Architect Moshe Safdie has encouraged others in the profession to become more reactive to the world's changing climate, by incorporating adaptable spaces into their projects.
As some environments become more extreme, architects need to create convertible spaces that can be used during both very hot and very cold weather, Safdie told Dezeen.
"In terms of design, I always say that if things get worse climatically, hotter and colder, then architects need to respond by being more versatile," he said.
"We've been looking at garden-like commercial environments that open up on a beautiful spring or a summer day, and you just let it be outdoors. And then, like nature, it transforms with snow and shuts up."
Moshe Safdie's revolutionary architecture projects date back to Habitat 67, a housing complex in Montreal that offers each residence a generous outdoor space Particularly, cities in the US northeast are expected to experience increasingly scorching summers and frigid winters as a result of climate change.
Safdie suggested that adaptable outdoor spaces for residences could provide more pleasant living conditions in these places, rather than relying on air conditioning and heating.
"In Boston, the winters are getting colder but the summers are getting hotter," he said. "So you create a little terrace, and you can't use it half of the year. So let's find a way that we can [enjoy it more]."
"In New York, if I was to design ideal terraces, ...