Climate as an Input for Design: A Review Based on Norman Foster's Residential Buildings

Abstract

Climate change and associated global warming and energy crisis have become a prominent issue of architecture and considered one of the primary concerns of architects as regards climate-compatible design, especially in terms of residential buildings, the largest constituent of the building stock. Accordingly, the present study sought an answer to how the 21st century residential buildings took form vis-a-vis climatic data and focused on the residential buildings by Norman Foster, a leading architect in the context of sustainability. Therefore, Foster's projects in different countries were analyzed as regards the relationship between climate and design. The results of the study were indicative of the fact that Foster generally gravitated towards clustered forms in his residential designs, and shaped those forms by creating a series of indentations and protrusions on both vertical and lateral surfaces with an aim to control, and even benefit from, the sun and wind, to blur the boundaries between interior and exterior and at the same time attached special importance to balconies to create environments where users could come into contact with natural air, used shading elements in an artistic style in most of his designs, preferred brown, gray, and beige tones, and used a material palette, which could address climatic factors.