As the UK braces for yet another record-breaking heatwave, we are starkly reminded of the need for climate-resilient architecture in a warming world.
In the last few decades, architects have been addressing this by considering passive design strategies. These are design approaches that harness natural resources, such as sunlight or wind, to achieve indoor comfort, without relying on energy-hungry options like air conditioning.
Architects around the world are developing designs that not only respond to their local climates and cultural contexts but also push the boundaries of sustainable design. Some are inspired by vernacular architecture, a type of traditional construction specific to the building’s location and the locally available materials. Others learn from nature and employ biomimicry, a process that copies strategies found in natural ecosystems to solve human design challenges, as these three examples illustrate.
