Thermodynamics of the Interior

Transitions of every type emerge between the unprotected exterior and the enclosed interior. The interior thus points to a simple, straightforward hypothesis: the air—a material that was carelessly left by the moderns in the hands of experts in technocratic comfort—is one of the single most valuable materials of architecture, possible the only one that architects should not relinquish.

Inaki Abalos makes an interesting argument for the control of design in interior spaces as opposed to focusing only on the envelope while leaving the interiors to very generic configurations and materials. He begins by tracing the roots of contemporary Spanish architectural practices back to the history of Spain during WW-II, the period of Modernism and the unemployment crisis in 1978.

According to Inaki, the Spanish developed the inherent ability to link to the context, build appropriately as per the climatic zone in opposition to the changing, mechanist world (due to the global spread of architectural design theories based on the dawn of the industrial age) due to the economic collapse and lack of resources caused by war. The resultant architecture is more sensitive to the climate, context and through its ability to sustain begins to challenge the validity of the Modernist school of thought.

Going back to the roots of the design of interior spaces in local architecture in hot warm climate v/s northern cooler climates, the importance of the early configurations of thermodynamically smart houses with central courtyards (hot tropical climates) and central heat sources (fireplaces) in building not only smart but spatially beautiful houses was emphasized.

With the advent of modernization however, the system of planning interior was completely replaced by the incontextual, ineffective methods proposed by the modern master architects. Very soon everyone who could afford it seemed to be following the American modernization cycle irrespective of the part of the world they were rooted in.

The focus on the interior thus leads to the construction of a contemporary alternative to the modern project, based on the tectonic and thermodynamic behavior of the built spaces and a disdain for the erroneous division between envelope and structure and the resulting proliferation of “commercial products” that belong to the triumphant pattern inherited from modernity.

As I began to understand the difference between interior thermodynamic management in areas driven by modernity v/s the areas driven by a more pragmatic culturally rooted era inspired of course by the lack of resources, I could not help but draw a line to vernacular and local architecture. Abalos’ argument inherently claims that the local planning and design principles that have been developed through the ages do carry value. It is not necessary that we replicate exactly what we observe in these examples but instead that we critically and creatively evaluate and understand how to use these age old methods of building and thermodynamic planning to design better architectural solutions ahead.

From the perspective of thermodynamic materialism, this way of working with passive parameters is still relevant and valid today, given the scarcity of energy resources and the growing social awareness of energy waste and its global consequences.