**6. Conclusions**

In correspondence with all the former, the conservative distribution of light in the church in winter under cloudy sky starts at a dim range (around 80–100 lux) but it suffices to perform basic tasks due to its homogeneity and character as shown in the simulations and surveys. For the most part of the year, with sunny conditions, illumination is adequate though not excessive (200–400 lux) thereby avoiding overheating or solar discomfort. Thus, it leads to acceptable thermal conditions, as demonstrated by the data recorded and presented in Figures 11–14 and elsewhere. Therefore, we are reinforced in the belief that the project of this church was designed outside Spain by Father Angelo Italia, after his own experiences in a harsh warm climate in Sicily, 1699 (Figure 25).

The diverse strategies for sustainability be it thermal, luminous, acoustic and so forth, do accumulate in search of an architectural opportunity, encompassing a wealth of cultural nuances. Now and then, sustainable architecture demands an inclusive methodology to provide for the physical and aesthetic improvement of intercultural societies [35].

For instance, the whole previous analysis together with other considerations developed in the references, lead us to conclude that the Jesuit builders had been carefully summoning an ecumenical model of church. A model that could be exported outside Italy and precisely because of its environmental character, it was somewhat more encompassing for the believers of diverse cultures, be it American, Asian or African (Figure 26). Nevertheless, ignorant of the climate variations to be faced, they were unsure of the real effects of their works and consequently their success was limited outside Europe arguably for want of sustainable strategies and techniques.

**Figure 25.** Summer Solstice. Interior of the Jesuit Church of San Francesco Saverio (St. Francis Xavier) in Palermo, Sicily (Italy). Source: Cabeza-Laïnez.

In this article, we continue in proving that simulation is a feasible tool for enhancing our knowledge of human architectural heritage [36], as well as in the matters of understanding the

production and restoration of space, modulation of energy and eventually needs for supplementary artificial means (Figure 27).

**Figure 26.** Summer Solstice. Simulation of reflected radiation by white sands, under the eaves of the Buddhist temple of Ryoanji in Kyoto (Japan). Values reach 10,000 lux as monitored by Joseph Cabeza-Laïnez.

Through geometrical parameters within which the subtle mathematics of configuration factors resides, we are finally able to recognize the importance of geometry related to lighting [37] and by extension to sustainability matters.

Not in vain, one of the architects hereby analysed—the sublime priest Camillo Guarino Guarini—wrote in his treatise "Euclides Adauctus et Methodicus":

"Since the magic of insuperable wondrous mathematics shines brightly on marvellous and truly regal Architecture"

(*Sed insuper Thaumaturga Mathematicorum miraculorum insigne vereque Regali Architectura coruscat*)

The famed quote praised the Savoyard King for his architectural wisdom but the author of the immortal Chapel of the Holy Shroud in Turin, inexplicably ruined by arson in 1998, dawned the Era of Baroque Reason.

**Figure 27.** Simulation of an array of nine circular skylights in the Paris National Library. Clear sky with sun. Architect Henri Labrouste. Source: Cabeza-Laïnez.

**Author Contributions:** Each author contributed equally to the article.

**Acknowledgments:** Joseph Cabeza-Laïnez and Jose M. Almodovar-Melendo are grateful for the consistent help of the following young researchers: Lorenzo Muro Álvarez, Miguel Gutiérrez Villarrubia, César Puchol Barcina, Juan Martínez Bonilla and Gonzalo Pulido <sup>L</sup>ópez. Inmaculada Rodriguez-Cunill would like to thank the artist and conserver Eva Guil Walls as well as professor and lighting artist Begoña Gutiérrez San Miguel. The assistance of professor and art historian Paula Revenga Dominguez is deeply recognised.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.
