Architectural elements designed to block or control solar radiation entering a building, reducing cooling loads and glare while potentially allowing beneficial daylight. These can be fixed or operable, external or internal systems.
Compound of 'solar' from Latin 'solaris' (of the sun) and 'shading' from Old English 'sceadu' (shadow, protection). The systematic study of solar shading developed with modernist architecture and climate-conscious design in the mid-20th century.
Solar shading is architecture's way of playing peek-a-boo with the sun! Le Corbusier's brise-soleil at the Unité d'Habitation showed how shading could be both functional and beautiful, while contemporary adaptive facades use sensors and motors to track the sun like mechanical sunflowers.
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