Inspiration from Chinese paintings of Song Dynasty: the influence of the traditional architectural component Yinyan on indoor wind environments

This paper explores the impact of “Yinyan”, a climate-responsive building component depicted in the paintings of the Song Dynasty (960–1279 AD), on indoor wind environments, aiming to support the digital representation and multisensory simulation of architectural heritage. Although few buildings from the Song Dynasty remain, Song paintings, renowned for their realism, provide detailed visual records that can inform the representation of the then buildings. In this study, a building depicted in the Life along the Bian River at the Qing Ming Festival (Qing Ming Shang He Tu in Pinyin) was modeled according to the Song construction manual – Yingzao Fashi. Numerical simulation was then conducted to evaluate the impact of “Yinyan”, given its various designs, on indoor wind environments. The results provide scientific evidence for the multisensory digital representation of architectural heritage from the Song Dynasty, and offer insights for their conservation and restoration as well as for sustainable building designs nowadays.