Architectural notebook · Oriol Valls

Morning and sunset glass: when the nave changes colour

Why blue-green east glass suits 09:00–11:00 and red-orange west glass suits 16:00–18:00 in the tree-column nave.

Coloured glass is not a fixed surface in this nave. It is a filter whose effect depends on the sun's position, the season and even a passing cloud. As a general rule, 09:00–11:00 favours the blue and green glass on the east side. From 16:00–18:00, the red and orange glass toward the west becomes more forceful. These are useful windows, not guarantees.

In the morning I choose a position away from the central aisle and look back across the columns. The cooler light collects around the shafts and makes the pale stone appear slightly blue at the edges. Photographing directly toward a window usually flattens the effect. A diagonal view keeps both the coloured patch and the structure that receives it.

Late afternoon is warmer and more theatrical. A ray can turn a small section of the floor copper while a neighbouring column remains grey. The contrast is the point. If the entire nave looks uniformly bright, wait ten minutes; the changing angle may reveal a narrow band of saturated colour. Cloud cover can soften everything, but it also produces a quieter, more even reading of the vaults.

Midday is not automatically bad, yet it often produces less directional colour and more crowds. I prefer an early entry for drawing and a later entry for atmosphere. Winter light is lower and can arrive at unexpected angles, while summer evenings keep the glass active for longer. Rain does not end the visit, but it changes the glass from projected colour to luminous surface.

My practical advice is to sit still for five minutes before taking out a camera. Watch where light lands, then move one bay closer. The best colour is not always the most famous window; it is the moment when glass, stone and your position line up. That alignment is what makes two visits to the same nave feel entirely different.

Seasonal notes should be written beside the hour. A 17:00 sketch in January does not describe the same sun angle as one in July, and a clear winter afternoon can produce stronger colour than an overcast summer evening. I avoid promising a particular patch on a particular column. Instead, I recommend learning the east-west relationship and watching how the light moves. That makes the visit resilient to weather instead of dependent on a photograph seen elsewhere.

A note on using these pages: the observations are written for general readers rather than as a technical conservation manual. Conditions can change with weather, restoration work and the daily life of the building. That is why I prefer describing a method of looking to promising a fixed spectacle. Stand still, compare one detail with its neighbour, and let the structure explain itself. If staff give a direction on the day, follow it. If your own experience differs from a note here, treat that as useful new evidence rather than a failure of the visit. An independent notebook should make attention easier, not turn architecture into a rigid script.