Passive solar architecture (south-facing houses)
Arquitectura solar pasiva (casas orientadas al sur)
- Date
- c. century V a.C. · confidence medium
- Place
- Olynthus, Chalkidiki, Greece
- Credited to
- Greek town planners
- Field
- Matter & energy
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
Houses at Olynthus and other Greek cities were laid out with the portico facing south to catch the low winter sun and shade the summer one. Xenophon credits Socrates with stating the principle.
South-facing orientation is also attested in ancient China and Mesopotamia; Greek priority rests on the Olynthus excavations and Xenophon (Memorabilia III, 8).
What it led to
- Roman solar planning with south-facing glazed baths and greenhouses
- heating buildings without fuel
- modern bioclimatic architecture