Windcatcher; a traditional architectural ventilation solution for hot climate

In the order to provide sustainable life, we must evaluate the building during design phase in accordance with the climatic conditions of the area and accordingly come up with solutions. Proposed solutions must not be foreign with the region's structure, materials and social culture. The design must be a result of many evaluations of the specific conditions of the region. This thesis studies the use of windcatcher as an air conditioning system utilizing natural resources as an energy source and is basically an architectural solution in these traditional buildings. Specially in cities like Yazd which is history extends to thousands of years, windcatchers are used to ventilate houses and water reserviors and they are used to date. This thesis consists of five chapters, the first chapter defines hot arid regions and their distribution on the earth, and how climate conditions effect the architectural design. Also discusses designing parameters and strategies for this type of climate associated with examples from Turkey and the world, specifically the ancient Yazd city which is studied in urban scale and building scale. The third chapter of this thesis is about the windcatchers which is a zero energy cooling device and it's definition, history, positioning, working principles and typologies..etc. The forth chapter studies the use of the windcatchers in modern architecture giving examples from different areas. Among many problems that caused environmental problems nowadays whose solutions can be found in the traditional architectural solutions, they are required to be studied further and brought into present day context. Key words: Windcatcher, Traditional Architecture, Natural cooling, Passive Climatization