Central square in Old Yazd,
showing wind towers and the monumental Amir Chaqmaq complex
Our group from the Art
Gallery of Greater Victoria, on the way to dinner in Old Yazd at sunset, Jameh
Mosque in the background
Yazd, an oasis surrounded by the mountains
of the high desert, is graced with great Islamic architecture. But what I found most paintable were the many
windtowers found in the narrow, shady streets of Old Yazd.
Watercolour, crayon and computer
©2017 Charlene Brown
According to Wikipedia, windtowers, or
windcatchers, are traditional Persian architectural elements providing natural
ventilation by catching the wind from any direction and directing it down into
the building. Windcatchers can be found in traditional Persian-influenced
architecture throughout the Middle East, including the Gulf Arab states, especially
Dubai. That is where I first saw them.
According to the World Bank, Dubai is one
of the largest consumers of energy per capita in the world – and in the summer months an estimated two thirds of that is used
for air conditioning. There has been some hopeful theorizing that the windtower
concept could be integrated into new buildings there and this might make a
meaningful reduction in their “AC addiction.”
