Natural cooling in the Generalife (Granada).

Hispano-Islamic architecture addresses a great concern about summer heat. The seasonal high temperatures and dry atmosphere of southern Spain constituted a real challenge for the XIV-century Muslim builders of the Generalife. This small palace shows clearly a series of environmental strategies involving cooling due to its condition of summer villa for the sultans of Granada. This paper is based on a PhD research project on the Environmental Aspects of Hispano-Islamic Architecture carried out by the author under supervision of Simos Yannas.