Collection by Diana Budds
Modern Sun Screens
Brise soleil—architectural devices that shade structures from sunlight—offer sculptural flourishes and passively cool buildings. We examine five examples from the Dwell archive.
Slotted between the street-side enclosure and the living area is a breezy second-floor terrace. Brise soleil slats shade the interior. Yatabe’s steel fabrication company created the robust, trusslike armature that extends from the house to support the deck and facade.
Architect Dan Rockhill tackled a tight budget and a steep slope to build a modern Midwest haven for a family in Lawrence, Kansas, who had just $214,000 to spend on design and construction. His biggest flourish was a slatted exterior screen of Cumaru wood that shields the inexpensive metal siding.
Honolulu IBM BuildingVladimir Ossipoff’s iconic IBM Building, with its graphic concrete sunshade cladding, is sited in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Passive ProgressiveStunning bamboo covers this house in Bessancourt, France, on all four sides, its lattice making up a striking set of adjustable screens that allow the residents to modify the facade to suit the weather. Photo by: Nicholas Calcott