Paul M. Khoury

Wind-Catcher Tent

The invention is a temporary or semi-permanent shelter with passive cooling capabilities. This system is designed to provide an enclosed space with reduced temperatures in hot environments without the use of any electrical power. The system consists of a tall tent with a wind-catching tower on top; this wind-catching tower captures breezes or prevailing wind and directs airflow downward into the occupied space. A mesh or porous fabric covers the openings in the wind catching tower to allow air to pass through unobstructed, but filter out the dust. The airflow is redirected downward into the main tent area with a scoop design. The scoop is able to rotate to capture wind from whichever direction it is coming from.

The design includes a mesh, wetted by water dripping from a small water container above it, which the downward flowing air will pass through to leverage an evaporative cooling effect. The design includes a small shallow pool of water at the base of the inside of the tent, in the middle of the enclosed space. The tent is supported by internal beams or rods of aluminum or bamboo construction. The top of the tent is anchored by cables which attach to the ground to which the tent is pitched. The design leverages natural convection and the stack effect, allowing hot air to rise and exit through upper vents while cooler incoming air circulates through the structure. The system’s exterior cladding is a reflective high-albedo material for reduction of solar heat gain.

The purpose of this design is to provide a simple, scalable cooling shelter that can be rapidly deployed in regions experiencing extreme heat where access to air conditioning or reliable electricity is limited. Potential use cases include informal settlements, refugee camps, disaster relief zones, agricultural communities, and dense urban areas suffering from heat island effects. The concept draws inspiration from traditional windcatcher architecture but applies modern engineering principles to optimize airflow, manufacturability, and scalability for widespread deployment. The design can be scaled from small family-sized shelters to larger community cooling structures that provide relief during heat waves.

Future development of the concept will include computational airflow and thermal simulations to analyze ventilation efficiency, evaporative cooling performance, and temperature reduction under different climatic conditions. Prototypes will be constructed and tested to evaluate real-world cooling performance, structural stability, and manufacturability using low-cost materials. These tests will inform design iterations to improve airflow capture, durability, and ease of deployment. The long-term goal is to develop a mass-producible passive cooling shelter that can be distributed globally as an affordable climate adaptation technology.

A U.S. provisional patent application has been filed under 35 U.S.C. §111(b) (Application No. 64/006,332) covering the system architecture and which encompasses the passive cooling mechanisms described above.