Forms of Cooling in Architecture

Forms of Cooling in Architecture reclaims cooling as a central task of architectural design. As rising temperatures and growing energy demand expose the limits of air conditioning as a single solution, the book argues that buildings are not merely containers to be mechanically conditioned. Instead, through the dynamic interaction of their surfaces, volumes, and materials with the sun, sky, air, water and earth, buildings can participate directly in the transfer of heat between the human body and the environment. Drawing on thermodynamics, biology, architectural history and materials science, Dorit Aviv and guest contributors offer a broad vocabulary of passive and low-energy strategies—from natural ventilation, evaporative cooling, radiative sky cooling and thermal mass to active radiant systems, phase-change materials, personalized cooling and district-scale approaches. The book begins by examining how heat affects humans, buildings, and cities, then presents an illustrated atlas of cooling approaches grounded in design principles. The final section turns to experimental projects by the author and other experts, exploring how novel materials, geometries, and community-specific applications might shape more adaptive and resilient futures for cooling.