Aeolian Interiors

<p>Writing in 1969, architecture historian Reyner Banham complains about the silence on mechanical services in contemporary architecture discourse, most specifically machines for the making of interior weather. Banham’s book <em>The Architecture of the Well-Tempered Environment</em> is full of little arguments against the superiority of the visual, that is, the exterior aspect of a building rather than, for example, its fabricated interior weather. His work today comes across as an apology for technology before an era of environmental or social concerns stemming from it.</p> <p>The present publication for <em>Taming the Horror Vacui</em> takes a less polemic yet more critical tone to explore fabricated climates. It follows <em>A Seedless Grape — Conditions for Air</em>, a talk by research-based artist James Beckett, who was invited by Rib to engage in conversation with Haseeb Ahmed and present his ongoing investigations into the subject of air conditioning.</p> <p>This session resonated in the long-term program at Rib especially due to its connection with the walk through Rotterdam led by city planner Emiel Arends (June 2020), an event in <em>Taming the Horror Vacui</em> in which the city was explored through architectural interventions aimed at wind control. With this publication, aeolian landscapes leap into aeolian interiors, just like those simulated by Alessandro Gambale and BuildWind presented in the previous issue…</p>