| Local architecture is music for the eyes |  |
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Cooling the house With houses built as they were, much of the heat of the sun was left outside, but in the hottest months, it would still have been terribly warm inside. The answer to this problem was the badqeer, or wind tower. These are tower structures rising several metres above the house. They have large openings on all four sides for channeling down even the slightest breeze there is. If you stand under a wind tower on a hot summer day, you will notice a clear drop in the temperature as the air flows down. The living room, lea'good, was situated just below the wind tower to give some relief from the heat and humidity. The openings of the wind tower had doors which would be closed during the winter months. Even today, despite the air-conditioning, one can find new buildings with wind towers. While the modern wind towers are not primarily built for cooling the air in the room, they still serve as important architectural elements reminding of the not so distant past. |