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Columns of Light: Architecture of the Immaterial

Nazanin Khodadad

This paper examines the possibility that light - an illusory material - not only
can be experienced as a building material, thereby shifting the notion of
architecture of the material to architecture of the immaterial, but ultimately can be
defined and recognized as architecture of light. Light as architecture is a subtle yet
significant distinction between the belief that light can visually and psychologically
manipulate architectural space and architectural elements, versus the notion that
artificially generated light, independent of traditional architectural elements, can be
defined as architecture. There is no question that light creates ambience, and gives
character to any given space, but can light - whether a single solitary beam of light
controlled in a definitive manner or a multitude of lights flooding an area - perform
as a wall, a column or perhaps, in an extreme scenario, a building? Building upon
previous arguments highlighted in Dietrich Neumanns Architecture of the Night,
The Illuminated Building, this paper expands on the opinion that the visual and
psychological meaning of architecture and architectural space can be perceptually
altered through the integration of artificial light but can also create and become the
architectural space itself. This paper juxtaposes the Cathedral of Lights in 1933
Germany and the Tribute in Light, the aftermath response to 9/11, in which
searchlights used in a similar fashion create and ultimately expand upon the idea
that architecture of light is worthy of the discussion.

Key Words: Light, Architecture, Ephemerality, Immaterial, Dematerialization.

*****

The life-quality of architecture, like the life-quality of humanity


itself, exists not only in the realm of the material but also in the
realm of intangibility, the realm that each man must find and
conquer for himself. 1 Architectural writer Amos Ih Tiao Chang

This life-quality of architecture, indeed the very life-quality of our infinite


reality, is light itself. All things begin with light. All things end with it. The
paradox of its existence is the foundation of what we experience as real and what
we create as our own reality. This creation comes to fruition in the spaces we
envision and manifest, and this creation cannot exist without light. Everything we
build depends on it. And everything we depend on is built upon it. Therefore light
IS architecture, and architecture is light. This notion is one that has evolved
throughout centuries and has only come to be realized through the structuring of
light as building material, however intangible, in the most recent. Building upon
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previous arguments highlighted by architectural historian Dietrich Neumann, this
paper expands on the opinion that the visual and psychological meaning of
architecture and architectural space can be perceptually altered through the
integration of artificial light and can also create and become the architectural space
itself. 2 Although controversial, the concept of light as architectural structure itself
is one that demands to be considered.
Understanding the notion that light, independent of traditional architectural
elements, can be defined as architecture is significantly different from accepting
the fact that light can visually and psychologically manipulate architectural space
and architectural elements. There is no question that light creates ambience, mood,
and character for any given space, but can light - whether a single solitary beam of
light controlled in a very definitive manner or a multitude of lights flooding an area
- perform as a wall, a column, or perhaps in an extreme scenario, a building? To
accept this theory, one must first characterize architecture and architectural form.
In The Life of Forms In Art, art historian, Henri Focillon argues that architecture,
however, at least according to the traditional notion, is a stable structure, which
gives form to permanent values and consolidates an urban morphology.3
Additionally, Focillon argues that Light not only illuminates the internal mass, but
collaborates with the architecture to give it its needed form. Light itself is form,
since its rays, streaming forth at predetermined points, are compressed, attenuated
or stretched in order to pick out the variously unified and accented member of the
building, for the purpose either of tranquilizing it or of giving it vivacity. Light is
form4 If one were to accept Focillons account that architecture GIVES form,
and light IS form, then for the sake of expanding upon this argument, this paper
posits the possibility that light is (can be) architecture.
The discussion of recognizing artificially generated light, 5 as an architectural
material is not new. In 1929, Form magazine published an article stating, Light
provides us with a new formal element devoid of materials firmness, stability, and
organic definition. It seemingly stands in great contrast to the formal elements of
our time. We have to ask if our traditional understanding of form, based as it is on
material and measurable values, might not have to be replaced with a new, more
comprehensive notion. One year later, the magazine Bauwlt summarized, It
would be difficult to find any construction or new building material offering as
many artistic possibilities, and thus challenges, as light.6 This dialogue continues
within the field to recent times, but the trajectory of artificially generated light as
architecture is still relatively undeveloped. Many contemporary architects and
artists such as Toyo Ito, and James Turrell have used light as the fundamental
building material in their designs. These masters have taught us how to experience
the interplay between light and space and to embrace the dynamic relationship
between the material and the immaterial. They use an ephemeral, intangible
medium to dematerialize the tactile, the physical, the concrete. They use light as
their muse and their medium. According to Turrell, One of the difficulties of
Nazanin Khodadad 3
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using light is that there isnt yet a tradition of using it in our culture. On the one
hand, it is no more unusual to use it than to use stone, clay, steel, or paint. There
are materials that you honour, and to that degree I was interested in using light -
not light in glass, scrim, or Plexiglas, but light in the space itself and the qualities
of space - making that light without traditional physical form.... My material is
light.7 As such, the leap is not embracing the idea that light is a material
supporting the architecture, but rather is the material defining the architecture.
Through its ethereal quality, light visually and psychologically affects the
tangible qualities of architectural form. Light is elusive in nature, yet its impact
can be palpable and visually arresting. Although we cannot see the physical
components of light, its presence instantaneously materializes once the particles of
light reflect off of the surfaces of tangible objects, consequently giving light
meaning and form by reflecting off a physical medium. In other words, the rays of
the sun or the rays of high-powered spot lights are in reality the result of invisible
electromagnetic radiation reflecting off the physical, tangible particles in the air
such as dust, pollution, and moisture, giving the illusion that physical tangible
beams of light are penetrating into and ultimately creating space.
Historically, all buildings were designed with a single source of light in mind -
the sun. The beauty and splendour of the space was determined largely by the skill
with which day light was used within the space. The sun was the constant in the
sky and its effects on the built environment dictated the way design and day
lighting in particular was approached.
In the advent of electric light at the end of the nineteenth century and the
beginning of the twentieth century, the understanding and appreciation of
architecture during the night became of equal if not paramount concern.
Architecture now had visual weight and presence both during the day and the
night. Architecture that once held value and was highly revered during the day,
now took on an equally profound and dominant position within the skyline of the
cities during the night.8
Eventually, the integration of artificial light with architectural spaces began to
take on an equally vital role within the overall fabric of the built environment. In a
1960 article in The New Yorker, Joseph Wechsberg wrote about the lighting
designer Abe Feder, who designed the lighting scheme for many prominent
buildings such as the United Nations Headquarters and Rockefeller Center.
Wechsberg wrote, Feder has used light as if it were a building material - plaster,
concrete or wood. He picks up a light and places it elsewhere, or piles light beams
on top of one another, as if they were bricks. But if light is for him one of the
plastic architectural elements, it is by far the worthiest of the lot.9
The significance and symbolic power of light as it is incorporated within
architecture has always been venerated for its ability to penetrate darkness and to
create visual space, rhythm, and order. In this regard, light defines the way in
which we relate to our surroundings and ultimately to architecture and architectural
4 Towers of Light: Architecture of the Immaterial
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spaces.
One of the most influential designers (of the early 1900s) in the field of
lighting design was Joachim Teichmuller. Teichmuller used the term
Lichtarchitektur, light architecture, to refer to the ethereal role of lighting within
the tangible qualities of architecture. Teichmuller was not only cognizant of the
design of the light source, which would complement the space, its forms and
ornamentsbut also addressed the space-shaping power of light itselfwhich
alone could justify the concept of light architecture: Both architecture and the
lamps, in particular the light emanating from its source, are fused into an artistic
unity, so intimate and inseparable, that one must speak of a light architecture.10
According to Teichmuller, architectural light can lead to light architectureif
with it and only with it, specific architectural effects are produced, which appear
and disappear simultaneously with the light. 11
The Cathedral of Lights in 1933 Germany and the Tribute in Light, the
aftermath response to 9/11, are examples of design and architecture that were
intended for the night and can only truly be experienced during the night. This
creative focus is a shift towards architecture specifically created for its visual and
psychological impact during the night. In other words, instead of artificially
illuminating buildings and structures as an afterthought, architecture is designed
and intended to have allure and to be experienced primarily at night.
The ability to control artificial light in order to define space, edge, boundary
and form has tremendous power in visually and psychologically altering
perception. In 1933 the Nationalist Socialist Party was elected into power in
Germany. Its mission was to promote German pride, anti-Semitism, and to
diminish the 1919 Treaty of Versailles peace settlement that ended World War I.
As such, the power and mysticism of light was used as a means to create
propaganda and to spread the message of the party. Traditional architectural
lighting techniques of illuminating facades and interior spaces drew attention to
specific buildings in an effort to emphasize the visual as well as political
significance and power of those structures. Moreover, the Nazi regime understood
the power of Lichtarchitektur, and used it to their advantage to actively spread their
physically and psychologically aggressive rhetoric. Through theatrics and a strong
grasp of artificial lighting, Hitlers regime was able to transform built
environments thereby manipulating and proliferating its own agenda. The effect
was chilling.
On September 7, 1934, Albert Speer, who was Adolph Hitlers chief architect,
used the power and mysticism so deeply rooted in an understanding of light in
order to generate propaganda for the Nazi political party during the rallies at
Nuremberg. In August of each year, hundreds of thousands of Nazis assembled in
open fields where Speer created and defined the setting with over a hundred
searchlights pointing vertically into the night sky. These slender streaks of light,
which soared several miles up, created the illusion that hundreds of columns were
Nazanin Khodadad 5
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pointing into the sky, thereby creating ethereal architectural space and form. Speer
used searchlights for many applications for his architectural and urban designs. He
used similar lighting techniques for the closing ceremonies of the 1936 Olympic
Games in Berlin, creating a visual dome above the stadium. As one author
observed in the 1934 Deutsche Bauzeitung titled Lichtarchitektur and Licht und
Bau (Light and Building), Designs that have never found their realization, and
will not during daytime, could exist at night: one could in and above the existing
city of Berlin, create one out of light and luminous relationships. Above the factual
city, a tactical city would be built, one that is not graspable, but palpable and
unfathomable A light Space Architecture An entirely new Berlin. A dream
city Berlin above the old one.12
The columns of light were not intended to visually enhance or support an
already existing architecture but rather, were an abstract representation of the
columns found in classical architecture. The rhythm and deliberate spacing of the
lights created a spectacular space that evoked mysticism, awe and reverence. In a
1979 BBC audio interview, Albert Speer described the vision he created for the
nighttime Neremberg rallies. I used 130 or so searchlights which I was
distributing in always the same distances around this rally field. The impression I
had when we were trying it was surpassing everything I was thinking because it
turned out that there was a creation of a kind of a huge hall just by lights, and to
create something which is like a building just by light was in this time really
something new.13 Understanding his intent, there is no question that these
columns of light defined the edge, and created architectural space in which to
house the Nazis for the rallies.
In describing the affects, Neumann writes, Speers lighting cathedrals were
meant less as a spectacle to be viewed, than as an interior space of unfathomable
size to be experienced by participants whose strictly choreographed positions were
an important part of the arrangement.14 In short, Albert Speers creation of an
architectural space through the deliberate and systematic use of lighting, affirms
that light not only becomes the element that underlines and gives meaning to the
physical structure, but rather the immaterial light itself becomes the space defining
architecture. What is remarkable is that more than 75 years have past and it is these
ephemeral and momentary structures, more so than his tactile, structural buildings,
which have ultimately survived the test of time.
The Tribute in Light was an emotional response to the tragic events that took
place on September 11th, 2001. Shortly after the destruction of the two World
Trade Center towers, the New York Times issued an invitation to come up with a
resolution in response to the void created by the fallen towers. Two artists, Julian
LaVerdiere and Paul Myoda, proposed using two beacons of light called Phantom
Towers as a way of sculpting the plumes of dust15 in order to represent the two
towers that had dominated the skyline. It is an emotional response more than
anythingthe towers are like ghost limbs, we can feel them even though theyre
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not there anymore. 16
Architects John Bennett and Gustavo Bonevardi also responded to the tragic
events of September 11 by proposing to fill the void in their citys skyline with
high-powered lights. The intent was to symbolically recreate the form and image of
the two fallen towers. The architects maintained that, Were not trying to make a
memorial; this is a rebuilding of our citys skyline, of its spirit.17 During the
evenings of March 11 until April 13 2002 and every year on the anniversary of
September 11 2001, from dusk until midnight, 88 Xenon searchlights mounted at
Battery Park City, directly west of the World Trade Center create two beacons of
light that are directed vertically up into the sky. This gesture is deeply rooted in the
emotional need to connect with the very space where the towers once stood.
During their reign, the twin towers of the World Trade Center, which could be
seen from miles around, stood head and shoulders above other buildings and cast
long shadows across lower Manhattan. Conversely, the immaterial materiality of
the Tribute in Light projects more than four miles into the night sky and can be
seen from distances of more than thirty miles.
Honouring the lives of those who have fallen as well as those who have worked
tirelessly to help rebuild the city, the two high-powered beams of light not only
symbolise the ideas around renewal, transcendence, nationalism, and spirit, but
also visually, physically and psychologically reinterpret and capture the presence
of the physical buildings. The lights become the emotional and visceral connection
to the fallen towers. For one day, since the attacks on New York, people can
symbolically link the brilliance of the lights to the physicality of the towers. And
for one day each year, 2 beams of light reshape the skyline.
Ironically, it is the immaterial qualities of these shafts of light that make it
possible to transcend the realm of the possible and show a more austere and
powerful image of the city and skyline. These two vertical shafts of light reaching
miles into the sky, only to be capped by an occasional cloud or two, become the
very symbolism and place marker for the two towers that once stood in the skyline
of lower Manhattan. Symbolically, the lights honour the memory of the individuals
who lost their lives; visually, the lights represent the physical structure and form.
And in essence, the two beacons of light become the form that replaced the form.
According to Bennett, Since we cant save lives, we tried to respond to public
needs with architecture.18 On November 20, 2002, the 96th Annual New York
Society of Architects awarded the designers of the Tribute of Light, the
Distinguished Service Award for an Outstanding Contribution to Architecture.
These vertical columns of light are continuously referred to as architecture and
perhaps this symbiotic reference to architecture is the link that can bridge the gap
between the theory of light architecture and the reality of light architecture.

So what holds us back from making the case of architecture with light to
architecture of light? Cathedral of Lights physically and visually framed the
Nazanin Khodadad 7
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context in which a Nation rallied to spread its nationalistic propaganda. The
Tribute in Light fills an emotional, visual, physical, and psychological void in a
healing nation. Understanding the motivation and the execution of these two
examples, one can begin to move beyond the notion that light mealy highlights and
distorts existing architectural elements to accepting the notion that light can define,
separate, and create form, space and place, the basic fundamentals to experiencing
architecture. Albert Speer used searchlight to define and create an interior space for
holding the rallies. The theatrics and power of this design is not lost on all who
attended or have seen images of the nighttime rallies. However, it was the tangible
and physical limitations of traditional architecture that demanded a more austere
solution to housing hundreds of thousands of Nazis in one formidable ideology.
Speers solution was to design space using light. Similarly, the designers and
engineers responsible for creating the Tribute in Light understood that tangible
physical materials were limited in capturing the grief and horror of such a tragic
loss. The creators of Tribute also understood that the qualities of the immaterial
could best capture the spirit and tenor of such a nation. Throughout centuries,
architecture has been use to capture the spirit of the time and to give credence to
those in power. For New Yorkers and Americans throughout, these towers of light
have become a symbol of this nation. They have taken their place amongst the
buildings in an effort to complete the skyline thereby becoming the architecture
that replace the architecture. The question continues to be: do these two examples
of lighting design belong in the realm of architecture? The answer is a resounding
yes!

Notes
1
Amos Ih Tiao Chang, The Existence of Intangible Content in Architectonic
Form: Based upon the practicality of Laotzus philosophy, (Princeton: Princeton
2
Dietrich Neumann, ed. Architecture of the Night the Illuminated Building,
(NewYork: Prestel, 2002)
3
Henri Focillon, The Life of Forms In Art, Trans. by Charles Beecher Hogan and
George Kubler. (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1942) 65-75
4
Ibid.,75.
5
Although the term artificial light is conventionally used to refer to light
emanating from a source that is artificially generated by man, the term artificial
light and artificial lighting is not altogether appropriate. Light and the properties of
light regardless of how it is produced whether naturally generated by the sun or
artificially generated by man, cannot be regarded as artificial. However, in order
8 Towers of Light: Architecture of the Immaterial
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to maintain consistency with conventional thought, this paper will refer to light
generated by man in its various forms as artificially generated light.
6
Neumann, 40.
7
Julia Brown, Interview with James Turrell. In Julia Brown ed. Occluded Front,
James Turrell (Los Angeles: The Lapis Press, 1985), 42.
8
Neuman
9
Mel Gussow, Abe Feder, Master of Lighting in All its Forms, Dies at 87, New
York Times 26 April 1997, in Proquest Historical Newspapers the New York
Times pg 52 ) < http://www.nytimes.com/1997/04/26/theater/abe-feder-master-of-
lighting-in-all-its-forms-dies-at-87.html> (Retrieved 21 June 2013).
10
Werner Oechslin, Light Architecture: A New Terms Genesis In Dietrich
Neumann, ed. Architecture of the Night the Illuminated Building (New York:
Prestel, 2002), 28.
11
Ibid., 28.
12
Neumann, 46.
13
Albert Speer, interview by Roger Clark, sound archive, 29 Dec. 1979, BBC
Four: Audio Interviews.
<www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/audiointerviews/profilepages/speera1.shtml> (Retrieved
22 Nov. 2003). On December 29th, 1979 Albert Speer interviewed with Roger
Clark for a BBC audio interview. The question pertained to designing the
Nuremberg rallies and why they were staged at night.
14
Ibid., 48.
15
John Bennett and Gustavo Bonevardi, Tribute in Light, Creativetime.org,
<http://www.creativetime.org/programs/archive/2002/tribute/jl_pm.html>
(Retrieved 18 June. 2013).
16
Ibid.
17
John Bennett and Gustavo Bonevardi, Tribute in Light, Creativetime.org,
<http://www.creativetime.org/programs/archive/2002/tribute/jb_gb.html>
18
Ibid.

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