Introduction
A view is said to contain glare if the ratio of the luminance of two surfaces in that view exceeds the recommended maximum ratio for the context. For this case study in Wurster Hall's 6th floor studio, I considered the following four view contexts:
| Max Ratio | Areas | Example |
| 3:1 | Task to immediate surroundings | Book to desktop |
| 5:1 | Task to general surroundings | Book to nearby partitions |
| 10:1 | Task to remote surroundings | Book to remote wall |
| 20:1 or 40:1 | Light source to large adjacent area | Window to adjacent wall |
These recommended maximum illumination ratios come from "Heating, Cooling, Lighting: Design Methods for Architects" by Norbert Lechner, second edition, page 343, except for the final possible variation from this source's 20:1 to the more lenient 40:1 recollected by our very own professor Cris Benton.
Wurster Hall is located near the South East edge of the University of California at Berkeley's campus. Wurster Hall's architects were DeMars, Esherick & Olsen, and the building was completed in 1964. It is located in a fairly hot and sunny climate, with occasional coastal fog. It was built to relate to this environment, and includes features such as at least partially operable windows which give occupants some control over ventilation and temperature. The large windows bring in lots of light, while the shading devices on the east and south sides help lessen the thermal and illumination impacts of that sunlight.
The shading devices are on the exterior of Wurster Hall, in front of the
windows, on the South- and East-facing facades. Each is mounted perpendicular to the wall
and parallel to the ground. In the case of the windows of
the 6th floor studio, each window has two shading shelves, one jutting out from
just above the window, and the second from midway up the window's height.
Each shelf extends about three or four feet out from the window. In
addition, each window's set of four window panes is framed on each side by a
wall about one foot wide which extend out from the building to about half the
depth of the shelves.