I agree we should have more passive forms of cooling/heating.

But I think the problem is that often these are highly dependent on the environment and are very situational.

Places that are dry and hot benefit from water and internal ventilation like this, because the perspiration and water evaporation naturally cools things down, just like our sweat does (same principle that refrigerates water in clay pots like Spanish botijo, or what makes central gardens inside buildings very common in some areas). But they need to stay dry and hot for systems like this to make sense... a cold and humid year would make this whole design pointless at best, counter productive at worst.