Welcome to the website of the research project BioVernacular

Vernacular architecture incorporates a series of features friendly to the environment and corresponds to the local climatic conditions thus underlining its bioclimatic dimension. By taking advantage of direct solar gains and increasing the thermal mass of buildings, the traditional craftsman managed to ensure conditions of thermal comfort in the interior spaces and outdoor areas of settlements quite efficiently. In this way, remarkable examples of traditional buildings following an environmentally friendly approach were created, perfectly harmonized with the natural landscape. Within this framework, a research project was initiated on the 1st of July 2012. The host organisation of the project is the Municipality of Nicosia and the collaborating institutions are the University of Cyprus, the Cyprus Department of ICOMOS and the Frederick Research Centre. The program is funded by the Research Promotion Foundation and incorporates detailed recordings of temperature, relative humidity and other environmental features of traditional buildings in the historic centre of Nicosia with an overall objective to provide scientific documentation on the bioclimatic dimension of vernacular architecture.