الكثبان
D U N E S
THE HOUSES UNDER THE SAND
by Michele Leonardi architect © August 2019 - concept
Example of cover-up
from the natural world
MOVING
from the natural to the artificial world - the natural world created by man -, what is the advantage for a building?
A first conceptual benefit is the invisibility one, but this does not interest us.
THE OTHER
very important practical advantage is the daytime cooling and night heating (in the desert, by night the air temperature drops considerably). That is the thermal insulation and the damping of daily and seasonal temperature changes, thanks to the mass of sand placed over the structure of the house. We are talking about bioclimatic architecture.
In other words, in the desert: we can use the sand as a shield, compared to solar radiation and atmospheric air temperature. Is what many little animals of desert do when they hide in the sand to escape the heat.
So, if we think of the Kalahari Desert in South Africa, we do not consider antelopes and elephants ...
u n d e r c o n s t r u c t i o n p a g e