Letting in Light

Light 

Reichstag Building

Reichstag building utilizes natural light as an architectural feature. The sun's movement was carefully analyzed around the building and how this could be used to bring light into the space.

The project aimed to bring light and openness into the current building. To accomplish this, a large dome-shaped skylight was installed to help capture and reflect daylight deep into the structure.

The sunlight comes through the glass dome hits the cone in the center, it is then distributed into the building.

This diagram I produced shows how the light is distributed into the main chamber of parliament, whilst an automated solar shade protects against unwanted direct solar gain.

The main chamber of parliament is naturally ventilated by the cupola, which helps to keep the area cool and the hot air escapes out of the funnel in the dome. The cupola is closed in the winter to keep the big space warm in the cooler temperatures. 

The reflector is a concave faceted cone, covered in angles mirrors which together form a giant Fresnel lens working as a lighthouse in reverse, directing like a horizontal light down into the chamber. The diagram shows the cone in the centre of the dome.

Diagrammes showing the Reichstag Building's dome, applied into Peckham, the design could be developed into an exit way for the underground.

Amos Rex, Finland

The roof of the gallery is formed by a series of domes with angled roofs and light. The angle frames the view of the surrounding buildings from the exhibit below. The domes are located under certain pieces of art to light them up during the day.

 These domes are multi-purposeful as they work as a playground on the above levels, people can run up and down them without damaging and stopping the light from coming in.

Diagrammes showing how Amos Rex domes could be added to Rye Lane, as a way for the underground to see the above building and as a space for children to play on along the road.

Lowline

Lowline is a project under New York City. The architect's idea is to bring more green to the area and a safer walkway for the townspeople. Bringing a natural park under the center of a busy city. This project has helped to bring the community together, by working together to look after the plants/greenery.

They designed these solar collecting dishes to transmit the necessary wavelengths of light to support photosynthesis and to bring natural sunlight underground. The Lowline will not have any artificial light at all. They are very renewable and only require natural light to work. 

Light is pumped into the plumbing system through mirror collectors which focuses the sunlight into concentrated beams that are 30 times brighter than ambient sunlight.

The same collectors track the sunlight directly, the large ones use massive tracking mirrors to push the sunlight in their direction. Both collectors and mirrors have a coating to block out the infrared light whilst capture the ultraviolet part of the spectrum. 

The disadvantage of the light domes is that you will have to have several across the road/roofs to be able to power the underground.

The Lowline, light captures could be added to buildings along Rye Lane to capture the sunlight during the day. The wire to transfer the energy could be placed down walls that would be covered in greenery.

What would work:

Solar panels might be a better option to place on top of the roofs of Rye Lane, as they will power more energy. There could be artificial lighting for the underground, power by solar. 

There could also be domes in areas along Rye Lane, to be able to see out and see the sky underground. They will not produce enough light alone to light up the whole underground clear enough for people to see, but the additional artificial will help. These domes will be an advantage for entertaining children when walking past.

Sources - https://www.fosterandpartners.com/projects/reichstag-new-german-parliament/ 

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/photo-essays/2015-10-13/inside-the-lowline-new-york-city-s-first-underground-park