The Heated Position: Some Methods in Question

During the twentieth-century, thermal comfort hascome to be considered an objective truth, determinedusing the scientific method and achieved withtechnical means. Following Joseph Rykwert’s inquiryinto the symbolic dimension of seated comfort, thispaper examines the cultural dimensions of thermalcomfort. A nascent yet growing awareness of thermalcomfort is reflected in contemporary architectureculture. This increased attention is in part driven bya heightened awareness of global climate change.Changes to the weather, and the resulting impact oflocal ecosystems, sharpen our awareness of climatesand comforts. Architects are using comfort as part ofdesign strategies informed by old accounts and currentevents. By engaging with historical notions ofcomfort to propose contemporary projects, they areexpanding the relationship of the present to the past.In parallel, historians are looking at the past througha contemporary lens, seeking to trace the ephemeralexperiences of comfort, and how they are aligned withlarger social and cultural shifts. Although exchangesbetween design and history on this topic are irregularand episodic, thermal comfort intertwines them inmutually-beneficial ways, blurring the lines betweenhistorical consciousness and design imagination.

Volume Editors
Luis Francisco Rico-Gutierrez & Martha Thorne

ISBN
978-1-944214-08-1