ABSTRACTArchitectural technology is related to materials and construction. Consequently, more attention should be focused on the question of “where to build and how to build”, in order to design a building which is better integrated in the surrounding environment. In fact, a close relationship between architecture and location is obvious, related not only to local characteristics, but also to the climate adaptation of the building. That’s why nowadays an increasing focus is on vernacular architecture.Nowadays it can be also useful to apply the knowledge of vernacular architecture and the climatic data analysis in order to develop the climatic design of buildings, using passive techniques applied differently according to each climate. The focus is on building design, but urban climate is also considered. Ways to gain more knowledge are presented and illustrated with case studies.At the end, two real case studies of climate responsive buildings will be analysed in depth; in particular, they have been selected as close as possible to the assigned locations, in fact one is in the Pacific North-West, near Alaska, and the other one is in Malaysia.INTRODUCTIONIn this paper two different climatic locations will be analysed deephly: Nome, in Alaska, and Nadi, in the archipelago of Fiji Islands. First of all, it's useful to identify exactly their geographic position in the world, as in Fig. 1.