The Iranian plateau
Fierce dry heat, freezing desert winters, almost no rain.
Persia engineered the desert like no one else: windcatchers harvest the sky's breeze, qanats bring mountain water underground for miles, howz pools cool courtyards by evaporation, and summer rooms sink into the earth. Yazd is the world's masterclass in passive cooling.
Born here · 5 techniques
A tower above the roof catches prevailing wind and funnels it down into the rooms; when the air is still, sun-heated tower walls drive air upward,…
A qanat brings cool water from distant mountains; the windcatcher draws air down over that water and evaporation chills it before it enters the rooms.
A still or trickling water body in a shaded court cools the surrounding air by evaporation and radiant exchange; studies report drops of several de…
The shaded courtyard collects dense cool night air; by day, hot air rises out of the open top while cooler court air is drawn into the surrounding rooms.
A half-sunken summer room wrapped in earth, which stays near the stable underground temperature all year.