An x-ray section oblique drawing of the Convent of La Tourette in Eveux, France, by Le Corbusier, focusing on the structures that control the way natural light pours into the interior space; the mullions, brise soleils, light cannons and machine guns, sugar lumps. Rather than simply rendering lighting conditions within the space, the structures and apertures which allow the light to pass through are emphasised by manipulating line weights and extrapolating construction lines.
Materialising light. La Tourette is filled with direct parallel light (sun) freed and yet restricted to a strange parameter of entering the structure only at right angles to each facade, without diffusion. In the top analysis, light is given solid form the moment it passes the aperture and into the building, halting once it reaches any physical boundary (walls, floors, stairs, columns). In the center analysis, the light carves out the structure that it reaches -- the parts of the building struck by direct light. The bottom final analysis are the remainders of La Tourette, left in darkness.
A section imposed on a plan. La Tourette is one of many pieces where Le Corbusier masterfully exhibits his understanding of proportions and control of external light. Here, the two floors of the south wing are taken to explicitly examine the way light finds its way through Le Corb's carefully designed mullions and brise soleils, falling onto the various different parts of the interior (walls, floor, desks & columns here). Tones of grey show where the light is traveling through space, while the white of the paper demonstrates where the light reaches its destination, illuminating the structure.
