Daylight in Buildings

Architectural personalisation with light - basement revitalization


Beata Momot


Lorens Anna,

Piotr Kudelski


Politechnika Warszawska



Architectural personalisation with light - basement revitalization

Project Description

Adapting buildings to new functions is becoming increasingly popular in architecture. The amount of land for development is limited. In my design, I draw attention to seemingly useless basements, basements located in a densely built-up city, but also in detached houses or blocks of flats. They constitute a significant part of the city and are generally not used by users. The design of the window system allows for natural "living" in previously unused cellars by using a window system for attics. The idea is based on reversing the current way of thinking about the function of this type of windows by applying them to the attic,in the basement. The "Magnyfing window" increases light through its construction and the reflective materials multiply the amount of daylight entering the interior. Appearing reflections optically enlarge the window along with what is outside. An additional advantage is the improvement of room ventilation. Hortus conclusus (Latin: "closed garden") - in the Middle Ages, a home garden, surrounded by a wall, often within the castle borders. Gardens have been shaped since the earliest times. Their presence is a result of man's desire to live in an ideal space. Throughout history, the canon of beauty has changed, and with it the spatial shape of garden assumptions. The space of today's densely built-up cities lacks constant contact with nature. The project offers a revival of the city's ubiquitous basements in favour of public gardens, generally accessible to the urban community, as a new approach to adapting unused spaces below ground level. These gardens are becoming a modern function in the city, which can be used for a variety of purposes, such as vegetable growing, cellar gardening, zen gardens, contemplative gardens, orangery, etc.