Architecture as a Catalyst in Mitigating Heat Island Effect Ar. Mahesh Bangad Dr. Bhanuben Nanavati College of Architecture Pune 411052, Maharashtra, India mahesh.bangad@bnca.ac.in Urvashi Vaijwade Dr. Bhanuben Nanavati College of Architecture Pune 411052, Maharashtra, India a18102.urvashiv@bnca.ac.in ABSTRACT With the increased rate of expansion of urbanization and urban sprawl in the recent years, the environmental issues faced by urban places become ever more concerning. The heat island effect has prejudicious effects on the environment as well as on the dwellers. Urban heat Island effect, which is generally caused due to the replacement of natural land cover with dense concentrations, the research paper will help in understanding whether and how architecture plays a role in mitigating the heat island effect. Architecture has a definite role to play in the mitigation of the urban heat island effect: cities are defined by their buildings and make up a large part of the built environment. The choices that architects and planners make can have a huge impact on the size of a city’s urban heat island. (Munro, 2012) Questions of sustainability and environmental consequences pervade most aspects of our lives. In architectural practice, they influence our building regulations and our energy codes. (Thomas, 2015) The research paper is an attempt to review various cases across the world where architecture – both buildings and spaces affect a city’s urban heat and also review the factors that help to develop resilient architecture in the context of climate change. KEYWORDS: Urban heat island, Architecture, Environment, Climate change, Design strategies