u/Automatic-Donut-535

I’m designing my first mid-rise residential project in a tropical climate, and my biggest problem right now is ventilation.

The building is organized in a very horizontal way, meaning the apartments are placed one after another in long residential bars. I tried introducing offsets between units to help airflow, but I feel like it’s not really working because the first apartments receive most of the wind and there’s no clear place for the air to exit afterward.

Because of that, I started exploring vertical gardens / narrow voids between apartments as a way to introduce ventilation, light, and thermal relief. The problem is that the project is around 5 levels tall, and these voids can only be about 2m wide because the site is relatively compact.

Now I’m worried the voids might just feel like tall, narrow shafts without really improving airflow much.

My professor suggested creating openings/voids between apartments, and I tried doing that, but I still don’t feel convinced by the solution. I think part of the problem is that I don’t fully understand how cross ventilation works in vertical housing projects yet.

Some additional context:

- Tropical hot/humid climate

- Strong afternoon sun on one facade

- Two residential bars connected by circulation bridges

- Main central void of about 8m between the bars

- Smaller 2m vertical voids between apartments

I’d really appreciate advice, references, diagrams, or examples of:

- passive ventilation strategies in vertical housing

- how to ventilate long apartment bars

- whether narrow vertical gardens actually work

- or other ways of creating effective airflow between apartments without losing too much area.

This is my first time designing vertical housing, so I’m still trying to understand what actually works spatially and climatically.

Hello, I'm student actually and I’m designing my first mid-rise residential project in a tropical climate, and my biggest problem right now is ventilation.

The building is organized in a very horizontal way, meaning the apartments are placed one after another in long residential bars. I tried introducing offsets between units to help airflow, but I feel like it’s not really working because the first apartments receive most of the wind and there’s no clear place for the air to exit afterward.

Because of that, I started exploring vertical gardens / narrow voids between apartments as a way to introduce ventilation, light, and thermal relief. The problem is that the project is around 5 levels tall, and these voids can only be about 2m wide because the site is relatively compact.

Now I’m worried the voids might just feel like tall, narrow shafts without really improving airflow much.

My professor suggested creating openings/voids between apartments, and I tried doing that, but I still don’t feel convinced by the solution. I think part of the problem is that I don’t fully understand how cross ventilation works in vertical housing projects yet.

Some additional context:

- Tropical hot/humid climate

- Strong afternoon sun on one facade

- Two residential bars connected by circulation bridges

- Main central void of about 8m between the bars

- Smaller 2m vertical voids between apartments

I’d really appreciate advice, references, diagrams, or examples of:

- passive ventilation strategies in vertical housing

- how to ventilate long apartment bars

- whether narrow vertical gardens actually work

- or other ways of creating effective airflow between apartments without losing too much area.

This is my first time designing vertical housing, so I’m still trying to understand what actually works spatially and climatically.

Hi, I need some opinions because I’ve been feeling weird lately in architecture school 😭

I’m about halfway through my degree, and ever since I started, I’ve done pretty well academically, especially in design/studio classes. A lot of times I end up getting the highest grades, and professors/architects often say publicly that my project was the best in the class or the strongest one.

The problem is that I feel like it’s starting to affect me socially. I’ve never tried to be a “teacher’s pet” or impress professors on purpose. I genuinely just enjoy designing, putting effort into details, and I think design comes naturally to me.

Lately though, I’ve started noticing weird comments from classmates. Sometimes they jokingly call me “genius kid,” and recently some friends were talking negatively about people who “suck up to professors” just because they participate a lot in class or seem very engaged. Personally, I never saw anything wrong with participating, but it made me feel like maybe people secretly see me that way too.

I try to be approachable and helpful whenever I can. I don’t think I act arrogant or competitive, but I still feel like some people dislike me just because I stand out academically.

At the same time, I also feel a lot of pressure now because professors openly praise my work, so it feels like everyone expects me to constantly perform at a certain level.

Has anyone else experienced this in architecture school or other creative fields? How do you deal with the social side of standing out without feeling isolated or guilty for doing well?

Hi, I need some opinions because I’ve been feeling weird lately in architecture school 😭

I’m about halfway through my degree, and ever since I started, I’ve done pretty well academically, especially in design/studio classes. A lot of times I end up getting the highest grades, and professors/architects often say publicly that my project was the best in the class or the strongest one.

The problem is that I feel like it’s starting to affect me socially. I’ve never tried to be a “teacher’s pet” or impress professors on purpose. I genuinely just enjoy designing, putting effort into details, and I think design comes naturally to me.

Lately though, I’ve started noticing weird comments from classmates. Sometimes they jokingly call me “genius kid,” and recently some friends were talking negatively about people who “suck up to professors” just because they participate a lot in class or seem very engaged. Personally, I never saw anything wrong with participating, but it made me feel like maybe people secretly see me that way too.

I try to be approachable and helpful whenever I can. I don’t think I act arrogant or competitive, but I still feel like some people dislike me just because I stand out academically.

At the same time, I also feel a lot of pressure now because professors openly praise my work, so it feels like everyone expects me to constantly perform at a certain level.

Has anyone else experienced this in architecture school or other creative fields? How do you deal with the social side of standing out without feeling isolated or guilty for doing well?

Hi, I need some opinions because I’ve been feeling weird lately in architecture school 😭

I’m about halfway through my degree, and ever since I started, I’ve done pretty well academically, especially in design/studio classes. A lot of times I end up getting the highest grades, and professors/architects often say publicly that my project was the best in the class or the strongest one.

The problem is that I feel like it’s starting to affect me socially. I’ve never tried to be a “teacher’s pet” or impress professors on purpose. I genuinely just enjoy designing, putting effort into details, and I think design comes naturally to me.

Lately though, I’ve started noticing weird comments from classmates. Sometimes they jokingly call me “genius kid,” and recently some friends were talking negatively about people who “suck up to professors” just because they participate a lot in class or seem very engaged. Personally, I never saw anything wrong with participating, but it made me feel like maybe people secretly see me that way too.

I try to be approachable and helpful whenever I can. I don’t think I act arrogant or competitive, but I still feel like some people dislike me just because I stand out academically.

At the same time, I also feel a lot of pressure now because professors openly praise my work, so it feels like everyone expects me to constantly perform at a certain level.

Has anyone else experienced this in architecture school or other creative fields? How do you deal with the social side of standing out without feeling isolated or guilty for doing well?