A Bio-Climatic Approach to Desert Architecture

Desert architecture may be characterized as “Architecture of the Extremes,” being basically similar to “regular” architecture but differentiated from it by its obligation to address needs and problems of an extreme character. The problem of thermal comfort in buildings is perceived as one of the more characteristic and difficult problems that desert architecture must address, even though this is not the only problem nor necessarily the most difficult one. A typical way of addressing the thennal comfort issue in buildings is by intensive use of expendable energies, but this, of course, is not an ideal approach: it leads to waste of energy, it is expensive, and not everyone is comfortable with the thermal conditions it creates (witness the number of people who do not like air-conditioning). Various characteristics of design and construction enable the improvement of thennal comfort to be integrated into a building without the use of artificial means and expendable energy. Now, when it seems that even the drowsy Negev (the southern half of the Israeli land area, which houses only about 7 percent of the country’s population) is awakening to a building surge, it is desirable to clarify these methods, and even to try to apply them in new building projects. What’s more, as an ever increasing worldwide need for housing construction is evident, much of it in hot arid lands, the “right” type of building technology should be used to improve standards of living and decrease the use of purchased energies.