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Short abstract:

Though all-glass facades have dramatically increased overheating risks, behind them have been built controlled artificial climates for office workers immersed in a “comfort zone.” The global spread of this architectural form has contributed to climate change that now threatens its very existence.

Long abstract:

In the post-war period, fully glazed curtain walls were first introduced to enclose office buildings in the USA. The greenhouse effect caused by the excessive use of glass exacerbated overheating problems and increased reliance on mechanical conditioning and energy infrastructures to control indoor climates. Despite early warnings about the risk of discomfort, North American corporate architecture, with its smooth, fully glazed façade, crossed borders to shape the urban landscapes of globalised metropolises. This architecture spread across climates, creating a new class of office workers immersed in a “comfort zone” defined by the development of technologies and a thermal culture rooted in the Western modernity. This culture articulates metrics and norms that have sought to objectify thermal comfort. Today, as climate change accelerates and the risk of power outages increases, there is a renewed fear of losing control of these indoor climates. This paper traces the journey of John I. Yellott, an American engineer, from the USA to Hong Kong, and stops in this Asian city to analyse the Bank of China and the HSBC Main Building. Based on archival documents and an analysis of the physical conditions of the buildings, this paper examines this architectural history in relation to the “new climatic regime,” particularly in the light of the latest IPCC report. It finally discusses the path dependencies resulting from the construction of fossil-fuelled “thermal modernities” and explores “emergency exits,” which may mean recognising that the imperialism of Western culture has created uninhabitable heritage.