NUST Institutions Library Catalogue

This is a Ph.D. dissertation. In contemporary architecture education, indoor climate and building installations suffer from a lack of popularity. Students of architecture, filled with great expectations and awe for the famous designers of the 20th century, find inspiration in examples such as Le Corbusier's Villa Savoy, Lloyd Wright's falling water or the Rietveld's Schroder house. Recognizable as this may be, great aesthetics constitute only a small part of creating architecture. The process of designing and constructing buildings comprises the involvement of a multitude of skills such as creating clear functional layouts, designing solid structures and taking care healthy indoor climates. Most textbooks and magazines contemporary architecture do not cover the less attractive aspects of the indoor climate such as heating, ventilation and cooling unless these services form an important part of the buildings aesthetic identity. Recent examples regarding the integ! ration of second skin facades and natural ventilation in indoor climate, sometimes fail to convince as a result of the lack of thorough evaluations and detailed information.