Daylight Diagram – A Method to Map and Analyse the Temporal Conditions of Daylight Intensity

This study proposes and examines a new method and diagram for revealing and analysing temporal and transitional daylight conditions based on computational modelling and simulations. For a human to experience and decipher the world, daylight is a predominant resource to engage with the surroundings. With humans spending the prevalent time inside buildings, it is important to understand and design the daylight environments in the early phases of design processes. The aim is to retain and reveal the information of high-resolution simulations and to explore, test and verify the capacities of the method in comparison to Illuminance, Daylight Factor and Daylight Autonomy values. The research design uses digital modelling and representation techniques combined with computational simulation methods for daylight analysis, evaluation and communication. Eight digital test cases show that the proposed Daylight Diagram enables the observation of temporal daylight dynamics. The proposed method and diagram employ existing simulation systems, allowing a fast integration and use in early-phase design processes as a key instrument to design advanced daylight phenomena and conditions focusing on transitional and temporal daylight intensities.