Roman times.

The next issue is concerned with space and light, the fundamental elements of architecture. From Roman times, the capture and manipulation of light has been a defining aspect of the built environment. By shaping buildings to receive and display solar movement and enhance perception of changing light, the fluidity and mobility of the skies was revealed and drawn into buildings. In some cultures, such as Japan, light is treated almost as a living material or presence. Kengo Kuma exploits these qualities in an elegant, jewel-like glass house framed in a dramatic landscape. Countries in northern latitudes, such as most of Scandinavia, have their own very particular relationship with light. The character of Nordic light is explored in two Finnish projects; a new museum devoted to the culture of the Sami (or Lapps) by Juhani Pallasmaa and a day care centre by Kaira-Lahdelma-mahalamaki.

In Spain, Rafael Moneo has built a theatre for the Basque port San Sebastian, which diffuses light through a sensuous translucent skin, softening and animating the building. In the American south-west, Wendell Burnette's studio for a design firm filters the harsh desert light in an imaginative synthesis of materials and form. And in the Dutch town of Nijmegen, Van Berkel & Bos's new museum brings together collections of regional archaeology and modern art in a long low volume clad in green translucent glass. The building's elemental simplicity belies a diversity of internal spaces.

Plus the usual stimulating mixture of Interior Design, Outrage, Delight and House. Obtain this and II other equally enlightening issues by completing the enclosed subscription form.