Climatic architecture

Architecture and urbanism were traditionally based on climate and health, with exposure to wind and sun, and variations in temperature and humidity influencing the forms of cities and buildings. These fundamental aspects of urban planning and architecture were largely ignored in the second half of the 20th century due to the widespread use of fossil fuels, which have contributed to the greenhouse effect and global warming.

The fight against climate change now compels architects and urban designers to seriously reconsider climatic factors in their designs, emphasizing greater consideration of the local climate and energy resources. In the face of the 21st century's climatic challenges, we propose resetting our discipline to focus on its intrinsic atmospheric qualities. Air, light, heat, and humidity are real building materials, and convection, thermal conduction, evaporation, emissivity, and effusivity should become design tools for shaping architecture and cities. Through dialectical materialism, we can revolutionize aesthetic and social values.

Philippe Rahm is the 2024 Treseder Fellow at the Faculty of Architecture, Building, and Planning. This Fellowship enables artists, business innovators, designers, policy leaders, start-ups, architects, and scholars dedicated to the development and promotion of design-based innovation to visit Melbourne.

Biography - Philippe Rahm is a Swiss architect, principal in the office of “Philippe Rahm architects,” based in Paris, France. His work, which extends the field of architecture from the physiological to the meteorological, has received an international audience in the context of sustainability. His recent work includes the first prize for the Farini competition (60 ha) in Milan in 2019, the 70 hectares Central Park in Taichung, Taiwan, completed in December 2020, a 2700 m2 Exhibition architecture for Luma Foundation in Arles, France. He has held professorships at GSD Harvard University, Cornell, Princeton or Columbia University where Philippe is currently the Dean’s Visiting Associate Professor. He is a tenured associate professor at the National Superior School of Architecture in Versailles, France (ENSA-V). In 2020, he is the curator of the exhibition “Natural History of Architecture” at the Pavillon de l’Arsenal in Paris. “Climatic architecture”, a monographic book is published at Fall 2023.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

B117 Theatre, Basement, Glyn Davis Building,, Melbourne School of Design, Parkville, Australia