PergolasPergolas Fleuries en Provence, PatiosPatios shaded in Spain … these constructionsconstructions traditional, designed to offer shadow and freshness, more and more seduce the architectsarchitects In search of alternatives to global warming. The past is full of ” very interesting examples To make the habitat more pleasant during the hot weather, underlines Cristiana Mazzoni, architect and urban planner in Paris.
Inspirations from silk roads
Professor at the National School of Architecture in Paris-Belleville, Cristiana Mazzoni explored architecture along the old silk roads, from China to the Mediterranean basin. She was particularly interested in courtyard, patio or loggialoggia.
In an interior courtyard, she explains, ” Shadow and vegetation bring freshness and, as is built in the thickness of the building, the sun’s rays do not directly heat the mursmurs ». Often, a fountain or a well draws water in depth, further strengthening this freshness.
These developments are found in Moroccan riads, Roman Domus, Venetian palaces or Ottoman residences with covered central hall. Further east, silk roads lead to Iranian wind towers, true ecological ancestors of the air conditioningair conditioningwhich ensure a natural ventilationnatural ventilation Housing. There are also earth houses, a materialmaterial Naturally insulating which today inspires many architects.
In France, the traditional Provencal house also illustrates this climate ingenuity. It is designed to protect itself from both the sun and the wind, with in particular the installation of a southern side trellis.
A return to ancestral know-how
« We are entering an era when hypertechnology may take over, to the point of keeping us away from humans », Alerte Cristiana Mazzoni.
For Jacques Boulnois, architect at the BHPR office and teacher at the University of Orleans, to return to these know-how represents ” a renewal of thought ». He explains that at the time, we built with the available materials, depending on climates and lifestyles. Faced with the current climate, ” We can no longer do everything, we must find a new contemporary architecture. Without fuel oilfuel oil nor electricity, it was not easy for our ancestors, but they putintelligenceintelligence He insists.
Some projects are already inspired. Rue de Meaux, in the north of Paris, the Italian architect Renzo Piano designed in 1991 a large interior courtyard in the heart of social buildings. “” You will notice the small difference of 2 degrees between the street and the courtyard »Planted by birch and goatfeuilles, observes Colette, a long -standing resident. Even if he does not benefit directly from this freshness in his housing exposed to south, Ilan, 35, appreciates never suffering to ” heat stifling “, As in its previous 19th century building.
Still in Paris, in the Chapel district, the architect Françoise-Hélène Jourda transformed in 2014 the pajol hall, dating from the beginning of the 20th century, integrating rainwater recovery, solar panels and Canadian wells, a system using the temperature of the ground to ventilate a building withairair cooler or hoter depending on the saisonsaison.
But no universal solution, warns Jacques Boulnois. We must adapt this ancient knowledge to the current context. Iranian wind towers, for example, are based on a complex natural ventilation that does not work everywhere.
Faced with ever more frequent heat waves, these know-how from yesterday could well inspire the constructions of tomorrow, provided they adapt them to today’s realities. In September, a conference will bring together architects and urban planners around examples of vernacular architecture from around the world. What to imagine, perhaps, new ways of building capable of challenging the heatheat extreme and rethink our relationship to comfort in the face of the changing climate.