Matt Fajkus - Architectural Science and the Sun: The Poetics and Pragmatics of Solar Design

This book explores the intersection of physics, climate, and perception in architecture. The primary task of this book will be to provide the designer with essential tools and knowledge to address the central architectural challenge of our time: combating climate change through the design of low-energy buildings. The text will cover principles of architectural science, the foundation of high-performance building design, including topics such as thermal comfort, solar geometry, building thermodynamics, passive design, and daylighting.

Energy-efficiency alone is an insufficient goal for the built environment, however. Building on the work of classics such as Lisa Heschongs Thermal Delight in Architecture and Juhanni Pallasmaas The Eyes of the Skin, Architectural Science and the Sun starts from the premise that great architecture goes beyond energy performance and the visual-aesthetic to engage all of the senses. Much of the power of work by masters such as Glenn Murcutt, Peter Zumthor, and Sigurd Lewerentz, for example, results from their skill at designing fulfilling multi-sensory experiences. Given that the stimuli to which our senses respond are physical phenomena such as light, heat, and sound, the design team must manipulate these parameters through the craft of building form and technology to create the desired qualitative experience. This book will help the designer develop the skills to do so.

Part analytical handbook, part inspiration source for schematic design, this book aims to fill two gaps in the literature. First, while there are numerous books covering passive design strategies, these books generally do not provide adequate grounding in the fundamental principles governing the performance of such building techniques. The engineering literature, on the other hand, includes many texts on building physics, but the material tends to be presented in a highly technical manner inaccessible to the design community. This gap leaves many architects without the tools to properly evaluate the applicability of specific techniques to unique conditions and hinders sustainable design innovation. Architectural Science and the Sun will serve as a detailed reference on the principles of architectural science for the design community.

The book aims to fill a second niche by taking a specific and analytical approach to sensory phenomenology where other works on the topic have tended to be more general and conceptual. The objective is to connect the designer with the sensory experiences that physical phenomena create. The book facilitates integrated design by providing architects with the skills to translate back and forth between quantitative data and qualitative experience, thus serving designers whether working with an intuitive approach or applying the powerful simulation tools readily available today.

The book synthesizes physics, climate, program, and perception to create high-performance buildings that provide superlative experiences for their users. This book intends to serve design practitioners, academics, and architecture students as a guide for performing this synthesis. Part of the purpose is as a handbook, for which certain conventions are established and explained next.