Santa-Rita, António José de2014Santa-Rita , A J D 2014 , ' Construção, materiais e conforto em ambiente tropical: a arquitetura nos trópicos ' , Revista Lusófona de Arquitectura e Educação .1646-6756Revista Lusófona de Arquitectura e EducaçãoThe architecture in the tropical regions usually im plies the air conditioning devices installation, regarding the internal comfort. Howev er, it can be avoided gaining advantage of the local geography, topography, wind, ra in, moisture as well the temperature and the thermal variations during the d ay and the night. This study as a whole can avoid the air conditioning use and choose only natural ventilation and an adequate thermal envelope, a cheaper and sustainable solution. It is important also the complete knowledge of the local building and in sulating materials, shading devices, flora and the moisture content. Classical a rchitecture must be supported by the vernacular knowledge and teaching that gives us in a constant learning from the sixteenth century with the Portuguese colonizationapplication/pdfporopenAccessARQUITETURAVERNACULAR ARCHITECTUREDESIGN ARQUITETÓNICOVENTILAÇÃO NATURALARQUITETURA TROPICALARCHITECTUREARQUITETURA VERNACULARARCHITECTURAL DESIGNNATURAL VENTILATIONTROPICAL ARCHITECTUREarticle