Research notes
Tropical architecture
Research investigation
How far can design alone keep a tropical home comfortable before machines are needed?
A worldwide tropical inquiry, with Cañas as a public starting point. Nothing here has been field tested.
- Idea or practice
- The Instituto de Arquitectura Tropical, led by Bruno Stagno and Jimena Ugarte, puts design first: shade, generous roofs, ventilation and rain management before equipment.
- What sources support
- The Institute presents this as a design philosophy and body of practice.
- What remains unknown
- It does not measure comfort or energy use for any home planned here.
- Idea or practice
- RESET 2025 and the Institute’s publications gather regional and vernacular knowledge from across the tropics.
- What sources support
- They document approaches architects have used in their own climates and regions.
- What remains unknown
- How each approach transfers to another slope, wind pattern or rainfall remains open.
- Idea or practice
- Openness for breeze can also admit humid air, and deep shade can slow drying after rain.
- What sources support
- The sources support weighing climate carefully; this tradeoff is our open question, not their finding.
- What remains unknown
- Which balance suits both the dry and the wet season is not known, and no savings are promised.
A question to test in Cañas
Could a shaded, cross-ventilated room and a conventional room be logged through both seasons for temperature, humidity and how people feel?
Where to next?
Sensors and simple controls could support the same passive design.