ABSTRACT
Light is the white page; pencil marks make the shadows by which the image is revealed. But in actual architecture the relationship is real: light is light and shadow is shadow. All historical periods of architecture have decorated their surfaces with images and patterns drawn with shadow. Shadow is used in architectural detailing. For example, traditional windows often have mouldings to their glazing bars that catch shadows, framing the view through the glass with parallel lines that soften the edge of its shadow frame. A shadow gap might be placed between two materials to draw a sharp line between them. The shadows the arrises cast on the columns’ surfaces, progressing from narrow to broad, enhance their appearance of solidity and roundness as well as accentuating their role as vertical structural elements. Moulding and modelling contribute to the sculptural possibilities of architecture by the ways they grade shadow.
