A Brief History of Ventilation: An Analysis of the Shared Evolution Between Architectural Form and Thermal Function

Abstract

Historically, architectural form and thermal ventilation systems have developed in concert. This thesis traces their shared evolution, beginning with ancient Persian wind catchers and David Boswell Reid’s 19th century hybrid ventilation system for the Houses of Parliament, and argues that their 20th century divergence, catalyzed by the invention and proliferation of mechanical air conditioning, represents a productive problem for contemporary design to address. The first chapter establishes a historical context in which form and thermal function were inseparable. The second chapter examines how the modernist movement, and the desire for a universal set of architectural rules that demanded a climate-neutral interior, severed this relationship and resulted in knowledge siloes that limit innovation in the interdisciplinary space between architecture and engineering. The contrasting fates of the Cité de Refuge and the UN Secretariat demonstrate how the glass curtain wall, an icon of modern architecture, was made possible by offloading climate mitigation entirely onto mechanical systems. The third chapter discusses recent buildings by Alan Short and Salmaan Craig that offer a renewed integration of passive ventilation and architectural form by reviving and adapting proven traditional systems. These projects are situated within adaptive comfort theory as a regulatory framework that facilitates use of passive systems today. The thesis concludes by proposing a workflow in which passive systems come first in design and mechanical systems are used as complements where necessary.