CLIMATE, ECOLOGY & ARCHITECTURE

The impact of the tropical climate on buildings results in various design strategies for envelopes to minimise energy usage while increasing comfort. It discusses the impact of passive environmental design, performances, and synergies with ecological systems, to achieve sustainable and/or regenerative objectives. 

Students will learn about different passive design aspects for buildings performing in a tropical context and how this can inform material choices, build form and orientation to produce a certain effect be it of architectural or performative nature. It starts with an overview of built examples and how they relate to surrounding parameters like climatic aspects which will be further specified with respect to light, air, water, and flora. It is the aim to develop a holistic understanding of design choices and design parameters, how those influence each other in the best case create architectural synergies. In addition, there will be three different tasks in the form of tutorials where students will analyse, synthesise, and apply what was presented in the lectures to deepen and broaden their understanding.