Avasara Academy Model showcased at the Architecture Biennale in Venice

Transsolar has collaborated with CASE Design for an exhibition at the 16th Venice Architecture Biennale, the world’s leading architecture exhibition event running through November 2018. Our work is exhibited in the Arsenale as part of the main exhibition: FREESPACE.

Transsolar developed the climate, sustainability, and comfort concepts for Avasara Academy . This residence school campus in India is designed by Mumbai based architecture firm CASE Design and featured passive design as a key aspect of the architecture. CASE Design was invited to exhibit the vital experiential and design characteristics of the project at the Biennale as part of the main exhibition FREESPACE. Transsolar collaborated with CASE Design to demonstrate the working principles of “passive cooling and natural ventilation through solar radiation” by a three-dimensional working model of the building’s passive design.

The video above shows the working model at the Biennale and the following text describes major components of the model:
The three -dimensional model is a working demonstration of passive cooling design for Avasara Academy. Warm outside air is pulled through a series of earth ducts (the four circular openings at the bottom of the model), which cools the air before supplying into classrooms. The small lamps inside the classrooms represent heat gain from human bodies (students and teachers). The air from the earth ducts in combination with a thermally massive concrete ceiling and stone floors makes the classrooms up to 10°C (20°F) cooler compared to the outside. At the top, a solar chimney facing the sun (represented by the halogen lamp in the model) absorbs solar heat. The heat inside the chimney warms up the air in the shaft, pulls it up and out (see the smoke rising from the chimney in the model at the top), driving natural ventilation through the whole building.

The exhibit, as part of the Biennale, is expected to be visited by 500,000+ visitors.