Look at any old building in a hot climate, whether it’s in Sicily or Marrakesh or Tehran. Architects understood the importance of shade, airflow, insulation, light colors. They oriented buildings to capture cool breezes and deflect the worst heat of the afternoon. They built with thick walls and white roofs and transoms over doors to encourage airflow. Anyone who has ever spent a few minutes in an adobe in Tucson, or walked on the narrow streets of old Seville, knows how well these construction methods work. But all this wisdom about how to deal with heat, accumulated over centuries of
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