Bailey Lowrey

ARCH 2123| Fall 2013

Thermal Delight In Architecture critical response

September 17, 2013

Prof. Amber Ellett

Every day people are affected by their surroundings whether they are knowingly aware of

it or not. People live in relation to their environment and function accordingly. In the book,

Thermal Delight in Architecture by Lisa Heschong, the effects of temperature and climate on the

design of architecture is discussed. Heschong uses examples of different architectural elements

and how those respond to one of the most important human desires: the desire to be comfortable

in one’s surroundings.

Thermal Delight in Architecture addresses the need for human beings to function in an

environment that is at a regular temperature in their general satisfaction level. People of different

cultures have different levels of heat they can tolerate but all people want to be at a median level

of temperature. By bringing the reader’s attention to this ultimate desire, Heschong is able to

provide a strong argument for the relationship of dwelling features to be in direct correlation

with the human inclination to seek places of temperate shelter.

Heschong provides support for her argument of human desire of comfort thorough the

use of many examples in which the reader most likely never realized they had experienced. Such

examples include the feeling of warmth a person receives from only the thought of a four-post

bed. In general, the bed itself is not warm until it has absorbed the body heat of the person placed

in it, but the thoughts of spending a cold night protected and sheltered from the frosty outside in

a heavily covered bed can make anyone person feel a warmth flood thr. In addition, architectural
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elements seen on houses give the impression of this same warm, protected feeling. Shutters that

have become a staple for Southern houses, were originally placed upon these houses to function

as a way to create coolness while shading rooms from the direct sunlight as well as allowing

breezes to enter the house in the hot, humid summers, in addition to protect the interiors from

harsh winds and precipitation in the winter. Shutters on modern southern homes have smaller

and ornamental fixtures that do not play a functioning role to the cooling and heating of a house

but are only aesthetically pleasing and convey that “homey” feeling many Southerners look for

in their houses.

Another point, Heschong makes is the relationship between architectural features,

temperature, and culture. One of the strongest examples Heschong provides is with the people of

Japan and their hot baths. The open layout style of Japanese house allows for breezes to flow

through in the summers but provides little insulation and protection from the cold in the winter.

Due to this, the Japanese have created a custom of daily hot baths. This has become a cultural

event in which men and women (separately) can come together, spend time talking and

socializing, as well as heating themselves up. These daily baths allow for Japanese houses to

maintain their open structural style while socially improving family and community bonds.

Thermal Delight in Architecture gives insight into the finer details an architect must be

aware of to make an environment that performs not only function for its inhabitants but meets

their requirements of comfort as well. This connection between the environment, social

dynamics, and architectural design can be easily overlooked, but Heschong’s writings can lead a

designer to look to their own memories and experiences and receive insight from there. Being

able to relate to Heschong’s examples is what makes Thermal Delight in Architecture such an

applicable book to one’s design ambitions. Readers can remember a time where they were
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seeking refuge from the hot sun and a shaded porch with a light breeze was the greatest place to

be and another memory of huddling by the fire in a close quartered den after a day playing in the

snow. Heschong reminds architects that the places they design are meant to function and to be

places people want to be. Space that architects have the opportunity to create has to coincide

with the environment and its people so that it does not remain as only a space but instead as a

memory.