Courtyards Are Not Landscaping: They Are the House's Climate Machine

A square courtyard enclosed on all four sides by architecture. Cold air settles in the courtyard at night, and during the day, it is shaded from the sun by high walls. Evaporation from the water surface carries away heat, and all doors and windows of the surrounding rooms open towards the courtyard. The courtyard exists to cool the house, not for aesthetics. Avoid: depicting the courtyard as a purely ornamental garden; lacking architectural enclosure on all four sides; having room openings face outwards instead of towards the courtyard; making the courtyard so large that it loses its shading and heat-gathering effects.

Translated from Chinese by AI.

一個被建築四面圍住的方形庭院。夜裡冷空氣沉在院裡,白天被高牆遮住日照,水面蒸發帶走熱,周邊房間的門窗全部朝院子開。庭院的存在是為了讓房子涼下來,不是為了好看。避免:把庭院畫成純觀賞的花園、四面沒有建築圍合、房間的開口朝外而不朝院、庭院大到失去遮蔭與聚熱的效果。