Historical Architecture

Visual History of Light from Above

The Editor·Memar 147

Visual History of Light from Above

It is believed that the Mithraic temples of Badamyar and the temple of Varjovi were built between 4,000 and 8,000 years ago.

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Interior of the Mithraic temple of Varjovi near Maragheh, showing an oculus carved through the cave ceiling with sunlight casting a bright patch on the rough stone walls below — Mithraic Temple of Varjovi, Maragheh, East Azerbaijan

Looking upward through the stone dome of the Palace of Ardashir Babakan in Fars, Iran, with the circular oculus framing blue sky, surrounded by courses of ancient masonry — Palace of Ardashir Babakan, Fars, Iran, 224 AD

The grand interior of the Pantheon in Rome, with its coffered concrete dome and central oculus flooding the space with a column of natural light — Pantheon, Rome, Italy, 113–125 AD

Interior of the Bruder Klaus Field Chapel by Peter Zumthor, with charred timber walls radiating upward toward a teardrop-shaped oculus that admits a piercing shaft of white light — Bruder Klaus Chapel, North Rhine-Westphalia, Mechernich, Germany, Peter Zumthor, 2007

Black-and-white film still from The Cow by Dariush Mehrjui, showing an overhead opening in a village dwelling with light flooding down into the dark interior — A scene from the film "The Cow" (Gaav), directed by Dariush Mehrjui, based on a story of the same name by Gholamhossein Saedi

Black-and-white film still from The Cow by Dariush Mehrjui, showing the face of a cow looking upward beneath a shaft of light entering from an opening in the ceiling — A scene from the film "The Cow" (Gaav), directed by Dariush Mehrjui

Iran Ancient Iran Memar 147 Oculus Cultural Heritage

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Visual History of Light from Above