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Design and Construction of Bioclimatic Wooden Greenhouses 1
Series Editor
Gilles Pijaudier-Cabot
Design and Construction of

Bioclimatic Wooden
Greenhouses 1
Preliminary Design
Gian Luca Brunetti

First published 2022 in Great Britain and the United States by ISTE Ltd and John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as
permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, this publication may only be reproduced,
stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means, with the prior permission in writing of the publishers,
or in the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms and licenses issued by the
CLA. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside these terms should be sent to the publishers at the
undermentioned address:
ISTE Ltd John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

27-37 St George’s Road 111 River Street
London SW19 4EU Hoboken, NJ 07030
UK USA
www.iste.co.uk www.wiley.com
© ISTE Ltd 2022

The rights of Gian Luca Brunetti to be identified as the author of this work have been asserted by him in
accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the
author(s), contributor(s) or editor(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of ISTE Group.
Library of Congress Control Number: 2022941273
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 978-1-78630-851-1
Contents
Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix
Remo DORIGATI
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xvii
Chapter 1. Basic Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

1.1. What a greenhouse usually is – and what it could be . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.2. The historical trajectory of greenhouses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.3. The main design factors: shape, orientation and envelope characteristics,
in the context of local microclimates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
1.3.1. Climate analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
1.3.2. Site analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
1.4. Solar gains and air retention as conditions for the greenhouse effect . . . . . . 40
1.5. Solar gains and thermal losses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
1.5.1. Facts common to all kinds of solar gains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
1.5.2. Factors influencing the solar gains on surfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
1.6. Thermal storage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
1.6.1. Charging the thermal masses by direct radiation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
1.6.2. Loading the thermal masses by reflected radiation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
1.6.3. Loading the thermal masses by convection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
1.6.4. Phase-change materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
1.6.5. Natural convection – thermosyphoning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
1.6.6. Further information on the solar utilization of directly radiated
thermal masses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
1.7. Passive ventilative cooling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
1.7.1. Indoor air movements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
1.7.2. Thermal buoyancy ventilation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
vi Design and Construction of Bioclimatic Wooden Greenhouses 1
1.7.3. Sound absorption for sound insulation when combined with

ventilation strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
1.7.4. Quantity of air changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
1.8. Dissipation of heat towards the sky . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
1.9. Dependence of solar control on the radiation type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
1.9.1. Techniques and indicators for checking solar access . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
1.9.2. General shading strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
1.9.3. Horizontal shading devices. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
1.9.4. Vertical shading devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
1.9.5. Horizontal shading devices for east and west exposures . . . . . . . . . . 124
1.9.6. Horizontal shading devices for south-east and south-west exposures . . . 126
1.9.7. Grid-like shading devices (egg crates, brise soleils) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
1.9.8. Frontal shading devices. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
1.9.9. “Green” shading devices: vegetation as a shading device . . . . . . . . . . 130
Chapter 2. Fundamental Relations Between Greenhouse Features

and Climatic Factors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
2.1. General considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
2.1.1. On shape, with regard to solar radiation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
2.1.2. On shape, as regards ventilation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
2.1.3. Acoustics in greenhouses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
2.2. Greenhouses for cold, cool and temperate climates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
2.2.1. Additional information about the relations between greenhouse
shape and climate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
2.2.2. About the slope of the frontal transparent envelope . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
2.2.3. Relations between the character of daylight and the slope of the
transparent enclosures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
2.2.4. About east and west enclosures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
2.2.5. About roofs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
2.2.6. Ventilation openings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
2.2.7. Solid thermal masses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
2.3. Considerations on greenhouses for cold climates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
2.4. Framing the theme of greenhouses for hot climates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
2.5. Shadehouses and nethouses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
Chapter 3. Fundamental Complements for Solar

Greenhouse Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
3.1. On passive heating of greenhouses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
3.2. On the role of solar gains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
3.3. On the main passive heat transfer strategies in solar greenhouses . . . . . . . . 174
3.3.1. On the heat transfer by conduction between greenhouse masses
and greenhouse indoor environments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
Contents vii
3.3.2. On the heat transfer by conduction between attached

greenhouse and building . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
3.3.3. On the heat transfer by convection between attached
greenhouses and buildings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
3.3.4. On the types of thermal masses within greenhouses . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
3.4. On the role of thermal masses for passive greenhouse heating . . . . . . . . . 182
3.4.1. On the combination of heat transfer by convection and conduction
in attached greenhouses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
3.4.2. On the thermal masses loaded by direct radiation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
3.4.3. On the thermal masses loaded by reflected radiation . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
3.4.4. On the thermal masses loaded by convection. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
3.5. Passive cooling of greenhouses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
3.5.1. The role of thermal masses in the passive cooling of greenhouses . . . . . 185
3.5.2. Thermal mass for thermal inertia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
3.5.3. Thermal mass for coolth storage via “night flushing” . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
3.5.4. Natural ventilation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
3.5.5. Wind-driven ventilation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
3.5.6. Criteria for predicting wind flows by means of streamlines . . . . . . . . . 192
3.5.7. Stack-effect ventilation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
3.5.8. Mixed – wind-driven and stack-effect – ventilation . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
3.6. Evaporative cooling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
3.6.1. Direct evaporative cooling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
3.6.2. Indirect evaporative cooling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
3.6.3. Evaporative cooling from still water under still air . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
3.6.4. Evaporative cooling with still water and air moving over it. . . . . . . . . 213
3.6.5. Evaporative cooling with water in movement in a container or channel,
possibly on corrugated surfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214
3.6.6. Evaporative cooling via water sprinkled by pressure as droplets through
nozzles, or falling by gravity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214
3.6.7. Evaporative cooling by wetting surfaces and transferring the coolth by
convection or conduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
3.6.8. Downdraught cooling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218
3.6.9. Radiative cooling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
3.6.10. Heating and cooling through seasonal storage strategies involving
thermal exchange with the ground . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
3.6.11. Layout of cooling strategies in bioclimatic charts . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226
3.7. Greenhouse features deriving from use and typology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
3.7.1. Agricultural greenhouses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
3.7.2. Specificities of inhabitable attached greenhouses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234
3.7.3. Stand-alone solar greenhouses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
3.7.4. Lean-to, attached solar greenhouses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240
viii Design and Construction of Bioclimatic Wooden Greenhouses 1
Chapter 4. Advanced Complements for Solar Greenhouse Design . . . . . 249

4.1. Considerations related to shape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249
4.1.1. On the symmetry between solar aperture and heat-loss aperture . . . . . . 249
4.1.2. On the optimal tilt of front façades . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250
4.1.3. On the greenhouse “thickness” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251
4.1.4. On the greenhouse width . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252
4.1.5. On the greenhouse height . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252
4.2. Considerations combining shape and construction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253
4.2.1. On gable enclosures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253
4.2.2. On roofs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254
4.2.3. On the greenhouse “knees” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257
4.2.4. Rainwater catchment and collection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258
4.2.5. Floors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260
4.2.6. Additional considerations about the shared wall between the
greenhouse and the building. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267
4.2.7. Stack-effect-driven heat exchange with the ground during daytime . . . . 276
4.3. Ventilative considerations related to shape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278
4.3.1. Openings on the greenhouse and the building as regards
wind-driven ventilation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278
4.3.2. Directionality control for wind-driven ventilation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279
4.3.3. Openings in the shared wall with respect to wind-driven ventilation,
with the greenhouse front in pressure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281
4.3.4. Openings in the shared wall as regards wind-driven ventilation,
with the greenhouse front in depression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282
4.3.5. Openings in the shared wall as regards wind-driven ventilation,
with the wind direction parallel to the fronts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283
4.3.6. Combination of stack-effect and wind-driven ventilation using the
openings in the shared wall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284
4.3.7. Ventilation openings on the greenhouse façades and the roof . . . . . . . 284
4.4. Position of the shading devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
4.4.1. External shading devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287
4.4.2. Internal shading devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293
4.5. Movable thermal insulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294
4.6. Microclimates in solar greenhouses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295
4.6.1. Cold-sink pits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298
4.6.2. Human thermal comfort in solar greenhouses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299
4.7. Walkways, in growing greenhouses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305
Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 329
Summaries of other volumes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333
Foreword
This a work for which we have been waiting for a long time, because it confronts
the problem of sustainability without starting from general energy-saving principles
and the ways in which Prometheus stole energy from the Gods (nature), but, more
simply, from a device that not only embodies in itself the general terms of the
problem, but also, and above all, has the capacity to extend its domain to numerous
disciplinary areas: architectural design, building energy, construction materials,
aesthetic perception, natural lighting, ventilation, physical well-being, regulations,
etc. The greenhouse becomes almost a pretext to traverse new ways through which
humans discover hidden forces in nature waiting to be freed. In this work, an
explicit, strong desire for pacification with nature can be recognized, combined with
a desire to make the generous properties of nature emerge, to build a sincere and
determined dialogue that does not require “active” procedures and external energies,
but produces what it needs simply by extracting from itself what it already has in
itself, hidden in the mechanism of transformation of solar radiation into heat energy.
But all this, which is internal to a rigorous scientific path, cannot help to have
significant consequences not only on the manner in which urban artifacts are used,
but also, and above all, on their spatial organization, on the languages and new
materials that this experience carries with itself, thanks to the fact that it involves all
of the procedures of architectural design, at all scales.
Today, it is difficult to imagine what the next new forms of living and inhabiting
will be. But what we can expect is that they will be structures in which
thermodynamics, in its diverse applications, will play a significant role. It is
completely natural that, in the new tendency, the energy issue will have to enter into
x Design and Construction of Bioclimatic Wooden Greenhouses 1
a dialogue with all the forces boiling up in the design world, and that – and above all
– it will have an essential role in the considerations that are born around the concept
of place, in which the historical–social experience will also find reasons in those
physical variables that belong to the concept of environment. These are variables
that can be measured and compared, and that can influence the thermal gradient
triggering the signal of well-being.
After all, this work on greenhouses already shows, in some historical examples,
that the phenomena linked to site position, orientation, slope, material, etc. are often
related to rules born from simple laws of nature such as gravity, transmission of
solar radiation, seasonal cycles, wind, ground, transmissivity, isolation and storage.
In this manner, in architectural design, a process takes a shape such that the
interrelations that are born between a simple object of design (the greenhouse) and a
broad disciplinary range are the product of a series of contaminations in which
beauty and function put into discussion analogical references spanning from simple
envelopes conceived for botanics and agriculture, to exposition places, to house-
integrated greenhouses, to greenhouses as spaces.
But how much of the living space of humans is a design theme? For now, we are
witnessing some bold experiments in which architecture tries to go beyond the
simple addition/filter of a greenhouse body to become an integrated structure, up to
the point of transforming the living space. The transparencies of Mies van der Rohe,
dissolving the limit between inside and outside, complexify themselves, for
example, within the projects by Lacaton and Vassal, up to the point of becoming
devices capable of climatizing environments that renounce neither the landscape nor
well-being. We are witnessing multiple attempts that not only try to answer the
simple energy quest, but also have the courage to reflect on the ways in which a new
language in architecture is being formed. More and more frequently, new forms
deriving from technological and formal experiments put the novel ways of living on
trial; and with them, the materials and spaces mix up the traditional functions on the
basis of new hierarchies and relations.
But where do the new forms come from? What tensions are sustaining and
orienting them?
We often see bizarre and gratuitous proposals that arise from an obsessive need
for new and unusual formal structures; a need that gets exhausted by itself. This is
an old thread, involving the concept of autonomy of architecture and the very
complex relation of architecture with the evolution of society and its representation.
Today, we are witnessing a mutation that involves both the world of digitization and
Foreword xi
that inherent in the energy issue and its reflection on environmental problems. It is
entirely legitimate that we ask ourselves how these changes can impact not only the
forms that support the reasons for economic choices, but also the new cultural
sensitivities that assign the task of reconsidering the relationship between artifice
and nature to human intervention. Then, mitigation interventions such as
greenhouses do not simply add themselves to the existing artifacts, as so often
happens, but become an architectural project by themselves, proposing themselves
as a new form in which temperature and light, heat storage and transparency,
ventilation and exposure produce a new order.
This is a research path in which the legacy of the past plays an essential role in
the verification of proposals whose principles (and not just forms) arise from real
experiences and theoretical reflections. Paxton’s cathedral, or palace, represented a
real revolution, where an ancient basilical scheme was realized in iron and glass,
flooding the indoor spaces with light: a magic, even though the technology entailed
significant problems at a thermal level. This experimentation, however, precedes the
theme of urban galleries (W. Benjamin), which extends the search for the artificial
space that will later produce the magnificent typologies of “urban living spaces” of
the 19th century. All of the artifacts such as park greenhouses or the wide glass
surfaces of curtain walls represented a sort of karst river that re-emerged in virtue of
that research, which leaves the task of indicating strategies aimed at saving energy to
architecture and urbanism. While remaining within its own disciplinary domain,
architecture is called upon to propose and experiment with new models in which
thermodynamics becomes the new “stone guest”.
The analogy with the fracture produced by the Modern Movement in relation to
the great urbanization processes is completely spontaneous. From the criticism of
the 19th-century city, proposals arise that extend to all problematic and design scales
that found – in relation to artistic experiences – new forms that are also new
lifestyles. The Frankfurt kitchen, with its determinate functional analysis, also
becomes a formal prototype that can be taken as a symbol of a different role of the
architecture of modernity. The design that, at the beginning of the century, enters in
strict relation to social and economic problems, producing a new idea of living in its
spatial organization. Today, the search for alternative energy sources, both active
and passive, plays a fundamental role in understanding the new trends, even if the
results appear under-trace and are supported only by a few sectorial magazines.
Although this research is considered marginal or niche, however, with difficulty,

some attempts are being made to experiment with spatial structures and architectural
artifacts that interact with the organization of urban settlements wherever the energy
that feeds both public and domestic uses requires a different balance. The design
xii Design and Construction of Bioclimatic Wooden Greenhouses 1
process presupposes a new relationship with the laws of thermodynamics from

which the first attempts at new propositions emerge, which are initially expressed
through the simple assembly of the new devices on already tested shapes. This is an
understandable path that sees the birth of new architectural experiences, starting
from the acquired structures that, little by little, morph from chrysalis, until the new
shape and new colors of the butterfly appear. From simple “parasitic” objects that
cling to traditional volumes, greenhouses try to decline all their possibilities: they
insinuate, envelop, include, collect what existed, and, in doing so, they give it new
life. Little by little, we witness the birth of new and original formal structures.
This research by the author is a sort of game in which, by privileging a small

phenomenon (the greenhouse), he lets himself be led, as in a laboratory experiment,
to the observation of the complex effects of which it is a part. Effects that never
forget that intertwining between the environment and the landscape which, in the
pervasive ideology of the concept of sustainability (now abused and often distorted,
in many sectors of culture and production), has produced many confused and
contradictory visions that have not found a balance between the concept of place,
with its history and its beauties, and the concept of physical space, with its
quantitative figures. This is a combination that cannot be trivialized by removing
one of the two terms or by privileging only one aspect of the question but, on the
contrary, must be assumed by accepting the magnificent intertwining, in which the
aesthetic values of the landscape coexist with the measurable and quantitative
aspects of the environment. The coexistence in question moves within a complex
territory with strong roots in reality and unitary characteristics, and arises from an
explicit design contribution where the tension towards construction aims to overtake
the tired reproposal of models repeated up to the point of preventing any new
contribution. Architectural design brings together all of this, which, despite its
autonomous linguistic research, cannot exclude itself from transforming an
economic and social problem into a set of formal structures in which the greenhouse
device becomes one of the magnets that can contribute to introducing order and
form into contemporary architecture. The design process combines the different
inputs into a single proposition in which the heterogeneous values of the shape
coexist with those of the measure. This can be understood from the way in which the
author revisits the shapes of the greenhouse over time: the internal light, the scent of
lemons, the humidity and the warmth of the environment. But all this without giving
up a performance approach in which the accuracy of the device is measured and
evaluated for the effectiveness of the results.
In his incipit to “The Man without Qualities” (1930–1942), R. Musil, a man of

letters and engineering, describes a normal natural phenomenon as “a beautiful
day in August”, starting from the two points of observation, apparently
Foreword xiii
irreconcilable, but which concern the same object: the point of view of the natural
sciences and that of the human sciences, so that we discover that artifice and nature,
science and poetry, belong to the same domain. It is as if emotion could have its
counterpart, its projection, into the world of accuracy.
Over the Atlantic, a barometric minimum was advancing in an

easterly direction towards a high looming over Russia, and for the
moment showed no tendency to dodge it by moving north. Isotherms
and isothers behaved properly. The air temperature was in normal
relationship with the average annual temperature, with the temperature
of the hottest month as with that of the coldest month, and with the
monthly aperiodic oscillation. The rising and setting of the sun and
moon, the phases of the moon, Venus, the rings of Saturn and many
other important phenomena followed one another in accordance with
the predictions of the astronomical yearbooks. The water vapour in the
air had the maximum tension, and atmospheric moisture was scarce.
In short, with a phrase that, although a little old-fashioned, sums up
the facts very well: it was a beautiful day in August of the year 1913.
The poetic image of the “beautiful August day” presupposes a particular

physical–environmental condition that is necessary, but not sufficient, to convey that
feeling that is the perception of the landscape, because the observer’s emotion is
lacking.
The author of this work analyzes and describes the greenhouse as a positive,
existing fact, the principle of which, before residing in a definite type, is born from
its specific properties (orangeries, exposition space, vegetable garden, building
prosthesis, factory, tunnel, etc.), which define different forms of functional and
special modality. That this greenhouse was a bright and welcoming space is
something that is said by us.
The author endeavors to give us back that “machine of everything” (Raphael),

characterized by how it produces heat and preserves it. It is up to designers to
interpret those principles and find solutions compatible with today’s scenery. The
author leaves the multiple possibilities open, without defining forms, but rather
inviting us to experiment, within the measure, new and courageous solutions suited
to accepting uncertainty and hybridizing those forms and measures that have stolen
some properties from palaces and factories. After all, the procedure that the author
defines as based “on waves”, studies this phenomenon as a sequence propagating in
time and space and involving a succession of problems and themes spanning from
historical experiences (which fixate the fundamental problems) to the most recent
experimentations, always making the greenhouse emerge as a part of a process
xiv Design and Construction of Bioclimatic Wooden Greenhouses 1
rather than a type in itself. What is put into play is not a classification
experimentation based on the canons of formal typology and covering all the
problematic functional range of cases embedded in handbooks of proven proposals
for professional use, which would require conceiving the artifact as a given
structure, subject to simple contextual tricks, already ready for use and, after all,
always equal to itself. On the contrary, the author’s aim is to let a wide field of
possibilities emerge, made of analogies open to multiple opportunities and
combinations.
In this framework, the designer is invited to reflect on the scientific role of

“passive” energy strategies as components of a research that, in itself, certainly does
not demonize the “active” ones, but that, controversially, re-evaluates the passive
ones for the radical nature of their natural energy and for their being ever-present
where the sun gives its radiation, with almost no requirement of technological
investment. The “device” of the greenhouse, in this way, gets isolated and analyzed
in itself and in its specific identities, with the awareness that it is, in any case, a part
of that more articulated complex responding to the issue of energy saving and its
possible strategies.
The theme of the greenhouse, its solar gains, heat losses, ventilation and
accumulation, is analyzed here with commitment and rigor, as well as in calculation
criteria and simulations: a very delicate operation when we cross ventilation and
temperature, humidity and light, to verify the level of well-being which constitutes,
then, what is of most interest. But what appears most significant here is certainly the
method of investigation, on the basis of which the study does not start from the most
general premises of the energy problems, for deriving the greenhouse device, but, on
the contrary, from the given object, as if it were an archaeological investigation, a
found object of which we try to reconstruct the meaning and value of use. An object
that found our author in the moment of his formation, and which insisted on being a
central research fact. What is it, what is it for, how does it work, with what
materials? It is the object “greenhouse”, a specific physical and material datum
suggesting a culture, a historical moment, a technology and the role it played in
human relations.
From the experimentation of the broad windows of the orangeries, to the crystal
envelope of Paxton’s cathedral, up to geodesic domes, the greenhouse passes from
the functional role linked to botany and exposure to that of an artificial habitat in
which humans find their due comfort. A simple functional device can transform
itself into a living space in which humans can coexist with an exuberant nature, and
also into a large public space hosting multiple functions (exhibitions, galleries,
commerce, gardens, games and meetings, etc.). Poor materials such as wood, iron
Foreword xv
and glass, typical of industrial buildings, trace metaphors today that derive from the
large sails that formed the habitat for the cultivation of rare essences, and in this
mantle of light, all the charm of a space that is a garden inside the house and in the
city remains, as well as an easy and low-cost resource to manage.
Remo DORIGATI
September 2022
Introduction
I have had the intention of writing a book about bioclimatic greenhouses for a
very long time, but I only really began to work on it when I found myself
completing it by just writing down (and drawing) what I already had in mind, rather
than rehearsing the contents before beginning to write. The reason why I waited so
long is that I felt the task was going to be tough, due to the myriad connections that
greenhouse design has with lots of things in both architecture and nature – which is
something that I have strived to give an intuition throughout the text.
The depth and pervasivity of these connections is the main reason why I became
fascinated with greenhouses in the first place, since the old days of my PhD
research. Indeed, back then I had already realized that I was more interested in
gaining a broad knowledge about a specific thing (e.g. a complete view of a
relatively simple object, like a greenhouse), rather than a narrow competence (like,
say, roofings or air conditioning systems) regarding a complex object (like a
complex building), despite the fact that the structure of modern knowledge is closer
to the latter. But I have to admit that the fact that I tend to be a contrarian has also
contributed to fostering my interest in greenhouses. Greenhouses, indeed, are perfect
for a contrarian, because they defy expectations: they draw out a lot from almost
nothing, to the point that even their domain boundaries are difficult to define.
Indeed, a greenhouse can be many things. It can be something heating a house, or it
can be the house; it can be a place where plants thrive, or the harshest of places; it
can be a food-producing device in a factory, or a building “parasite” on a 24th floor;
it can have the aspect of an inorganic double façade, or of the darkest and moistest
shadehouse.
Inferring the general from the specific, however, requires a lot of

cross-disciplinary competence. Indeed, managing the many functional aspects
governing the environmental behavior of a greenhouse involves such an intertwined
knowledge that, once grasped, we can understand most other bioclimatic building
xviii Design and Construction of Bioclimatic Wooden Greenhouses 1
types and systems. My hope is that this work can facilitate the path towards that end,
and help the reader to go beyond what they may ordinarily receive.
The aim of an integrated understanding is the reason why I have organized the
content of this work in “waves” overlapping each other – as you may find in a
narrative – rather than in compartments – as you might find in a handbook. As a
result, the focus of these chapters and volumes transitions progressively from
geometrical considerations related to solar gains and heat losses, to heat transfer and
storage, to natural ventilation and cooling strategies, to the functional consequences
of different types of use of greenhouses, to construction criteria, to greenhouse
typologies, to calculation and simulation criteria, to examples of good practices; and
these transitions occur in a recursive manner, again and again. Each time, hopefully,
gaining some depth and momentum.
The goal of this line of attack is to make this work capable of standing for a
thorough reading, while at the same time capable of tolerating some skipping, or
direct landing into specific parts.
Regarding the targeted readership, I often find myself realizing that, because I
am an architect by education, most of the time, involuntarily, I often end up
speaking above all to architects, hinting at a knowledge that I believe we may share.
But because I also happen to be (I have always been) interested in everything (as
some architects sometimes are), I am hopeful that this work may succeed in
delivering information that is also suited to a broader readership.
The contents of this work have been organized in four volumes and four thematic
areas: Volume 1, preliminary design; Volume 2, design and construction of
structures and systems; Volume 3, design and construction of envelopes; Volume 4,
architectural integration and quantitative analyses. In the first volume – the present
one– the broadest design choices regarding greenhouses are analyzed. Choices
including: what shape should a greenhouse have, and why? How should it be
oriented in space? Where should it be transparent, and where opaque? How can it be
shaded? Where should it be openable for ventilation, and how can it be operated?
There are two notices. The first is about the content of novelty of some of the
presented materials. In each volume, I have included, along with sedimented
contents, some experimental contents drawn from my own research activity. The
reader will be made aware of the experimental contents at the appropriate places. An
example of experimentality, in the case of the present volume, is constituted by the
passive solar performance ratio presented in section 1.9.1.4.3. The second notice is
about the reference listings. The main possible options, when I wrote this work,
ranged from referencing the references in the notes, or citing them at the end of each
chapter. Both solutions had their pros and cons. So I ended up choosing a hybrid
Introduction xix
approach, in which the references have sometimes been cited alongside the text, and
in any case in an “On references” closure at the end of some sections; then they have
been re-listed in full in a final “References” section at the end of each volume.
I would like to conclude this introduction by thanking Professor Remo Dorigati

(Politecnico di Milano, Milan) for writing the foreword for this work and Professor
Joe A. Clarke (University of Strathclyde, Glasgow) for writing the afterword in
Volume 4. It is an incommensurable honor for me to have this work of mine opened
by Professor Dorigati and closed by Professor Clarke. I admire them both so much.
To both of them, I offer my gratitude.
1
Basic Concepts
1.1. What a greenhouse usually is – and what it could be
“For the man with a hammer, everything looks like a nail” (Maslow 1966).
There is a lot of truth in this sentence. But we may also consider that there is a
positive side to having only a hammer: the fact that this compels us to learn how to
draw the most out of our tool, to learn it so well that we become one with it. We
could recognize this reality more easily if we accepted the fact that most of us, most
of the time, are a bit like the man with the hammer, not only outside of our areas of
expertise, but also within them. In other words: I believe that learning to do
everything with a hammer is less dumb than it may seem. What the man doing
everything with a hammer does, ultimately, is not trivial. It is nothing other than
extrapolation; that is, extending the application of a specific knowledge into a
broader context. It is a case of abstraction of the purest kind.
However, the fact that not all nails are equivalent should also be considered. This
is especially true for intellectual matters, where advanced and multi-faceted
analogues of the hammered nails exist. This is particularly relevant for greenhouse
design, due to the multi-facetedness of the knowledge areas involved (from
architectural design to building physics, to building mechanics, to agriculture),
which almost leaves no alternative to relying on such kinds of multi-faceted
“nails”.
The consequence of this multi-facetedness is that a thorough grasp of greenhouse

design can constitute both a starting point and a reality check for developing a broad
and generalistic architectural design knowledge. After all, if we know how to design
a greenhouse, we are in a good position to design many other things as well. This is
because a greenhouse can be many things: indeed, it can be something attached to a
house, something enveloping a house, something which is a part of a house (a room,
2 Design and Construction of Bioclimatic Wooden Greenhouses 1
an atrium, an entrance, a topping). It can even be a house itself, or a farm, or a

crop-growing facility, or a combination of all of those things.
This belief is the reason why many of the technical solutions presented in this
work could be usefully applied, even outside the specific domain of greenhouses –
for example, into the more general domain of wooden construction. But we may
wonder: if greenhouse technology is such a powerful idea, why does it not occupy a
more prominent role in today’s architectural world? There are several answers to
this. The first answer is that the question itself is not so well-posed, because
greenhouse envelope systems are already ubiquitous in architectural design. Only,
they are often tagged with other, fancier definitions, like curtain walls of double
façades. The second answer is that greenhouse systems are mainly passive solar
systems, and passive solar systems are difficult to “advertise”, as well as proselytize
about, due to the fact that they do not belong to the domain of disruptive
technologies, but to that of incremental ones: technologies that produce advantages
over the competing ones, but not of orders of magnitudes – which is not sufficient to
disrupt the market orientations.
The third answer is that the clarity of the objectives of solar greenhouse design is
likely to have suffered a deterioration during the last years (30 or 40), as an effect of
a self-referential reliance that seems to have taken place in the literature about the
topic in the last decades. This can happen whenever some technical knowledge is
not hard-wired in a strong discipline and is handed on from generation to generation,
hardly ever inputting new, fresh content in the process. When this occurs, there is,
indeed, the risk that the richness of the original message gets levelled out a bit more
at each pass.
In architectural greenhouses, this cultural “maintenance-mode” phase is likely to

have begun around the end of the 1980s. This is because, since then, it has been as if
the technical literature about bioclimatic design began being rewritten over and over
again, each time losing something.
Passive greenhouse design has followed this trajectory earlier than other solar
passive technologies, partially because some of the knowledge on which it is based
was not sufficiently mature, even at its climax (during the 1970s, indeed, optimism
about the possibility of greenhouses often hampered the improvement of design
solutions), and partially because the passive technologies have slowly become,
during the years, less and less fashionable than the active ones – above all, the
approaches based on the utilization of mechanical heating and cooling powered by
cheap photovoltaic energy.
Within the domain of housing, in particular, the fact that passive heating and
cooling technologies have progressively lost ground against active technologies has
Basic Concepts 3
significantly been due to the audacity of the “selling” tactics on the side of active
technologies, which have been promptly combined with super-insulation, which is
where most methods are now headed. These tactics have gone so far as to end up
re-branding active technologies into passive ones, by morphing the concept of
“active” into that of “passive”.
Considering the current state of things, the present work does not limit itself to
building upon modern progress, but also strives to recover some valuable knowledge
related to passive solar architecture that, due to neglect, is currently at risk of
oblivion. It does this in the belief that this knowledge can be useful both for
supporting the design and construction of true passive, mechanical-plant-free
greenhouses (and, more generally, buildings), and promoting some specific
construction techniques aimed at self-building. The implication of this combination
of approaches is extending the domain of what a greenhouse can do, by integrating
the principles of house-in-a-greenhouse and greenhouse-as-house into it. These ends
have been pursued by combining a constructional approach to design, targeting
appropriateness and constructibility, with a performance-based approach supported
by measurable indicators.
On references
Maslow, A.H. (1966). The Psychology of Science. Harper and Row, New York.
1.2. The historical trajectory of greenhouses
The premise for the mass appearance of greenhouses on the historical scene was
the availability of mass-produced glass sheets that occurred after the first phase of
the industrial revolution, around the beginning of the 19th century. But greenhouses
existed long before that. The first orangeries, indeed, dated back to the 16th century.
Only, before the industrial revolution, greenhouses, at least in continental Europe
and until the French revolution, mainly constituted a niche socio-cultural
phenomenon left to the aristocracy – or the bourgeoisie, where the latter was
strongest, as in the Netherlands.
In truth, the first orangeries were not even the first devices adopted to protect
plants and allow them to be cultivated in climates colder than their natural ones.
Movable wooden shelters, not made of glass, built before the winter around the
plants as they entered their winter “sleep” phase, were the earliest widespread
solution. Also, glass was actually not the earliest material possible for creating the
greenhouse effect. Earlier alternatives were not as efficient and convenient as glass,
but they nonetheless existed. Notoriously, thin slabs of gypsum or mica stone were
used for the Roman emperor Tiberius in the specularia to make the watermelons
mature, even out of season (Pliny the Elder, around CE 74), and light fabrics were
used for centuries before the industrial revolution to enclose the winter shelters for
plants, while allowing some light into them (Woods and Warren 1988).
It is, of course, very true that the availability of glass made a huge difference in
increasing the thermal and lighting effectiveness of greenhouses. But in spite of that,
due to the high thermal transmissivity of single glass panels, high-end horticultural
greenhouses up to the 19th century mostly relied on additional heating contributions
by mechanical plants (furnaces). In that case, if the temperature to which they were
raised during the winter was warm, they were defined as “hothouses” (see Figure 1.1).
Figure 1.1. Scheme of a hothouse, from the second

half of the 17th century (from: Evelyn (1676))
Basic Concepts 5
The orangeries (shelters for growing oranges and lemons, both requiring warm
climates) were the first standardized greenhouses. Their early appearance is due to
the fact that they could be built using exactly the same technologies used for
buildings – windows set in masonry walls – and any specialized device. An
orangerie, indeed, constructionally, was nothing more than a room equipped with
unusually large windows, oriented as much as possible towards the equator
(i.e. south in the Northern Hemisphere), to maximize the collection of solar radiation
and the greenhouse effect (see Figures 1.2-1.5). Orangeries were usually designed
very much like buildings extensively glazed in the southward exposures, and were
usually kept detached from the main inhabited building (see Figure 1.5) (see, for
example, Campbel 1715–1725).
During the 18th century, glazing a greenhouse roof was possible, but unusual
(see Figure 1.6). Glazed roofs became more frequent at the end of the 18th century;
up to the point in which, in Britain, at the beginning of the 19th century, the
distinction between greenhouses with and without glazed roofs evolved in the
terminological distinction between greenhouses (glazed at the roof) and glasshouses
(or conservatories – unglazed at the roof).
At that time, the fact that the roofs of orangeries were not glazed was largely due
to the technical difficulty of making glass roofs water-tight, but, as the technologies
evolved, fundamental examples of solutions for water-tight glazed roofs began to
pop up. Prominent examples are the numerous glazed galleries built in France
(mainly in Paris) as early as the second half of the 18th century (Ache 1968), after
which glazed roofs began to take over internationally.
Figure 1.2. In the foreground: orangeries at the chateau of Versailles. Designed by

Jules Hardouin-Mansart and built between 1684 and 1686. They replaced the original
design by Le Vau from 1663. Photo: Lionel Allorge, 2015, Creative Commons License
Figure 1.3. Central gallery of the orangeries at the chateau of

Versailles. Photo: Djampa, 2013, Creative Commons License
Figure 1.4. Orangerie at the Villa Reale in Monza, Italy. Designed by

Giuseppe Piermarini around 1790, and built between 1818 and
1848. Photo: Albertomos, 2009, Creative Commons License
Basic Concepts 7
Figure 1.5. Neoclassical orangerie by Robert Adam at Croome Park,

Croome Court, Worcestershire, England (around 1760).
Photo: Elliott Brown, 2019, Creative Commons License
Figure 1.6. Glazed roof in an early greenhouse drawing, 1714.

Copper engraving by Schwoebber (from: Pfann (1715))
Figure 1.7. Study for a botanical greenhouse, John Claudius Loudon.

Today, these studies seem strikingly modern and conformant
to passive solar requirements (from: Loudon (1818))
For about half a century, since the first decades of the 19th century, when the
effects of the industrial revolution became stronger, greenhouses, built with primary
structures of cast iron and secondary structures of iron or timber, were used by the
wealthy classes in Northern Europe (in the first place, England and Scotland), more
for their capacity to delimitate microclimates without blocking the solar radiation
Basic Concepts 9
than for that of heating themselves passively thanks to the greenhouse effect. But
after that phase, slowly and progressively, greenhouses began to be used
increasingly as utilitarian places for vegetable farming, plant exposition, people
hosting expositions and fairs (up to the world exhibitions), occasional gatherings
(see the glazed galleries on the Champs-Élysées in Paris), train stations and markets.
It is a trajectory that, during the second half of the 19th century and the beginning of
the 20th century, largely coincided with the development of the new architecture of
iron (in the first place) and steel (before the turn of the century) (Lemoine 1986).
For a long time, the exploitation of the greenhouse effect, as mentioned, was not
at the core of the heating strategy of greenhouses. In the botanical greenhouses of
the first decades of the 18th century, for example, the heating function was often
pursued by conveying hot air or vapor through underground galleries under the
greenhouses themselves, and the hot air or vapor was heated by burning wood or
coal, without any objective of saving energy or limiting pollution emissions.
The most innovative greenhouse designer of that period was the English botanist
John Loudon, who was also active as a journal editor (see Figures 1.7–1.9).
Figure 1.8. Another study about greenhouse shape by John Claudius Loudon.
This shape anticipates that of modern Chinese solar greenhouses to a
surprising extent (see section 3.7.3.2) (from: Loudon (1818))
Figure 1.9. Study for a pineapple greenhouse by John Claudius Loudon.

Like the study above, these drawings anticipate modernity
(see section 4.6.1) (from: Loudon (1802))
At a construction level, the two leading glazing solutions that emerged in this
period and the following decades were, on the one hand, the pragmatic mullion-and-
transom system (the ancestor of today’s ever-present stick system, aimed at the
construction of curtain walls), pioneered by the Irish builder Richard Turner, and
Basic Concepts 11
successfully implemented in many instances over the European continent

(see Figures 1.10, 1.11, 1.16), and, on the other hand, the inventive and sophisticated
ridge-and-furrow system, of which the botanist Paxton was the principal proponent
(see Figures 1.12–1.15).
Figure 1.10. Hothouses by Charles Rohault de Fleury in the Jardin des Plantes in
Paris, built around 1834–1836. Photo: Steve Silverman, 2014, Creative Commons
License. For a color version of this figure, see www.iste.co.uk/brunetti/greenhouses1.
zip
The grand international opening and most famous application of the ridge-and-
furrow system took place in the Crystal Palace (see Figures 1.12–1.14), which
hosted the Great Exhibition of 1951 in London. The ridge-and-furrow system
extracted the most advantageous performances from the leaky types of sealants and
gaskets available at the time. After some years, however, as the reliability of
the sealants, gaskets, glues and waterproofing components kept improving, the
ridge-and-furrow system began to fade out of favor with designers and builders, due
to its complexity (and secondarily, in retrospect, probably also due to its low thermal
efficiency, the reason of which, in turn, was that the alternation of ridges and
furrows increased the thermal loss area of the envelope without increasing the solar
gains correspondingly).
Figure 1.11. Charles Rohault de Fleury, section of the hothouses in the Jardin des
Plantes, Paris. The greenhouse section with a curved front is surprisingly similar to
that of a modern solar greenhouse. Nonetheless, these greenhouses were heated
with remote burners (from: Meyer et al. (1966))
Figure 1.12. Crystal Palace, 1851. Joseph Paxton and Decimus Burton
Basic Concepts 13
Figure 1.13. Ridge-and-furrow construction solution adopted in the Crystal Palace
With time, the stick system ended up prevailing, evolving into the curtain-wall
stick system during the 20th century, and leaving a deep mark on the history of
architecture. Few constructional patterns in the history of modern architecture have
had more success than this one. Retrospectively, it can be said that the stick system
was tough to beat.
The large-sized botanical greenhouse consolidated itself as a cultural expression

between 1830 and 1870, and from then on, it underwent all the phenomena of
exhaustion and transience that are typical of fashions. The production of stock
greenhouses for the middle classes began in that context, during the second half of
the 19th century. But before the turn of the century, the greenhouse had already
fallen out of favor with the dominant classes. A sign of this is that, as the large-size
greenhouses of the 19th century decayed under the injuries of time, weather and
fires, many of them were not maintained or replaced, but outright dismantled.1
After the described trajectory, in the 20th century the usage of greenhouse
systems remained confined to vegetable growing for a long time, under the scrutiny
of botanists, rather than that of architects and engineers. Indeed, the glass surfaces
used by many seminal works of the Modern Movement in that period (e.g. the
Bauhaus School Building in Dessau, by Walter Gropius, and the Farnsworth House,
by Mies Van der Rohe) were derived from a “genetic” mold that was different from
the agricultural one. They were drawn from an aesthetic mold, founded on
transparency and aimed to modify the envelope surfaces by operating directly on the
1 An interesting text produced in this period of “abandonment” of the botanical greenhouse

systems is that of Lawrence (1950).
inhabited rooms/spaces, rather than shaping the glazed volumes into the domain of
climatic transformation.
Figure 1.14. Construction scheme of the wall structure of the Crystal Palace
Basic Concepts 15
Figure 1.15. An example of a ridge-and-furrow construction in a historical and

retrofitted greenhouse designed by Joseph Paxton at Somerleyton Hall, Suffolk, UK.
Photo: Rod Allday, 2012, Creative Commons License. For a color version of this
figure, see www.iste.co.uk/brunetti/greenhouses1.zip
Figure 1.16. The Palm House in the Royal Kew Gardens, London (1841–1849).
Decimus Burton (architectural designer) and Richard Turner (technological designer).
Using a stick system, the designers brought the design principles anticipated by John
Claudius Loudon to an early peak. Photo: David Iliff, 2008, Creative Commons License.
For a color version of this figure, see www.iste.co.uk/brunetti/greenhouses1.zip
Greenhouses were only re-discovered by architectural designers for their ability

to produce the greenhouse effect after the 1950s. In truth, the experimentations had
begun in the 1930s and had continued during the 1940s (Denzer 2013). But at the
beginning of the 1950s, the launch of the USA program for the exploitation of
nuclear energy had the effect of freezing these initiatives for some years.
In that context, an essential part in the “rediscovery” of solar architecture was

played by the American counterculture of the 1960s. The solar greenhouses that were
built in that pioneering period often embodied a beneficial dose of ingenuity,
combined with single glazing, moderate or any thermal insulation, and great attention
to solar exposure, solar morphology and passive solar dynamics. But at that point, at
least, time had at last shed light on what antecedents were most suitable to be built
upon, in the pursuit of thermal efficiency. We can now recognize those antecedents in
the already cited examples by Loudon and Roault de Fleury, and in the astounding
clairvoyance of the design for a solar greenhouse published in the Encyclopedia of
Diderot and D’Alembert (see Figure 1.17), as well as in several utilitarian solar
greenhouses of the first part of the 20th century, of the kind shown in Figure 1.14.
Figure 1.17. Project of an attached solar greenhouse in the Encyclopedie

of Diderot et D’Alembert: few modern solar greenhouses
are more daring and up-to-the-task than this one
The result of those premises was that at the time of the first world energy crisis
in 1973, the greenhouse (together with the solar wall, which is its functional
relative) was already ready to be a protagonist. The significant number of
greenhouses built by architects in that period fall mainly within two typological
domains: that of the stand-alone greenhouse aimed at growing plants and that of the
lean-to greenhouse aimed at producing heat in winter for a building that it is
Basic Concepts 17
attached to. The projects of the solar Arks by the New Alchemy Institute are
outstanding examples of the high level of inventiveness attained in the
experimentations attempted in that period (see Figure 1.19).
Figure 1.18. Example of a solar greenhouse built in the first half of the 20th century
in central Europe. Serre at Château de la Grange in Yerres, Département Essonne,
France. Photo: G. Freihalter, 2017, Creative Commons License. For a color version
of this figure, see www.iste.co.uk/brunetti/greenhouses1.zip
Figure 1.19. One of the several realized projects for a solar Ark by the New Alchemy
Institute of Cape Cod, Massachusetts (re-drawn on the basis of a drawing by Todd
and Todd 1984). These transparent enclosures are made of bent fiberglass sheets.
The bending of the sheets increased their rigidity, making them installable without
transoms, so as to spare material and increase the overall transparency of
the envelope. For a color version of this figure, see www.iste.co.uk/brunetti/
greenhouses1.zip
Figure 1.20. Lean-to solar greenhouse in Belgium. Photo: Arnes Buric, License
Pixabay, free for commercial use (modified – in luminous contrast – as required
by the license). For a color version of this figure, see www.iste.co.uk/brunetti/
greenhouses1.zip
Figure 1.21. Scheme of a botanical solar greenhouse equipped with solar reflectors
(in gray) positioned above and below the glazing, to increase the solar aperture.
Freely redrawn from Clegg and Watkins (1978). For a color version of this figure, see
www.iste.co.uk/brunetti/greenhouses1.zip
Basic Concepts 19
On the European side, the far-sighted experimental project of the house in

Regensburg (Germany) by Thomas Herzog, built towards the end of the 1970s
(see Figure 1.22), stands out for its ambition to integrate a solar greenhouse not only
with a house, but also with its surroundings, and above all, with the trees, widening
the environmental palette of the system substantially.
Figure 1.22. Ground-level plan and transversal section of the house

in Regensburg by Thomas Herzog, redrawn by Gian Luca Brunetti
In that context, some key typologies of solar architectures employing

greenhouses also emerged: in particular, (a) that of the earthship (Reynolds 1990)
(see Volume 4, sections 1.2.6.1 and 1.2.6.2), which combines the solar greenhouse
(used as a corridor/collector oriented towards the equator) with the exploitation of
the ground as a thermal mass for thermal storage (seasonal as well as daily);2 and
(b) that of the so-called double envelope house, which may be considered, in a
certain sense, the multi-story version of an earthship, in which the thermal exchange
with the soil is kept going by a convective air loop within the superinsulated double
envelope (Butler 1978) (see Volume 4, sections 1.2.6.3 and 1.2.6.3.1).
The use of greenhouse systems during the 1980s took place in the pursuit of
thermal performance, but the quantitative disadvantage of these indirect solar gain
systems with respect to the competing direct and independent solar gain systems
soon became evident. This fact was decisive in the loss of “market shares” of solar
greenhouses, which took place in the socio-cultural western world from the 1990s
onwards.
Retrospectively, it is now possible to assert that both the earthship and the
double-envelope house were too specialized to assert themselves in ordinary design
practice: in the case of the earthship, because of the morphological and typological
constraints that it requires for establishing conductive thermal exchanges with the
soil, and in the case of the double envelope house, because of its constructional
complexity. This setback took place even though both the earthships and the double
envelope houses, thanks to their thermal exchange with the soil, proved themselves
efficient and free from the necessity of non-renewable energy inputs.
From the described situation, the cited fact followed that, in Northern and
Central Europe, after an explorative period (during the 1980s and the beginning
of the 1990s) of high confidence in the solar heating-driven performance
of greenhouses – of which the housing project by Rolf Disch3 in Figure 1.23 is a
top-quality representative – greenhouses gradually fell out of favor with
architectural designers once more.
One reason for this debacle was that solar greenhouses had been initially loaded
with excessive expectations by both designers and clients. The expectations were
excessive because the efficiency of greenhouses attached to buildings, in terms of
passive solar efficiency, cannot compete with that of specialized systems like air or
water solar collectors. A greenhouse, indeed, due to its large envelope (solar
2 In this section, and throughout this work, the word “mass” has been used to describe a heat
storage volume, rather than “mass” in its meaning from physics, that is, “density”.
3 Recent photographs of this well-preserved settlement by Rolf Disch can be found at:
https://sdg21.eu/en/city-region/freiburg-und-umland.
Basic Concepts 21
aperture and captation surface being equal) produces greater thermal losses than a
solar panel. The result is that the efficiency of an attached solar greenhouse usually
ranges between 10% and 30%, depending on the situation, while, typically, the
efficiency of a solar collector is of the order of 50% or more. This suggests that the
lever of sheer heating efficiency is not what should have been used for proselytizing
for greenhouses.
Figure 1.23. Row houses in Freiburg (social housing settlement “Lindenwaeldle”),

1984, Rolf Disch. Redrawn from: Commission des Commonautés Européennes
(1991). For a color version of this figure, see www.iste.co.uk/brunetti/
greenhouses1.zip
The cultural contexts in which greenhouses have had more success as

architectural systems in the last years are Northern and Central Europe, the coldest
half of North America (the northern part of the USA, and Canada) and China: all
areas where the exploitation of the greenhouse effect is both feasible and beneficial.
This is demonstrated by the fact that even lean-to greenhouses, in those climates, are
often not only aimed at passive heating, but rather combine passive heating and
cooling with vegetable farming.
Exceptions in which the greenhouse systems are optimized for passive heating in
those contexts do exist: see, for example, the interesting BedZed housing settlement in
Sutton, London, designed by Alan Short and Associates (see Figure 1.20; Volume 4,
Figures 1.15 and 1.16); but are not prevalent. Indeed, the prevalent approach in solar
housing from the 1990s onwards has been that of direct solar gain (see, for example,
Figure 1.21).
Figure 1.24. View of the BedZed ecovillage, Sutton, London, designed by Alan
Short and Associates. Photo: PeabodyLDN, 2014, Creative Commons License.
Figure 1.25. Exploitation of direct solar gains in the solar housing “Platbusch” in Graz,
designed by ACEgroup 1991. Photo: ACEgroup, 2019, Creative Commons License.
Basic Concepts 23
In the last years, numerous experiences that have made low-cost and innovative
use of agricultural greenhouses, by integrating them with houses in several
interesting manners, have taken place, with the most interesting results perhaps
concentrated in France. The fact that the new vital signs, for greenhouses, come
once more from the agricultural sector should not surprise us, because energy and
economic efficiency are at the core of that design task.
With those signs, a new focus has emerged. Indeed, the goal of setting “special”
thermal and lighting conditions in greenhouses seems to be less and less prevalent,
increasingly substituted with that of establishing acceptable (rather than optimal)
hygro-thermal and lighting performances at a low cost; for which the construction
components of agricultural greenhouses turn out to be quite adequate most of the
time.
In the most recent waves of projects, the traditional approach subordinating the
greenhouse to the building is often turned upside-down: in those greenhouses,
indeed, the idea of the building often appears modeled on the exitance of the
greenhouse, rather than vice versa. In this framework, factory-made agricultural
construction systems (utilitarian, simple and sound) are often coupled with
dry-assembled wood or steel construction systems; the transparent enclosures are
single-layer (when made of glass) or double- or multiple-layer (when made of
polycarbonate or acrylic panels); the shading devices are constituted by low-cost
internal and external canvases, and the main ventilation openings schedule a
seasonal (not diurnal) operability, also typical of agricultural systems.
Figure 1.26. Maison Latapie, Floirac. Lacaton and Vassal (1993) (see: https://www.
lacatonvassal.com/index.php?idp=25). Photo: .pep, Creative Commons License.
The most well-known building among the antecedents of this trend was probably
the Maison Latapie, designed by Lacaton and Vassal in 1993 (see Figures 1.26 and
1.27). In that case, the components that were employed in the construction did not
yet belong to agricultural architecture, but derived from an attentive use of cheap
materials of industrial production, and the greenhouse constituted a context
symmetric to the house, in the reassuring semblance of a solar addition.
Figure 1.27. Maison Latapie, interior view of the greenhouse. Photo: Alan
Hasoo, Creative Commons License. For a color version of this
figure, see www.iste.co.uk/brunetti/greenhouses1.zip
Basic Concepts 25
The maison Latapie has originated a wave of increasingly incisive exploitation of

prefabricated systems for agriculture. Among the most interesting approaches in that
direction are (a) that of including the house (which became, in a sense, the object of
the growing care) in the greenhouse, so as to subvert both the meaning and the
materiality of the external domain of the house beyond recognition (this is the
case for the “house in a greenhouse” by Frank Gerno and Marc Jaeger, built at
Saint-Mars-de-Coutais, in France – see Figure 1.28); (b) that of leaning the
greenhouse to the house, while hosting new, low-cost special-purpose rooms in the
greenhouse space (this is the case for the innovative house in Lille, designed by
Patrick Partouche) (see Figure 1.29); and (c) that of integrating the greenhouse with
the house, by articulating the solar greenhouse with the building laxly, as a space
inhabitable during the mid-seasons, rather than in the lean-to fashion typical of a solar
greenhouse. This is the case for the house in Laval, designed by Gaudoin and Morin
with the Groupe CIL of Mayenne (see Figure 1.30), and for the social housing units
in Mulhouse, designed by, again, Lacaton and Vassal (see Figure 1.31).
Figure 1.28. House in a greenhouse, Saint-Mars-de-Coutais. Frank Gerno and Marc

Jaeger (2009) (see: http://www.ip-architectes.fr/?portfolio=maison-serre-c). For a
color version of this figure, see www.iste.co.uk/brunetti/greenhouses1.zip
Figure 1.29. Views of the house side-enclosed greenhouses by Patrick Partouche,

in Lille, France (2000) (see: http://partouche-architecte.blogspot.com/2010/10/
lesquin-maison-serre-container.html). Two stock-order greenhouses have been
attached at the sides of a house. These greenhouses are characterized by an
opening strategy that is typically botanical. Photographs: Nicolás Boullosa (2018),
License Creative Commons. For a color version of this figure, see www.iste.co.uk/
brunetti/greenhouses1.zip
Two of these prominent examples will also be featured, for a more complete
analysis, see, in the last volume of this work: the House “D” in Nantes, by Xavier
Fouquet (Volume 4, section 3.3), and the bioclimatic house in Villeneuve Tolosane,
by Nycholas Eydoux (Volume 4, section 3.4).
Basic Concepts 27
Figure 1.30. Social housing in Mulhouse. In this case as well, the construction
components of the greenhouses are derived from industrial agriculture. View of a
corner of the building. Photo: Bruno Henriques, Creative Commons License. For a
color version of this figure, see www.iste.co.uk/brunetti/greenhouses1.zip
Figure 1.31. House Temoin, in Laval, France, designed by Cécile Gadoin and
Anthony Morin (see: http://www.cecilegaudoin.com/index.php?/projets/maison-temoin).
Parallel views of the possible configurations. In this case, a greenhouse treated as
buffer space is put in sequence with a shaded space externally. Designers: Cécile
Gaudoin and Anthony Morin with the Groupe CIL de la Mayenne. For a color version
of this figure, see www.iste.co.uk/brunetti/greenhouses1.zip
Another random document with
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Nell’ora stessa della notte all’altra estremità del palazzo vegliava il
Duca in convegno coll’astrologo Ebreo.
La camera ove essi stavano sorgeva a guisa di torre all’angolo
orientale della Rocca, e non si poteva colà pervenire che per mezzo
di un ponte coperto e chiuso, il quale veduto dal basso s’aveva
forma d’un arco altissimo che congiungeva due parti dell’edifizio.
Quella camera conteneva ogni specie di macchine, stromenti e
arnesi ch’erano stati sino a quell’epoca inventati per segnare la
misura del tempo, e per lo studio delle sfere celesti; era insomma un
osservatorio astronomico, quale si può immaginare ginare che fosse
al principio del secolo decimoquinto; e ciò che meglio caratterizzava
il tempo e le idee erano gli utensili alchimistici che si vedevano
ovunque frammisti a quelli che unicamente servivano alle operazioni
dell’astrologia.
Fra i quadranti, i lambicchi, i cerchii, le clessidre e i gnomoni,
distinguevasi sopra larghi sostegni d’oro un ampio globo stellato e
dipinto a figure d’uomini e d’animali. Il Duca lo aveva comperato per
ingente somma da un mercante saraceno, e pretendevasi fosse il
celebre Planetario arabico, stato mandato in dono dal Califfo di
Bagdad ad Abderamo re di Granata.
Una gran lampada rifletteva la sua viva luce su quel globo, di cui gli
anni avevano alquanto annerito lo splendido azzurro. Il Duca stava
seduto in atto attentivo, tenendo fisi gli occhi sul Planetario, mentre il
vecchiardo Elìa con una verga d’ebano nella destra, toccando i segni
rappresentanti lo zodiaco, andava spiegandogli i nomi, i moti, gli
influssi delle varie costellazioni, le quali erano ripetute in un grosso
libro ch’ei sosteneva coll’altra mano.
Un colpo dato al battitojo di bronzo di quella camera fece
sospendere le parole alll’Astrologo; il Duca porse orecchio, e avendo
udito succedersi due altri tocchi leggierissimi, quindi uno più risentito
— Entra — gridò con impazienza.
La porta s’aprì, ed avanzossi un uomo pressochè interamente
avvolto nel mantello; s’accostò al Duca e gli parlò all’orecchio.
Filippo Maria ai detti di colui mostrò prima sdegnarsi, poi sogghignò
fieramente; dopo pochi istanti di secreto colloquio tra loro, fecegli un
cenno, quegli uscì, e la porta si serrò di nuovo.
Elìa era intanto rimasto immobile cogli occhi sul suo libro, nella
lettura del quale sembrava interamente assorto.
«Proseguite, maestro (disse con calma il Duca). Non parlavate voi
delle stelle che compongono la coda allo Scorpione?
«In cauda venenum» — profferì lentamente il Filosofo israelita come
se ripetesse le parole che stava leggendo; poscia alzò la testa e
divisi sulle labbra i peli della bianca barba, ritoccando colla verga sul
globo la nera figura, proseguì in sua nasale cantilena — «Quest’è il
celeste Scorpio che s’abbranca al Sagittario e colla coda percuote la
Libra. Efraim Afestolett Mammacaton ne’ precetti del decimo mese,
insegna essere tre volte sette il numero degli effetti nefasti che piove
sul mondo questo freddo animale. Esso è propizio a chi annoda
occulte trame, e attenta colpi proditorii; siccome d’indole sua penetra
nelle case e sta celato presso le coltri ove ferisce nel sonno...
«Un mostro di tal natura, uno scarabeo avvelenito in sembianza
umana, abita presso di noi (disse interrompendolo e con subitaneo
rancore Filippo Maria).
«Non vi prendete di ciò pensiero (rispose l’Ebreo); quando la sua
traccia verrà scoperta tutti si affretteranno a schiacciarlo.
«Eppure non è così. Una donna lo accoglie, lo accarezza e si lascia
da lui aizzare contro di me (replicò il Duca misteriosamente, fatto più
truce nell’aspetto). Ma essi non sanno che queste mura s’infuocano
e fanno contorcere le membra ai traditori come se fossero collocati
sopra lastre roventi.
«Le tenebre non lo terranno lungamente avvolto. Guai se lo
scellerato si palesa!
«Io li conosco già i suoi delitti: essi sono troppo gravi (profferì Filippo
con feroce freddezza). Gettate per lui le sorti, o maestro, questa
notte medesima. Domani allo svegliarmi entrerete a riferirmi ciò che
avrà prescritto il destino; rammentatevi che attendo voi pel primo.
Elìa chinò il capo in segno d’obbedienza. Il Duca alzossi; poscia ad
una sua chiamata si spalancò di nuovo la porta, ed ei ne uscì
preceduto per le scale ed i corritoi da due paggi che recavano i
doppieri.
Da quanto fu detto colà è agevole comprendere che i progetti di
Macaruffo non erano rimasti ignoti. L’intrattenersi ch’ei faceva
soventi ora con uno, ora coll’altro dei capi delle antiche bande di
Facino; il trarli seco a convegno nei battifredi più appartati del
Castello mentre mostravasi taciturno e selvatico con tutte l’altre genti
di Corte, aveva eccitati i sospetti e destata la vigilanza della turba dei
delatori del Duca. Ogni suo passo fu quindi numerato, sorvegliate
diligentemente le sue azioni.
La notte susseguente a quella in cui avvenne il colloquio da noi
riferito, il Venturiero passando meditabondo sotto il portico che dal
cortile interno della Rocca metteva all’andito della torre, sentì
afferrarsi per un braccio. Rivoltosi riconobbe Scaramuccia, valletto di
confidenza del Duca, con cui aveva stretta conoscenza militando
insieme sotto le insegne del Conte.
«Rendi grazie a’ tuoi santi protettori ch’io t’abbia ritrovato — disse
pianissimo Scaramuccia traendolo in un canto dietro le spalle
dell’arco, fuori della lista di luce che mandava la lampada. Il
Venturiero con voce aspra rispose:
«Renderei grazie sì, ma quando potessi al tuo padrone....
«Zitto, zitto (proseguì l’altro) non è tempo da far parole. Ascolta. Se
fra poche ore non sei lontano le molte miglia da queste mura tu
finirai di mala morte. Hanno girato per te la luna, il sole e le stelle: il
tuo nome sta in mano al Giudeo, e la gola del pozzo in fondo alle
vôlte fu aperta e t’aspetta. Pensa a’ tuoi casi. Addio. — Ciò detto lo
lasciò frettolosamente e scomparve nell’ombra.
Macaruffo benchè non suscettivo di timidi pensieri e omai
indifferente ad ogni sventura, non dubitò a tale inaspettato
avvertimento, che in realtà la sua morte fosse stata ordinata da
Filippo Maria, sia per avere scoperto i di lui tentativi, sia per togliere
un amico fedele alla Duchessa. Quindi non volendo cadere vittima
invendicata dell’abborrito Visconte determinò di cercare salvezza
nella fuga.
Deposta ogni arma e tramutate le vesti, presso l’albeggiare potè
uscire inosservato dal Castello. Comunque grande però fosse il suo
pericolo rimanendo in queste vicinanze, non sapeva staccarsi dai
luoghi ove l’infelice sua Signora, serbando solo i titoli e le apparenze
della sovranità, gemeva prigioniera d’un inesorabile tiranno.
Per lunghi giorni andò errando nelle terre prossime a questa città, e
la notte accostavasi guardingo alla tremenda ducale dimora, spiando
se qualche lume apparisse nelle finestre dal lato occidentale della
Rocca, e s’affisava in quello come in una luce amica, consolatrice,
poichè sembravagli illuminasse la camera della Duchessa, ch’ei si
rappresentava assisa a quel mesto chiarore in atto pensivo e col
volto irrigato di lagrime. Chi potrebbe ridire quanta fosse la potenza
che l’immagine di lei esercitava su quell’anima, chiusa in ributtanti
spoglie, ma sì nobile e generosa che avrebbe con gioja, e senza
ch’ella pure il sapesse, sagrificata l’esistenza per procurarle un
istante di contento e di pace?
Dovette però convincersi alfine Macaruffo ch’era vano ogni tentativo
per rivederla, e sarebbe stata follìa l’intraprendere di sottrarla suo
malgrado alle mani del Duca. Pensando d’altronde che se si fosse
scoperto ch’ei s’aggirava quivi d’intorno avrebbe potuto far cadere su
di lei il dubbio che per suo mezzo tramasse congiure o tradimenti, si
decise con pena indescrivibile ad abbandonare questo suolo, e
riprese cammino verso la patria.
Allorchè calando da una delle Alpi che fiancheggiano il mare di
Liguria, distinse tra il verde della valle le torri del castello di Tenda,
vide il lago de’ palombi, e poco lungi scorse tra il folto degli alberi le
merlate mura del maniero de’ Gualdi, non dolci affetti si sollevarono
in lui con soave tumulto, non esclamò, non sorrise; solo un grave
sospiro uscì dal suo petto affranto dalla fatica e dalla doglia, e
s’asciugò due amare stille di pianto che gli caddero sulle arsiccie
guancie.
Visse colà inconsolabile, solingo.
Quando nelle paterne mura ribombò con terrore e desolazione
l’orrendo annunzio che Beatrice, dannata per scellerata sentenza dal
Marito, aveva lasciata la testa sul patibolo nel castello di Binasco, il
Venturiero quivi più non si rinvenne.
Alcuni giorni dopo apparve un Pellegrino in vicinanza al castello del
supplizio, e fu veduto starsi ogni notte immobile per lunghe ore,
pregando alla ferriata della cappella dei morti, ove i resti della
Contessa erano stati deposti. Nè andò guari che chiuse gli occhi
esso pure alla vita, e nessuno scoprì mai la sua storia o il suo nome.
Un Cadavere antico [7]
.... Orrendo e vero

Simulacro di morte!...
H.
Era il cielo cinericcio; oscurava. Ad ogni istante rendevasi più fosco il

colore delle alte mura della Basilica, che la Longobardica Regina
eresse in Monza al divino Precursore, e più visibile traspariva dalle
sue arcuate finestre il chiarore delle lampane solitarie.
Io camminava a lenti passi sotto l’atrio contiguo a quella vetusta
Chiesa attendendo l’un de’ custodi. Il silenzio universale, la tenebria
della sera che s’avanzava m’avevano reso mesto e meditabondo,
onde le impressioni della mia mente consuonavano all’intutto
coll’idea del lugubre oggetto che una viva curiosità mi aveva tratto
quivi ad ammirare. Venne alfine la guida recando un torchio acceso
e m’accennò di seguirla; le tenni dietro: ed essa arrestatasi ov’era
un’imposta alla parete, la spalancò ed offrì al mio sguardo un
cadavere, una specie di mummia, quivi serbata in una nicchia.
Fatto immobile, affisai avidamente gli occhi in quella salma antica, e
i molti gravi pensieri che sorsero in me, attutarono il profondo
ribrezzo che suol sempre assalire alla vista di umane carni
inanimate. Sta ritto quel cadavere, rigido, giallognolo: il diseccare de’
muscoli, de’ tendini, l’indurare delle cartilagini l’ha alcun poco
contratto e impicciolito, ma mantiene tuttavia intatte le forme,
conserva i denti, i capelli, le ciglia, e mostra illesa ovunque la cute,
fuorchè alla nocca d’un piede. Lo esaminai con tutta attenzione
facendo appressare mano mano il lume ad ogni sua parte, e provava
il mio spirito certo qual solenne diletto nel contemplare un corpo, che
senza bende egizie o balsami trinacrii, si sottrasse alle possenti
consuntrici leggi della natura; un corpo, che serbando per quattro
secoli le primiere sembianze, giunse da spente e trapassate
generazioni sino a noi come l’unico resto d’un gran naufragio sopra
ignoti lidi.
Quella salma non fu d’uomo volgare, poichè s’ascrisse anch’esso fra
i dominatori dei popoli. Oltre d’avere padroneggiato Monza, venne
salutato signore di Milano, e sebbene qui non tenesse il comando
che per brevissimo spazio di tempo, collegò milizie, impose tributi,
stampò monete, attribuzioni esclusive della sovranità. Portò il nome
di Estore, e vanta per padre Bernabò Visconte, principe temuto e
crudele, che perì di veleno nel Castello di Trezzo.
Estore non condusse una fiacca o codarda vita. Pugnò
possentemente contro i due duchi suoi cugini, Giovanni e Filippo
Maria, figli di Galeazzo. Seppe tenere il campo a fronte di Facino
Cane, di Lancillotto Beccaria e di Valperga ch’erano fra i più valenti
condottieri dell’epoca. A Filippo Maria contrastò con vigore il
possesso dello Stato; assalito in Milano da forte schiera d’uomini
d’armi, oppose nelle stesse contrade della città la più ostinata
resistenza. Cedette alfine e ritirossi in Monza nel di cui Castello
sostenne un lungo assedio, respingendo più volte gli assalti di tutto
l’esercito ducale. Per ordine di Filippo, che sterminato voleva un sì
audace rivale, non cessavano mai le offese contro le assediate
mura, le quali dall’assiduo lavoro de’ mangani e delle bricolle già
scoperchiate e cadenti in più luoghi, non offrivano ai difensori che
debole e incerto riparo.
Un giorno (era in settembre del 1412) Estore Visconte se ne stava
nel mezzo del cortile del suo Castello presso al pozzo ove si
abbeveravano i cavalli. Nel momento forse che all’udire le esterne
grida de’ nemici meditava sdegnato una tremenda uscita, o che
l’anima sua sorpresa dall’idea dell’instante periglio cominciava a
vacillare invilita, una grossa pietra slanciata con tutta veemenza
venne dall’alto e lo colse in una gamba che gli spezzò presso
l’attaccatura dei piede, onde cadette, e perdendo sterminata quantità
di sangue, in capo a poco tempo rimase esanime.
Eccolo innanzi a me coi segni del fatal colpo, che ha lacerate le
carni, infranto l’osso, e lasciò su quello le traccie del sangue
aggrumolato.
— O arido ed annerito carcame, tu dunque fosti un guerriero
d’intrepido cuore, e ricoperto di ferro vivesti tra l’armi e le battaglie?
Ah perchè schiavando i denti che serrò morte, non puoi narrare tu
stesso i fatti de’ tuoi giorni, o rivelare ai mortali i segreti delle tombe
tra cui sì lungamente dimorasti! Ma l’ironia ferale dei tuoi tratti è fisa
e impassibile, e nel rimirarti mi fai sentire più amaro e truce il
pensiero che mentre ogni oggetto vivente con somma rapidità
trapassa e si solve, un cadavere s’innoltra incorrotto verso le ridenti
età future.
FINE.
IL BACIO FATALE
....... Ei nell’amata
Donna s’affigge, ode uno squillo: il suono
Quest’è che serra le stridenti porte.
Un istante gli resta, un bacio invola
A quella fronte gelida, una croce
Alle sue mani impallidite, e come
Luce nell’aer per le mute logge
Inosservato e celere dispare.
Tealdi-Fores.
Chi ignorava la beltà di Evelleda, la prigioniera d’Oriente divenuta

sposa del cavaliero Unfredo de’ Rodis?... Dal lago alle Alpi tutta la
valle dell’Ossola risuonava delle lodi di lei e si portavano a cielo non
solo le avvenenti sue forme, ma le virtù e la dolcezza soavissima
dell’animo. Nel mirarla era un’estasi che infondevano in petto la
leggiadrìa e la nobiltà delle sue movenze, l’armonìa della voce che
serbava ne’ suoni alcun che di straniero e la luce celeste di che
erano animati i suoi sguardi. Oh! gli sguardi di Evelleda superavano
quanto mai l’immaginazione più ardente sa figurarsi d’incantevole e
d’angelico: quegli su cui quelle nere pupille si posavano con
tenerezza o con mesto sorriso provava in cuore un ineffabile
commovimento e sentiva circondarsi da un’aura più pura.
Questo fiore di bellezza era nato sotto altri soli e dalle falde del
Libano era stato trapiantato presso quelle delle Alpi. Il cavaliero
Unfredo valente di braccio quanto d’animo ardente e vendicativo,
offeso in cuore da secrete ingiurie, determinò sino dall’età sua
giovanile d’abbandonare la patria; radunò una schiera de’ più prodi
suoi vassalli Ossolani, fece voto di combattere per la liberazione di
Gerusalemme e raggiunse in Oriente l’esercito dei Baroni Crociati.
Ebbe parte nelle imprese più ardue e famose; venne ferito e si
ritrasse a Bisanzio sotto la protezione de’ greci Imperatori.
Ricuperata colà la salute e il vigore, tornò in Palestina ove
capitanando una parte dell’esercito prese d’assalto una ricca città
de’ Saraceni, di cui gli furono cedute in premio le spoglie. Egli
trascelse per sè le più preziose; abbandonò l’altre a’ soldati, e dei
vinti non tenne in suo potere che una donna bellissima fra tutte,
madre d’unica fanciulletta, vezzosa come l’amore, la quale fu trovata
dai guerrieri cristiani nel solitario harem custodita da due schiavi muti
e neri al paro della pece.
Vinta Nicea ed Antiochia, Unfredo, a cui le ferite benchè rimarginate
rendevano l’armeggiare penoso, volle far ritorno alle patrie terre, e
caricate su una nave Pisana le conquistate ricchezze, afferrò le
spiaggie d’Italia. Morì attrita dai lunghi affanni, anzichè toccasse i
nostri lidi, la bella prigioniera saracena, e il Cavaliero le rese meno
penosi gli ultimi istanti giurandole sulla croce che a lui segnava il
petto, che avrebbe con ogni studio vegliato al bene dell’orfana
fanciulla ch’ella abbandonava nelle sue mani.
Toccava questa appena il tredicesimo anno, nè altri che la propria
madre conosceva sulla terra che potesse intenderla, guidarla e che
le fosse di sostegno e d’aita. Vedendo la genitrice languire per
mortale angoscia gemeva profondamente, sinchè giunta al punto
estremo ne raccolse disperata l’ultimo sospiro e si dovette strapparla
a forza dalla fredda salma di lei.
Per lunghi giorni le sgorgò incessante un pianto inconsolabile: alla
fine però le tenere e più che paterne cure del generoso Unfredo le
ridonarono la calma; cessarono le lagrime d’irrigarle le pallide
delicate guancie, ed ei si dispose a condurla alla propria valle nelle
mura dell’avito castello.
La fama delle sue gesta lo avevano preceduto: accorsero i vassalli
esultanti ad incontrarlo ed ei ricalcò festeggiante dopo tanti anni di
lontananza l’antico ponte del suo fiume nativo. Nel guerresco
corteggio che lo seguiva attraevano gli sguardi di tutti i due schiavi
Etiopi abbigliati nella loro barbarica foggia; ma ciò che destava più
vivamente la curiosità generale era la fanciulla che sedeva sopra un
placido e bellissimo palafreno guidato a mano da un paggio,
ricoperta da fitto velo il quale l’avviluppava pressochè interamente.
Allorchè dopo molti mesi il dolore della perdita della madre fu
alquanto più mitigato nell’animo della giovinetta, Unfredo che sentiva
nascere in seno per lei ardentissima fiamma, la fece istruire nei sacri
misteri di nostra religione e poscia rigenerare nelle acque del
Battesimo. Profuse quindi tesori per rendere il proprio castello il più
sontuoso che mai si vedesse e per prevenire ed appagare ogni lieve
brama dell’adorata fanciulla, un di cui sorriso lo rendeva felice.
Riconoscente essa pure a tante affettuose dimostrazioni del suo
guerriero vincitore, benchè non lo amasse che quale amoroso padre,
cedere dovette alle lunghe ripetute istanze e condotta da Unfredo
all’altare con pompa regale divenne sua sposa.
Sorgeva il castello di Unfredo sulle sponde della Toce là dove questo
fiume abbandonati i nativi dirupi, scende limpido e tranquillo ad
irrigare l’esteso piano della valle dell’Ossola. Il ponte levatojo di quel
castello rimaneva sempre abbassato, e sebbene numerosa schiera
d’armati vi stesse a guardia continuamente, erane però a tutti libero
l’ingresso, poichè colà venivano accolti con eguale cortese ospitalità
il povero pellegrino, il ricco barone, il questuante eremita e lo
sfarzoso Abate che vi giungeva cavalcando con gran seguito di
monaci e di laici. Infiniti erano quivi entro gli scudieri, i paggi, i servi,
tutti abbigliati con vaghe e ricche assise. Nei portici, negli atrii, sulle
scale miravasi scolpito in marmo o dipinto lo stemma della possente
famiglia de’ Rodis, ch’era una stella d’oro con due ali in campo
azzurro, circondato da una nera fascia.
Le stanze superiori nelle quali abitava il Signore del castello erano
tutte magnificamente addobbate; ma ove si poteva dire veramente
esausto quanto mai il lusso de’ tempi sapeva creare di più
sorprendente e ricercato, era la grande aula di ricevimento e
l’oratorio di Evelleda. Nella sala entravasi per due ampie porte alle
quali corrispondevano vaste finestre, divisa ognuna in due archi
acuti sostenuti da sottilissima colonna spirale: ne chiudeva il varco
una vetriata a colori su cui si diramavano simetrici arabeschi. Le
pareti erano coperte da purpurei arazzi trapunti in oro: marmoreo era
il pavimento ed istoriata la volta: i larghi sedili finamente intagliati, e
sulle tavole, ricoperte di lastre di preziosi marmi, posavano gemmati
doppieri. Sulla parete frammezzo alle porte d’ingresso stavano
sospese a modo di trofeo le armi più ricche d’Unfredo: nel mezzo era
collocato l’usbergo coi guanti, i bracciali e gli schinieri; a sinistra lo
scudo collo stemma rilevato a cesello; a destra la spada e la lancia,
ed al di sopra l’elmo di massiccio argento con cimiero d’altissime e
candide penne.
Quell’appartata camera che nella dimora d’una ricca dama viene a
lei unicamente consacrata e sta presso la stanza di riposo, servendo
così ai misteri dell’addobbamento, come alle solitarie letture ed alle
meditazioni, la quale ora noi chiamiamo Gabinetto, appellavasi nei
bassi tempi Oratorio, poichè conteneva una specie di domestico
altare avanti a cui soleva la Dama profferire le serali e mattutine
preghiere. L’oratorio d’Evelleda non era spazioso ma rinserrava
tesori. V’avevano due entrate, l’una da una porta che s’apriva
nell’atrio vicino alla sala, e l’altra più ristretta che riusciva nella
camera contigua ove era eretto il talamo nuziale. Di contro all’arcata
finestra d’egual forma di quelle della sala, stava nell’oratorio una
nicchia, dentro la quale sorgeva sopra un piedestallo il simulacro
della Vergine col divino infante, coronati l’uno e l’altro di un serto di
gemme: sul petto della celeste Madre pendeva appeso ad un serico
nastro un’anforetta in un cerchio d’oro che conteneva un frammento
del velo di Lei, reliquia rarissima acquistata per cento bisanti dallo
stesso Unfredo in Palestina da un Maronita di Betlemme. Davanti al
simulacro stava un ginocchiatojo tutto rivestito da ricco e morbido
drappo. In giro alla camera vedevansi arche ed armadietti d’ebano e
d’avorio, elegantemente intarsiati con fili d’oro e tempestati di pietre
preziose: alcuni di essi rimanendo aperti, mostravansi ripieni di vasi
lucenti, di cassette d’aromi, di odorosi unguenti; altri di fermagli
d’oro, vezzi di perle, spille, colanne, braccialetti e di quanto può
concorrere ai più sontuoso e variato femminile adornamento. Le
seggiole andavano ricoperte di velluto azzurro frangiato in argento, e
ad una di esse co’ bracciuoli, i quali avevano la forma di morbidi colli
di cigno, pure d’argento, stava dinanzi un tavoliere su cui posava un
vaso di cristallo cilestrino con fogliature in oro che conteneva i più
vaghi fiori, e vicino v’erano varj libri in pergamena con leggiadre
miniature. Da un lato del tavoliere stava un tripode in bronzo con
coperchio a traforo che serviva ad ardere profumi, dall’altro lato eravi
un elegante leggìo a cui stava sospeso un arpicordo saracinesco
con bischeri d’oro. Dalla volta pendeva una lampada alabastrina
sostenuta da tre catene in figura di serpi. La luce che dalla finestra
entrava in quella camera era mitigata a piacere, poichè le ampie
tende bianche e turchine che la fiancheggiavano potevansi
variamente panneggiare, ed ora si simulava con esse il soave
chiarore dell’aurora, ora la luce moribonda del crepuscolo e per sino
il bianco irradiare della luna.
Varia poi e spaziosa era la veduta che s’appresentava da quella
finestra, se ne venivano spalancate le imposte. Vedevasi l’intera
corona degli alti monti che formano parete alla valle, e tutta la
chiudono fuorchè a mezzodì ove ne lambiscono il confine le acque
del Lago Maggiore; miravasi più da presso la merlata roccia di
Vogogna eretta sopra scoscesa rupe, e scorgevasi nel piano il lucido
esteso serpeggiare della Toce che toccava mormorando a quelle
mura. Al di là del fiume quasi a prospetto sorgeva un edificio di
semplice architettura ma che s’aveva del castello insieme e del
convento: constava di massiccie mura, aveva porte e finestre ad
archi acuti, ma non era merlato nè munito di torri. Tale edificio
chiamavasi la Masone ed era ospizio de’ cavalieri Templari, i quali
solevano ivi stanziare ogni qual volta recavansi in Francia o ne
redivano.
Prediletto ad Evelleda era quell’oratorio ed ella passava in esso le
più lunghe ore del giorno o con qualche fida ancella occupata ai
lavori della spola e dell’ago, o da sola leggendo i canzonieri degli
amorosi Trovatori, o traendo dalle corde melodiosi suoni. Talvolta
nell’ora più tacita della sera ella univa a que’ suoni la sua voce:
arrestavansi negli atrii i paggi ed i donzelli ad ascoltarla, sospendeva
il passo per fino il rude arciero che stava a guardia a piè delle mura.
Eravi in quel canto un non so che di nuovo che rapiva, era una
melodìa ispirata da un altro cielo, da una più ridente natura.
Il raggio candidissimo della luna brillava sulle acque del fiume, ed
illuminava la fronte della Masone dei Templari. Ritto nel varco
dell’arcuata porta si stava uno dei guerrieri dell’Ordine appoggiato
alla sua lunga spada; la bianca sopravveste eragli serrata ai lombi
dal pendone della spada stessa, e in mezzo al suo petto si scorgeva
un’ampia croce rossa. Teneva scoperto il capo, il quale aveva da
nera inanellata capellatura rivestito, bruno e regolare era il giovanile
suo viso. In atto mesto e pensieroso lasciava errare le pupille ora
sulle correnti acque, ora sulla pallida verdura, ed ora le alzava al
disco della luna. Ad un tratto un irrompere di dolcissime note tratte
da sonoro stromento gli ferisce l’orecchio; guarda al castello di
prospetto da cui quel suono partiva e quasi tratto da magica forza
s’accosta alla sponda del fiume, onde meglio bearsi in quell’armonìa.
S’alza una voce... ma qual gioja inaspettata, qual soave sorpresa
manifesta il Cavaliero del Tempio!... quella voce canta
nell’armoniosa lingua dei poeti dell’Alambra, essa ripete gli accenti
che richiamano al Yemen felice la memoria dell’avventuroso
guerriero. Ecco come canta quella voce celebrando il suolo nativo.
«Mia sfera è l’Oriente, splendida regione, ove sorge magnifico

il sole come un possente monarca e procede per le vie del
giorno sempre serene: così una nave d’oro voga sull’onde
azzurre portando l’Emiro di vasta contrada.
«I doni tutti del cielo furono versati sulla zona orientale: in
ogni altro clima il fatale destino fa germogliare amari frutti a
lato ai saporosi. Ma Iddio che guarda sorridendo le terre
dell’Asia, la riveste de’ fiori più puri e accorda maggiori stelle
al suo cielo, maggiori perle al suo mare.
«Quivi sono le ampie città che l’universo ammira. Laora dai
campi fiorenti: Golconda, Cascemira, Damasco la guerriera,
la reale Ispahan; Bagdad da baluardi coperta come da ferrea
armatura, e Aleppo il mormorìo delle cui immense contrade
sembra al lontano pastore il fremito dell’oceano.
«Misora è qual regina collocata sul trono. Medina dalle mille
torri irte d’aguglie colle punte d’oro rassembra al campo d’un
esercito nel piano che inalza sulle tende una selva di lucicanti
saette.
«Chi non brama contemplare sì grandi maraviglie? Chi non
desìa sedere su quei terrazzi simiglianti a canestri di fiori; o
seguire nei prati l’Arabo vagabondo? Al cader del sole
quando i cammelli s’arrestano spossati presso le fresche
acque dei pozzi, la giovinetta bajadera intreccia la sua danza
voluttuosa.
«Anch’io un giorno con passi infantili errando pensosa presso
al chiosco solitario sotto i rami delle palme beveva l’aure
imbalsamate che scendevano dagli azzurri monti! Ma ohimè!
io non potrò mai più rivedere nè le palme, nè quei monti
quantunque la mia anima voli incessantemente alle beate
regioni orientali.
Armando di Nerra, tal era il giovine Cavaliero, fu scosso da quel

canto sin nell’intime fibre del cuore. L’oriente era pure il suo sospiro:
in oriente egli aveva appreso ad amare; quando l’oggetto de’ suoi
deliri perì, egli da libero combattente divenne Cavaliero dell’ordine
del Tempio, consacrando sè stesso e la sua spada alla Religione ed
assoggettandosi ai voleri del gran Maestro.
Attese ansiosamente la sera successiva: una melodia parimenti
soave lo venne dal castello a beare sulla sponda della Toce.
L’incanto fu irresistibile. Seppe chi era Unfredo, lo riconobbe ed
entrò nel suo castello da lui stesso accoltovi ed onorato.
Unfredo era oltre modo bramoso che distinti personaggi
contemplassero il lusso e la magnificenza da lui spiegati entro le
proprie mura; e siccome andava superbo di possedere una
bellissima sposa, gioiva che venisse ammirata ed elevata a cielo da
tutti: fiero e contento che gli altri invidiassero a lui quella beltà
famosa, a lui già d’età provetto, a lui d’ispidi lineamenti, a lui che
giovane in quella patria aveva dovuto subire l’umiliazione d’un rifiuto
quando pretese alla mano di donzella uscita da un lignaggio ch’ei
stimava paro al suo. Aveva abbandonata la terra nativa giurando di
vendicarsi di quel disprezzo o morire: e la sua vendetta era completa
quando alcuno proclamava non esservi nell’Ossola castello più ricco,
nè sposa più leggiadra di que’ d’Unfredo. Raggiante di gioja, dopo
avere fatto osservare gli atrii fastosi e le stanze più addobbate;
condusse il giovine Templario nella gran sala ove fece dare annunzio
ad Evelleda di presentarsi.
Esiste un’arcana relazione fra i diversi sentimenti dell’uomo, per cui
allo svilupparsi di un solo, più altri s’intraveggono con secreto
presentimento. Armando di Nerra al primo mirare avanzarsi dalla
spalancata porta la Dama del castello, sentì con certezza che da
nessun altri che da lei sola potevano essere partite quelle
maravigliose note che avevano richiamate tante dolci e dolorose
memorie al suo spirito. Unfredo nominò alla moglie il Cavaliero,
magnificandolo per la nobiltà del sangue e le illustri sue gesta. Ella lo
salutò con sorriso gentile, e allorchè si fu assiso in prossimità di lei e
del marito, le chiese se recavasi allora nei campi della Palestina o ne
retrocedeva. Rispose il Cavaliero che di là veniva e ritornava nelle
sue terre di Francia per riabbracciare il padre cadente, che più non
aveva veduto dal giorno che s’indossò la bianca sopravveste dei
Templari.
— Oh voi felice (esclamò con trasporto Evelleda), che avete la bella
sorte di ricalcare quel suolo ove apriste gli occhi alla luce
coll’indiscrivibile consolazione di esservi atteso dall’autore dei vostri
giorni! Quanti e quanti hanno posto il piede fuori della patria terra e
non la rivedranno mai più! —
Queste ultime parole furono pronunciate con tutta l’espressione della
soavità e della melanconìa, ed Armando assorto nel contemplare
quel volto e quell’angelico sguardo che s’abbassò con tristezza, vi
lesse la storia della profonda piaga d’un cuore senza amore e senza
speranze. — Oh figlia di una terra prediletta dal sole, perchè non ho
io pel tuo spirito languente un balsamo più dolce del frutto della
palma, più del ditamo fragrante? — così susurrò a bassa voce in
favella orientale il giovine Cavaliero e una gioja inaspettata si diffuse
sul volto alla bella. Ma Unfredo s’alzò, onde fu forza ad Armando
seguirlo, e ad Evelleda ritirarsi nelle proprie stanze.
Chi può descrivere i sogni d’una mente colpita dallo spettacolo
incantatore della bellezza, d’una bellezza mesta e pensierosa a cui
si sente il potere d’infondere nel cuore il sorriso della felicità? A tale
immagine la fantasìa vagando fra il sereno e le rose, dà forma alle
beatitudini eterne e si crede la favorita del cielo. Ahi troppo
ingannata! poichè non sa che il destino alla coppa dei beni aggiunge
irremissibilmente quella delle più crudeli amarezze.
Unfredo accolse più volte Armando nel proprio castello, sicchè
questi divenne famigliare a segno, che pure allorquando il Signore
n’era assente, o per sedere nel consiglio dei capi della valle o per
seguire le alpestri caccie, entrava liberamente tra quelle mura e vi
stanziava a suo talento.
Fragile è l’uman cuore e troppo possente incanto esercitano su di
esso le grazie, gli amorosi sospiri e le dolci animate parole che
giungono sommesse all’orecchio con un alito fragrante, carezzevole
e quasi affannoso, allora quando si è liberi da ogni altro umano
sguardo e il sole stesso non manda che timido il suo raggio a
traverso i cristalli colorati e le tende!
Nell’oratorio di Evelleda troppo felici scorrevano le ore per lei, per
Armando. Allorchè essa s’accompagnando con flebili o lieti suoni
cantava a piana voce canzoni piu tenere dell’usato, il Cavaliero in
un’estasi voluttuosa stava immobile contemplandola, sorreggendo il
mento col braccio appoggiato sul morbido velluto del sedile di lei, e
quando egli narrava le proprie imprese o ripeteva le novelle apprese
sulle rive del Giordano dagli Arabi pastori, ella pendeva beata dalle
labbra di lui, immemore per sino di sè medesima.
L’invidia rabbiosa e la vigilante maldicenza non concessero però che
lunghi corressero quei giorni di felicità. Tronche parole, maligni
sorrisi, inattese interpellazioni stillarono il veleno della gelosia nel
cuore d’Unfredo: si fece cupo e taciturno, parlava rado e sulla moglie
più non alzava che severo lo sguardo. Intese tremando Evelleda la
giusta causa di quel cangiamento, e risolvette di sacrificare anche sè
stessa al proprio dovere. Da fido messo fece recare un foglio ad
Armando in cui dicevagli «Non doversi essi rivedere mai più; averli il
cielo riuniti un istante per disgiungerli per sempre; solo giurava che
vivrebbe nell’anima sua eternamente la memoria di lui, che pregava
non dimenticarsi d’una infelice per la quale erano estinti tutti i beni
della terra.
La disperazione s’impossessò d’Armando. Il pensiero di non più
rivedere Evelleda era per lui tremendo come quello della morte: egli
sentiva di non potersi staccare da quei luoghi, di non poter
sopportare la vita se non le porgeva un addio, un ultimo addio, e se
non udiva ripetere dalla bocca stessa di lei il giuramento di
mantenere sempre impressa nel seno la sua immagine. Fece ogni
cosa disporre per la propria partenza, e messo frattanto uno
scudiero in agguato, quando seppe che Unfredo erasi allontanato a
cavallo dal castello, ei vi si recò e penetrò nell’oratorio di Evelleda.
Scorse però breve spazio di tempo da che egli aveva posto piede in
quelle soglie e già Unfredo, benchè discosto, n’aveva avuto avviso:
rivolge a furia il destriero, galoppa per una via fra’ boschi, rientra nel
castello e sale nella camera di riposo di Evelleda, da cui a passi
sospesi s’affaccia alla porta dell’oratorio, e vede... oh che vede egli
mai!... Il Cavalier del Tempio, un ginocchio a terra innanzi ad
Evelleda, con ambe le proprie mani premevasi al cuore una mano di
lei, ed essa seduta e colla faccia inclinata verso la sua lo inondava
singhiozzando di lagrime e faceva forza per rilevarlo.
A sì tenero spettacolo la pietà imbrigliò il furore, e le dita di Unfredo
rimasero un momento arrampinate al pugnale senza trarlo dalla
vagina. Ma ohimè! non fu che un lampo: una crescente foga d’affetti
vinse gl’incauti amanti, le loro labbra s’accostarono, s’unirono ed
essi si perdettero in un bacio di delirio... Era il primo... e fu celeste
quanto fatale. Il pugnale d’Unfredo s’infisse fino alla guardia nel
cuore d’Armando, Evelleda acciecata con un ferro rovente perì fra gli
spasimi: ruina e desolazione regnarono in quel castello dal quale
Unfredo disparve senza che più traccia si trovasse di lui.
FINE.

Design and Construction of Bioclimatic Wooden Greenhouses Volume 1 Preliminary Design 1St Edition Gian Luca Brunetti Full Chapter PDF

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Design and Construction of Bioclimatic Wooden Greenhouses Volume 1 Preliminary Design 1St Edition Gian Luca Brunetti Full Chapter PDF

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Design and Construction of Bioclimatic

Wooden Greenhouses, Volume 1:

Design and Construction of Bioclimatic Wooden

Handbook for Building Construction: Administration,

Handbook for Building Construction: Administration,

The Architect’s Studio Companion: Rules of Thumb for

Innovative Bridge Design Handbook: Construction,

Bunka Fashion Series Garment Design Textbook 1 -

Theatrical Design and Production: An Introduction to

An Effective Strategy for Safe Design in Engineering

Design and Construction of

Gian Luca Brunetti

ISTE Ltd John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

© ISTE Ltd 2022

Library of Congress Control Number: 2022941273

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

Chapter 1. Basic Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

1.7.3. Sound absorption for sound insulation when combined with

Chapter 2. Fundamental Relations Between Greenhouse Features

Chapter 3. Fundamental Complements for Solar

3.3.2. On the heat transfer by conduction between attached

Chapter 4. Advanced Complements for Solar Greenhouse Design . . . . . 249

Although this research is considered marginal or niche, however, with difficulty,

process presupposes a new relationship with the laws of thermodynamics from

This research by the author is a sort of game in which, by privileging a small

In his incipit to “The Man without Qualities” (1930–1942), R. Musil, a man of

Over the Atlantic, a barometric minimum was advancing in an

The poetic image of the “beautiful August day” presupposes a particular

The author endeavors to give us back that “machine of everything” (Raphael),

In this framework, the designer is invited to reflect on the scientific role of

Inferring the general from the specific, however, requires a lot of

I would like to conclude this introduction by thanking Professor Remo Dorigati

1.1. What a greenhouse usually is – and what it could be

The consequence of this multi-facetedness is that a thorough grasp of greenhouse

an atrium, an entrance, a topping). It can even be a house itself, or a farm, or a

In architectural greenhouses, this cultural “maintenance-mode” phase is likely to

1.2. The historical trajectory of greenhouses

Figure 1.1. Scheme of a hothouse, from the second

Figure 1.2. In the foreground: orangeries at the chateau of Versailles. Designed by

Figure 1.3. Central gallery of the orangeries at the chateau of

Figure 1.4. Orangerie at the Villa Reale in Monza, Italy. Designed by

Figure 1.5. Neoclassical orangerie by Robert Adam at Croome Park,

Figure 1.6. Glazed roof in an early greenhouse drawing, 1714.

Figure 1.7. Study for a botanical greenhouse, John Claudius Loudon.

Figure 1.9. Study for a pineapple greenhouse by John Claudius Loudon.

successfully implemented in many instances over the European continent

Figure 1.13. Ridge-and-furrow construction solution adopted in the Crystal Palace

The large-sized botanical greenhouse consolidated itself as a cultural expression

1 An interesting text produced in this period of “abandonment” of the botanical greenhouse

Figure 1.15. An example of a ridge-and-furrow construction in a historical and

Greenhouses were only re-discovered by architectural designers for their ability

In that context, an essential part in the “rediscovery” of solar architecture was

Figure 1.17. Project of an attached solar greenhouse in the Encyclopedie

On the European side, the far-sighted experimental project of the house in

Figure 1.22. Ground-level plan and transversal section of the house

In that context, some key typologies of solar architectures employing

Figure 1.23. Row houses in Freiburg (social housing settlement “Lindenwaeldle”),

The cultural contexts in which greenhouses have had more success as

The maison Latapie has originated a wave of increasingly incisive exploitation of

Figure 1.28. House in a greenhouse, Saint-Mars-de-Coutais. Frank Gerno and Marc

Figure 1.29. Views of the house side-enclosed greenhouses by Patrick Partouche,

.... Orrendo e vero

Era il cielo cinericcio; oscurava. Ad ogni istante rendevasi più fosco il