Lightcatching

Lightcatching is the practice of capturing, directing, or leveraging light in order to illuminate spaces, power devices, or convey aesthetic effect. The term is used across disciplines, including physics, architecture, photography, and materials science. It encompasses both the scientific study of light's interaction with matter—absorption, reflection, refraction, and diffusion—and the practical design choices that optimize the availability and quality of light in a given setting.

In architecture and urban design, lightcatching refers to strategies that maximize natural daylight while controlling glare and heat. Techniques include clerestory and skylight placement, light shelves and reflective interior surfaces, light tubes, and the use of transmissive or partially reflective glazing. In photography and visual arts, lightcatching describes the deliberate capturing of light sources and reflections to sculpt form and mood through composition, backlighting, rim light, and specular highlights.

In energy and materials science, lightcatching relates to harvesting light for electricity or heat. Photovoltaic cells, solar thermal collectors, and luminescent materials convert or trap light. Technologies such as antireflective coatings, textured or microstructured surfaces, and concentrators aim to increase absorption and efficiency.

Practical considerations include temporal and geographic variability of daylight, energy performance metrics (daylight factor, illuminance), and potential issues such as glare or light pollution. The term is sometimes used more loosely as a marketing or design concept rather than a rigorously defined field.