Environment: A Bioclimatic Approach to Urban and Architectural Design in Sub-Saharan African Cities

Abstract

Drawn on shared understandings of what “environment” might mean across different disciplines and making reference to the most recent literature on bioclimatic and sustainable urban and architectural design, this chapter aims at providing some general guidelines on how to work with local climate conditions and materials to achieve more sustainable and climate-sensitive building design. This is particularly crucial when dealing with fast-changing urban areas—especially in the sub-Saharan African context—where the climate crisis combined with unprecedented urbanization trends are increasing the pressure on natural environments and resources becoming more and more endangered and scarce. These challenges need to be addressed through a conscious and a cross-scalar approach towards the built environment. The case of Mozambique is adopted as a testbed for the combined use of traditional building techniques and innovative bioclimatic methods adopting basic energy flows—solar irradiation, winds and air humidity, among many others—as main guiding parameters to achieve a better comfort both in new or renovated buildings.