Search results for "sirocco chamber"

The sirocco chambers: passive cooling structures in the XVI century Palermo area

2014

In the past centuries, the plain surrounding the city of Palermo saw the construction of tens of suburban manor houses, called villas, which were referred to as “places of delight” for the amenities they offered during the good season. These architectural machines were built by aristocrats to make living in the countryside more pleasant and to exhibit their families’ richness and power. Among the delights, the Sirocco rooms were very common in Palermo from the Renaissance, and especially beyond to the XVIII century. They were artificial subterranean structures, built close to a water spring in order to reproduce the pleasant conditions of freshness that could be experienced in a natural cav…