Undressing Architectural Systems

Abstract

Modernity brought new technical solutions for more efficient space conditioning, improving health and comfort conditions dramatically. As safety and other building codes grew imposingly over the second half of the twentieth century, the incorporation of mechanical systems increased exponentially. However, the growth of mechanical systems in contemporary architectural production often restrains architectural techniques based on local traditionally passive solutions, producing less sustainable, and more expensive spaces. Architects can work on a fully contemporary and sustainable production without the often abusive and blind approach to technology. In this essay, we will propose to reverse part of the design sequence, insisting on a more contextual process based on the relevance of historically valuable passive systems, to finally propose a focus on the design of border conditions as a critical basis for efficiency control, concluding with the consideration of material enclosures as mediating devices for energetic efficiency, and specifically, enclosing mass.