Architectural technologies for life environment: passive cooling strategies in the architectures of the Mediterranean area.

Abstract

The Mediterranean area is a highly interesting place where various States, characterised by different people, histories, and cultures face. Reigns, religions, powers, state structures, people, nationalities, etc., everything seems to be extremely different and far. On the contrary, there are some cultural points that are much closer than they officially appear. Indeed, historically, the commercial trades between the various countries have always been highly intense and the Christian and Muslim reigns, even if in a continuous state of conflict, were reciprocally linked by deep (financial) interests. Therefore, that translated in a wide trade of goods that moved on the Mediterranean Sea across the different countries, regardless of culture and religion, resulting - as a consequence - in a contemporary continuous exchange of ideas, materials and technologies. In the architectural and engineering fields it is not infrequent detecting some common characters such as the use of building and construction materials (even if strongly linked to the local availability) and, most of all, the exploitation of common construction technologies and devices. For instance, it is counterintuitive as similar climatic conditions, environments and human needs resulted in similar architectural technologies. In the huge architectural panorama of the Mediterranean area, a very interesting common feature is the joint exploitation of local resources, with particular attention to stone and water, to protect people from the hot climate and make living more comfortable. Indeed, even if considering the local specificities, it is possible to spot some common technologies using this powerful duo. In line with these observations, this work investigates the exploitation of passive cooling systems in the Mediterranean architectural heritage examining the most common physical principles and examples. Ultimately, the knowledge of these architectural machines and their operating principles is nowadays particularly important to re-discover the traditional passive systems used to cool buildings down. Their preservation and re- usage also represent a useful way to understand a simple passive cooling system whose principles could be reproduced in a contemporary way in modern buildings intended for a valid and functional energetic control.