Thermal Practices, with Daniel Barber. Public lecture of the PhD Seminar: Environmental Histories of Architecture / DAD, LAB-U, LHST
Event details
| Date | 08.06.2026 |
| Hour | 17:30 › 19:00 |
| Speaker | Daniel A. Barber, TU Eindhoven |
| Location | |
| Category | Conferences - Seminars |
| Event Language | English |
Public Lecture in the framework of the International Phd Seminar: Environmental Histories of Architecture
Thermal Practices
What is a practice? Considered patterns and habits in the interiors of the built environment have resonance far beyond the walls of a building or the limits of a city. This is especially so relative to thermal practices - the ways we make ourselves comfortable in buildings. Heating and air conditioning systems require intensive fossil fuels, with numerous radiating effects locally, regionally, and globally. Life indoors is determinant in both equity and opportunity for the present and future. This presentation will frame the challenging discussion of comfort, fuels, and thermal practices by exploring some buildings from the past that offer alternatives, and also exploring how architects can motivate transformative thermal practices in the present.
Daniel A. Barber is Professor and Chair of Architecture History and Theory at the Technical University of Eindhoven.
His most recent book is Modern Architecture and Climate: Design before Air Conditioning (Princeton, 2020), following A House in the Sun: Modern Architecture and Solar Energy in the Cold War (Oxford, 2016); his article “After Comfort” (Log 47, 2019) has been translated into six languages. Daniel co-edits “After Comfort: A User’s Guide” an ongoing series on e-flux architecture. Daniel earned a PhD from Columbia University, and has held fellowships at Harvard University, Princeton University, and through the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. His research on architecture and comfort is supported by a fellowship at the Centre for Apocalyptic and Post-Apocalyptic Studies at the Universität Heidelberg, the British Academy, the Fondation d’Entreprise Martell, and by a 2023 Guggenheim Fellowship. Daniel led the theory team for the project “Terms and Conditions” at the 2025 Venice Biennale.
Thermal Practices
What is a practice? Considered patterns and habits in the interiors of the built environment have resonance far beyond the walls of a building or the limits of a city. This is especially so relative to thermal practices - the ways we make ourselves comfortable in buildings. Heating and air conditioning systems require intensive fossil fuels, with numerous radiating effects locally, regionally, and globally. Life indoors is determinant in both equity and opportunity for the present and future. This presentation will frame the challenging discussion of comfort, fuels, and thermal practices by exploring some buildings from the past that offer alternatives, and also exploring how architects can motivate transformative thermal practices in the present.
Daniel A. Barber is Professor and Chair of Architecture History and Theory at the Technical University of Eindhoven.
His most recent book is Modern Architecture and Climate: Design before Air Conditioning (Princeton, 2020), following A House in the Sun: Modern Architecture and Solar Energy in the Cold War (Oxford, 2016); his article “After Comfort” (Log 47, 2019) has been translated into six languages. Daniel co-edits “After Comfort: A User’s Guide” an ongoing series on e-flux architecture. Daniel earned a PhD from Columbia University, and has held fellowships at Harvard University, Princeton University, and through the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. His research on architecture and comfort is supported by a fellowship at the Centre for Apocalyptic and Post-Apocalyptic Studies at the Universität Heidelberg, the British Academy, the Fondation d’Entreprise Martell, and by a 2023 Guggenheim Fellowship. Daniel led the theory team for the project “Terms and Conditions” at the 2025 Venice Biennale.
Practical information
- General public
- Free
Organizer
- Caterina Franco, LAB-U, EPFL
Nicolas Chachereau, LHST, EPFL
Elena Cogato Lanza, LAB-U, EPFL
Filippo De Pieri, DAD, Politecnico di Torino
Contact
- Caterina Franco, [email protected]