Abstract
Daylight has been used for aesthetic and religious reasons in architecture since prehistory. In the mid 19th century, daylight was used as a medicinal aid to lift hospital patient's spirits as recommended by Florence Nightingale. At the turn of the 20th century, outdoor balconies were designed to aid in the treatment of tuberculosis. However, the therapeutic use of daylight diminished in the 40's when sufanilimide proved more reliable at treating bacterial infections. Since this time, there has been limited design exploration into how daylight can be incorporated into buildings for therapeutic use. This study assesses the various ways daylight can be maximized for therapeutic use in buildings through historical analysis, design studio explorations and light meter readings. From Rosenthal and Kripkes' research, it becomes evident that the high amount of light required to curb depression and regulate circadian rhythms greatly exceeds today's low light level standards which are based solely on visual comfort and safety. However, the results of this study have found that refuge areas such as outdoor porches, tower rooms, window seats and sunrooms along with large skylights can harvest the high amounts of natural light required for normal bodily functioning. Less potent, but significant amounts of daylight can be attained through certain plan types and the strategic placement and size of windows and skylights. The paper concludes that while daylight may augment artificial light therapies, natural light varies in different circumstances. Therefore, more research is needed to discover how plan orientation, material reflectance, latitude, sky condition and seasons alter daylight levels.