Study of vernacular architecture in Study of vernacular architecture in Spanish areas of extreme climate for Spanish areas of extreme climate for

the selection of bioclimatic design the selection of bioclimatic design strategies.strategies.

Silvia Martín OcañaSilvia Martín OcañaIgnacio Cañas GuerreroIgnacio Cañas Guerrero

OBJECTIVES

Analyze the desgin strategies related to prevailing climatic conditions found in vernacular

architecture in order to translate them to modern architecture.

INTRODUCTION

The passive use of natural resources has beenpresent in people and animals behaviour along thetime.

Along the history the relationship between climateand architecture has always been close.

There is a dependency between construction materials, systems and techniques, building designand local climate.

INTRODUCTION

Spain belongs to the temperate climate area. Furthermore, due to its geographic situation, wecan find five different areas with a specific climate:1) Oceanic climate2) Continental climate3) Mediterranean climate4) Mountainous climate5) Tropical climate

INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION

However, climate is simply one more of the variousforces that generates the forms of architecture.The more severe is the climate, the more influenceit has on the vernacular architectural forms. That is the reason for the selection of regions ofextreme climate in Spain.

METHOD

A simplified method was elaborated in order to select 10 regions of extreme climate: 5 with cold winters and 5 with hot summers. For this, free information from the National Meteorological Institute was used.

METHODA climatic index was used for the selection of the regions:

IChot summer = 0.4 tM + 0.6 TM

ICcold winter = 0.4 tm + 0.6 Tm

tM is the annual average of monthly maximum temperatures, TM is the average maximum temperature of the hottest month,tm is the annual average of monthly minimum temperatures Tm is the average minimum temperature of the coldest month.

METHODPlacePlace tMtM TMTM tmtm TmTm ICIC AltitudeAltitude

Hot summers regionsHot summers regionsCordoba 24.5 36.2 10.4 4.2 31.5 123Sevilla 24.7 35.1 11.7 5.5 30.9 34Jaen 22.3 34.6 11.4 4.6 29.7 580Toledo 21.8 34.4 9.2 0.9 29.4 516Jerez 23.6 33.0 11.6 6.0 29.2 27

Cold winters regionsCold winters regionsMolina 17.1 28.4 2.9 -2.7 -0.5 1063Soria 16.5 28.0 4.4 -1.4 0.9 1082Teruel 18.1 29.7 5.0 -1.7 1.0 902Burgos 20.9 32.3 11.0 4.9 1.1 890Leon 16.5 27.6 5.0 -0.9 1.5 916

METHOD

BIOCLIMATIC DESIGN STRATEGIES

With the available climatic information of each locality, Givoni´s bioclimatic charts were carried out in order to know the design strategies more suitable for each region.

BIOCLIMATIC DESIGN STRATEGIES

SUMMER

1) use of high thermal mass envelopes,

2) use of high thermal mass envelopes in addition to night ventilation,

3) use of natural ventilation and

4) solar protection.

BIOCLIMATIC DESIGN STRATEGIES

WINTER

The building design should aim at minimising heat loss and maximizing solar gains.

VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE

References about Spanish traditional architecturewere studied in order to analyze how people inancient times and with little technique built theirhouses in good response to the climate. Regions of hot summers Regions of cold winters

VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE: hot summersThe main characteristic that should be pointed outas the most spread in Andalusian architecture is the white colour of the walls.Another spread characteristic is the small size of the housing, and the compactness of the townlayout.The patio is another typical element found inhouses from the South of Spain.Underground dwellings.Small openings to avoid solar radiation.

VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE: hot summers

VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE: hot summers

VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE: hot summers

VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE: cold winters

The main characteristic of traditional buildings in these regions is the use of massive walls. Variousmaterials were used to construct the walls – mainlystone and earth - , it depends on the localavailability. The use of local materials and techniques hassocial and environmental advantages. Although solar gains are recommended, theopenings in the observed examples are small.

VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE: cold winters

The need of insulation against harsh climaticconditions, in a time when thermal insulationmaterials did not exist, was supplied by differentmethods: 1) thick walls to increase the thermal resistance, 2) small openings to reduce air tightness, 3) use of natural resources, 4) adapted living practices.

VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE: cold winters

VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE: cold winters

VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE: cold winters

LESSONS FROM THE PAST Our popular architecture may well be the kind which can best teach us today how to assimilate the bioclimatic approach in the practice of architectural design. The solutions found in vernacular architecture may be use as a lesson and a source ofinspiration, not as a model to copy. Another aspect of vernacular architecture that can be used as a model is the people behaviour.

LESSONS FROM THE PASTSome good examples of popular architecture are being abandoned due to rural exodus. They could be rehabilitated.

LESSONS FROM THE PASTSome strategies from popular architecture can be translated to modern architecture with no additional cost.

CONCLUSIONS

The way to achieve the premises of sustainableconstruction can be found in the vernaculararchitecture. The observation of traditional elements allows us understanding the vernacular architecture as a wayto respect the local features. The good way to use the vernacular architectureis by translating the design elements to the present.