Lisa Heschong on designing for daylight and view

Design the Future

Architect, researcher, consultant, and educator Lisa Heschong is also an author. Her latest book, Visual Delight in Architecture; Daylight, Vision and View (Routledge, 2021), explores findings on the physiological, cognitive, social and cultural importance of daylight and view in our everyday environments. Her book, Thermal Delight in Architecture is a cult classic, which grew out of her MIT master’s thesis. Lisa thinks of daylight and view as “nutrition” that we need on a continuous basis.

“The circadian stimulus that is provided by daylight is really fundamental to our health on so many levels," she says. “For metabolic health, we need to synchronize with the daylight patterns of the planet. Looking out a window actually gives us the strongest signal that we can get from inside a building. Even more so than daylight illumination -- it’s brighter and more interesting.”