I posted the chapters on schedule yesterday but my holiday business came in the way of the blog post. The holiday business being a rooftop barbecue, courtesy my sister—irreplaceable personal writing coach and adviser, and her wonderful husband.
On my sister’s roof is a waist high-skylight only this one looked less like your typical skyfacing skylight and more like a badgir (بادگیر).
Badgir (Persian) or windcatchers, likely originated in the Middle East and Persia. It consists of a tower rising from the building with vents at the top to catch the prevailing cool winds at higher altitudes. Since hot air rises, windcatchers also provide a natural way of venting out hot air. It is a much superior design for a space where you want to use natural cooling and ventilation compared to modern systems.
Simplified versions were once common in Pakistan’s Sindh region, where they’re known as Hawadani or Manghu in Sindhi. Personally, I haven’t seen one in any modern homes but I haven’t much travelled to Sindh either.
Bottomline, if you’re looking to build a house in a hot country, I suggest to look into this architectural marvel of the ancient desert dwelling nations. I know it’ll be on my mind if I ever do. As for now, the main function of the skylight in my sister’s home was ventilation and light for a room that had no place for a wall window and it ended up being a great table for the grill (the food by the way was so good!).
Deserts also feature in this week’s chapters and love is in the air. But things are quickly heating up as Fia now has the attention of two faction leaders. Nine chapters to go!
Head on to this week’s chapter below or check the Full Chapter List to catch up on the ones you’ve missed.
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