Windows of Light by Lina Ghotmeh maps light as a force that is simultaneously cosmological, cultural, and political — tracing its symbolism across civilisations while confronting the stark inequity of who, today, has reliable access to it.
About This Book
Structured as field notes rather than a conventional architectural monograph, Windows of Light moves between archaeology, photography, and drawing to build a layered argument about light's centrality to human life. Ghotmeh draws on non-Western and marginalised perspectives to challenge the assumption that artificial light is universal, grounding that critique in Laurian Ghinițoiu's photographic documentation of Beirut's electricity crisis. The book's three chapters move from the origins and measurement of light across cultures, through a portrait of darkness as lived condition, to the architect's own ink drawings on light, water, and the natural world. Essential reading for architects, researchers, and anyone working at the intersection of architectural theory and social equity.
Key Features
- 288 pages of illustrated field notes, photographic essays, and original ink drawings
- Photography by Laurian Ghinițoiu; drawings and reflections by Lina Ghotmeh
- Features the Stone Garden Housing project by Lina Ghotmeh – Architecture, and documentation of Beirut's electricity crisis
- Published by Lars Müller Publishers
What You'll Discover
- How light has been measured, captured, and mythologised across diverse cultures, with deliberate attention to non-Western traditions often excluded from architectural histories
- The lived reality of Beirut's electricity crisis as a lens through which access to artificial light is reframed as a question of social justice rather than infrastructure
- The relationship between Ghotmeh's Stone Garden Housing project and the specific conditions of light scarcity it was designed within
- A personal visual language developed through ink drawings that articulate the architect's thinking on light, water, and materiality outside the conventions of technical drawing
About the Author
Lina Ghotmeh is a Lebanese-born architect whose practice, Lina Ghotmeh – Architecture, engages deeply with material culture, memory, and the relationship between built form and natural systems. Her work spans architecture, research, and pedagogy, and is grounded in an ongoing inquiry into the social and environmental conditions that shape how buildings are made and inhabited.
Specifications
- Format: Hardcover
- Pages: 288
- Dimensions: 22.5 × 30 cm
- Language: English
- ISBN: 9783037787762
- Publisher: Lars Müller Publishers
- Publication Date: [Details available upon request]
Perfect For: Architects and students interested in the social dimensions of design, researchers working in architectural theory or environmental humanities, and practitioners engaged with light, materiality, and equity in built form.