Lisa Heschong

Heschong's claims that the aesthetic aspect of thermal properties of buildings have been sadly neglected due to our almost full control over the temperature of our indoor spaces. We lose something by always being in a highly tuned environment. Heschong sets out to describe the aesthetic importance of temperature by appeal to architects, authors, and cultural traditions.

Thermal regulation is necessary for life. Humans can only live with a reasonably small range of temperatures. As Heschong puts it, "Buildings, even in the conventional ways we now build them, can be viewed as a way to modify a landscape to create more favorable microclimates."

Yet once that basic need is met, thermal regulation takes on an aesthetic aspect. Take sitting around a fire as an example. Part of the delightfulness of such as exercise is from the contrast between the warm (perhaps almost too warm) fire and the cooler space beyond. Heschong gives many other examples, all of which lead to the conclusion that, despite common building practices, our buildings are more delightful when they are not uniformly heated and cooled.

It's an interesting thesis and has some intuitive appeal, but overall, as a lay person, I was left with a "so what" feeling.… (mehr)

I love this book because it talks about how thermal function, thermal perception, and thermal wellbeing shapes our relationships and interactions with people. My favorite quote is on page 43, "Little by little, our family life, which at home was distributed throughout the entire house [because of the convenience of central heating systems] and which we had tried to distribute thoughout the Peyrane house, withdrew from all other rooms and was concentrated in the salle . . . I had to learn to work while the children were playing. The children had to learn to play more quietly. I had to learn to pick up my paper from the table so that it might be used as a dining-room table . . . Without realizing it we had adapted ourselves to a necessary condition of life in Peyrane where families learn to live together in one room . . . It is inevitable that the English word 'home' cannot be translated directly into French. The nearest equivalent in French is the word foyer, the hearth."… (mehr)