Unveiling the Invisible: Architecture as a Perceived Surrounding

Light and colour are fundamental to how we perceive and emotionally experience architectural space, yet they are seldom explored together through both measurable and experiential approaches. This pilot study investigates Poetic Light—a daylight pavilion built in 2023 through a collaboration between the Royal Danish Academy’s Architectural Lighting Lab and Claus Pryds Architects—as a setting for examining the relationship between light, colour, and atmosphere. Using a multimodal method that combines solar path analysis, daylight factor simulations, illuminance mapping, NCS colour measurements, sketches, and perceptual assessments based on the PLMD framework, the study explores how physical data and subjective experience intertwine.
Findings reveal a limited correlation between measured illuminance and perceived brightness, highlighting the influence of surface properties, light distribution, and chromatic variation on spatial perception. Each of the pavilion’s three rooms produced distinct atmospheric qualities—ranging from clear and harmonious to fragmented or dreamlike, illustrating how atmosphere arises through the interplay of light, matter, and perception. The study suggests that a multimodal approach can bridge the gap between quantitative and qualitative understandings of daylight, offering a more nuanced framework for describing and designing with light as both a physical phenomenon and a sensory, emotional presence.