The Illuminating the Past

Preliminary selection of some historical buildings in São Paulo for the evaluation of their natural and electrical lighting characteristics

Abstract

This is a preliminary investigation linked to an ongoing master’s research project, aimed at documenting aspects of natural and electric lighting in architecturally significant buildings constructed between 1900 and 1950 in the city of São Paulo. The proposal emerged from the observation that, in some of the consulted architectural guides of São Paulo, lighting aspects are either not addressed or, when they are, the information provided is unclear or insufficient. This abstract exclusively presents the selection stage of the buildings under study, which will later be analyzed through photographic images using three techniques: High Dynamic Range (HDR), images decomposed into false colors and grayscale, Luminance Brightness Ratio (LBR), and manual drawings. It is expected that this research will encourage the inclusion of lighting considerations in future editions of São Paulo’s architectural guides, with potential applicability to similar guides in other cities.