Climate resilience mechanisms of vernacular dwellings in China’s Yangtze River delta region: a study based on a multi-level analytical framework

Taking vernacular dwellings in China’s Yangtze River Delta, which is located in the “hot-summer and cold-winter” climate zone, as the subject, this study systematically explores their coupled adaptation and climate resilience in a complex climatic scenario involving summer heat, winter cold, high humidity, abundant rainfall, and frequent calm winds. Based on the bioclimatic theory, it combines physical measurement with computational simulation to quantitatively validate and extract parameters related to the climate regulation performance of typical vernacular dwellings in the region. Subsequently, the study constructs a multi-level analytical framework for climate resilience, which involves five progressive dimensions (i.e., climatological situation, configuring form, gradient space, regulatory interface, and performance-oriented construction). At last, it proposes a concept of “Thermal Fabric” to represent the dynamic, holistic, and breathable spatial structure of vernacular dwellings in the Yangtze River Delta, and refines this concept as the Climate-space Configuring Model inherent in these traditional dwellings. In summary, the study not only reveals the underlying mechanism through which these dwellings coordinate various architectural elements to respond to contradictory climatic demands but also translates traditional wisdom from empirical cognition into regional knowledge for contemporary building design. It provides a referable paradigm and practical basis for green buildings in hot-summer and cold-winter climate zones to improve performance and reduce energy consumption, as well as for human settlements to achieve sustainability.