So how do these houses survive the Argentinean summerheat which can go up to over 40 degrees celsius? There are a few factors that help maintaining the inside cool while the outside temperature is burning.
The first factor is its height. Typically these houses are built with high ceilings, 5 to 6 meters in height while its width is around 4.3 meters (half a yard). That height pushes the warm air up and there is quite a difference between the temperature at the floor level compared to the ceiling.
The second reason is the roof is typically installed in a diagonal way so that the hot air is pushed to one wall that has a ventilation shaft to the outside to remove the hot air from the house.
The windows and doors have small top windows (banderola) that also allow ventilation and let warm air enter the house that moves to the ceiling and allows colder air to move up with it.
The floor in original houses are lifted a bit and below these floors is an air chamber. These chambers are connected with ventilation vents that are positioned below the windows and also allow enter "colder" air from outside to enter the air chamber and move upwards.
Then the patio has a roof that is well positioned so that in the summer it blocks the sun from entering the house, while in the winter its lower position does allow the sun to enter house to warm up the rooms.
All this allows that these type of houses can rely on its own ventilation without electrical air conditioning systems and is obviously healthier and more environment friendly.
Unfortunately we do not see anymore these type of houses being built with these type of environmental air conditioning. Newer houses and appartments now have lower ceilings that heat up quickly without any possibility to have a healthy and natural airflow.
It is time that we start building again these type of houses.
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