With the recent heatwave and soaring temperatures, learning to read a city means learning to ask one simple question: Why was it built this way?
When it’s this hot, we seek out air conditioning. If we don’t have it at home, we cool off in shopping malls, cinemas, and libraries. But how did people survive before air conditioning? The answer is hidden in the city’s architecture. Once you know what to look for, you’ll start seeing centuries of clever design choices that helped people stay comfortable long before electricity.
STREET GRID (OR LACK THEREOF)
One of the trademarks of older medieval cities is narrow winding streets. There are many reasons medieval towns were built this way, but one of the biggest advantages is shade. When I am giving my tours in the medieval Old Town, it is noticeably cooler than the wide straight avenues in the areas laid out in the 19th century. Sometimes we turn a corner and catch a sea breeze and it is heavenly.
Narrow winding streets create shade
EXTERIOR
When you look at the exterior of a building, look for features that encourage airflow. Before air conditioning, moving air was one of the most effective ways to stay comfortable.
Clairoirs
Clairoirs might sound fancy, but they are just the semicircle shaped vents above the doors. As the warm air rises through gaps in the roof (described later) or out the windows, the cool air is drawn in from the street through openings such as clairoirs, helping to keep fresh air moving through the building.
In the Mediterranean, airflow is everything. Early on, these vents are simple – just semicircular holes over the doors, with vertical cross bars added for security. Then as time went on, these plain bars became wrought iron and then by the mid 18th century, cast iron in fanciful patterns became all the rage.
Clairoirs – semicircle vents found over front doors that allow cooler air into the home
Shutters allow air flow, while also deflecting the sun
Tall Windows with Shutters
Tall windows aren’t just elegant – they’re practical. Larger openings allow more air to circulate through a room, especially when paired with shutters. Louvered shutters (the ones with fixed or adjustable slats) allow air flow while also protecting the home from direct sunlight. Batten Shutters (the ones that are just boards of wood, no openings) are also used to keep the sunlight out. They do not allow as much airflow.
Clay Tiled Roofs
Orange roofs made of clay tile are found all over the coastal Mediterranean area, and with good reason. The tiles are interlocking, and their shape allows for airflow. They are not attached flush, there is room between the layers for air flow. This roof covering system dates back to Ancient Rome.
Terracotta tiles interconnect and allow air to flow between them
Light-Coloured Paint
Apricot, lemony yellow, soft pinks – the colours of the buildings around here aren’t just beautiful, they serve a purpose. The “paint” that was used was limewash mixed with the colouring pigments such as ochres, siennas, and umbers, which would produce a range of creams, yellows, pinks, terracottas, and soft taupes. While these colours were chosen more due to the availability of the pigments in the area, it doesn’t hurt that lighter colours reflect the bright Mediterranean sun away from the buildings. The result is a city that is not only beautiful, but naturally better suited to life under the Mediterranean sun.
INTERIOR
Being in the interior, these features are harder to find, but a side quest to the Palais Lascaris or a restaurant in the Old Town may be in order to discover these hidden clues.
High Ceilings
Inside the older buildings we find soaring ceilings. They aren’t just meant to be impressive, they are meant to keep the building cool. As we all learned in science class in school, heat rises, so we want the warmer air up towards the ceiling, not where we are sitting.
Courtyards
Courtyards act like a chimney, drawing warm air up and out while pulling in cool air
Inside the buildings you may find a courtyard around which the apartments are built. These courtyards work to cool the buildings in a few different ways. First of all, they create a shaded exterior space. If they are connected to the clairoirs mentioned above, these spaces also help cycle the warmer air out through the open roof which forces the cooler air from the street into the space. Architects call this the “stack effect.” I like to think of it as one of history’s earliest forms of air conditioning.
Armed with this knowledge, the next time you’re walking through Nice on a warm summer afternoon, take a moment to look a little closer. Notice the clairoirs, the clay roof tiles, and the shutters. They are more than just beautiful architectural details, they are centuries-old solutions to a problem that we still have today.
Now you know one more way to read the city. And that’s just the beginning. Every street in Nice is filled with clues like these. If you’d like to discover more of them, I’d love to teach you how to read the city on one of my walking tours.
PHOTO CREDITS
- Lead image © RIVIERA BUZZ 2026, All Rights Reserved
- All other photos courtesy and © Anthemion Tours
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