Like a chimney in reverse, to bring moving air into a room. Love it! Was lucky enough to visit friends in Pakistan a couple of times - another simple cooling technique is to have very high ceilings. In this photo you can see doorways and windows but blank wall above, as rooms so tall. Hot air rises. Pakistan is often very hot and dry (not humid) so sweat evaporates quickly, leaving you short of salt without noticeable sweat.
c. 1928: This is an original photogravure of the unusual windscreens or wind catchers on the flat roofs of the houses in Hyderabad.
From The Vanishing Glory of Hyderabad (Sindh, Pakistan) by Mir Atta Muhammad Talpur
"Once the most striking feature of Hyderabad was its peculiar skyline dominated by wind-catchers. These wind catchers or Manghu, as they are called in the local Sindhi language, were fixed on housetops, to catch the southwesterly breeze in the hot summer days and evenings. The breeze entering the wind-catchers would penetrate into the room and keep it cool. Due to the numerous wind catchers, Hyderabad became famous as manghan jo shaharu or the city of wind catchers."
#Hyderabad #Pakistan #Archive150
