The microclimatic design of southern Sardinian loggias

The vernacular architecture of southern Sardinia is exemplified by the courtyard house as the prevailing typological solution. Despite typological mutations on territory, the loggia is recognized as a fundamental part of this building. Many scholars compare its functioning to a bioclimatic “buffer zone” in between the inner rooms and the front inner court. Its location along the southern building façade protects walls and windows from the sun during the summer months, and in winter it mitigates temperatures by protecting the space from cold winds. Despite this, research in this field has not paid adequate attention to the geometric relationship of the Sardinian loggia. For this reason this paper focuses on the spatial configurations and geometrical rules which characterize them, taking into consideration their relationship with two main environmental factors: wind speed and direction, and direct solar radiation, through the use of different case studies. The analysis has been carried out with ENVI-met and Heliodon software.