ABSTRACT
The wind-catcher is part of a natural ventilation system found in certain hot dry climate zones. It is a raised building element either facing in all directions, or facing the prevailing wind, in order to ‘catch’ it, bring it down into the building, and cool it with moisture from fountains, pools and salsabils (carved stone surfaces over which water runs). Once re-warmed by people and their activities, the air rises through a central tower and is pulled out of the top of the building by the same breeze that drove it inside in the first place. If there is no breeze available, wetted hemp mats can be placed over the openings of the wind-catchers. This moistens and cools the air as it enters. The cooling makes the air drop downwards, creating its own breeze. The wind-catcher is thus a very sophisticated piece of low technology and a characteristic element of an architectural style that seamlessly and elegantly combines performance and form, climate and cultural identity: traditional Islamic architecture. In a contemporary context, however, are the same means of preserving and perpetuating architectural identity available to the Gulf States, or to any other region where traditional built culture is colliding with the hegemony of a high and universal technology?
