STUDENT HOUSING AT SEDE-BOQER - A GEOMETRIC RESPONSE TO DESERT CONDITIONS

The student housing complex at the Institute for Desert Research in Se de-Boqer, Israel, is presented as a building whose form is dictated by the local climatic conditions of the Negev desert. Emphasis is placed on the geometry of the building envelope in relation to the thermal e ffects of solar radiation. The project's conceptual background and an analysis of the environmental constraints are followed by a descriptio n of the design strategies employed and an evaluation of their effecti veness in terms of several thermal performance criteria.