[b0rsuk]

It appears you've read the article to the very end - I'm glad you've enjoyed it.

High ceilings - absolutely. Warm air goes up, can it get simpler than that? Primary/Elementary school physics.

If you watch some videos on lost African civilizations and traditional architecture, it's full of them (and curtains rather than doors). Some examples are Basil Davidson's "Africa" serries (on youtube, if you don't mind low quality) and I think Stefan Milo on his channel, the video about coral cities ("Swahili Culture").

Interesting experience with Katrina. You could call it having a house that "fails gracefully" and doesn't rely completely on any one system.

There are downsides to modern, well-isolated houses. When air is the primary medium of heating your house, opening a window means almost literally letting money out. Aside from crap like emissions from furniture (I believe they're called VOC - not a native speaker), dust, bacteria and fungal spores pile up. People develop allergy and respiration-related diseases more easily.