The notion that a building can function analogously to a respiratory system reframes architectural design as a dialogue between interior climates and external environmental forces, a paradigm explored by Matthias Schuler and Anja Thierfelder in their collaborative work on sustainable architecture and environmental engineering, rather than conceiving buildings as static enclosures, they propose understanding them as dynamic systems capable of regulating temperature, air flow, humidity and light in response to both natural and human stimuli, using advanced simulation technologies and design strategies rooted in biomimicry, Schuler and Thierfelder develop passive and active systems that enable buildings to “breathe” in tune with their surroundings, much like lungs exchange gases to sustain life, case studies such as the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart or the Singapore Arts School exemplify their approach, where building envelopes are designed to optimise ventilation and thermal balance through adaptive facades, radiant surfaces and intelligent materials, the respiratory metaphor is not merely poetic but operational: it encourages designers to consider energy flows, material cycles and occupant comfort as integrated phenomena rather than isolated parameters, their work critiques the over-dependence on mechanical HVAC systems, advocating instead for responsive architecture that reduces environmental impact while enhancing inhabitant experience, in doing so, they fuse engineering precision with ecological empathy, pushing architecture towards a model where buildings, like organisms, adapt, react and participate in the atmospheric conditions that sustain life, ultimately, the building-as-lung concept offers a compelling ethical and technical framework for rethinking sustainability not as a constraint but as an enabling principle embedded in the living metabolism of space.
Rendón, C. y Venegas, F. (2023) Arquitectos de lo común: prácticas situadas en el habitar contemporáneo. Santiago de Chile: Ediciones ARQ.
