THE HEATWAVEShape an idea

CONVERSATIONS

Let’s talk about
the heat in the room.

Not panel discussions with predictable endings. These are questions designed to unsettle assumptions and open better possibilities.

01 / OPENING QUESTIONS

A useful conversation should leave the room slightly different.

Use these provocations in a neighbourhood meeting, classroom, design workshop or policy discussion. There is no approved answer.

01
RIGHTS + PUBLIC SPACE

Who owns the shade?

Shade looks simple until you ask where it falls, when it disappears and who gets moved out of it.

Questions for the room
  • Is shade basic public infrastructure?
  • Who decides where it goes?
  • What makes a shaded place welcoming rather than controlled?
02
COMFORT + POWER

Who gets to define ‘comfortable’? 

Thermal comfort is measured in numbers, but lived in bodies, clothes, routines, rooms and relationships.

Questions for the room
  • Whose body is the standard?
  • What do surveys miss?
  • Can people disagree and both be right?
03
MEMORY + DESIGN

What did old buildings know?

Courtyards, shutters, thick walls, verandas and night ventilation are not nostalgia. They are clues.

Questions for the room
  • Which practices have been designed out?
  • What can be adapted without romanticising the past?
  • Who still holds this knowledge?
04
TECHNOLOGY + TRADE-OFFS

When is an air conditioner not the answer?

Mechanical cooling can save lives. It can also be unaffordable, unreliable or add heat to already hot streets.

Questions for the room
  • Where is active cooling essential?
  • What should happen before a machine is switched on?
  • How do we avoid cooling one room by warming the neighbourhood?
05
EVIDENCE + EVERYDAY LIFE

Does a bedroom diary count as data?

A sensor can record temperature. A resident can tell you when sleep, privacy and family life become impossible.

Questions for the room
  • What evidence earns attention?
  • How can lived experience and measurement strengthen each other?
  • Who owns the story once it is collected?
YOUR TURN

What conversation is your community ready to have?

Start one with us ↗