Evaluating Users’ Visual Lighting Preferences in Architectural Spaces (Case Study: Traditional Houses of Yazd)

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Ph.D. Department of Architecture, Faculty of Arts and Architecture, Yazd University, Yazd, Iran.

2 Assistant Prof. Department of Architecture, Faculty of Arts and Architecture, Yazd University, Yazd, Iran.

Abstract

Light in architecture functions far beyond its utilitarian role of illumination; it operates as a fundamental medium for shaping spatial meaning, aesthetic perception, and lived experience. Through its dynamic interaction with form, material, and time, light contributes to the construction of atmosphere and influences how space is perceived, inhabited, and emotionally experienced. Despite its critical role, contemporary architectural practice in Iran often overlooks the qualitative and experiential dimensions of natural light. This neglect largely stems from function-oriented design approaches, construction-driven priorities, and the absence of reliable frameworks for evaluating users’ visual and emotional preferences. As a result, light is frequently reduced to a quantitative or technical parameter rather than recognized as an active perceptual and aesthetic agent.

This study aims to address this gap by developing an evaluative model of users’ visual preferences toward natural light, using Qajar-era houses in Yazd as exemplary cases. These houses represent a refined architectural tradition in which light has been consciously, climatically, and culturally integrated into spatial organization. By examining these traditional environments, the research seeks to reveal how different lighting conditions contribute to distinct perceptual and emotional experiences.

The research was conducted in two complementary phases. The first phase adopted a quantitative survey-analytical method to assess external (physical) preferences related to the spatial attributes of light, such as intensity, direction, contrast, and distribution. A seven-point Likert-scale questionnaire was completed by 100 participants familiar with traditional Yazd architecture and analyzed using descriptive statistical methods. This phase focused on identifying preferred physical qualities of light across different architectural spaces.

The second phase investigated internal (affective) preferences through a qualitative survey grounded in Russell’s circumplex model of affect (1980, 1989) and the PANAS framework. Participants evaluated bipolar emotional descriptors using a seven-point scale, reflecting their emotional responses to different lighting conditions. The results were visualized through density-mapping (heat-map) techniques, allowing for the identification of emotional concentration patterns across five categories of light-defined spaces: light-seeking, shade-oriented, light-bearing, dark-dominant, and light-filtering spaces.

The findings demonstrate that each spatial category generates a distinct aesthetic and emotional experience. Light-seeking spaces evoke feelings of vitality, openness, and stimulation, while shade-oriented spaces foster calmness, comfort, and pleasure. Light-bearing courtyard spaces offer mixed and fluctuating experiences, ranging from serenity to liveliness, due to their temporal variability. Dark-dominant spaces, characterized by reduced illumination and spatial ambiguity, tend to encourage contemplation, introspection, or occasionally mild tension. Light-filtering spaces, shaped by dynamic patterns of shadow and brightness, stimulate ambivalent emotions combining tranquility, pause, excitement, and subtle tension.

Overall, the combined physical and affective analyses indicate that the perceived quality of light emerges from the interaction between spatial attributes and users’ cognitive-emotional responses. Traditional houses, by providing a spectrum of lighting atmospheres, support adaptability to psychological needs, daily rhythms, and climatic conditions. The study concludes that contemporary architectural design should reconceptualize natural light as a multidimensional and experiential phenomenon and integrate users’ visual preferences more explicitly into design processes to enhance emotional resonance and spatial quality .

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References

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Journal of Fine Arts: Architecture & Urban Planning
Volume 30, Issue 4
December 2026
Pages 83-96

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