Videotaped teaching materials are increasingly available. The state of
the art in this area of communications should be examined and whatever
advantage can be gained, should be. The PED should include data on provisions
for video. Film projection should be possible and convenient in the rooms used
for teaching, as well as in the major spaces.
3.
LIGHTING.
a.
Natural Lighting. Lighting in most parts of a facility requires no
comment. In respect to the places of worship and prayer. however, certain
observations are appropriate. There is no such thing as "religious light" in
distinction to "profane light". Good places of worship may be dimly lit like
medieval buildings or brightly lit like Christopher Wren's churches. The light
may be filtered through colored glass or come through clear glass. Colored
glass may supply an exotic character, but other architectural features can
counteract this. Clear glass brings a commendable consciousness of the
surrounding world, but can be distracting. These things having been said to
free designers from the limitations of stereotypes, it is also proper to note
that no factor in the design of a place of worship is more important than the
nature of its light.
(1) Practical Issues. Practically speaking, glare, which results
from the adjacency of a bright source and a dark surface, must be avoided. If
sufficient daylight is provided so that artificial lighting is not required
during daylight hours, an advantage is gained, but large areas of glass, even
when triple glazed, are expensive in terms of the energy used. Backlighting of
choir or leaders of worship must be avoided. Skylights can distribute light
well and do not leak if carefully detailed.
(2) Colored Glass. The primary virtue of leaded stained glass has
always been its color, not its images or symbolic devices. Sectarian symbols
and, if Moslems are to use the spaces, any representational art at all must be
avoided. Leaded glass should be protected by having a sheet of tempered clear
glass outside or, in many circumstances, double glazing. It should be so
mounted as to be detachable so the glass can be cleaned occasionally. The use
of colored glass need not be limited to the places of worship but colored
glass loses vitality in bright interior spaces.
Many people suppose that making stained glass windows is something
anyone can do. The assumption is wrong; the technology is not necessarily
difficult, but the sensibilities to and knowledge of color and color relation-
ships in a transparent medium are beyond almost all amateurs. Furthermore,
amateurs rarely understand the work in relation to architecture, rarely know
the range of possibilities in materials,
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