Where keeping cool is a breeze

Wind-catchers (‘badgir’ in Persian) in Iran’s central city of Yazd. Tall, chimney-like towers rise from centuries-old adobe houses in Iran’s ancient city of Yazd, drawing in a pleasant breeze in one of the hottest cities on earth. The wind-catchers are engineering marvels inhabitants have developed to adapt to the harsh desert climate in central Iran – where temperatures reach well over 40°C in the summer. — AFP

TALL, chimney-like towers rise from centuries-old adobe houses in Iran’s desert city of Yazd, drawing in a pleasant breeze for residents of one of the hottest cities on earth.

The wind catchers, called badgir in Persian, are just one of the engineering marvels inhabitants have developed in this ancient city in central Iran – where temperatures reach well over 40ºC in the summer.