Climate Refuge House

A prototype for inland villages exposed to extreme heat.

Principal investigator

A continuation of academic work begun at Columbia’s GSAPP. The prototype tests how a single courtyard, a thick north wall, and a chimney of perforated brick can keep an inland house habitable through a 50 °C summer afternoon — without a compressor.

Built and instrumented at 1:1 in 2024, the prototype recorded interior temperatures 14 °C below the outdoor peak across three measurement weeks.