Abstract

Kerala, the southern most state of India, which extends from 8°18’ to 12°48’’ N latitude, 74°52’ to 72°22’ E longitude, lying between the Arabian Sea on the West and the world famous Western Ghats with its ever green rain forests on the East has a characteristic Warm-Humid climate. The presence of high amount of moisture in the atmosphere for major part of the year causes thermal discomfort as there is less evaporation, resulting in sweating. This is more acute in summer when the air temperature is close to or higher than the body temperature. Climate responsive design is the one that would provide a comfortable indoor environment in response to the seasonal variations of the climate. The vernacular architecture of Kerala has evolved through ages where the climate has played a very important role. In the present context where energy efficient and sustainable buildings have become the order of the day, there is a need to revisit the vernacular architecture simply because they are time tested. Efforts have been made by many researchers worldwide to study vernacular architecture. This paper illustrates the dire need for a comprehensive investigation of Kerala vernacular architecture to understand the climate responsive design techniques used for comfortable indoor environment and some important findings reported so far.