Negotiating Boundaries: Climate and the Building Envelope in Central American Architecture

In temperate and cold climates, architecture typically begins with a defensive gesture. The building envelope is a sealed boundary designed to resist the exterior environment through insulation, vapor barriers, and mechanical control . In cold countries like Canada , where winter temperatures can plunge well below freezing, airtightness is not a luxury. In this context, buildings must resist the exterior environment entirely to maintain interior comfort. However, in Central America , a region spanning from Belize to Panama , architectural logic shifts from exclusion to negotiation. In this region, the envelope is not a wall of defense but a specialized filter.