France looks to the past to adapt its homes to climate change
Traditional systems such as pergolas and shaded patios are increasingly of interest to architects in France, as they seek solutions to address rising temperatures caused by climate change.
"There are many very interesting examples" from the past that make homes more comfortable in high temperatures, says Cristiana Mazzoni, architect and urban planner.
This professor at the École Nationale Supérieure D'Architecture De Paris-Belleville (ENSAPB) studied the architecture of the ancient Silk Roads, which crossed the Asian continent, from China to the Mediterranean basin, and in particular the “houses with courtyard or loggia”.
In an internal courtyard, “the shade and vegetation bring freshness and, as it is built inside the building, the sun’s rays do not directly heat the walls,” he explains.
“There is often a spring or well that brings water from the depths, which creates even more freshness,” recalls Mazzoni.
These internal courtyards are characteristic of traditional Moroccan palaces, Roman houses (domus), Venetian palaces or Ottoman residences with a covered central vestibule.
“Following the Silk Roads, we find wind towers,” the ancestors of air conditioning, very common in Iran, which cool homes through a natural ventilation system.
There are also “earth houses,” a highly insulating material that inspires many architects today, adds Mazzoni.
Another example is traditional Provençal houses, designed to protect themselves from the wind and sun, especially thanks to the installation of a vine on the south facade.
“We are entering a time in which we run the risk of giving too much importance to high technology (…) and moving away from the human being,” highlights the architect, who will organize a seminar on this topic in September.
“Building was done with available materials and according to the climate and lifestyle,” says Jacques Boulnois, an architect at the BHPR firm and professor at the University of Orleans, in central France.
Recovering ancestral knowledge represents “a renewal of thinking” regarding the climate and “we need to find a new contemporary architecture,” he points out.
“Without fuel or electricity, it wasn’t easy for our ancestors, but they used their intelligence,” adds Boulnois.
There are examples of modern reuse, such as in the streets of Meaux, a town north of Paris, where the famous Italian architect Renzo Piano, co-creator of the Pompidou Center, designed a large internal courtyard in 1991 in the middle of the social housing he designed.
“There’s a slight difference of two degrees between the street and the courtyard,” planted with birch trees and honeysuckle, comments Colette, a resident of the residence.
Also in Paris, in the La Chapelle neighborhood, French architect Françoise-Hélène Jourda renovated Halle Pajol in 2014, a former railway warehouse from the early 20th century.
The renovation allowed the creation of a rainwater collection system, installation of solar panels and a Canadian well (also called a Provençal well), which uses the ground temperature to ventilate with warmer or cooler air, depending on the season.
However, “there are no miracle solutions,” warns Boulnois, and guarantees that it will be necessary to reflect on how to apply these techniques to the contemporary world.
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