The Hydroculus is a roof aperture, an oculus lined with hydrogel, for combined evaporative and radiative cooling in desert climates. During the day, the aperture acts as an adaptive windcatcher, trapping the hot dry air passing through it. During the night, pockets of enclosed hydrogel encapsulated in the roof’s structural frame are exposed to radiative cooling from the night sky and act as thermal storage, providing additional cooling impact.
The research project is led by Dorit Aviv, director of the Thermal Architecture Lab.
Collaborators: Aletheia Ida (University of Arizona), Forrest Meggers (Princeton University).
Team: Zherui Wang, Sean Rucewicz, Eric Teitelbaum, Maryam Moradnejad.
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