Light

Design of Form & Light

The goal of this project is to design a non-denominational chapel at Farmingdale State College. The College wants it to be a peaceful space where people of all faiths can worship and reflect. They believe that creative use of light can help achieve this. The design will control light to create a functional and beautiful space, perfect for worship and reflection.

Background Research

Kimbell Art Museum - Louis I. Kahn

Kahn famously described the desired effect of this diffused light on the concrete vaults as a "silvery powdered moth's wing"

Louis I. Kahn Insisted on using natural lighting when creating a work of art

Despite being a modern building, Kahn wanted it to feel as though it had "been there forever," incorporating structural forms that echoed ancient Roman buildings.

The design features 16 parallel, shallow concrete barrel vaults (100 feet long).
Narrow plexiglass skylights at the peak of each vault allow daylight to enter, where it hits wing-shaped, pierced-aluminum reflectors, diffusing the light onto the concrete surfaces.