Urban Heat Island

For thousands of years, people living in parts of the world used to high temperatures have deployed traditional passive cooling techniques in the way they design their buildings. But "modern" styles of architecture using concrete and glass often usurped local building techniques better suited to hotter climates. In this episode, we explore why that happened, and how some architects are championing traditional techniques to help keep buildings cool.

Featuring Anthony Ogbuokiri, senior lecturer in architectural design at Nottingham Trent University in the UK, Vyta Pivo, assistant professor of architecture at the University of Michigan in the US and Susan Abed Hassan, professor of architectural engineering at Al-Nahrain University in Baghdad, Iraq.

This episode was produced by Mend Mariwany, with sound design by Eloise Stevens. Gemma Ware is the executive producer. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. Full credits for this episode are available here. A transcript is available here. Sign up here for a free daily newsletter from The Conversation.

Further reading:

• Cities like Lagos need building designs that don’t just copy global styles
• Tiny algae could help fix concrete’s dirty little climate secret – 4 innovative ways to clean up this notoriously hard to decarbonize industry
• How to keep buildings cool without air conditioning – according to an expert in sustainable design