on my thesis project at the School of Architecture, University of Minnesota in 1974.  It was (in my dusty memory) a simple perspective drawing of an interior, but it was startling in several ways; first, it was a perspective (unusual in those isometric days), second, it used bright harmonious colors (in a time of white and wood), and finally, it was fantastic rather than functional.  It was a unique vision in my constricted world, and it influenced my thesis project immediately.

When I worked as an architect in NYC, Lebbius did renderings on a number of projects I worked on.  I tried (and failed) to copy his style, which was always inimitable, but the sheer challenge exhilarating.  Later I found that Lebbius’s rendering work was nothing more than the cash cow which he used to fund his architectural explorations.  And his explorations would be the basis for his fame.

Unfortunately, Lebbius Woods died October 30.  Although I had a couple of conversations with him over the years, I can’t say that we were friends.  Yet, he was one of the frames which directed the path of my life, and I mourn the loss of one of the few geniuses I knew.  So, Lebbius is gone, but, as I quipped to a friend, “he left his drawings.”

Above is Lebbius’s take on the Times Square Tower Competition.  You can compare it to my submission at the end of the last blog post on “conceptual sketches”.  I like to think that we were heading in the same direction, but in any case it is interesting to compare and contrast.  

Although He was already making a name in the early ‘70’s, I have no drawings earlier than the 3 following from 1979.  They show his love for developing patterns and textures on flat surfaces, as well as an architectonic “homage” to van Doesburg, Rudolph and Eisenman.

In 1982 he published AEON the Architecture of Time.  The rendering technique is the same as his commercial rendering (color pencil), but the effect is brooding and mysterious.  He was still working on ideas that hearken back to familiar forms such as 1930’s skyscrapers, and his view through the branches looking toward a set of industrial silos is almost picturesque.  And yet, the mood is dark in both cases.

Lebbius was drifting toward conceptual illustration, as exemplified by this Sci-Fi book cover from 1983.  Eventually he did work in Hollywood, which was natural given his brilliant imagination.

Not long after, he was pushing his imagination into more alien territory.  Origins, from 1985 fused a rough ink technique with architectural forms which are hard to categorize.  But the genius of his hand makes even the most curious features seem solid and real.  The closest “sources” I can think of for these forms are the concrete masses of Louis Kahn, and the industrial photographs of Bernd and Hilla Becher.

The following image, also from Origins, shows Lebbius starting to merge conceptual diagrams and abstract doodles with his realistic renderings.  It is a montage board presentation technique that I love, but with an extra creative twist or three.  The combination of abstract snapshots, obfuscating notation, and solid reality creates a tension that he would exploit more and more in his exploratory career.

The rendering work is so solidly realistic that it is useful to have examples of preliminary sketches.  The following two images are rough underlays of final drawings, and show his ability to think in perspective terms while working out details.

Below is an example from The New City which highlights the contrast of strange architecture and beautifully believable rendering.  The nearly monochromatic color scheme is typical of his way of enforcing unity on the unfamiliar.

This image from Anarchitecture – Architecture as a Political Act, shows Lebbius’s sure eye for a simple palette that harmonizes while challenging the conventional.

Another image from Anarchitecture shows a fascination with destruction and decay; handled, as always, in the most elegant way.

A final image from Anarchitecture, below, is a tour-de-force of controlled chaos.  The date is 1992, and the mood is a precursor to many computer games which came out in the ‘90s.  Again, the juxtaposition of near chaotic abstraction, and strange realism is pure Lebbius.

By the mid ‘90s Lebbius was engrossed in the forms of disaster and destruction, whether natural or manmade.  His book Radical Reconstruction (1997) moved solidly into the political; at least as far as fantastic architecture can go along with politics.  Below are designs based on structural failure during earthquakes and floods, respectively.  He also riffed on the war time destruction of Sarajevo, and the economic decay of Havana.  The human figures on the second image are a rare occurrence.

As with all our great historic artists, Lebbius Woods is dead, but is not gone.  His ideas and drawings survive to inspire, instruct and challenge.  

Inspiration - Jean-LeonGerome

Inspiration- The Dreams of Lebbius Woods

Inspiration- Sargent & Structures

Inspiration- Louis Sullivan & Ornamentation

Inspiration- Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue

Inspiration- Winslow Homer

Inspiration- Dore & value studies

Inspiration- Hugh Ferriss

Inspiration- Waterhouse & Color

Inspiration- Bierstadt & Atmosphere

Inspiration- John C. Wenrich

Inspiration - Cyril Farey