• Archives of design research
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.243-254
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• 2003

The aim of this study is to analyze the skylights and roof structures designed by Marie Botta from the viewpoint of the space, the form and the light source, and thus to find out their characteristics. For this purpose, his 13 major works were selected and analyzed according to the principle of design, which could explain the characteristics of skylight and roof structures sufficiently. Trough this study, the followings are realized. 1) The skylights are the main light source in the interiors of his buildings that are comparatively dark, being enclosed by thick materials such as bricks. The roof structures have been precisely designed to disperse the light effectively 2) The skylight and roof structures play the role of form-creating elements in his buildings. They create the unique images for the exteriors and endow form to the interiors. 3) The skylight also serves as a window to communicate with nature outside. Through the skylight, people in his buildings are able to perceive the flow of time and enjoy the scenery of the sky. 4) The light that showers through the skylight and adjusted by roof structures produces special atmosphere in his projects. In his interiors, people can experience a somewhat miraculous and sacred feeling with the light from above. 5) The skylight has meaning as a symbol. It symbolize the relationship between the earth and the sky. Also, in religious projects, a skylight provides a symbolic vision of Heaven for Christians. Comparing with recent works presented in our country, which emphasize simple interiors using artificial light, Botta's works suggest another form of design differentiated from the works of our designers in that Botta's works not only take advantage of natural light by using skylights and roof structures but also utilize them as form-creating elements.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Interior Design Conference
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• 2007.05a
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• pp.222-226
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• 2007

Buildings form interior space when part of an external environment is limited by a physical surface. And, the interior space forms an appearance of building when space-defining elements, such as floor, wall, and roof. An appearance or a form of building has a lot of meanings depending on the physical and psychological conditions, as well as symbolism. Especially, the prevailing meaning of form in the modern age was, "Form follows function," was quite different from the meaning of form in the architectural era of Louis I. Kahn, who asserted "Form always supercedes function," when functional modernism was still existed even after some 50 years later. Existing studies on Louis I. Kahn usually analyzed his architectural terminology and philosophical concepts of Centrality, Light, Order, Form, and Design; or they were focused on an overall plane and the principle of composition. The purposes of this study are: (1) to investigate how the formal composition characteristics of building are expressed on skylights; and (2) to demonstrate that the formal composition characteristics of skylights plays an important role in constructing a whole structure of building in relation with other architectural elements.