A termitarium does something astonishing. It dissolves the distinction between inside and outside. It’s…

A termitarium does something astonishing. It dissolves the distinction between inside and outside. It’s beautifully ventilated, but also protective from the elements, and maintains a stable temperature. It repurposes air and water as insulation. Why this matters. /1 https://t.co/K5ur43IOEo

In our building design, we have this tug of war between open and closed. You can have fresh air exchange in winter, but only if it’s piped in and out mechanically in some way and pre-heated. Or you have to filter it in hermetically-sealed buildings. Termites reject all that. /2 https://t.co/1SDDNxLWWH

We use air/gas gaps between windows and walls for example to insulate. Termites use the air they breathe, to create that same insulation. It’s part of the engineering. A termitarium is not only not closed to the outside, that whole inside/outside distinction is meaningless. /3 https://t.co/uKPr3cmxVO

The structure of the termite ‘building’ *is* that interplay of elements, re-purposed in multiple ways to perform multiple functions. Porous cavities both create air exchange, and insulate. Nothing is waterproofed in the way we think of that. /4 https://t.co/99rDqE0a1f

Water is drained away, but used as further insulation in the process. Etc. Fascinating paper on this design here, thanks to whoever it was that pointed me in this direction: https://t.co/isehhCPDYg /end https://t.co/W18vQgcVSo

@DrPieterPeach not sure if you’ve ever dipped your toe into this research, but it’s quite a paradigm shift.