Studio Integrate wants to bring the mathematical genius of ancient Iran to modern architecture. "Some of Iran's most famous structures were built 500 years ago but achieve what we want now -- sustainability and energy reduction," says Amin Sadeghy, who cofounded the London-based architecture, design and research studio with fellow Iranian Mehran Gharleghi in 2011. "So we decided to extract the geometries and apply it to modern buildings using today's materials and techniques."

For the analysis, the pair studied a cluster of ancient Iranian structures including Fin Garden (built in 1590), Khaju Bridge, Borujerdi House, as well as the country's traditional ice houses and pigeon towers. "These buildings are simple -- there wasn't electricity but they were able to mimic air-conditioning systems," says Sadeghy.

In the ice houses, for instance, the shape of the building and the proportionate height of its surrounding walls were designed to throw a shadow on a central pool of water, which remained cold. "Our thermo-analysis showed that even when the building is at 50°C, the water <span class="s2">remains at -10°C, making ice, " explains Gharleghi.

Studio Integrate is now using its findings to build a

climate-responsive headquarters for Benetton and a 100,000-square-metre porous office building, Chitgar Tower, both in Tehran. The results of their work will be displayed at an exhibition in Somerset House in November.

This article was originally published by WIRED UK