Designing with light, not shadow

The brief for every good architect is the same: study the light, then build for it.

In the north we chase daylight — larger openings, brighter surfaces, oak floors that bounce a little rather than absorb.

In the south we filter — smaller punched openings, thick walls, deep loggias that hold cool shadow next to bright, blinding sun. The mistake is to import the vocabulary of one place into the climate of another.