Perforated Screens of India: Learning from Traditional and Contemporary Reflections

Traditional architecture has always provided simple solutions to difficult climate and environmental challenges. Simple solutions have evolved, changed, and adapted over the hundreds of years, as we call them. With gradual change through which the lifestyle goes, it can always be said that it will continue to evolve and improve. Today, an easier solution is to use HVAC equipment as the result is a self-contained, unaffected, context-independent building. Since the introduction of this Luxurious solution, this typical architectural style began to spread to places where it couldn’t afford to use it. This necessitates revisiting the link between historic architecture and borrowing a few of the components after fully comprehending its potential. Element used across geographic boundaries and more recently across climatic boundaries is a perforated screen known as “Jaali” in India. This traditional architectural element has various shapes and materials to meet different needs of composite, hot & dry and hot & humid climatic condition for curtailment of heat, glair, and for better air circulation. The purpose of this study is to maximize the delicacy and potential of this element. Because diverse climatic situations have given rise to different types of perforated screens in the past, it would be beneficial to learn from such examples. These data, along with knowledge of the Jaali, space, and climate, are used to build correlations between key parameters. The study investigates and analyzes the evolution of the Jaali’s design over time, from its varied characteristics depending on geography, religion, and a number of other elements to its current interpretations and modifications by contemporary architects in the construction of sustainable buildings in India. This is done through literature reviews and case studies.