Designing for climatic phenomena
Exploring the architectural potential of climate responsive design
Bart Wolbert (TU Delft - Architecture and the Built Environment)
Remco Looman – Mentor (TU Delft - Architecture and the Built Environment)
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Abstract
Excessive amounts of fossil energy have disqualified climatic considerations as boundary factors for architecture. This has limited architects to operate in the visual realm, while the invisible senses that make up climatic design are generally disregarded. As a result contemporary buildings are usually unable to provide balanced living conditions without the support of external sources of energy. When climatic phenomena are considered in building design, architecture can generate an informed response through its geometry. By allowing the local climatic context to influence archetypes and low-tech design solutions, buildings become able to benefit from their environmental energy potential through architectural means. Such climate responsive buildings reflect their surroundings through architecture, making them highly location specific. This thesis examines the bioclimatic design philosophy in order to connect architectural thinking to climatic considerations. 9 buildings that are based on geometric principles found in sunlight, solar heat and wind show how architectural methods and techniques can be used to create climatically balanced living environments.