Lessons from the vernacular by @sahrfarooq
The object of the book, “Willi Weber, Simos Yannas-Lessons from Vernacular Architecture-Routledge (2013)” is to look at one of the most quoted, but least well studied, characteristics of vernacular architecture: its physical relationship with climate and site. It highlights the skill shown by primitive builders in dealing with climatic problems, and their ability to use minimum resources for maximum comfort.
Our objective today in 21st century is to achieve acceptable indoor environmental conditions for occupants with the least expenditure in energy and materials, replacing non-renewable energy sources with renewable ones and doing away with environmentally unfriendly processes and materials. In order to achieve this goal this book brings into the focus the ways in which vernacular architecture continues to be of direct and practical interest for today, by providing a large pool of buildings on which to study the application of passive techniques of environmental design that are not just technical applications but integral constituents of the building’s architecture and the inhabitant’s lifestyle.
Each chapter of the book presents an individual case study on the relationship of the built form with its setting, encompassing the scales of settlement and individual building as well as that of building elements and their components. The treatment of transitions between these different scales and the nature of adaptive opportunities available to inhabitants to modify environmental conditions are of particular interest.
This month’s post will focus on the study of traditional courtyard house in China discussed through analysis of Zhang’s House is a fishing village in Zhou Zhuang in south east China.
Zhouzhuang has a subtropical monsoon climate with four distinct seasons. The summer months are hot and humid with an average temperature of 26°C, while the winter months are cold and humid with an average temperature of 6°C. South-easterly winds characterize the warm season, thus bringing warmth and high humidity from the ocean, as well as monsoon rain for part of the season. North-westerly polar winds bringing cold and damp characterize the cold season.
Frontage to the river/canal would have been very valuable, so the houses have a relatively narrow frontage and are stretched out as a series of pavilions and courts, the geometry of which is manipulated to provide courtyards for light and air while maintaining privacy and security.
This particular house along with courtyards has a very distinct feature, ‘crab eye’ light wells In addition to bringing in the reflected light, the openable screens that rise from about 500mm from the floor to the ceiling can be opened in the summer to promote air movement. Air from the front of the hall (which has a very large open area) passes through the doors (a much smaller area) and accelerates as it moves across the bench seat and up the ‘crab eye‘ Light well.
Since Zhang’s house has its main entrance facing west, the west-facing facades in the pavilions will be vulnerable to low angle sun in the afternoon. By plotting the sun angles at 3pm on the building section, one can see that the summer sun is blocked out by the colonnades and roof overhangs, while the spring and winter sun can penetrate into the halls and pavilions to warm the interior spaces. The glare associated with the low-angle sun is dealt with by the lattice screen windows, doors and trees.