Iranian venacular ice- houses: Notable example of a traditional architecture in proportion to its climatic conditions

ABSTRACT
Iranian architecture is shaped in related to its Hot - Dry climate and has provided interesting answers to the Iranian's needs. In this climate, most of the buildings are constructed by mud or sun - dried bricks. There are so many facilities that Iranian architecture has provided for better living such as: Wind - Catcher (which exhausts warm air from buildings during the day), Cisterns (which have a cylindrical store place in the depth of the earth for storing the cold fresh water during the hot seasons), Ice - Houses with walls behind which water in shallow channels friezes at nights, etc. The great heritage of Iranian architecture and traditions are still not known until now. The cons- tructing traditions of vernacular architecture in Iran, reveals the mystery of using natural energy sources that reduce the need to fossil fuel. Among different Iranian cultural heritage, Ice-Houses are selected as the main subject of this article.

The conservation of Balinese traditional architecture: the integration of village pattern and housing pattern in indigenous villages

Bali Island is known not only for its culture and flourish of nature, but it is also for its traditional architecture which is embedded by the traditional philosophies including Tri Hita Karana, Tri Angga, Tri Loka etc. The Indigenous villages, as rural settlements, disclose their Indigenous traditions and values of Balinese culture and architecture which have been inherited from generation to generation. Many scholars have documented the Indigenous villages of Bali in relation to the nature, socio-culture, norms, as well as its architecture. In this paper, through an extensive literature review, and the use of observation, interview and documentation of extant Indigenous villages in Bali, the author explores how the village pattern is relational to the housing pattern in the Indigenous villages in Bali within the landscape that is Bali Island.

Understanding landscape and the values of traditional architecture and construction

Ponencia presentada en el congreso internacional organizado por el Comité Internacional de Arquitectura Vernácula de ICOMOS - UNESCO.

Overview of design concepts of traditional Iranian architecture and its reflections in Iranian contemporary architecture

This article has attempted to investigate the patterns of traditional architecture in Iran's warm and dry climate and whether these patterns have been attended to in Iran's contemporary architecture or not. Since the two elements of culture and climate are much significant in Iran's traditional constructions, this article aimed at dealing with subjects such as the causes of the shapes of traditional buildings in Iran's warm and dry climate in constructions like houses, schools, mosques and bazaars, and why they were constructed in those shapes, and also considering their patterns in these places in the light of cultural and climatic aspects, and their cultural and climatic relationships and investigating cultural-climatic causes of the directions and situations designed for the spaces present in these buildings and finally it is intended to classify the conceptual patterns of the traditional architecture of Iran's warm and dry climate. The article is going to consider the amount of using these patterns in Iran's contemporary architecture. The study has been conducted using library and field method.

A study of building materials to create an identity of traditional Balinese architecture for urban housing

The use or local architecture characteristics is regulated by the spatial planning and building code of Indonesia. Balinese tmditional architecture has existed, coloured the traditional architecture of Indonesia and can be used as Bali's identity that is different from other regions in Indonesia.On the other hand, the cost of such building is high and most of people in urban areas are unable to afford to build in the traditional architecture style, especially in the residential housing sector .. Some of the major components that determine the price of housing units are the price of land, building materials, labour and technology. In developing countries, the first and second components that affect the unit price of the building are building materials representing about 70% and skilled labour respectively (Ural, 1980). Based on this, a good strategy to adopt in order to minimize the price is to manipulate these two components.Based on a literature review and observation, this study will explain which aspects of building material technology can reduce the building cost and how it can maintain the identity of local architecture.The results of the study indicate that the building material can be created to both reduce cost and adopt traditional architecture style as an identity. The materials have some shapes that can be joined easily to facilitate the skill of the worker and yet still be able to adopt the forms of traditional Balinese architecture.

Braving a New World : Design Interventions for Changing Climates. Papers from the Subtropical Cities 2013 Fall Conference of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA)

We no longer have the luxury of time as the effects of climate change are being felt, according to the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report, on every continent and in every ocean. More than 50% of the population of the United States and 85% of Australians live in coastal regions. The number of people living in the world’s coastal regions is expected to increase along with the need to improve capacity to mitigate hazards , and manage the multiple risks that have been identified by the scientific community. Under the auspices of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) design academics and practitioners from the Americas, Asia, and Australia met in Fort Lauderdale, Florida for the fourth Subtropical Cities international conference to share outcomes of research and new pedagogies to address the critical transformation of the physical environments and infrastructures of the world’s vulnerable coastal communities. The theme of Subtropical Cities, adopted by the ACSA for its Fall 2014 Conference, is not confined entirely to a latitudinal or climatic frame of reference. The paper and project presentations addressed a range of theoretical, practice-led, and education-oriented research topics in architecture and urban design related to the subtropics, with emphasis on urban and coastal regions. More than half the papers originate from universities and practices in coastal regions. Threads emerged from a tapestry of localized investigations to reveal a more global understanding about possible futures we are designing for current and future generations. The one hundred-plus conference delegates and presenters represented 33 universities and institutions from across the United States, Mexico, Canada, Australia, the Middle East, Peru and China. Case studies from India, Morocco, Tahiti, Indonesia, Jordan, and Cambodia were also presented, expanding the global knowledge base. Co-authored submissions presented new directions for architecture and design, with a resounding theme of collaboration across diverse disciplines. The ability to deal with abstraction and complexity, and the capacity to develop synthesis and frameworks for defining problem boundaries can be considered key attributes of architectural thinking. Such a unique set of abilities can forge collaboration with different professional disciplines to achieve extraordinary outcomes. As the broad range of papers presented at this conference suggest, existing architectural and urban typologies and practices are increasingly considered part of the cause and not the solution to adapting to climate change and sea level rise. Design responses and the actions needed to generate new and unfamiliar forms of urbanism and infrastructure for defense, adaptation, and retreat in subtropical urban regions are being actively explored in academic design studios and research projects around the world. Many presentations propose provocative and experimental strategies as global climate moves beyond our “comfort zone”. The ideas presented at the Subtropical Cities conference are timely as options for low-energy passive climatic design are becoming increasingly limited in the context of changing climate. At the same time, ways of reducing or obsoleting energy intensive mechanical systems in densely populated urban centres present additional challenges for designers and communities as a whole. The conference was marked by a common theme of trans-disciplinary research, where design integration with emerging technologies resonate with a reaffirmation of the centrality of design thinking, expanding the scope of the traditional architecture studio pedagogy to integrate knowledge from other disciplines and the participation of diverse communities.

Enhancing well-being in Iranian residential dwellings by exploring traditional techniques for using daylight in Iranian courtyard houses

Dans les dernières décennies, les changements morphologiques des maisons iraniennes, l’arrivage de l'éclairage artificiel et le manque de connaissance suffisante de la valeur de la lumière du jour pour le bien-être des occupants ont résulté une diminution de l'utilisation de la lumière du jour dans les habitations iraniennes contemporaines. En conséquence, le niveau du bien-être des occupants a décru ce qui peut être corrélée avec la diminution de l'utilisation de la lumière du jour. Considérant l'architecture traditionnelle iranienne et l'importance de la lumière du jour dans les habitations traditionnelles, cette recherche étudie l’utilisation de la lumière du jour dans les habitations traditionnelles et explore comment extrapoler ces techniques dans les maisons contemporaines pourrait augmenter l'utilisation de la lumière du jour et par conséquence améliorer le bien-être des occupants. Une revue de littérature, une enquête des experts iraniens et une étude de cas des maisons à cour traditionnelles à la ville de Kashan ont permis de recueillir les données nécessaires pour cette recherche. De par le contexte de recherche, la ville de Kashan a été choisie particulièrement grâce à sa texture historique intacte. L’analyse de la lumière du jour a été faite par un logiciel de simulation pour trois maisons à cour de la ville de Kashan ayant les mêmes caractéristiques de salon d’hiver. Cette étude se concentre sur l’analyse de la lumière du jour dans les salons d'hiver du fait de la priorité obtenue de l'enquête des experts et de la revue de littérature. Les résultats de cette recherche montrent que l’extrapolation des techniques traditionnelles de l'utilisation de lumière du jour dans les habitations modernes peut être considéré comme une option de conception alternative. Cette dernière peut optimiser l'utilisation de lumière du jour et par conséquence améliorer le bien-être des occupants. L'approche utilisée dans cette recherche a fourni une occasion d’étudier l'architecture du passé et d’évaluer plus précisément son importance. Cette recherche contribue ainsi à définir un modèle en tirant les leçons du passé pour résoudre les problèmes actuels.

Indian Mathematics Related to Architecture and Other Areas With Special Reference to Kerala

Department of Mathematics, Cochin University of Science and Technology

Different strategies for improving summer thermal comfort in heavyweight traditional buildings

In order to exploit the passive energy potential of the building envelope, it is important to provide a right combination of insulation thickness, heat capacity and night-time ventilation. In this paper, this issue will be tackled with reference to an historic building in Catania (Southern Italy). The building was built at the end of the XIX century, and its opaque envelope is entirely made with lava stones, which is typical of traditional architecture in this area. Starting from the current configuration of the building, many hypotheses for refurbishment are considered, combined with different strategies for passive cooling, such as night-time ventilation, use of shading devices and adoption of highly-reflective coatings. The effectiveness of each solution in terms of summer thermal comfort is evaluated through dynamic thermal simulations carried out with EnergyPlus. The results show the synergic effect of these strategies, as well as their individual impact, and allow to draw some general conclusions about the behaviour of heavyweight buildings under moderately hot weather conditions.

Diversity and architecture

Architecture can be defined as the art and tectonics of place making. The discipline of architecture involves a broad set of practices including design of the built environment, development of architectural projects either community~ based or oriented towards a (private) client, and advisory work for governments. Architecture also involves a wide spectrum of knowledge including urban design and urban planning, and a variety of architectural ideas, theories and movements. Various dominant ideologies have manifested themselves in built form, whereas other, marginal cultural parameters have emerged in the vernacular or traditional architecture. Architecture is considered the medium through which society is organised and materialised. It resonates with symbolic meaning as well as pragmatic order through built places.

The Bali Aga housing : minimalist and functionalist architecture

Nusantara (Indonesia Archipelago) Architecture is a significant heritage which has been inherited to descendants. Nusantara Architecture is rooted from the existence of culture that spread over the Indonesia archipelago. The culture in each region related to their traditional customs and religions that binding the culture and physic as well as socio-culture of its society. It cannot be denied that the traditional architecture is closed to realm and tactful definitely to interact to the environment. Likewise the Balinese traditional architecture is a substantial treasure which has been inherited and maintained currently. Culture and tradition are adhered in the Tri Hita Karana philosophy, which shows how Balinese balance to their Gods, natures and fellow creatures. The concept implies in the architecture of housing as product of culture. The housing pattern of the Bali Aga villages in Bali Province which has hut forms with linear or compound pattern, it lies naturally from headwater of the mountain to downstream of the sea. The existence of Bali Aga housing stills abide and maintain that defined as reflection of minimalist and functional architecture. Example for this is some observations in the indigenous villages' i.e Pinggan Village, Buahan Village, Julah Village etc. Those housing pattern shows the minimalist concept for living facility and its functions. The discourse of traditional architecture aims to preserve Nusantara architecture which is facing nowadays as a dilemma to be abandoned.

Similarities and Differences in Barrel Vaults of Traditional and Stately Houses in the Historic Centre of Arequipa, Perú

The traditional architecture of the centre of the city of Arequipa has been analyzed by comparing floor-plans of houses from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries in order to explain the reasons behind the arrangement of their constructional elements and the evolution of said elements and floor-plans. The historic centre of Arequipa, a city located in the South of Perú, South America (Latitude 16°23' South, Longitude 71 °31' West), is based on a ground plan from 1540 that was set during the city's Spanish foundation. It was declared Patrimony of the Humanity by UNESCO. The manorial architecture is widely known for its decorated fronts and one-of-a-kind designs, but its differences with respect to the popular architecture are not based exclusively on decorative aspects. Peru's colonial period finished around 1825, but the barrel-vault, construction style continued in Arequipa through 1868, when an earthquake destroyed the city. Thereafter, the vaults were replaced by roofs made of rails, with cinders made out of the lava stone. The stately houses belonged to the founding families who settled around the main square on forty nine blocks that formed a square-grid, street layout. Also belonging to this category are the houses of landlords and traders from post-colonial times.

Sound Art and Public Engagement in the Built Environment: Reflections from an Architecture Center

This article explores the deployment of sound in architectural-curatorial and community engagement contexts through the work of PLACE, a multidisciplinary not-for-profit architecture center in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The author, who worked with PLACE and contributed to the projects discussed here, contextualizes architecture centers and their relationship with sound before examining the specific case of sound and sound art in Northern Ireland and case studies of projects delivered by PLACE. Specifically, the article evaluates two sound installation artworks and three community engagement projects for young audiences. As a means of curating urbanism and architecture, sound-art-as-public-art affords useful strategies to examine, describe or critique the environment as alternatives to traditional architecture exhibition formats. Sound’s temporality and materiality allow sound art works to exist as temporary sculptural interventions in the urban sphere, with attendant implications for public art procurement and urban acoustics. Rich territories of engagement are opened when using sound in a community participatory context.

The role of traditional regulation in the Indigenous villages for conservation of village pattern

Balinese traditional architecture is a significant treasure which has been inherited to the Balinese descendants. Scholars over the last 50 years have identified this statement, pointing to the unique and distinctiveness of Balinese culture and its associated architecture. Their research documents Balinese architecture and culture of the past and how Balinese architecture has been affected by development pressures in Bali, and in the Indonesian nation as a whole. This knowledge can understood through their research that documents how the Balinese people interact with their society, to their spiritual realm and with their environment, and to their God which is integral to their philosophy of Tri Hita Karana which is their universal discourse. This historical relationship has ensured that Bali Island has become a major tourism destination and is considered one the most beautiful places on Earth, both of which result in increasing pressures upon Bali that directly affect the nature and quality of Balinese life.