Rediscovering the Power of Passive Design
I was born and raised in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Where the summers were naturally hot and sweltering while winter months temperatures descend but it wasn’t so cold, and the humid air endured. My family and I lived in a vernacular and traditional home from the 1800’s called a “Casa Chorizo”.
Reflecting on my childhood house, what I mostly remember is always feeling comfortable in the luminous courtyard and the fresh fragrance of jasmine and azaleas. The courtyard with cross-ventilation made the house stay pleasantly fresh and cool during strong summers though we didn’t have air conditioning or ceiling fans and during the winter it allowed sunlight into the bedrooms. I still remember playing in the patio under the gallery.
Things changed when I moved into an apartment in a brand-new building. It was in a beautiful neighborhood of Buenos Aires, Palermo, with sweeping views across the metropolis. However, this building did not offer the same refreshing experience as my childhood home did. With the sun blasting into the large windows, the space became unbearable in the summer. I had to install blinds over the windows and an air conditioner which remained on 24 hours a day. My beautiful view of the city was now shrouded in white fabric, and I longed for the natural summer breezes.
This realization helped me understand the significant impact a building’s design can have on its inhabitants. Now I appreciate my childhood home key features like the thick brick and adobe walls and the high ceilings and double roof made with a small brick vault, an air gap and metal roof above it and floors of hardwood with a crawl space underneath produced exceptional insulation. Also the transom windows above the doors and windows facilitated the movement and pushed warm air across and out of the building.
An efficient design involves responding to local climate and site conditions to maximize building wind circulation and insulative features to provide household heating, cooling, ventilation, and lighting, thereby reducing or removing the need for mechanical heating or cooling. The use of passive design can decrease temperature fluctuations, improve indoor air quality, and make a home drier and a more enjoyable living environment to live in.
Therefore, I passionately believe that architects should aim to design buildings with comfort and resource-efficiency in mind.