The Wind Catchers of Hyderabad 1928 - Photo from the book “Architecture without Architects” by Bernard Rudofsky.
The city of Hyderabad in the Sindh province of Pakistan was once dominated by a roofscape of towering wind catchers, or “bad-gir”, as they were known locally. These fixed wind scoops would provide ventilation to the whole household in the hot summer days. The heating of the chimney would cause cool air to be drawn from high up and would then be channeled through the rooms and out the front door. This method had been in use in the city for over five hundred years, but has now mostly been replaced by mechanical air conditioning with the chimneys being used to install satellite dishes.
