Light

I have been selected to design a proposed non-denominational chapel located on the campus of Farmingdale State College. The College wants this to be a profoundly spiritual place that people of all faiths can worship and reflect on life’s events. Farmingdale college believes this can be achieved by the creative use of light. The building should be integrated into the fabric of the campus. The College explicitly requests the design not be symmetrical.

Light Background Research

Chapel of St.Ignatius

There are eight areas, each have a corresponding light volume.

The South-facing light corresponds to the procession.

The City, represented by the north-facing light, symbolizes their mission of outreach to the community.

The main worship space is defined by volumes of light entering from the east and west.

Holl used light as a narrative element, transforming the space into an embodiment of jesuit spirituality.

Each light volume is conceived through a dialectical interplay between a pure-colored glass lens and a corresponding field of reflected color within the spatial enclosure

Positioned opposite each large aperture, referred to as a “bottle of light”--is a color-specified baffle, painted to reflect and modulate the incoming light. These baffles are only visible from within the chapel, reinforcing the introspective nature of the space.