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Sustainable architecture
Factors influencing vernacular architecture
Sustainable architecture
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Mankind has always struggled to seek shelter and was extremely resourceful in providing it. Vernacular architecture is the main result of this most basic human necessity. Vernacular buildings were designed in accordance with certain fundamental principles which included comfort, durability, functionality, aesthetic beauty and affordability. The sustainability in such buildings lies in the fact that they are built to adapt to the regional inhabitants and their needs, and regional conditions, including availability of local materials and building techniques, the climatic conditions and the socio-cultural factors. To ensure the practicality of these structures, builders use knowledge that is based on experience, tested by trial and error and most of the time is passed on from generation to generation.
The builders are limited on resources and have to make use of indigenous materials that can be obtained from the surrounding environment. The interdependent relationship between the materials and the community led the craftsman to know what the capabilities and limitations of the materials are. The way these materials are utilised enables the structure to be ideally suited for the local climate and the community’s religious views and other beliefs. Some architectural structures may offer a challenge to comparative studies since they are practical in several different environments. Activities within the space of the house, such as cooking and heating are also essential for good energy performance. The local resources, besides having a practical purpose in defining space and poviding comfort, are also used for vernacular features, which ascribe the community to the given environment and thus fulfilling a great humanistic need. All of ...
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.... The extensive roof of the main part, covered in palm leaf thatch or clay tiles to provide good insulation against the sun’s radiation due to their low thermal capacity, is relatively steep to cast off rainwater and most importantly to increase stack ventilation. As air gets warmer, it expands and rises inside the high ceiling. There it flows out of the house through the ventilation roof joints or the hooded rising gable vents. On the other hand, the attached roofs covering the secondary spaces are low-pitched and less suitable for precipitation. But they are intended to cast water away from the walls in order for windows to remain open and let air flow through the building without having water infiltrating it. These roofs also contribute to natural convection by means of the stack effect, since the steeply-pitched roof space draws the air from their lower space.
It is also the result of the belief of the architect that the building should not oppose the environment. By constructing the same material in a more environmentally efficient way, the building is light in appearance but it doesn’t in functionality. The titles of some books on this architect who lead a new Australian domus in the form of a long and narrow, light-weight, roof work, comparable in its sheltering function to the bower of a tree or, in more morphological terms, to the turned up collar of an overcoat that shelters from the wind while subtly opening its front towards the sun , reveal the stubbornly prudent aesthetics of lightness: Leaves of Iron , Touch this Earth Lightly , Feathers of Metal
Homes are normally based on a solitary level with an edge rooftop. Houses in the more swarmed urban communities frequently have two or more stories and mirror an European impact. A great many people lived in single-family homes until the relocation to urban focuses in the late 1940’s and mid 1950’s. The requirement for satisfactory lodging induced the legislature to put resources into high-masses of open lodging activities amid the mid 1950’s. In the poorer territories, huge families live in little houses developed from ash squares and secured with an adobe made of mud, bovine compost, and
Materiality is a critical feature in all of his projects, and in this case, the architect did not only blend the building with the landscape, by sinking it carefully into the slope, but he also uses genuine local materials to give the space atmospheric ideals. Always working towards a consistent visual appearance, Zumthor uses this quality factor in the interior building method. Using a system of specifically, almost scientifically, arrangem...
As someone with a passion for writing, my final project will be an extended expository essay about the history of homebuilding from ancient to modern times. It will discuss the different types of dwellings throughout recorded human history from the perspective of how art and culture influences building design. This will fulfill my own curiosity to understand the different influences on homebuilding and design over the years and how people have dealt with these changes.
But these contrived differences give rise to esthetic difficulties too. Because inherent differences—those that come from genuinely differing uses—are lacking among the buildings and their settings, the contrivances repre...
Since the beginning of mankind a place to rest and seek shelter was one of its utmost priority. One needed a place for its belongings, to store food, and feel safe; a place to call home, one needed a dwelling. A dwelling can be defined as any structure occupied for human habitation. There have been many different ideas of approaching the structure of a dwelling for the many centuries. The dwelling philosophy that will be examined in this essay, is by Frank Lloyd Wright. He was an American architect who was greatly passionate in the idea of a dwelling. He incorporated his beliefs and design philosophy onto his architecture and has greatly affected the way humans live. For a more comprehensive understanding, this paper will unpack the biography of Frank Lloyd Wright and his ideas and beliefs of
INTRODUCTION The roof is one of the two most important structural components of any home, the other being the foundation. The roof protects and provides shelter from the elements, it is the first line of defense from nature’s threats and it is often subjected to the most brutal effects of strong wind, rain, snow, hail, dew and extreme heat. Constantly, nature tries the resilience of your roof but its ability to withstand the effects of nature’s threats is subject to the amount of care and maintenance you give to it.
Abstract: Contemporary architects have a wide variety of sources to gain inspiration from, but this has not always been the case. How did modernism effect sources of inspiration? What did post-modernism do to liberate the choice of influences? Now that Contemporary architects have the freedom of choice, how are they using “traditional” styles and materials to inspire them? Even after modernism why are traditional styles still around?
Frank Lloyd Wright and Le Corbusier are two very prominent names in the field of architecture. Both architects had different ideas concerning the relationship between humans and the environment. Their architectural styles were a reflection of how each could facilitate the person and the physical environment. Frank Lloyd Wright’s Robie House, is considered one of the most important buildings in the history of American architecture and Le Corbusier s Villa Savoye helped define the progression that modern architecture was to take in the 20th Century. Both men are very fascinating and have strongly influenced my personal taste for modern architecture. Although Wright and Corbusier each had different views on how to design a house, they also had similar beliefs. This paper is a comparison of Frank Lloyd Wright‘s and Le Corbusier ‘s viewpoints exhibited through their two prominent houses, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Robie House and Le Corbusier’s Villa Savoye.
This Sustainable Architecture began long ago with scientists brainstorming and designing a new design for an eco-home that’s liable on decreasing massive numbers of en...
Human beings are susceptible to the force of nature. They had to make shelter for themselves. Material was one of the most basic tools to create shelter. By development of building construction, selection and use of materials also developed. The relationship between the architecture and the materials before invention of modern materials was simple and generally naturally [1]; in the past, architects always use tradition materials according their experimental skills. For choosing structural materials, they had attention to important factors such as availability (local materials) and harmony with climate and culture [2], although this way was forward with feedback. But this relationship was not continuing simply.
What makes modern architecture? Before answering this, one would need to understand what the term “modern” exactly describes. In architecture, modernism is the movement or transition from one period to another, and it is caused by cultural, territorial, and technological changes happening in the world. In Kenneth Frampton’s Modern Architecture: A Critical History, he details these three major societal changes that impact and create modern architecture.
However, architecture is not just the future, after all, buildings are intended to be viewed, traversed and lived by us, people. Despite this, many architects today rarely think deeply about human nature, disregarding their main subject matter in favour for efficiency and an architecture of spectacle. In this there seems to be a misconception that underlies much of architecture, that is, human’s relationship with the city, the building and nature. In much of today’s architecture, people are treated with as much concern much as we treat cars, purely mechanically. The post-modern search for the ‘new’ and ‘novel’ has come to disregard the profound affect design has on our lives, impacting our senses, shaping our psyche and disposition.
Sustainable buildings are becoming somewhat of a necessity in the world today. As the demand for green building develops, so does the demand for green building materials. Just as the old techniques and building materials seem to disappear in the assembly of things, they are now making a come back. Green building focuses on the efficiency of major resources like water and energy. As the cost for sustainable materials and products are on the decline, building green seems to be the most cost effective kind of design and construction. Looking specifically at green materials and their impact on the production of structures, it is evident that they are a prime choice for building material. The use of green materials should be promoted because they are better for the environment, more healthful for the consumer, and better for the economy.
The beginnings of today's green revolution can be traced back to the environmental awareness of the 1960s and European design. New construction techniques have lead to the development of innovative materials and design concepts. Green buildings are designed, constructed and commissioned to ensure they are healthy for their occupants. Successfully designed green projects can involve an extensive array of factors, ranging from the resourceful use of materials, to careful consideration of function, climate, and location.