The big picture
Before air conditioning, buildings in hot countries were designed to keep their inhabitants cool. But over time technical solutions have replaced architectural prowess. Technology keeps temperatures down, but pushes up greenhouse gas emissions, contributing to climate change
Before air conditioning, buildings in hot countries were designed to keep their inhabitants cool. But over time technical solutions have replaced architectural prowess. Technology keeps temperatures down, but pushes up greenhouse gas emissions, contributing to climate change.
The Louvre in Abu Dhabi, daughter of its celebrated mother museum in Paris, is itself a work of modern art and proof that style and energy efficiency can go hand in hand. Passive design techniques inspired by traditional regional architecture create a building that is beautiful and climate-friendly. A dome acts as a shading canopy to protect the outdoor plaza and lower buildings from the sun, cooling visitors indoors and outdoors without the need for fossil fuel guzzling air conditioning
PHOTO Agnieszka Kowalczyk
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