Just as the light monitors punctuate the roofline in the first photo, they also punctuate the living pavilion’s wood-beamed ceiling. And Finne does not want you to get them mixed up with skylights. Not at all.

“Skylights are horizontal planes of glass that face the sky. Sunlight barrels through and can create unbearable, uncontrollable hot spots,” he says. “They don’t control the light, they don’t manipulate the light and they don’t filter or shape the light. Light monitors are a way of architecturally controlling the light.”

By making them north-facing, Finne ensured that they provide soft, easily controllable northern light. However, he rotated each monitor slightly toward the east. This created a more interesting pattern expressed by the ceiling beams, which follow the rotating positions of each light monitor. “If all the beams had been lined up parallel to one another, the design would have lost something,” Finne says.

Three of the five light monitors are operable. This allows them to vent out hot air as it rises. “Between the large sliding doors and the light monitors, this house stays nice and cool,” Finne says. “It doesn’t have air conditioning because it doesn’t need it.”