One sweltering day in southern Italy, as I was traipsing around the ruins of Pompeii, I wandered through the door of a 2,000-year-old home, and was immediately struck by the coolness of the air inside.
In typical Roman style, the rooms were arranged around a courtyard (or atrium), which was open to the elements, allowing rain to collect in a small sunken pool (an impluvium). The cooling effect of the water and wide shady eaves provided a welcome respite from searing summer temperatures.
The courtyard house is one of mankind's earliest forms of housing, dating back about 8,000 years to the Jordan Valley near the present-day West Bank. But the Middle East in no way had a monopoly on the courtyard house: it was also popular in India, northern Africa and China, where it played a major role for at least 2,000 years.
Known locally as siheyuan (quadrangle), the courtyard house has become a cultural symbol of Beijing, where about 400,000 remain in residential use.
'The courtyard house is one of China's greatest contributions to civilisation,' says architecture critic and author Philip Drew. 'Danish architect Jorn Utzon was inspired by the siheyuan in the old quar- ter of Beijing, and went on to design courtyard homes for the Kingo Housing Project, at Helsingor, and in Fredensborg,' both in Denmark.
At Helsingor, 63 low-income homes were built, following the undulations of 3.5 hectares of rolling farmland. Each house is 15 metres by 15 metres. The dwellings themselves are built in L-shapes on two sides of a square- a living area and study occupy one leg and a bedroom, bathroom and kitchen make up the other. The rest of the square is enclosed by walls, creating a sunny courtyard.