called a bâdgir: bâd "wind" + gir "catcher" (). The devices were used in Achaemenid architecture. In Iran, they are used in the hot, dry areas of the Central Plateau, and in the hot, humid coastal regions. Central Iran shows large diurnal temperature variation with an arid climate. Most buildings are constructed from thick ceramic with high insulation values. Towns centered on desert oases tend to be packed very closely together with high walls and ceilings, maximizing shade at ground level. The heat of direct sunlight is minimized with small windows that face away from the sun. The windcatcher's effectiveness had led to its routine use as a refrigerating device in Iran. Many traditional water reservoirs (ab anbars), which are capable of storing water at near freezing temperatures during summer months, are built with windcatchers. The evaporative cooling effect is strongest in the driest climates, such as on the Iranian plateau, leading to the ubiquitous use of windcatchers in drier areas such as Yazd, Kerman, Kashan, Sirjan, Nain, and Bam. Windcatchers tend to have one, four, or eight openings. In the city of Yazd, all windcatchers are four- or eight-sided. The construction of a windcatcher depends on the direction of airflow at that specific location: if the wind tends to blow from only one side, it is built with only one downwind opening. This is the style most commonly seen in Meybod, 50 kilometers from Yazd: the windcatchers are short and have a single opening. Windcatchers in Iran may be quite elaborate, due to their use as status symbols. A small windcatcher is called a shish-khan in traditional Persian architecture. Shish-khans can still be seen on top of ab anbars in Qazvin and other northern cities in Iran. These seem to function more as ventilators than as the temperature regulators seen in the central deserts of Iran. Australia Council House 2 in Melbourne, Australia, has 3-story-tall "shower towers", made of cloth kept wet by a showerhead trickling at the top of each one. Evaporative cooling chills the air, which then descends into the building. Europe The Saint-Étienne Métropole's Zénith is a multi-purpose hall built in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (inland southern France). It incorporates a very large aluminium windcatcher, which is much lighter than the equivalent masonry windcatcher would be. The size of the windcatcher allows it to work in any wind direction; the cross-sectional area perpendicular to the wind flow remains large.