by the VELUX Group

We are happy to announce the 7^th VELUX Daylight Symposium, to be held at Café Moskau in Berlin on 3-4 May 2017.

The theme of the symposium will be, “Healthy & Climate-Friendly Architecture – from knowledge to practice”. It will focus specifically on the use of daylight – firstly to create buildings that promote human health and wellbeing, and secondly to minimize the negative impact of man-made structures and activities on climate change. It is crucial that we rethink the way we design our homes, workplaces, schools, public places, cities etc. to address the challenges faced by modern societies, where people spend up to 90% of their lives indoors. How can architecture and daylight interact to stimulate our senses? Can we find a new paradigm for architecture and the way we live using insights derived from lighting, medical and architectural research? What are the mechanisms to transfer knowledge from research into practice, and how can they be accelerated through building policies?

These questions will be addressed and debated with presentations from research, as well as experiences and viewpoints from engineering and architectural practice as well as policy makers – covering a range of aspects related to the use of daylight, while considering people, politics, economy and scale.

“Architecture is about providing locations for people to live, work and play in, so light and how it could help that whole experience is something very fundamental”

David Nelson, Foster+Partners, at Daylight Symposium 2015

Café Moskau

Café Moskau, constructed from 1961 to 1964, was one of 7 international restaurants to be built based on Josef Strauß’s designs as part of a town-planning competition. At the centre of the first socialist residential complex on Karl-Marx-Alle, the prestigious building was to symbolise the fraternal relations between the GDR and the Soviet Union.

Café Moskau was heritage listed in 1989, and thus permanently protected as a cultural asset. The building was fully renovated in 2007, with its 1960s charm restored, and is today used as a multi-purpose meeting and events venue.

Call for papers

Papers are called for within, but not limited to, the following categories:

1. Light and human health; how does light/daylight affect human health and wellbeing, considering physical, biological and psychological effects?
2. Architecture for the senses; how can we design buildings that stimulate our senses, follow our human needs and allow us to live in balance with nature?
3. Daylight as a means to rethinking the way we design buildings and urban environments.
4. Living environments; how can daylight impact the way homes are built and renovated, supporting recreational and social activities, recuperation, health and wellbeing?
5. Working environments; how can daylight impact the way offices and public buildings are built or renovated, supporting productivity, performance, satisfaction, health and wellbeing?
6. Learning environments; how can daylight impact the way schools are built or renovated, supporting learning capabilities, social interaction, health and wellbeing?
7. Socioeconomic aspects related to improving daylighting conditions in homes, schools, healthcare and/or offices?
8. Building legislation; what are the opportunities, challenges and responsibilities associated with daylight in building legislation?
9. Sustainability; how can we use daylight to create buildings that have a low impact on the environment, while also providing a high quality of life for the occupants?

Abstracts of 500 words to be submitted by email to thedaylightsite@velux.com before 30 November 2016. The Scientific Daylight Symposium Committee will review your proposal, and submitters will be notified regarding the status of their submission.

Registration

Registration for the event will open in Setptember 2016.

VELUX Daylight Academic Forum 2017

On 2 May 2017, we invite all PhD students working with daylight research to join the 4^th VELUX Daylight Academic Forum in Berlin and get further insights into their daylight research with other fellow PhD students – supported by a panel of independent researchers. The Daylight Academic Forum is dedicated to PhD students and is an excellent opportunity to establish and strengthen your network among other fellow PhD students. In line with previous events, it will focus on a mix of individual presentations of PhD projects in smaller groups, as well as constructive discussions with other students and a panel of scientific experts providing valuable feedback and guidance at an early stage of your research project. Please be aware that only ongoing PhD projects at the time of the event are eligible for participation.

VELUX Daylight Symposium

The previous VELUX Daylight Symposiums – held in Budapest in 2005, Bilbao in 2007, Rotterdam in 2009, Lausanne in 2011, Copenhagen in 2013 and London in 2015 – brought together participants from research, architectural and engineering practices, as well as legislation and lighting design, from all over the world.

More information about previous events, as well as presentations from speakers, are available on the Symposium page.