Apparatus for treating air. That was the name of Willis Carrier’s 1906 invention that launched the science and industry of air conditioning. By the 1930s, American moviegoers flocked to air-conditioned theaters as much for the cool environment as for that summer’s hit feature.

After World War II, architects and engineers discovered how air conditioning could revolutionize building design. They could build anywhere without the need to site for optimal wind or shade. Sun Belt cities like Houston, Phoenix, Las Vegas and Miami grew exponentially. Since workspaces no longer needed to be near a window or designed for a cross breeze, architects could design floors 40 feet across and use floor-to-ceiling glass. Glass-walled high-rises like the United Nations headquarters, built in 1950, signaled modern architecture’s embrace of the new technology.

“Air conditioning means success, wealth and civilization,” says Alice LaPierre (B.A.’00 Arch), a former student of Gail Brager and now energy analyst for the City of Berkeley. “It means you’re not subject to the weather anymore. You’re not in poverty. You’ve arrived.”

On the home front, the refrigerator served as a model for early residential air-conditioning units. The new technology—known as “man-made weather”—promised improved air quality, better sleeping and cleaner interiors, but it eliminated the need for architectural details like front porches, wide eaves and high ceilings, which were often sacrificed to finance the cost of central cooling systems.