Solar Buildings in the 1920s The Discourse on Best Sun Orientation in Modern Housing

摘要

The orientation of housing estates in relationship to the sun's position has been an important topic throughout architectural history. While the vast majority of studies have stated that the best housing orientation is facing the building's long side toward the south, most architects and urban planners of the 1920s preferred that the building's long sides be oriented to face east and west. This paper analyzes when this movement came to the fore and why architects of High Modernism, such as Walter Gropius and Otto Haesler, among others, decided against a building orientation that has been favored throughout history, including today. It will discuss the modernist arguments for east and west orientation, including their contemporary counterarguments, which are echoed in today's discourse of south orientation in housing.