DAYLIGHTING IN UNDERGROUND PUBLIC SPACES: A STUDY OF DAYLIGHTING TECHNIQUES AND ITS POETIC AND PRACTICAL ATTRIBUTE APPLICABILITY TO UNDERGROUND PUBLIC SPACES

Abstract

Land scarcity and rapid urbanization has put tremendous pressure on land scarce nations. This problem has been a top priority in Singapore's agenda and has been address via land reclamation over the years. However, with the recent release of the White Paper which projects a population growth to 6.9million people by 2030, this puts additional strains on the existing living spaces and amenities. To improve the quality of living of Singaporean, there is a need to look into alternative solutions like expansion and optimized use of land such as underground spaces. So far underground spaces has been used for shopping, warehousing, transportation and storages. There has not been extensive studies of utilizing underground areas for public communal use. Since daylighting is an inseparable aspect of architecture expression, there is also a need to focus on daylighting in underground studies. Daylight has the property to bring about different visual perceptive to an individual. The manipulation of daylight through the clever use of structure, form, texture, colour and tone, light and shadows, can vary the quality of spatial experience in architecture. Hence, it is essential to understand how daylight plays an important role to define the final realized design in architecture or space. This paper will study and analyze the existing overseas and local underground architecture to understand the unique techniques used to introduce daylight. Each case studies will discuss the poetic and practical role of daylight, through architecture forms, elements and details. The findings will serve as a basis for future development of underground public spaces.