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(Island Press, 2006)
Review by Hal Bolton, AIA
 Ritual
House provides an outline for a new type of passive solar
design—one rooted in very old patterns. Ralph Knowles proposes
a theory of solar access zoning that would allow equal access to
sunlight and warmth for urban residents. It is also a study of how
we inhabit space, beginning with the level of the house and the
patterns of its inhabitants, through the scale of a city and the
typical growth patterns that have created our urban environment. He
argues that we have grown away from the daily connection with
nature that previously informed design decisions. His desire is to
return to a greater sense of participation with the daily and
seasonal rhythms of nature. From the Preface, “We can make
shelters that actively enhance our participation in places,
encouraging response to climate that, through repetition, evolve
into personal rituals, linking us to a place, adding meaning to our
lives.”
The book is organized into three parts. The first addresses shelter
at the individual level, exploring how, throughout history, people
have changed or adapted their daily life to fit the seasons and the
cycles of nature. Knowles explores three methods of adaptation:
migration, moving from place to place or from room to room;
transformation, changing the space by opening or closing to adjust
to the elements; and metabolism, using body heat to accommodate
changes in temperature. The second section addresses urban growth
and explores the patterns that have created our urban framework,
drawing on several specific examples. Finally, the author proposes
the use of the solar envelope as a means of designing solar access
for passive solar heating, solar control, and daylighting. He
defines the solar envelope as a concept of solar zoning which
“describes the volumetric limits to development that will not
shadow neighbors.”
The discussion of the human adaptation to nature offers a
historical perspective and a personal viewpoint from the
author’s experiences. I appreciate the efforts to broaden the
reader’s understanding of varied methods of adaptation. It is
a starting point for the discussion but it seems to be a repetition
of many ideas that have been presented in various texts on solar
design. The discussion of urban growth provides interesting case
studies and sets forth the need for a new method of addressing
solar access in the urban environment.
The solar envelope is the crux of the book, outlining the
author’s studies on methods to rethink solar access. The solar
envelope works on two levels, by defining periods for direct access
to sunlight and “providing the largest possible building
volume within time constraints.” It is a framework that offers
viable options for future design, but a framework that would
require a fundamental shift in the thinking of most typical urban
design. It is a shift that is worth making as, with many
sustainable design strategies, it simply requires planning to
achieve dramatic differences in the built product. The solar
envelope works best in cities of certain densities and the author
outlines the means in which it can be implemented.
The solar envelope and its use of solar access is an idea that
could have profound impact on the nature and character of the urban
environment and consequentially, the well-being of the inhabitants.
As the author notes, it requires a change in the design education,
as well as a shift in current approaches to urban planning and
zoning. I hope books like this one will help create that change. He
writes, “This new architecture of the sun will link us to our
own places. It will provide individual choices for comfort. And it
will promote the ritual use of space t celebrate our choices.”
It is just such a fundamental connection between the individual and
the environment that has been lacking in the rapid growth of our
settlements.
Hal Bolton, AIA, LEED AP is the founding principal of
Terraplane Studios in Washington, D.C., the 2007 chair of AIA
Washington DC COTE, and regional team leader of AIA/COTE's new
Mid-Atlantic Region.
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