ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses a framework for responsive architecture, choosing for illustrative purposes the rich variety of conditions that exist in the Negev and Sinai Deserts. The building components; thick walls, shaded patios and roofs, screened windows and a whole vocabulary of devices for natural ventilation are among the basic architectural features which serve to relieve the climatic loads on the desert settler. In some remarkable cases, one can say that the climatic and environmental conditions, societal behaviour patterns and built form create an integral entity. The application on a grand scale of preconceived architecture poses a dangerous alternative by ignoring regional and local factors and by attempting to standardize the built environment throughout the country. The responsive use of appropriate edges for different orientations, sites and functions, will give each site its singularity and by doing so will contribute to the growth of local architecture.
