Italian Cultural Institute of London
2 SEPTEMBER 2024 – 2 OCTOBER 2024
After its debut at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice in 2023 and its participation in Photoville in New York City in 2024, “The Cooling Solution” now arrives in London from 2 September to 2 October 2024, at the Italian Cultural Institute (39 Belgrave Square), with the inauguration on 9 September at 6.30 pm.
The Cooling Solution is a scientific project that uses photography to investigate how people from different socioeconomic backgrounds around the world adapt to high temperatures and humidity in the context of climate change. Starting from the title, the term solution intends to question this paradigm of adaptation. The project examines the phenomenon of the growing demand for air conditioning in its various facets, addressing its numerous defects and disadvantages, as well as the reasons for its use, which are often linked to the need to protect the most fragile members of society from health risks. According to the International Energy Agency’s 2018 report, “The Future of Cooling,” 10 new air conditioning units will be sold every second for the next 30 years, bringing the number of cooling units installed worldwide to 5.6 billion by 2050.
The project combines scientific research, photography and infographics to explore the experiences of people facing thermal discomfort in Brazil, India, Indonesia and Italy. The aim is to use the communicative power of photography to make academic knowledge accessible to the general public.
As air conditioning becomes cheaper and more efficient, it may end up being used in places where heat stress could be adequately addressed by alternative cooling solutions. As a result, humanity is facing the risk of becoming trapped in a new vicious cycle created by entrenched behaviors and urban environments shaped by the ubiquity of air conditioning. It is now clear that the era of energy-intensive material comfort must come to an end. What is perhaps less clear is that sacrificing this way of life does not mean sacrificing thermal comfort, a concept whose parameters are determined not only by climate, but also by habits, culture and socio-economic dynamics.
In a broader scientific research, Brazil, India and Indonesia were chosen to represent populous tropical countries with growing economies, with Italy serving as their Western counterpart. While these countries, however different, are following a similar trend towards a homogenized notion of thermal comfort, The Cooling Solution also examines vernacular architecture, alternative cooling methods, innovation and dedicated research efforts. We will live on a warmer planet and air conditioning can and will save lives. However, there is also a great richness in the diversity of cooling methods available waiting to be rediscovered, revisited and expanded.
The project was supported by the European Research Council (ERC) and the Marie Skłodowska-Curie action under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, the Department of Economics of Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, the CMCC Foundation and THE NEW INSTITUTE Centre for Environmental Humanities. The London edition of The Cooling Solution is supported by the Italian Cultural Institute in London, the Department of Economics of Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, the CMCC Foundation and THE NEW INSTITUTE Centre for Environmental Humanities.
Photographs by Gaia Squarci, research by the ENERGYA team of Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, led by Prof. Enrica De Cian, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice and CMCC Foundation, curated by Kublaiklan, coordination of the Elementsix project.
67% 25°C
Flamengo is an upper-middle-class neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro, characterized by relatively low temperatures due to its proximity to Tijuca National Park. Brazil, 2022
84% 26°C A man rests in front of the Museum of Tomorrow, designed by architect Santiago Calatrava, in the Porto Maravilha area of Rio de Janeiro. Brazil, 2022
