Designing for a Hotter Future

As the planet warms and heatwaves become more frequent and intense, architecture must look beyond convention and towards the intelligence of the natural world. This session explores biomimicry not as an aesthetic, but as a design ethic, one that sees nature not as a metaphor, but as a model. At its most transformative, biomimicry invites us to design like nature, integrating buildings and cities into the larger web of life. Drawing from species that have evolved to survive and thrive in extreme climates, Micheal’s talk focuses on how biological strategies can inspire architectural responses to heat stress and temperature control. From the self-shading skins of desert plants to the ventilation systems of termite mounds, nature offers an abundant catalogue of solutions to the challenges we face today. These insights push us to think more systemically, more humbly, and more creatively about how we build in a warming world. By drawing lessons from nature’s own logic, this conversation redefines cool as conscious design, rooted in humility, adaptation, and respect for the systems that sustain us.