Enseñanza de dimensionamiento lumínico natural en latitud cero: El caso de la ciudad de Quito = Natural illumination teaching on latitude zero: The case of study of city of Quito

The Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador, at its School of Architecture, considers sustainability as one of the essential points of learning, in the awareness of the severe environmental crisis which excessive energy consumption in buildings causes worldwide. In this sense, natural illumination (NI) and its use constitute an indispensable aspect in interior design, because it not only provides comfort and welfare, but also influences directly people’s behaviour and energy consumption. The weather and the physical conditions of a location affect the incidence of NI, defining the way which the local architecture is built in.The city of Quito, placed at 2,850 meters above the sea level at 0° latitude and squeezed in the Andes mountain range, shows particular conditions of solar incidence, due the dynamic conditions of sky coverage and cloud density. However, nowadays the architectural designs which consider aspects related to NI on a technical basis are still scarce. The current regulations on architecture only contemplate superficially some features and recommendations for architectural design of interiors which encourage and strengthen the importance of NI.The methodology applied consists in a group of research, where students acquire basic notions related to bioclimatic applied to architecture, local climatology, incidence and importance of direct and diffuse natural lighting, solar geometry and dynamism of shades along the time. The aim is to apply the knowledge acquired in case of study, conjugating the following variables: main use of space, space orientation and predominant schedule of use. These variables are analysed in a simplified modifiable application of a NI study developed for Quito, where the physical characteristics of the city are considered, allowing the designer to determinate the appropriate size of windows, adapting them to the reality of the weather conditions of the city, the specific space and its use. In this way, students are enabled to visualize clearly if the proposed openings will generate sensations of gloom, comfort or glare in the user, as well as the time zones when those lighting conditions affect the space.Considering the physical and climatological characteristics of Quito, natural luminic pre-sizing helps architects and designers, even in the undergraduate stage, to generate architectural spaces coherent and contextualized from the NI perspective, which allow to maximize its use and decrease energy consumption. This process reinforces the importance and implications which has the location of clear openings in highlands located at 0° latitude. Besides, it establishes the most and less favourable orientations for glazed openings in Quito, as well as the time zones with major and minor conditions of solar radiation incidence and variability; which all could be included in technical regulations on architectural design for the city of Quito. Finally, it determines time zones with major and minor probability of clear, semi-covered and covered skies, which specially affect sunlight incidence in an interior space.