Air Conditioned

Maintaining thermal comfort indoors contributes to climate-related discomfort on our planet. Buildings are currently responsible for about a quarter of global CO₂ emissions, with heating and cooling alone accounting for nearly 40% of all energy-related emissions. Global warming will further increase energy consumption for indoor climate control. This calls for an urgent examination of how spaces are cooled and why this has become culturally entrenched. For comfort cannot be measured universally. Rather, it is a result of Western scientific and geopolitical notions that have marginalized other thermal cultures and practices.

The exhibition highlights the impacts of decades of architectural practice involving energy-intensive cooling systems that often exceed actual needs, and seeks to renegotiate the claim to thermal comfort in a warming world. The ecological, social, and economic costs of indoor climate control are examined, and visitors are invited to reconsider the intertwined roles of architecture, technology, culture, and the human body.

Opening: November 18, 2026, 6:00 p.m.