The New ARCH Vol2 No2 (2015) by S.ARCH

International Journal of Contemporary Architecture

The New ARCH Peer-reviewed open-access E-journal

ISSN 2198-7688

Vol. 2, No. 2 (2015) August 2015 www.The-New-ARCH.net

Editor-in-Chief Arch. Marina Stosic, GERMANY E: Editor@The-New-ARCH.net

Publisher

Get It Published Verlag e.k. Allee am Röthelheimpark 14 91052 Erlangen GERMANY

T 00 49 (0)9131 917 96 14 E info@get-it-published.de W www.get-it-published.de

Copyright This journal and all published articles, including all illustrations contained in authors’ papers block, are protected by copyright. Upon an article being accepted for publication, all rights of publication, for translation, further reproduction, distribution, transmission, display, broadcast, of storage in any electronic form and producing photocopies are transferred to the publisher. Without the written permission of the publisher, any usage outside the limits of the copyright act is forbidden.

© Copyright by Get It Published Verlag e.K. Notice The publisher does not assume any responsibility for any harm and/or injury to property and persons resulting from any ideas, instructions, methods or products contained in the material published in this journal, as well as a matter of inattention or creation liability, or from any use or operations.

Cover Illustration FOLIE RICHTER MONTPELLIER, MVRDV, The Netherlands

International Journal of Contemporary Architecture ”The New ARCH“ Vol. 2, No. 2 (2015)

ISSN 2198-7688

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

A WORD FROM THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF The second International Conference with Exhibition S.ARCH–2015, with the theme of “Environment and Architecture” was held on 19–20 May 2015 at the Maestral Resort, which is situated in the most beautiful part of the Montenegrin coast, a romantic Rocky Bay, just in the middle between the Old Town of Budva and Sveti (Saint) Stefan. This year’s conference ⎯ as someone called it “exciting festival of architecture” ⎯ welcomed more than 150 participants from 26 countries around the world. Star-architects from studios MVRDV, ZAHA HADID Architects, JDS Architects and Idis Turato Architects gave exciting and motivating keynote speeches followed by interesting and provocative panel discussions with conference’s participants. As Winy Maas from MVRDV said, the S.ARCH conference is the “supermarket of architecture ⎯ come, serve yourself and pick up what you are interested in”. In this course and if you are interested to know more about the conference you may read our editorial about “S.ARCH–2015 Highlight and Overview”. Founding Editor & Editor–In–Chief Architect Marina Stosic

In follow up, I would like to focus your attention on our interesting and inspiring interview “Expecting the Unexpected” with the worldwide celebrated architect Winy Maas from the MVRDV studio. Finally yet importantly, we offer you for reading six author’s papers dealing with crucial factor of sustainable architecture, study on Japanese streets, the Saudi experiment, material surface features in spatial design, universal housing and with simulation of participation. I hope you will enjoy flipping and reading this fourth issue of the International Journal “The New ARCH”, exactly a year after we found it, and wish you enjoyable summer and vacations.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________ A Word from the Editor–in–Chief

NEXT ARCHITECTURE

The 3rd International Conference

S.ARCH 2016 Budva / MONTENEGRO 24-25 May

1. State of Affairs and Future Visions • • • • • •

Exploring and Refining Comprehensive Practices Design and Transformation Aesthetic and Concept Adapted Reuse / Change of Use / Flexibility Making and Shaping Architecture through Design Research Adaptable Architecture

2. Conceptual and Methodical Concepts • • • • • •

Planning Principles and Synergies Integral Planning/Processes and Design Aspects Economy Dimensions of Diversity Methods and Creativity Integrative Processes and Implementation

3. Holistic Environmental Perceptions

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Budvanizacija

• • • •

Partial and Holistic Concepts Methods and Systems for Holistic Surrounding Concepts In–Door and Out–Door Spaces, Energy, Water Case Studies of Building and Its Surroundings

4. Interactive Structures • • • •

Space Frames Concepts / Connections / Communications Deployable Structures Shared Effects of Interactions between Buildings and their Surroundings • Building Technologies Towards Interactions • High-Tech / Low-Tech • Design Models as Parameters of Interactive Processes

S.ARCH 2016

5 INTERACTIVE EVENTS

Keynote Speeches – PROMINENT ARCHITECTS

5. Urban Ecology and Climate EXHIBITION of Contributed Works

Author‘s Oral PRESENTATIONS

Get Together POOL PARTY

• • • • • •

Urban Space Urban Structure (Qualified Mixture, Short Distances, Mobility) Urban Gardening (Green and Open Spaces) Urban Survival Ecological and Social Aspects City in Transition

6. Bioclimatic and Cultural Sensitivity Panel Discussions & NETWORKING

CALL FOR PAPERS One A4 page Abstracts sent per e-mail as MS Word file should include author(s) name with affiliation(s), summary with or without graph/drawing/sketch, 5 keywords and selected Topic. One Author is allowed to submit maximum 2 contributed works. Deadline for Abstract Submission is 29 January 2016.

• • • • • • •

Encouraging Nature and Design Along Life Cycle Assessment Ecological Sensitivity and Ecological Cycle Management Interdependence between Architecture and Environment Human Designed Environment Social Aspects Impact of Bioclimatic Building on Residents

7. Materiality • • • • • • •

Aesthetic–Ethic Textures Quality Characteristics and Durability of Materials Intelligent and Smart Materials Reuse Sustainable Adequacy of Sustainable Materials Ecological Load and Impacts

8. Investments and Constructions • Resistance in Time and Flexibility in the Requirements of the Market • Enhancing the Comfort • Optimising Costs • Maximising Safety

CONTACT & INFORMATION Source: http://de.123rf.com; Copyright: Yuriy Brykaylo

s.arch@renecon.eu

www.renecon.eu/html/s_arch

International Journal of Contemporary Architecture ”The New ARCH“ Vol. 2, No. 2 (2015)

ISSN 2198-7688

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

S.ARCH–2015 Highlights and Overview. The 2nd International Conference with Exhibition

Expecting the Unexpected. Interview with Winy Maas

Wei Shi, Beisi Jia, H. Koon Wee Public Space as a Soft–Connection for Urban: Study on Japanese Streets

Tarek Abdelsalam Adapting the Concept of Courtyard in Long–Narrow Attached Houses as a Sustainable Approach: The Saudi Experiment

Veronika Kotradyová Material Surface Features in Body Conscious Spatial Design

Anna Yunitsyna Universal Housing ― Evalua on of the Spa al Quali es of Apartments in Albania

Dalia Dukanac Simulation of Participation: Design Process of Residential Architecture

e21

About the Journal

e22

Instructions for Authors

e24

Advertisements

Authors‘ Papers

Fülöp Zsuzsanna Local Database as Crucial Factor of Sustainable Architecture. Linking Reality to Architectural Design Based on a Properly Modifiable Database

The Journal

Editorial

CONTENT

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Content

International Journal of Contemporary Architecture ”The New ARCH“ Vol. 2, No. 2 (2015)

ISSN 2198-7688

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

EDITORIAL BOARD Editor-in-Chief Arch. Marina Stosic, GERMANY E: Editor@The-New-ARCH.net

Editorial Board Arch. Prof. Dietmar Eberle – Baumschlager Eberle, AUSTRIA; ETH Zurich, SWITZERLAND Arch. Prof. Kengo Kuma – University of Tokyo, JAPAN; Kengo Kuma &Associates JAPAN, FRANCE Arch. Rafael de La-Hoz – Rafael de La-Hoz Arquitectos, SPAIN Arch. Philippe Rahm – Philippe Rahm architects, FRANCE / Visiting Prof. at Harvard University, Cambridge, USA Arch. Luca Francesco Nicoletti – UNITED KINGDOM Arch. Jose Luis Vallejo – Ecosistema urbano, SPAIN Arch. Bostjan Vuga – Sadar+Vuga, SLOVENIA Arch. Prof. Despina KYPRIANOU SERGHIDES – Cyprus University of Technology, CYPRUS Arch. Ass. Prof. Tarek Abdelsalam – University of Modern Sciences & Arts (MSA), Cairo, EGYPT Arch. Hassan Estaji – Hakim Sabzevari University, IRAN, University of Applied Arts Vienna, AUSTRIA Arch. Mirjana Uzelac Filipendin – Atelje Krstonosic, Architect & Journalist ArchIntention, Ambijenti, SERBIA Arch. Dr. Haris Bradic – University of Sarajevo, BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA Arch. Nikola Novakovic – Enforma, MONTENEGRO Arch. Ass. Prof. Wah Sang WONG – University of Hong Kong, CHINA Arch. Prof. Nevnihal Erdogan – Dean of the Faculty of Architecture and Design, Kocaeli University, TURKEY Arch. Dr. Dina Ahmed Ahmed Elmiligy – Princess Norah Bint Abdulrahman University, SAUDI ARABIA Eng. Ass. Prof. Vincenzo CORRADO – Politecnico di Torino, ITALY Arch. Ass. Prof. Zsuzsanna Fulop – Faculty of Architecture, Budapest University of Technology & Economics, HUNGARY Arch. Dr. Paola Leardini – University of Auckland, NEW ZEALAND Arch. Dr. Manfredo Manfredini – University of Auckland, NEW ZEALAND Arch. Ass. Prof. Laila Amer Al Kahtani – Princess Norah Bint Abdulrahman University, SAUDI ARABIA Arch. Prof. Dusan VUKSANOVIC – University of Montenegro, MONTENEGRO

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Editorial Board

International Journal of Contemporary Architecture ”The New ARCH“ Vol. 2, No. 2 (2015)

ISSN 2198-7688

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

S.ARCH–2015 HIGHLIGHTS AND OVERVIEW

THE 2ND INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE WITH EXHIBITION Modern society is driven by the forces of fast and furious developments which set everyone and everything under pressure. Consumerism and “collective trend” are dictating with surprisingly high acceleration that most professionals are individuals struggling to cope. History should teach us that change doesn’t come easily and that the path of its arisen is often paved with good intentions. Numerous events, agreements and standards are made by groups of experts with a single collective goal of more sustainable ending in future. This is also an act of certain obligation and imposed model of behavior and thinking that should be in accordance with the common sense. How much did we accomplish from that list in the last decade or so? Somehow, the answer is not an easy one and I probably share the skepticism of many of my colleagues that the promised progress is actually in its baby steps rather than in its adult stadium. A year ago, the experts and professionals from Serbia had an opportunity to welcome some of the greats of the contemporary and sustainable architecture at the first S.ARCH event. It was the initiative year of the International Conference with Exhibition. The response from participants and invited lecturers was extremely positive and the organizer decided to continue and to hold another astonishing expert event in 2015. This year the companies RENECON International and Get It Published from Germany, jointly with enforma from Montenegro, repeated this wonderful event in Budva, Montenegro. The 2nd S.ARCH International Conference with Exhibition, chaired by Madam Marina Stosic, lasted for two days, the 19th–20th May 2015, in the premises of the hotel and resort Maestral. This year’s conference welcomed participants form all around the world with keynote speakers from studios like MVRDV, ZAHA HADID Architects, JDS Architects and Idis Turato Architects. It is rightest to say that ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________ “The 2nd International Conference with Exhibition S.ARCH-2015 — Highlights and Overview”

International Journal of Contemporary Architecture ”The New ARCH“ Vol. 2, No. 2 (2015)

ISSN 2198-7688

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

during a course of these two days the Balkan was yet again transformed into the centre of exchange of knowledge and ideas that can contribute to the better future and development of the profession. The 2nd S.ARCH conference hosted three times as much delegates as the previous one and had a program with keynote speeches, various interesting presentations, discussion panels with prominent architects and an exhibition of contributed works. It was inspirational to track the number and the origin of the speakers and participants ⎯ over 26 countries from around the world ⎯ who came to listen 4 exciting keynote speeches and 30 different presentations with subjects considering urban planning, bioclimatic architecture, cultural and environmental protection of the heritage, new materials and many more. This year the title of the conference was Environment & Architecture. We may speculate the endless number of scenarios and polemics, which one is more self-evident to accomplish. But at the end of the day I believe that another important question may provide us with different view of the problematic: What can each individual do? “Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.” Barak Obama. In a way this is the message that was sent to the audience at the new S.ARCH conference this year. The weight of sustainable development in our profession and the goals of better future may be closer than we think if we learn from each other and work more together.

EXPERTS ON THE FRONT LINE ― CONFERENCE DAY 1

On the first day of the conference the opening ceremony marked the beginning of one exciting festival of architecture. Delegates and speakers were welcomed by German architect Ms. Marina Stosic, the chairperson of the conference and the Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Contemporary Architecture “The New Arch”. During her speech she introduced the public with all of the aspects of this year’s conference and emphasized the importance of the particular event. Opening was continued with the welcome note from Mr. Lazar Radjenovic, the Mayor of the city of Budva. He expressed his gratitude and enthusiasm toward the audience while talking about the expansion of the city and traditional values of the country. These two speeches officially opened the 2nd S.ARCH International Conference with Exhibition.

Marina Stosic

Marija Golubovic

The first plenary speaker was Tatjana Rajic from EXPEDITO, Montenegro. Her presentation on “Socially Engaged Architectural Practice” was focused on past and active problems of urbanization in the region of Montenegro. She particularly discussed problems that industries like tourism are producing and how they are rapidly changing the face of natural and built environment with the lack of sense for the exiting culture and architecture. Next was the lecture “Sustainable of Today is Well enough?” by Marija Golubovic from ENERGO, Serbia. After the break, six presentations were presented in the first session dealing with the overall subject – The State of Affairs and Future Visions. Speakers from Italy, Greece, Montenegro, Austria, Cyprus and China addressed the issues of urban environment in contemporary cities. These speakers talked about “The Construction of Contemporary City Spaces”, “Urban Reflection”, “The Globalization of LEGOLAND”, “Hybrid Infrastructures”, “Public Space as a Soft-Connection for Urban: Study on Japanese Streets” and many more.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________ “The 2nd International Conference with Exhibition S.ARCH-2015 — Highlights and Overview”

International Journal of Contemporary Architecture ”The New ARCH“ Vol. 2, No. 2 (2015)

ISSN 2198-7688

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Tatjana Rajic

The next session Bioclimatic and Cultural Sensitivity had lot of speakers from the Balkan countries (Serbia, Albania, Turkey and Bosnia and Herzegovina). This particular group of presentations focused on issues of “Universal Hyperlocalism”, “Housing, Climate and Economy – The Regional Influences”, “Mutual Interdependence between Environment and Building Sites” and “Adaptive Reuse of Industrial Heritage”. The first keynote speaker of the day was architect Idis Turato from Idis Turato Architects, Croatia. He is an author of several prestige buildings that were awarded by the highest honours of the regional professional committees. In his lecture “DESIGNING THE UNPREDICTABLE” Turato showcased latest designs and buildings from his studio pointing out the special relationship between the object, program and existing environment that is present in his work. The second keynote speech of the first day of the S.ARCH–2015 conference was held by star–architect Winy MAAS, from the MVRDV, The Netherlands and China. As the “M” of the internationally famous MVRDV studio Maas talked about various interesting questions that are inevitable in the future not only of the architecture but the society also. His lecture “WHAT’S NEXT?” addressed key issues of the current development and possible solution scenarios presented by the studio’s own works. Maas emphasized the need for pushing the boundaries of the profession in order to pursue our goals and constantly challenge ourselves to search for inventions that could guide us on that rocky road of the future.

Idis Turato (Turato architects)

Winy Maas (MVRDV)

International Journal of Contemporary Architecture ”The New ARCH“ Vol. 2, No. 2 (2015)

ISSN 2198-7688

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Panel discussion with Idis Turato and Winy Maas

In follow up, the final part of the first day was the panel discussion with the two keynote speakers – Idis Turato and Winy Maas. The subject of the discussion was some of the designing features of both studios and individual opinions regarding active problems in their own works and/or in the region. The public was encouraged to participate, so there were some interesting questions from the audience triggering dialogue. This panel discussion closed the official program of the conference first day, but many participants continued their conversations in aftermath, exchanging ideas and experience.

right level of philosophical side of their work and soft and different shapes that are nesting into the existing site. Muscettola addressed emerging problems in various places where they have worked as well as accomplishments of the studio in dealing with parametric design and complex building programs. It was a unique portrait of the studio, its people and creations. In continuation, it was a time for the second keynote speaker of the day, architect Julien De Smedt from the JDS Architects, Denmark and Belgium. With the lecture “A POST-URBAN AGENDA” De Smedt showed the particular way of handling unsustainable problems of

DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES ― CONFERENCE DAY 2

The second day of the conference began with the session presenting the issues from the Holistic Environmental Perceptions. The speakers from Romania and Kosovo talked about the “Urban Perception” and “Patterns of Places as Means for Conceptualizing the Space and Buildings”. In continuation, the first keynote speech of the second day entitled “GLOBAL SUSTAIABILITY” was given by architect Viviana Muscettola from the ZAHA HADID Architects, UK. Over the last two decades, the Zaha’s studio has been dealing with some of the most challenging buildings and concepts always hitting the

Viviana Muscettola (ZAHA HADID ARCHITECTS)

International Journal of Contemporary Architecture ”The New ARCH“ Vol. 2, No. 2 (2015)

ISSN 2198-7688

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

today’s cities always looking and finding the solution from a different perspective. Working in various places around the world the JDS studio managed to distinguish itself as a brave practice that is breaking from the traditional tools and forms in a search for a perfect concept and shape. The highlight of the day was the panel discussion with the two of the keynote speakers – Muscettola and De Smedt. This discussion focused on similar/opposite subjects that are the key features of the two studios regarding the design principles and the role of the users.

I was quite interesting when the audience started to pump up with some unusual questions. The second session addressed Materiality. There were five presentations with speakers from Croatia, Montenegro, Slovakia, Poland and Turkey presenting several different aspects of the architectural materials and their use in the contemporary practice. These presentations included themes such as “Scale Ratio and Perception of Sustainability”, “Texture and Roughness”, “The Presence of Ornament in the Contemporary Envelope”, “Reused Materials in Architecture” and “Sustainable Approaches in Sun Controlled Design on Facades”.

Julien De Smedt (JDS Architects)

Panel discussion with Viviana Muscettola and Julien De Smedt)

International Journal of Contemporary Architecture ”The New ARCH“ Vol. 2, No. 2 (2015)

ISSN 2198-7688

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The last two sessions were focusing on two subjects – Methodical Concepts and Interactive Structures. Authors from Austria, Hungary, Italy and Kosovo presented their ideas and results dealing with various methods. There were very interesting presentations such as “Design System for Near Zero Carbon Architecture”, “Home for Rudapithecus” and “Introverted and Extroverted Architecture: The Question of Territory”. The other subject was covered by a series of three presenters from Bulgaria and Greece. They talked about their findings using interactive tools and dealing with “Atrium Buildings as a Model for Sustainable Energy Efficient Architecture”, “Planar Double Layer Tensegrity Grids Composed of Elementary Cubic Modules” and “The Positive Effects of Using Existing Infrastructure”.

EXHIBITION OF BRAVERY Beside all of these keynote speeches, panel discussions and presentations, the important aspects of the conference was certainly the Exhibition of contributed works. This event took place parallel to the conference but in a separate salon. There were numerous exhibitors, twice more than the last year. Authors from all over the world expose their works either it was the case study, reconstruction, particular program/concept of the buildings or new materials. All of these subjects and innovations have encouraged delegates to get together and discuss about some of specific works.

Exhibition

THE STATEMENT OF PROGRESS All of us, the architects, investors, public, users, and government officials are facing not so beautiful future at the moment but we all can put efforts to change the course of the coming decades. It is an open and often defensive discussion with various endings. The bottom line is that we need to join our forces in order to pursuit our green dream. Yes, the architects maybe on a front

International Journal of Contemporary Architecture ”The New ARCH“ Vol. 2, No. 2 (2015)

ISSN 2198-7688

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

line but they are just the fragment of the huge puzzle of sustainability. The S.ARCH–2015 conference lasted only two days but the effects of spoken words will last for long time. Already after the conference beginning it was clear that the auditorium is full of young, creative people willing to share their findings and become active participants in the quest for more sustainable and more quality architecture. I wish to emphasize the positive vibe that was present in the conference that provided me with huge amount of hope and optimism despite the current challenging issues we are facing. Here I quote Winy Maas: “I could be so sad if there is no more heroism in younger generations and there are

many levels of heroism. I do hope that we can create culture for that, everywhere”. Therefore, I couldn’t agree more with this sentence because I do hope that the S.ARCH conference and exhibition will be a “talking and teaching incubator”. which is already on the right way to be. I do wish that this festival of knowledge will nurse the necessary “culture of change” for the coming generations. In addition, I hope it will become the focal point, the leading event for experts and beginners and a kind of inspiratory that will contribute to development of sustainable principles in the region. For all these reasons we invite all of you to join us for the next, the 3rd International Conference S.ARCH–2016 to be held on the 25th–26th May 2016 in Budva, on the beautiful Adriatic Sea coast of Montenegro.

Author: Mirjana Uzelac Filipendin, M. Arch. (All images reprinted with permission from RENECON International)

International Journal of Contemporary Architecture ”The New ARCH“ Vol. 2, No. 2 (2015)

ISSN 2198-7688

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

EXPECTING THE UNEXPECTED Interview with WINY MAAS

Architecture can be seen as a dialogue, a certain critique on a certain culture, trend or situation. If we take that knowledge and multiply it by a million we could have variations of beauty and a nightmare kissing it each other in a magnificent display of individual spaces. But in fact, those spaces are yelling and there is no understating between them. But if we incorporate a link, or a certain recognized motive represented in a different matter we would end up with the inventions that are pushing forward our modern world. There are a little bit of heroes of our time dressed in architectural role that are not afraid to step out and raise those difficult questions. We had an opportunity to talk with the one of those heroes, the “M” from the MVRDV studio from the Netherlands – the architect Winy Maas. He has raised some questions through its work (buildings, books, researches, etc.) that could give us an optimistic vision of the coming years in our profession. He held the presentation at the 2nd International Conference S.ARCH–2015 with an interesting title – “What’s Next?” The list of possibilities that just started to pump out of the screen took the audience to the journey of a lifetime, because the endless amount of options actually produced the endless amount of new questions.

Winy Maas, Prof. Ir. Ing FRIBA HAIA (1959, Schijndel, The Netherlands) is an architect, urban designer and landscape architect and one of the co-founding directors of the globally operating architecture and urban planning firm MVRDV, based in Rotterdam, Netherlands, known for projects such as the Expo 2000, the vision for greater Paris, Grand Paris Plus Petit, and more recently the Market Hall in Rotterdam and the Pushed Slab in Paris. He is furthermore professor at and director of The Why Factory, a research institute for the future city, he founded in 2008 at TU Delft. He is currently Visiting Professor at IIT Chicago, the Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium and the University of Hong Kong, and has been at ETH Zurich, Berlage Institute, MIT, Ohio State and Yale University. In addition he designs stage sets, objects and was curator of Indesem 2007. He curates exhibitions, lectures throughout the world and takes part in international juries. In 2013 Winy Maas joined the Economic Development Board of Rotterdam (EDBR). In 2012 he was appointed urban supervisor for the city of Almere and since 2003 he has been supervising the Bjørvika urban development in Oslo. With both MVRDV and The Why Factory he has published a series of research projects. Copyright: Christiaan Krouwels

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________ “Expecting the Unexpected – Interview with Winy Maas”

International Journal of Contemporary Architecture ”The New ARCH“ Vol. 2, No. 2 (2015)

ISSN 2198-7688

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Book Mountain Spijkenisse Source: MVRDV

You have started out as a landscape architect, then later on studied for an architecture and urbanism degree, and your office is dealing with a lot of urbanism, master planning and furniture design, too. So what scale do you prefer? Moreover, how does that particular scale affect your other designs and projects? Maas: Actually, there is a huge interaction between the small and the large scale. It is like a Ping-Pong game where one informs the other. Did I ever prefer a scale? No. Because landscape architecture has a certain beauty in that way: It deals with the scale of flowers, which are almost the smallest scale thinkable, and on the other hand it deals with the concept of the overview, with the perspective towards, if not over, the rest of the world. And the landscape architects have to do that with almost no material. They have grass, stones and some plants, and that’s it. So they have to combine the two to play on the larger level, and I find that fascinating. It encourages a certain kind of abstraction, a method where it is somehow easier to combine different scales. You cannot lose yourself within the quantity of material in that way in order to touch upon the subject. How do architects do that? Almost not. Funny. In times of globalisation it seems obvious, no?

It also happened in the past when the elevator changed our urban environments completely. Also, in the current era, technological innovation provides interesting new technologies that surely will create another kind of cities. The glowing bricks that we are now developing, basically mean that we can skip all kinds of additional lighting in the city, because they are also completely adaptable to different requirements and users. Also, in the current era, technological innovation provides interesting new technologies that surely will create another kind of cities. The glowing bricks that we are developing now basically mean that we can skip out on all kinds of additional lighting in the city, and they are also completely adaptable to different requirements and users. And another way in which the city will change due to new technologies and products: if we change some C, H, or O molecules in a nanomaterial, and we put electricity into that formation, we can stiffen and loosen the material in real time. Then a shape can be created and/or forgotten completely. Then, you can deal with memory in your database because everything is adaptable in real time. So when you want to have your house. It comes back. That notion will transform the real estate (well, it becomes surreal estate) and the world radically.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________ “Expecting the Unexpected – Interview with Winy Maas”

International Journal of Contemporary Architecture ”The New ARCH“ Vol. 2, No. 2 (2015)

ISSN 2198-7688

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

You mentioned that the diversity is your obsession, the key part of your designing process and that it is nice but not all. Producing something and adding somewhat is a sort of inspirational field for your practice, but why it became a key aspect? Maas: Let’s not forget that my generation was born and grew up in the time of star architects who all had some kind of specific view of reality, whether they made shapes or mistakes. So, they were all very fascinated by a specific kind of world view. So what can you do, what can you add to the architectural world in that situation? What is your niche? What was missing was the somewhat comic view that goes beyond the opportunities of each project towards adopting each approach where needed, and then to turn that not only into prototypes, but also into new things that the world wants to see. That was a choice that we took. We were also the generation that experienced the most rapid changes, more than any of those before us, so there was also kind of reason to be become comic in that way. There was a lot of uncertainty what direction architecture should go in. That is why we invented the word hypotheses somehow, a way in which you want to test elements. That allowed us also to create many

variations of tests, a full spectrum really, a wide field that allowed us to see the options and develop the idea further. Having said that, you can really recognize that approach in the MVRDV projects, so that can also be a kind of legitimate question. We also have to look at the position of the copycats, the “deja–vu” architecture, and our contribution to that sphere. There can be an element of creativity in copy–paste architecture: How to develop ideas that are given and already known. That features in a lot of projects from our office.

Expecting the unexpected – Is it an obvious scenario of your creations or are you something telling us as professionals or persons? Are we missing something in our education? Is the profession constrained by its own tradition and tools or is the development accelerating so much that we can’t cope with it? Maas: It is a nice observation and I agree that it is accelerating enormously. I love your title – expecting the unexpected, and vice versa. We as a practice have to deal with that acceleration. The good thing is that there are more people working on things these days, that we can have more variations of answers. Also, we have

Turm mit Taille Vienna Source: MVRDV

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________ “Expecting the Unexpected – Interview with Winy Maas”

e10

International Journal of Contemporary Architecture ”The New ARCH“ Vol. 2, No. 2 (2015)

ISSN 2198-7688

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Markthal Rotterdam Source: MVRDV

more technology to imagine the acceleration – with our computers, our robots, with our building technologies, with our techniques for convincing clients, with our interns who are floating around copying each other and communicating what is happening to one another constantly – so, the real question is what do you do with yourself? How can every individual take part and what you are going to choose from the accelerating boiling pot to study or to deeply investigate? That is a question that I would love maybe to talk about. I can’t choose personally, I want to do everything. But specialisation is needed more than ever in order to have our robot engineers or our grasshopper people, all of these new professionals are part of our office that we did not have before, and that is a certain part of specialisation that you have to face. To go back to the issue of the acceleration – how to predict it? Because the building process is still slow, super slow in fact. It takes seven years for a bigger building to be done, from the first initiative to building it because of the complex structure, political context, and action groups – because of protests or whatever else. There are more ways to deal with it but still it takes seven years on average. So, it is a very slow profession in that way and we need to predict what will happen in ten years, because of this super

stupidity of seven years that these buildings take. So, what is the future then? That is what we need to do with our universities, to speculate on what the future will be. Beyond the weaknesses and beyond the “photoshopping” of things as they are now, but to bring that towards being a certain kind of science. That is super needed!

In addition, there is an element of the surprise in your design. Is it a provocation or is it a playful element? Maas: Abstract ways of thinking are important. I complete agree when people say that mediation and communication are very important aspects of our job; you really have to take that and run with it, to completely love it even. We all do it in different ways. Even Zaha communicates. Maybe you do not think that, but she does. Maybe it is in some other way, such as behaving like a queen, but she still communicates. So, we all find our own concepts for communicating, and they are different for each and every one of us. But you asked about the element of surprise and I think it is a very nice question also. Because if we imitate others completely than we become mainstream. Instead, one

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________ “Expecting the Unexpected – Interview with Winy Maas”

e11

International Journal of Contemporary Architecture ”The New ARCH“ Vol. 2, No. 2 (2015)

ISSN 2198-7688

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

can also be the indicator of predictability or unpredictability; but if we study the future and if the future is normally constructed on extrapolations of the present, then that avoids any surprise. So, you are scientifically correct about the surprise. But, despite what we say and do, a trend will change, and whether it is a completely radical shift, whether it is done via a revolution; or it can be a war; it can be a crisis. The knowledge of our trend spreads regardless of how it happens, and that is another subject to study. This is one way in which we can stage the word surprise. The other thing certainly, which I think is also important, is the technology that creates these surprises. I mean that in a positive way, I do hope; because I am an optimist! But there are so many negative surprises, and how should we deal with that? At the universities I always start by asking the students what they want to do or what they want to react to. Because every background is different and every intuition is different and pure intuition is beautiful in that way. Having said that, I can post rationalize and bring back the science of post rationalizing our intuition. Ultimately, I do think that intuition is actually the result of continuous thought, and it is super analytical; it is the best computational

function we have in our minds. I think that is one of the ways in which we built out intuition in the office ultimately, by developing it as a kind of function. But, we still need to nurture that world of surprise in some way. And that says something about me, because I have to give up on mere predictions and I also have to give up on certain kinds of leadership or pre-configurations, or my personal desire for further investigation. First, I want to know everything, and then to drag it all together, and I have to ignore my ego to do that, and also those of the team. For property developers, to love that element of surprise and to give it time and space and money is almost the biggest contradiction in their emotions. Normally they always want to talk about security; about safety and certainty, as those are the things that matter to them. So, I do think that your question is super beautiful. And even for me, as one of the architects who is the most systematic in approach, indeed known as a kind of systematic thinker, the other part, that left part of my brain, is maybe the one that really contributes to the work you see in front of you. I do hope so. And I think that is the best way to surf on that element of surprise and the observation that you made.

Galije resort , Montenegro Source: MVRDV

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________ “Expecting the Unexpected – Interview with Winy Maas”

e12

International Journal of Contemporary Architecture ”The New ARCH“ Vol. 2, No. 2 (2015)

ISSN 2198-7688

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Users are incorporated into design or into decisionmaking – How does this situation affect your design at the end? Maas: Without clients, without users, there would be no architecture. On the other hand, there are concerns that they still have no voice, and that can be a totally urban concern, or an even wider concern on a larger scale. But there is also the issue of people’s concern for architectural heritage, for history. I do think that 80% of our buildings are still worthless, because architects don’t usually produce something interesting. And we have ourselves as a profession to blame for that, because there is more to architecture then only its direct users. You communicate with your design to other authors; and they also shout back at you, and that is a Ping-Pong like game that in a way might later be celebrated by historians somehow. But we should use the game more effectively, because if I were to use a more direct form of communication I would maybe give criticism to others as well. And then I would also like to hear from them what they think about it, because I don’t want to attack them on a personal level. Rather, we need to make it a discussion, to talk about the exchange.

There are confusions about green architecture and urbanism. What is the right way to do it and to deliver it? What is a sober or rational way of thinking and perusing that green dream, that green goal that we gave us? Maas: There is one book that we published entitled “The Green Dream” with two PhD groups who have been analysing the beauty of all the buildings in the world that have a high LEED or BREAM score. So, 95% of these buildings are insanely ugly for instance, and it makes them hard to love. Because if you love the building, that is really the most sustainable thing about them that you can see and feel. But it was a shock to see that LEED and BREAM have led to such ugliness in the last ten years, and there are a lot of reasons for that. There are incredible good things about these accreditations, but they are usually sacrificed. In our profession, when the budget is high and we can spend maybe only 6% of our budget for something, what can you do? So, if you have to spend that on a lot of equipment (geothermal power, or to make a green roof) that’s all there is. The budget is finished! There is no room to open yourself towards other targets that can be done on top of the equipment.

Government quarter Oslo Source: MVRDV

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________ “Expecting the Unexpected – Interview with Winy Maas”

e13

International Journal of Contemporary Architecture ”The New ARCH“ Vol. 2, No. 2 (2015)

ISSN 2198-7688

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Peruri 88 Jakarta Source: MVRDV

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________ “Expecting the Unexpected – Interview with Winy Maas”

e14

International Journal of Contemporary Architecture ”The New ARCH“ Vol. 2, No. 2 (2015)

ISSN 2198-7688

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

So, the question is how long will it take before things change? And to go back to idea of acceleration in architecture that you spoke about before, I think it would be fantastic if we could move faster on this issue. We have to move – let’s make it fast – that kind of idea – the greener buildings are actually happening. Then we are done with it as an issue. That means that the economists can begin to deal with it; but also new technologies can do it if we adjust our budgets for both, for the initial investment and during the period of use for the building. So, for the moment green is more expensive! I am sorry to say that, but it is and it will be for some years in the future. I think it is OK to do it but we have to work harder. Our economy is growing so slow at the moment that you can’t calculate when you are finished paying off your green story, so you have to choose carefully about how you invest in the first place.

Reminding of your project in Hanover – the Expo 2000 and the fascinating destiny of that building – what did you learn from that experience? How did you overcome the destiny of that building because it has completely different life than the one you have designed for it? Maas: Well, at the moment it is still a ruin. In the beginning it was a building that would only be there temporarily. Somehow during the 2000s, people started to like it and it was the hit of the Expo at that moment. Also, the Germans decided that maybe it is a good thing to leave it a bit longer and that is how it become a monument in that way. But then they couldn’t find a suitable function, because it is built in a park and it couldn’t be turned into a factory or into an office building. Maybe at the moment it is like one of the best German traditions – the ruin, that certain kind of romanticism when utopia went to dystopia. And to keep that as a symbol is maybe not so bad in this case. What is the worst-case scenario for your building? Maas: You have to ask yourself the question “when is your building not questioned?” You can’t satisfy everybody. I think that buildings that are somewhat controversial are helpful, and that says something about me. Can I understand that there are a lot of people that maybe hate my design? Can I stand that? Does it scare me maybe or is it much more neutral? If it’s something that the planet does not need, then it’s neutral; you have to choose your side in that way. It is a part of the game, I would say. I was personally very controversial with some towers at one moment, when there were some people in the US who were really hating them because they looked too similar to the explosion of the WTC. But I was also very happy that nearly 50% of the Planet liked it! So, what can I do about it? If it would be more than a 50%, I am democratic enough to accept that. But how do we understand minorities and

majorities? How do we create platforms that are correct? There is another level of the discussion where we can ask where is the heroism? When do we become also a little bit of heroic? And of course there is a cheap heroism and there can be more sorrow heroism. I would be so sad if there were no more heroism in younger generations of architects; and there are many levels of heroism. I do hope that we can create a culture for that, for heroism, everywhere.

The playfulness, the usage of video games in the TWF (The Why Factory) for the diverse scenarios of future cities. Why did you embrace that new technology? Is our profession too strict or is it a new vision how we should think and how we should act as designers? Maas: I am a complete fan of technology, and some people even say I am on the edge of being a complete technocrat. I am happy to see that the technology is super cool again. There are more innovative programs than ever before and there are cool girls and guys who can come up with some funky new things and there is huge media interest in it all. So the technology component is an important element today for architects and everyone else as well. The techno zone can be the bypass for certain problems, and technology provides a huge supermarket of ideas. Well, there are two elements to that. The one is in more serious gaming, and that is basically about knowledge, a hyperactive knowledge, and how you can use it more and more. For example: after 10 years of serious gaming development, not only in our practice but also in universities, now we can start applying it to our models. So, I am happy to see the EGOcity that will be developed in the next few years. It is a place where you can make your own slab of housing based on this kind of gaming. The people from the gaming industry were super helpful in modelling and understanding the complexity of individual choices. From the gaming industry we developed four ways of approaching things. So, if you have a blind game – let’s say 15 players that need to develop collective housing and don’t know how to do it – the author is aiming for that, and it causes another kind of behaviour. So, you can base all of the software on money for instance, or on how much knowledge each player has – that starting point has an important role in these kinds of games. I found that a really interesting test of the games abilities. In this case we found out that it was not so much depending on the amount of time that you have – if you have to do it all in 15 minutes max, than it doesn’t matter that much. Ultimately, the satisfaction factor of the game is that the computer’s approach was closer to the one I would take than I expected. Which makes it an intriguing kind of game to play, and I was fascinated by the possible options and permutations it created.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________ “Expecting the Unexpected – Interview with Winy Maas”

e15

International Journal of Contemporary Architecture ”The New ARCH“ Vol. 2, No. 2 (2015)

ISSN 2198-7688

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Zaryadye park Moscow Source: MVRDV

If you are using this kind of technic, does it mean that we as designers have stopped thinking about the playfulness in our design? Maas: You are talking about two elements. Games are different than playfulness. Games are a kind of serious way of understanding the complexity of individual choices. If you are an investor and you want to build house, you are quite serious and you want to get value for your money. It is not a playful thing. You may play a little bit but not too much. Than the word playful is another thing. You mentioned before the element of surprise, and how we can open up towards the unexpected and how to give place to it in our culture? In both pure, theoretical architecture and in our production of real architecture, the sequence of the spaces and how to look for the unexpected in that. That is very playful. Also in my own career; I hope that my next building has a certain kind of surprise to it.

Contemporary architecture can be a boring architecture. You are trying to evoke and to question how we can overcome that kind of boringness not just

because of us as designers but also because of the viewers and consumers of the space. You mentioned also that there is no new Boullée – would you please explain this? Maas: Boullée was a thinker. An extremely good thinker with many weird and wonderful observations on the planet, and he made many fantastic ideas for buildings that still provoke some of our production. He was the inventor of the mall for instance, the kind of 24-hour building where time just passes without people noticing, and that is actually the reality of today’s cities. So, he was ahead of his time. Contemporary architecture is not boring, it is just more slow, and always behind. The majority of contemporary architecture is very mediocre, and that depends a little bit on the place where it is built, which often suffers maybe from a lack of ambition and I guess also from all the issues with money, rules and restrictions, etc. I plead for a culture where we are allowed sometimes to make experiments that we haven’t done before in order to find new directions and to test them. That is a subject that many countries don’t like because they are already happy with the way they built their environment. Take a school for the example:

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________ “Expecting the Unexpected – Interview with Winy Maas”

e16

International Journal of Contemporary Architecture ”The New ARCH“ Vol. 2, No. 2 (2015)

ISSN 2198-7688

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

they need a functional building, but if you take it and use it as an experiment for schools everywhere than how are they going to deal with that function? So you have to position the experiment in the right way and see where you can apply it and how much you can apply it and how much of the functionality you need to fulfil. I think that risk management is a subject out of our terrain as architects, but somehow it often comes back in. I always say, when an investor wants to do, let’s say housing units, it is better to make a thousand houses and it can always allow you – let’s say 50 houses out of 1000, where you can do something weird. Because the project is not depending on those 50 houses, you can experiment. That 5% of experimentation is definitely always possible. Also in smaller projects because you have a bit of extra material, or another section of cladding, there is always 5% more room, room that you can use in a different way and if someone says no, then don’t believe him.

Also, recalling the percentage of urban agriculture against the huge percentage of land used for agriculture, you suggested that architects should take part in this process. How do you suggest we jump into those new shoes? Maas: Of course urban agriculture at the moment is a kind of hippie thing, and it is correct that you saw that I criticized that. I love it and like to criticize the sentimentality because it helps and it is also beautiful and lively which is also an advantage. It also cries out for a better food, which is also good and on the other hand how much does it help our actual food production – maybe 0.00001%? But, it’s a good starting point. I am interested and fascinated how to do it on a larger scale and that is what I would like to add, not to this conversation, but to understand that we need this initiative at the moment and would like to check if it is possible to do it on a larger scale. And that has not happened yet, maybe a bit in China at the moment, where integrated cities are being developed, and simply because they want to produce enough for themselves on a limited amount of land and with the goal of producing a lot for a billion people. How to do that in an ecological way? They do not only integrate food production into the city, but rather the growing of the food and also the production of the food as it is turned into products. That is closely connected with these kind of clusters that are developing in China now, and they have examples of how to avoid bad food production like when they had dangerous milk powder. And all of these innovation will push them in the right direction. So in a way, in Europe, when there was the crazy cow disease crisis; that helped us a lot to make a meat production better and to find a solution for those kinds of issues. So, this is how it looks to us. I think there are a lot of

architects that are now more engaged in it by designing those new clusters, by designing crop rotations and everything else, because we need it more and more. I think it is still too slow, and it needs more time definitely and also to be even more clear and sexy because I think that is our attitude. Even the Milan Expo makes something visible but I think it is very poor. What our office is about to do in 2022 for the Floriade Expo, that is the intense way of innovating that could be demanded from all of our architectural production.

There is a certain form – a farm house that is often repeated as a motive in your work. Why is that image so important? Is it idyllic? Is it because of its simplicity or the beauty of its simplicity? Maas: It is very European. You have to look where it is and it has to do something with the environment – the acceptance and non-acceptance of certain kind of architecture in that environment. So if we do a barn in the UK we could only make a barn. It is the only thing that is wanted from us and thought. But what to do with it – that may become another thing. In the case of our library (the Spijkenisse Book Mountain) that was basically a rule; and today’s urbanistic considerations everywhere also explain that kind of form. You are allowed to make a maximum height, than you have to have a 45° angle for the roof because of the light rules that bring it to the lowest part of the building, the neighbours, etc. That form explains a lot of our current environment developing. It is very present. I actually think those kinds of daylight laws, when combined with different sizes of plots, leads to weird, funny and actually hyper European shapes. So that explains a little bit more about how it is not only a copying element arising from the shape of house, but rather that it is based in our culture.

Generating the space rather than consuming it with the vulnerability of the design you have mentioned is an interesting standpoint. So, how do you start from that fragile moment? Maas: It depends on the project to be honest. Some of them are easier than others. But the truth is that the most of our discoveries come out when you feel the vulnerability of the site. The project we did in Moscow – the Serp & Molot factory transformation – and the big question of how to answer to that historic site made me feel super vulnerable. And to come up with an answer for you, I am still loving that feeling and what it can produce. I think the project is one of the great inventions of our time, because that carpet with all the traces of the past we did and the provocation on the past was much softer. And I think that it is such a missed opportunity that they are not building it now in that way that we

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________ “Expecting the Unexpected – Interview with Winy Maas”

e17

International Journal of Contemporary Architecture ”The New ARCH“ Vol. 2, No. 2 (2015)

ISSN 2198-7688

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

proposed. The vulnerability is when you do not know the truth, you have to find the truth and that is the moment of invention in our work.

You are an architect, designer, professor, researcher… What is the most challenging and what is the most interesting role for you today? Maas: I remain an architect and I know that it takes a lot of time to make buildings. There isn’t an easy answer to this question in a way but in the future I’ll try to give them an equal position. It takes 2 days out of the week to do the research and you can almost equalize the activities into the agenda and find their positions. But I remain an architect, and have always loved that and I do think that building production is a very important way to tell the stories that come out of the research, or negotiations, or the discussion that we face. I could have chosen to be in a theatre, like a stage director or something like that, and then do plays and theatre pieces that last for two hours, which is beautiful but I think I was six years old when I chose to do things that would last for a little bit longer. You can only hope they would last longer than a stage set really.

Is that the element that you like the most in your profession?

Maas: It is a part of our behaviour, and you are always surrounded by buildings and it is an unavoidable part of our huge, let’s say, landscape of the planet. It is a profession where you have the possibility in your life to do more with your surroundings, and you are touched by the emotion in that. Also, the fact that with certain small void you can create a reaction – emotional reaction or maybe even an intellectual reaction. That is fascinating and I guess I share it with all of my colleagues, and of course ultimately that is the source of heroism and it is hard to beat it.

Writing and reading – it is a special form of communication with the colleagues, users, students. You are not afraid of young generations; you always try to encourage them to question you, to go beyond their schools and to ultimately question their own designs. That kind of a call is an elementary aspect of life. Why? Maas: That has to do with curiosity, endlessness and future. There is so much to explore and to find out and that is the beautiful part of that piece of communication with the generation that comes after. Writing is another story, it is like making the impossible possible – all of those things that are not built still get shown and presented, so that everybody can learn from them. Also, the unbuilt work completes the story from my point of view. For all the thoughts and for all of the tests that we

Pushed Slab Paris Source: MVRDV

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________ “Expecting the Unexpected – Interview with Winy Maas”

e18

International Journal of Contemporary Architecture ”The New ARCH“ Vol. 2, No. 2 (2015)

ISSN 2198-7688

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Glass Farm Schijndel Source: MVRDV

make maybe only 5% will be built, and the rest of it – the 95% – will stay on paper. That is also fine, but it is nice to show. Also, it is only a small part of the research, of that 95%, that is worth showing to people so that they can learn from it. And somehow choices within our practice are, let’s say, developed through that and also therefore they have to be explained.

You are working on different scenarios of future cities. What is the most likely to happen? Maas: That is a series of books that we are developing. They seem to be random, in their subjects, and it is impossible to make a complete set really. I think that any conference that tried to do that in the 90s was very smart, but that is not my objective yet. I would like to explore the character of The Why Factory and basically things come up because of different reasons. There are a lot of overlapping themes, and ultimately I do think it’s

more about this overlapping of a lot of different ideas more than, let’s say, some kind of order. Soon a book will be coming out talking about “absolute leisure” – how much the leisure industry dominates and how we are almost in a state of non-working and how we are spatially, economically and time wise consumed by it. I think it is an intriguing subject to discuss another time. Another book that is coming has the working title “barbapapa” – a kind of flexible material that we are working on. It is the first book and there could be more after it. We are launching another, immediately after this one, called the “barbamama” and it deals with the world of plants, species, seeds, and how to deal with that in a kind of flexible matter. And it will take another two or three years before it is published because we are doing it with the agricultural university (Wageningen University) and to develop tests for walls, roofs, floors etc. Another book will showcase the entire PorousCity LEGO skyscrapers, like all of the Lego projects we, which

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________ “Expecting the Unexpected – Interview with Winy Maas”

e19

International Journal of Contemporary Architecture ”The New ARCH“ Vol. 2, No. 2 (2015)

ISSN 2198-7688

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

are more about a calculating materials, which I think is really nice. Also there will be “4 Minutes City”, which is after our book “5 Minutes City”, to make it even faster, with more extensive research. Then “Copy–Paste” will come out, about the bad copy-paste projects. As soon as one book about a scenario of the future comes out, immediately the question is raised about another one. It is an endless process of investigating and coming out with new answers and new questions about the city of the future.

How can we get closer to the correct answer? Maas: There was a huge discussion about semantics in architecture 20 years ago. Did we ruin that party? No, we built up from that. I think now we can also touch on that again. I think now if we want to communicate we need to be good with semantics somehow. So, we enrich that meaning, that classic word. Semantics fascinates

me, because yes, buildings should be messages, so how to go over the edge? Is it wise? How intelligent should they be? So, how can we do that? I think that new criticism is needed to make that possible. So, now you have to find more answers. The semantics people have to give us more so that we can create an incredibly deep and intense way of communicating with everybody to make this profession even greater and stronger than ever before. We do need the semanticists of our era, and where they are, and how can they help our profession? Do we have to know everything? No, I pass on that one. You can criticize me that I’ve become too vulgar or too direct or that somebody else has become too easy and everything should change. Or that maybe we provide escapism from that point of view. I am looking forward to your observation on that. We can do our own selfobservation and that is OK, but we need to speed it up, because of the enormous acceleration that we are dealing with, the acceleration of architecture.

Interview: Mirjana Uzelac Filipendin M. Arch.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________ “Expecting the Unexpected – Interview with Winy Maas”

e20

International Journal of Contemporary Architecture ”The New ARCH“ Vol. 2, No. 2 (2015)

ISSN 2198-7688

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Authors’ Papers

Fülöp Zsuzsanna

Local Database as Crucial Factor of Sustainable Architecture Linking Reality to Architectural Design Based on a Properly Modifiable Database

Wei Shi, Beisi Jia, H. Koon Wee

Public Space as a Soft–Connection for Urban: Study on Japanese Streets 27

Tarek Abdelsalam

Adapting the Concept of Courtyard in Long–Narrow Attached Houses as a Sustainable Approach: The Saudi Experiment 38

Veronika Kotradyová

Material Surface Features in Body Conscious Spatial Design 45

Anna Yunitsyna

Universal Housing ― Evaluation of the Spatial Qualities of Apartments in Albania 51

Dalia Dukanac

Simulation of Participation: Design Process of Residential Architecture

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

International Journal of Contemporary Architecture ”The New ARCH“ Vol. 2, No. 2 (2015)

ISSN 2198-7688

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

DOI: 10.14621/tna.20150301

Local Database as Crucial Factor of Sustainable Architecture Linking Reality to Architectural Design Based on a Properly Modifiable Database Fülöp Zsuzsanna Faculty of Architecture Engineering, Budapest University of Technology and Economics Budapest, Hungary

Abstract Preserving our environment has come to the forefront of our society's concerns and architects may not be indifferent. Sustainable architecture is seeking to minimize negative environmental impacts of buildings. Buildings should adapt to its environment both in shape and structure, and should reflect surroundings, providing maximum internal comfort and at the same time minimum harmful environmental impact. To achieve this goal the architectural design process must become more conscious based on holistic, performance based approach. Architects need to take into consideration full complexity of available data, while providing control over the decisions. Efficiency of design process depends on the adequacy of the data applied. Essential part is a properly modifiable Project-oriented Site-specific Database, continuously fitted to the project, consisting of real, up to date and comparable data. Our research at Budapest University of Technology and Economics helps to discover how architects can capture locality, and how they can build databases to be used from the very first step of the design process. This research is always a multidisciplinary effort joining not only the various branches of architecture, but also involving IT specialists, meteorologists, civil engineers, economists, etc.

Keywords:

Holistic, Performance-based, Projectoriented, Site-specific, Database

Article history:

Received: 15 June 2015 Revised: 09 July 2015 Accepted: 20 July 2015

1. Introduction: Problem Identification – Building and its environment Shelter and comfort are basic needs for all human beings no matter where they live. We want a comfortable place to protect us against heat/cold, humidity, environmental diseases, dangerous animals, burglary and other possible threats. We want a comfortable environment where we can live a protected and healthy life. The aim is to create a more comfortable and stable climate for our everyday existence. Nobody would feel well for an extended period at the extreme temperatures (e.g. -20 degree or +40 degree) if we could not generally somehow protect ourselves from the environment. Protection we get from our clothes and houses. We want to create a small "world" with a suitable climate we can control and regulate according to our needs. Fundamentally, function, arrangement and construction of the house is to set the framework for indoor climate, which is different from the outdoor climate. Thus, there is a close connection between the way we build our houses and the surrounding climate (Figure 1, [46, 47]). For the several thousand years the houses were a part of the local eco-system. All over the world there were specific ways of relating to the climate. Whatever the general climate is - cold, hot, temperate, dry or humid houses were built so that the local conditions are being utilized to a maximum. The first houses were built by hand out of local materials. This has been done by human beings since the beginning of time. Most old cultures had a good knowledge of the local resources (climate, materials) and understood how to utilize it instead of working against it (Figure 2, [48, 49]). Development of society and industry has resulted with us to move away from the individual houses and to build uniform and anonymous houses located close to the factories. In the course of time, these houses have

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________ F. Zsuzsanna: “Local Database as Crucial Factor of Sustainable Architecture”, pp. 1–15

International Journal of Contemporary Architecture ”The New ARCH“ Vol. 2, No. 2 (2015)

ISSN 2198-7688

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Hot and vet climate

Arctic climate

Figure 1. Ancient residential building types [46, 47]

Hungary

Norway

Figure 2. Historical vernacular residential building types[ 48, 49]

Housing estate

Air conditioning Figure 3. Industrialisation

spread from the centre of the city to its enormous suburbs. Each individual person, therefore, no longer has influence or understanding on the relation between their house and its external environment. Recently

indoor climate is mainly regulated by high-tech solutions. Houses are centrally heated, air-conditioned. Location of the house in relation to the natural conditions is not that important than before (Figure 3).

International Journal of Contemporary Architecture ”The New ARCH“ Vol. 2, No. 2 (2015)

ISSN 2198-7688

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

However, due to the increasing pressure on our energy resources we should again start to make use of experience and knowledge of natural resources. Widespread awareness of climate and other environmental change (decreasing natural resources, pollution of environment) together with huge amount of the technical opportunities have triggered professional demands for architects with advanced skills in design (Figure 4, [50, 51]). Although most architectural practices claim “environmental, sustainable, green, energy efficient, holistic” as key elements of their design approach, few recent buildings have lived up the whole complexity to these targeted goals. Definition the exact meaning and content of terminology and methodology could help us to clarify the main aspects, demands, tools and techniques according to the challenges of changing nature, globalized society, economy, science and culture.

2. Tools and questions ― Globalisation and digitalisation Globalization refers to the increasing unification of the world's economic. The goal is to increase material wealth, goods, and services through efficiencies catalyzed by international relations, specialization and competition. Globalization makes us familiar with new social, cultural habits, transfer huge amount of products and techniques. The question is how we could transmit and adapt solutions from all over the world in a given local situation. Is it enough to apply foreign ideas and products without changing to achieve an appropriate, sustainable variation on a local place? Is it appropriate to create the same buildings everywhere, despite the diversity of local condition? (Figure 5, [52, 53], Figure 6, [54, 55, 56]).

Figure 4. Price of comfort [50, 51]

New York

Dubai Figure 5. Globalized cities [52, 53]

Argentina

USA Figure 6. Globalized residential houses [54, 55, 56]

Paris

Poland

International Journal of Contemporary Architecture ”The New ARCH“ Vol. 2, No. 2 (2015)

ISSN 2198-7688

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Intuition

Energy simulation (BEopt)

Digitalisation Construction Final realisation Figure 7. CAD design: Frank Gehry: Walt Disney Hall (USA) [57]

Acoustic simulation (VisAsim)

Construction simulation (Ansys)

Figure 8. CAD simulations [58, 59, 60]

Architectural ideas have found new forms of digital representations, as information reconfigures into digital visualizations, and projects evolve further as digital fabrications. The new genre of "scripted, iterative, and indexical architecture" produces a proliferation of formal outcomes, leaving the designer the role of selection and increasing the possibilities in architectural design. Architects and engineers are able to push forward the boundaries of building design creating new forms of expression by taking advantage of the latest materials and construction methods. The computer aided architectural design opened new era for architects, but without awareness the basic human and material context of architecture the digitally generated forms are only nice pictures, but not real buildings (Figure 7, [57]). Computer Analysis and simulation programs model environmental, technical and economic forces in order to quantify performance and enables us to analyze multiple design options. Computer aided design systems (CAD solutions) make the construction and drawing of building plans rapid and accurate. Projected physical dimensions and surfaces may be changed very easily. Architects – in theory - could have more control over the building design process, based on this freedom of shaping, modification through computer modelling, contemporary simulation, and calculation methods of reality. Examples of Computer simulation programs: • Physical simulations: Testing outside forces and stresses on the building. • Wind and Turbulence Testing: Testing the turbulence patterns around the building.

• Lighting: Testing lighting of the building to find optimum solutions for natural lighting. This technique does seem to be very accurate, but generally it is difficult to understand the calculation method. Separated simulation computer algorithms sometimes result with reductionism replacing the holistic approach, because measures of building construction are separated in independent processes and complex, comparative analysis of requirements and product performances in the context of the whole is missing. Reductionism in science says that a complex system can be explained by reduction to its fundamental parts. It could be problematic because of the interaction in between of the environmental impacts and material properties. For example we have computer algorithm for measurement of thermal quality of building envelope but it does not take into consideration possible contradiction in between of several evaluation fields, material performances (e.g. acoustical, thermal insulation quality and load bearing capacity) (Figure 8, [58, 59, 60]). Every building project involves the choice of building materials. Selecting suitable building materials is a very complex process, being influenced and determined by numerous preconditions, decisions, and considerations [13, 14, 16, 20]. Database is the basic component of engineering calculation. The database information can be labelled according to data content, type of data affiliated in a computer program, the targeted group of stakeholders etc. Traditional database was an experience based system. Each stakeholders added their knowledge and information into the project. Elements of database were visible and accessible in documentations, maps, catalogues etc.

International Journal of Contemporary Architecture ”The New ARCH“ Vol. 2, No. 2 (2015)

ISSN 2198-7688

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Figure 9. Commercial database systems [61]

Figure 10. CAD database systems [62, 63, 64]

As part of globalization the building elements - materials and components – are arranged on internet through some product oriented building element basis. Clients may select from structures or materials as they compile its specification. These extensive catalogues are continually being updated with specifications covering most common products. Architects have difficulties in choosing the best product from these databases because of the huge amount of elements (one database division – e.g. thermal and moisture protection – could contain more than 10,000 enterprises with their several products!). Comparison the data of different products sometimes is problematic because of the different background (standards, measurement methods, units etc.). In these databases there is no information about whole complex application of structures and materials according to the local conditions (Figure 9. [61]). The computer database programs through Database Management Systems (DBMSs) are a ubiquitous and critical component of modern computing. Given these various options, a typical DBMSs needs to be compatible with many different connectivity protocols used by various client drivers. The structure of computer databases are hidden, the architect can use it through the Dialogue Boxes, windows. The storage and access of these data depends on the computer program so these are available only for those clients who have the appropriate software. These databases require the high level awareness of applied parameters (Figure 10, [62, 63, 64]). Material selection is a complex and delicate task determined by the immense number of building

material options. Likewise, multiple factors (cultural, economic, ecological etc.) should be often considered by the architect when evaluating the various categories of building materials. As a result, these sets of factors or variables often present trade-offs that make the decision process even more complex. Nowadays we have thousands of new techniques, structures and products sold all over the world while the functions of our buildings have been changed and expanded. The question is how to take into consideration the whole complexity of important human attitudes, social, cultural, natural conditions together with integration of scientific results, computerization, challenging of the changed global, natural, economic situation in architectural design process? How can we use the results of controlling the behaviours of forms, structures and materials more effectively?

3. Conclusion ― Conscious design process, content and context According to the new aspects and tools, the architectural design process must become more conscious. Recently our main task is not only to create new technical variations, but to define a really conscious, continuously controlled design process taking into consideration whole complexity of building requirements, performances and sustainable aspects, the way which we can follow step by step to achieve a sustainable optimum solution for the given design task.

International Journal of Contemporary Architecture ”The New ARCH“ Vol. 2, No. 2 (2015)

ISSN 2198-7688

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

As Michael Rice summarized “The new wave of awareness presents us with a pure principle anchor, a practical grounded philosophy based on simple measurable scientific principles, which apply in all life circumstances, because it is the way nature works - not a bad frame of reference if one wants to create a truly sustainable world.” Definition of targeted goals is very important. We have to focus on the basic aspects of the architecture, like as human scale, safety, healthy, comfortable interior space, reflection of the surrounding nature. The complex building requirements generally are given in national building codes: Building Requirements Hungarian Regulation OTÉK 253/1997 (XII.20) recast 211/2012 (VII.30): • • • • • • • •

Stability, mechanical strength, Fire protection, Noise and vibration protection, Safety and barrier free solutions, Life and wealth protection, Energy saving and heat protection, Health and environment protection, Sustainable consumption of natural resources.

These requirements must be fulfilled at the same time all together (Figure 11).

Figure 11. Szeged University, Hungary (Arch: Mikó L.)

Widespread awareness of climate change together with technical requirements arising from new regulations such as the Directive on Energy Performance of Buildings have triggered professional demands for architects with advanced skills in sustainable design and energy efficiency. Sustainable environmental building design should • Take full account of the climate. • Designed for durability. • Use renewable local building materials wherever possible. • Designed for increased efficiency in the use of materials, energy and other resources. • Use life-cycle analysis in decision making about materials and construction techniques. • Minimize the consumption of resources, especially non-renewable ones. • Use materials with low embodied energy. • Design buildings to use renewable energy. • Minimize pollution of soil, air and water. • Identify opportunities- and make easy for occupants to re-use and recycle waste. • Identify opportunities for water conservation and re-use. • Maintain or, where it has been disturbed, restore biodiversity. • Reinforce and exemplify environmental responsiveness. • Enhance appreciation and awareness of the environment. • Be subordinate to and aesthetically sympathetic with the natural environment and cultural context. • Take care of sewage treatment and waste treatment. The surroundings, the location and orientation of the house are very important aspects for protection against weather. The way we build should reflect and be in dialogue with the local climatic conditions instead of working against them. Measures to improve building performances should take into account climatic and local conditions as well as indoor climate environment and cost-effectiveness. These measures should not affect other requirements concerning buildings such as accessibility, safety and the intended use of the building. A comparative analysis based on the collected data of green vernacular buildings shows that there are significant changes in building performance across countries according to the specific natural and social circumstances, given their differences in building code restriction level in the use and mutual recognition of performance of materials, geographical and environmental conditions. How the building is oriented

International Journal of Contemporary Architecture ”The New ARCH“ Vol. 2, No. 2 (2015)

ISSN 2198-7688

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

and located in its site is of major importance in its response to microclimate. The issues to consider are solar radiation, humidity and wind. To achieve the longtime appropriate structural solution during the whole life of the building we should take into consideration of the complex and interactive evaluation model, which consists of not only the single information but helps to recognize the coherencies as well. The building can be interpreted only together with its surroundings. Every building and site is unique not just culturally and philosophically, but in terms of ‘technical solutions, energy performances etc. resulting from the unique locality (climate, terrain, shading, etc.) (Figure 12, [9, 65]). This seems to suggest that there is a need for developing a systematic structural and material selection system that will enable architects identify and prioritize the relevant criteria to effectively and accurately evaluate the trade-offs between technical, environmental, economic and performance issues during the construction evaluation and selection processes. Therefore, to enable a structured and more comprehensive approach in the design-decision making process, in order to facilitate the processes of comparing and identifying the best material option(s) across different categories, it is important that the designdecision maker (architect, designer or expert) takes into account several material-selection factors or variables. Analysis of the effects, requirements and structural, material performances on each stages of architectural design process can be the common ground of dialogue between the architect and the experts (Figure 13, [9]).

The design process should be the continuous development of architectural idea. It plays a very important role in architecture, not just aesthetically, but technically. By re-thinking the architectural design process as a coordinated set of stages, and sub-stages, replacing the traditional experience-related process by a more conscious, rational, and theory based approach; choices and solutions for specific design problems, traditionally taken base on experience or individual thinking, can be now taken base in technical awareness and attentive to potential alternatives (Figure 14, [9]). In such a design process the architect can go back to his previous stages and improve his decisions. By “feedback” evaluation in between stages effect on each other the architects can develop the most appropriate solutions. The designers in their practice conclude the design process, while they finally choose a specific design form, technique and materials. The content of design stages does not depend on the design tools (e.g. manual or digital), but the connected real and complex database is essential factor. Architects need to take into consideration the full complexity of available social, cultural, functional, economic, natural, structural, material and technological data, while providing control over the decisions of the design process. Each existing building requirements should be evaluated based on the real environmental, social, economic, material effects (impacts), requirements and performances database from the very first step of the design process (Figure 15, [65]).

Figure 12. Design aspects [9, 65]

Figure 13. Performance based decision process [9] ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________ F. Zsuzsanna: “Local Database as Crucial Factor of Sustainable Architecture”, pp. 1–15

International Journal of Contemporary Architecture ”The New ARCH“ Vol. 2, No. 2 (2015)

ISSN 2198-7688

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Figure 14. Feedback controlled Design stages [9]

Figure 16. Holistic Design Matrix [9]

Figure 15. Local Database [65]

Preventive and remedial measures and decisions should always be evaluated in the context of the whole. According to the holistic approach, a building should be thought of as a whole. The house should be approached as a complete system, with specific features and performance requirements, not as a collection of independent industrial engineering disciplines (electrical, mechanical, structural, and so on), as an integrated part of a process in dialog with the surroundings and its occupants. Holism (from ὅλος holos, a Greek word meaning all, whole, and entire, total) is the idea that all the properties of a given system (physical, biological, chemical, social, economic, mental, linguistic, etc.) cannot be determined or explained by its component parts alone. Instead, the system as a whole determines in an important way how the parts behave. The idea has ancient roots. The general principle of holism was concisely summarized by Aristotle in the Metaphysics: "The whole is different from the sum of its parts" (1045a10) (Figure 16, [9]).

International Journal of Contemporary Architecture ”The New ARCH“ Vol. 2, No. 2 (2015)

ISSN 2198-7688

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Complex consideration the of available social, economic and natural data while providing control on the decisions of the design process may only be achieved through the use of a properly modifiable, database, continuously fitted to the project, consisting of real, up to date, and comparable data. Efficiency of design process depends on the adequacy of the data applied. Architectural decisions can be correct only if they are based on a comprehensive, real, and up to date and appropriate Database. A Database is always unique and local. The essential part of the decision process is a properly modifiable Project-oriented Sitespecific Database, continuously fitted to the project, consisting of real, up to date and comparable data (Figure 17, [4]). In the Project Oriented Site-Specific Database system, the compilation of information - according to the project and site – starts at the beginning of the design process, with the collection of the basic data of social, cultural, functional, natural, structural, material, economical, technological information. This way, the first architectural and structural decisions may be made through the evaluation of real parameters and the complexity of the measurement will be more secure. The applied systemized parameters will be controlled and consciously selected. Each data type must be evaluated from the very first step of the project. The choice of materials is the crucial part of the building value. The material performances should be appreciated on the knowledge of the whole by holistic performance based approach. First accomplishment of material during architectural design has essential effect on the final realization of the building. But the preliminary plans in scale 1.200 generally consist of only options of materials without structural evaluations according to the architectural envision supposed the choice is easily modifiable during later design phases. It is not true. As the attached figure shows the freedom of choice is the highest in the beginning, because later the decisions had been done earlier limit modifying of particular elements. As the project takes shape and becomes more detailed the degrees of freedom and the possibilities of choosing better alternatives are reduced. I believe, that the architecture cannot be “global”. Every building should unique adapted to its real environment: both in shape and structure reflecting continuously on surroundings providing maximum internal comfort and at the same time minimum harmful environmental impact. The Holistic Performance Based design method responds on the surrounding conditions based on a properly modifiable Multilevel Project-oriented Sitespecific Database, continuously fitted to the project, consisting of real, up to date, and comparable data. This method could be used not only in design practice, but in university curriculum as well.

Figure 17. Project Oriented Site specific database [4]

This complex, holistic design process is very simple and adaptable all over the world together with the local database providing to fit the special conditions. During this design process the computer aided technologies can be only tools for architect, but not independent creative “intelligences” far from the human attitudes and real natural circumstances. The holistic analysis approach can be used for every aspect of design. The system can be applied on each field and level of the architecture, e.g. as Prof. Nicolas Pham (University of Applied Sciences of Western Switzerland, Geneva) told “Public building, public space are very complex corpus in which the relations that exist between the parts and the whole are more important, than the sum of the parts”. By this way the architectural and structural decisions may be made through the evaluation of real parameters and the complexity of the measurement will be more secure. The applied systemized parameters will be controlled and consciously selected. Each data type must be evaluated from the very first step of the project (Figure 18). Actually the difference is, how the designers interprets, synthesizes, and evaluates the collected data and techniques in their design process as result of all their perceptions, aims, convictions and skills. The environmental work should be an integrated part of the designing process. It is worth emphasizing that it is important to start the environmental activities as early as possible in the course of the project. It is at the stage when the framework is established that it is possible to choose between different environmental alternatives. As the project takes shape and becomes more detailed the degrees of freedom and the possibilities of choosing better alternatives are reduced.

International Journal of Contemporary Architecture ”The New ARCH“ Vol. 2, No. 2 (2015)

ISSN 2198-7688

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Figure 18. Components and process of Integrated Architectural Decision Process

Figure 19. Summary of Integrated Design

The architects has to pay close attention to possible environmental, structural and construction problems. Integration of whole complexity of design aspects and tools into complex architectural design process need to be provided from the very beginning of the design process (Figure 19).

4. Research ― Perspective Nowadays one of the most important task is to improve the energy quality of the buildings. The thermal insulation capability of the building envelope basically assigns the energy consumption of the whole building.

The scope of the PhD research theme „Coherencies of the built-in thermal insulation’s material properties in residential buildings” (student Éva Keresztessy, supervisor: Zsuzsanna Fülöp Ph.D) at the Doctoral school of Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Faculty of Architecture, Department Building Construction is to define the real environmental and constructional parameters, the risk factors of applied thermal insulation materials. We have to explore those circumstances, which are crucial beside the thermal conductivity. A lot of factors affect the thermal insulation materials of the building envelope. These factors influence the thermal insulation capability and the energy value of the whole construction as well. At the calculation of the thermal transmittance standards attend to the declared value measured in laboratories despite of the fact that the insulation capability could significantly change in the completed construction depending on the environmental asset. If we are to design convenient thermal insulation constructions, we have to take jointly into consideration the real environmental impacts are effecting the given building, modifying material performances. Our PhD theme makes the performance-based approach closer to students. It attracts the attention, that the compliance of the building construction can be interpreted only in the knowledge of the environmental asset (Figure 20, [10]) Our Scientific Student Competition (TDK) program at Budapest University of Technology and Economics (BME) provides possibility for students to improve their skills in a specific professional field. Topic “Aspects and examples of architectural and structural adaptation” helps our foreign students their acquired knowledge apply and transform at home.

International Journal of Contemporary Architecture ”The New ARCH“ Vol. 2, No. 2 (2015)

ISSN 2198-7688

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

One of study cases (Student: Aryan Choroomi, Teacher: Zsuzsanna Fülöp PhD) analyses students’ semester projects matching the site parameters, functional arrangements and shape according to the sustainability, energy efficiency aspects. His rating system allows him easily to recognize, analyse and compare design choices and their effects on the final performance of building, and that each requirement criteria has different priority in several design situations. (Figure 21, [11]). At the Budapest University of Technology and Economics we concluded, that in order for architects to take the energy-consciousness seriously, they need precise local data and link the data to their plans. We have the data we need a tool to visualize it (architects

tend to avoid dry numbers), and when we can visualize our data, we need to make this platform interactive and simple, so it’s easily accessible. So at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Department of Residential Design teachers (leader of research group: József Kolossa DLA) together with students and interdisciplinary partners we invented measuring equipment and software system – called DROID –, which provides site-specific and geometry-specific building energetic-data aiding architectural design. Based on the information retrieved from the database generated by the DROID, we can bring coherent and energyconsumption-conscious decisions already in the earliest design phase (Figure 22, [12]).

Figure 20. Changing of thermal insulation capacity on a façade after rain [10]

Figure 21. Aspects and examples of Architectural adaptation. Student’s Study Case BME [11] ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________ F. Zsuzsanna: “Local Database as Crucial Factor of Sustainable Architecture”, pp. 1–15

International Journal of Contemporary Architecture ”The New ARCH“ Vol. 2, No. 2 (2015)

ISSN 2198-7688

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Figure 22. Measuring site-specific energy characteristics – BME Research Program [12]

The DROID consists of three parts:

simulation which shows, how the building would “behave” in terms of local environmental energy utilization if it was built on the actual site according to the concept. Thus, the architects design flow may become an energy-sensitive process as well, resulting a better “buildingenergetics DNA”.

• The measuring unit: a device designed and built, which logs the environmental impacts and data which are critical for building energetics on different planes and orientations. • The evaluation algorithm: together with building energetics, students and meteorological measurement technology experts we have developed an evaluation algorithm, which clarifies how the data provided by the measuring unit can be applied to actual calculation, resulting an about 20% more accurate site specific dimensioning. • Visualization software: a 3D visualization software has been developed that receives the measuring unit’s data, also reads the architect’s modelled building concept, and performs a

References [1] Fülöp, Zs., Kolossa, J. “Intelligent building”-Linking Reality to Architectural Design on a Properly Modifiable Database, (pp. 641–659) – Fülöp, Zs: “Structural Challenges of Design Practice and Education in Contemporary Architecture” (pp. 641–650), Kolossa, J. “Innovation as Curricula for Contemporary Teaching of Architecture” (pp. 651– 659) “Architectural Education and the Reality and

International Journal of Contemporary Architecture ”The New ARCH“ Vol. 2, No. 2 (2015)

ISSN 2198-7688

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

the Ideal: Environmental Design for Innovation in the Post-crisis World”, School of Architecture of the Second University of Naples, Italy, Printed by Charis Ltd, Thessaloniki, Greece. ISBN 978-2930301-60-0., 2013. [2]

Fülöp, Zs. “Renovations of Terrace Constructions in Heritage Listed Buildings”, Bausubstanz WTA – Zeitschrift für nachhaltiges Bauen, Bauwerkserhaltung und Denkmalpflege, 1/2012 (pp. 40–45), Fraunhofer IRB Verlag, Stuttgart, ISSN 2190-4278, 2012.

[3]

Fülöp, Zs. “Challenges of Structural Decisions in Contemporary Architecture” Periodica Polytechnica Architecture 43/1, (pp. 1–9) doi: 10.3311/pp.ar.2011-2.04 ISSN: pp. 1789–3437, 2012.

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

Fülöp, Zs., “Project Oriented Database of Architecture” (pp. 347–356) Scaleless – Seamless Performing a Less Fragmented Architectural Education and Practice, Münster School of Architecture, Germany, Printed by Charis Ltd, Thessaloniki, Greece, ISBN 978-2-930301-58-7, 2012. Fülöp, Zs., ”Holistic Integrated Approach of Architectural Education & Practice” (pp. 655–671) Rethinking the Human in Technology-Driven Architecture, Technical University of Crete, Faculty of Architecture, Greece, Printed by Charis Ltd, Thessaloniki, Greece, ISBN 978-2-930301-53-2, 2012. Fülöp, Zs., “Sustainable Environmental Design – Responsibility of Architects” (pp. 427–440) Architectural Design and Construction Education – experimentation towards integration, Faculty of Architecture, University of Genoa, Italy, Printed by Art of Text SA, Thessaloniki, Greece, ISBN 978-2930301-42-6, 2009. Fülöp, Zs., “Performance Based Architectural Design Method” (pp. 141–149) Emerging Possibilities of Testing and Simulation Methods and Techniques in Contemporary Construction Teaching, Faculté Polytechnique de Mons, Belgium, Printed by Charis Ltd, Thessaloniki, Greece, ISBN 2-930301-34-1, 2008. Fülöp Zs., “Holistic System of Structural Education -Practice of Interdisciplinarity” (pp. 471–479) New Aspects of Interdisciplinarity in Contemporary Construction Teaching, School of Architecture, University IUAV Venice, Italy, Printed by Charis Ltd, Thessaloniki, Greece, ISBN 2-930301-31-7, 2006. Fülöp, Zsuzsanna: „Holistic Performance Based Design of Building Constructions” PhD dissertation Budapest University of Technology and Economics

Faculty of Architecture Department of Building Constructions, Csonka Pál Doctoral School, Budapest, 2007. [10] Keresztessy Éva PhD candidate Topic of PhD Research: „Coherencies of the built-in thermal insulation’s material properties in residential buildings (how influences it the energy quality of the construction)” PhD supervisor: Fülöp, Zs., Budapest University of Technology and Economics Faculty of Architecture Department of Building Constructions, Csonka Pál Doctoral School, Budapest, 2012–2015. [11] Choroomi, Aryan student, Topic of Scientific Student Research Study Case: “Aspects and examples of architectural and structural adaptation”, Teacher: Fülöp, Zs., Budapest University of Technology and Economics Faculty of Architecture Department of Building Constructions, 2015. [12] Hild, Gy. DLA, Kolossa, J. DLA., Perényi, T. DLA.,: Energy Efficient Site Specific Planning Environmental Database of Local Architecture Scaleless – Seamless Performing a Less Fragmented Architectural Education and Practice, Münster School of Architecture, Germany, Printed by Charis Ltd, Thessaloniki, Greece, ISBN 978-2-930301-58-7, 2012. [13] Ibuchim Ogunkah and Junli Yang: Investigating Factors Affecting Material Selection: The Impacts on Green Vernacular Building Materials in the Design-Decision Making Process Published: 23 January 2012, Buildings 2012, 2, pp. 1–32; doi:10.3390/buildings2010001ISSN 2075-5309 www.mdpi.com/journal/buildings/ [14] Wastiels, L., Wouters, I., Material Considerations in Architectural Design: A Study of the Aspects Identified by Architects for Selecting Materials. In Proceedings of the Undisciplined! Design Research Society Conference, 2008, Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield, UK, 16–19 July 2008. [15] Wastiels, L., Wouters, I., Lindekens, J., Material knowledge for Design: The architect’s vocabulary, Emerging trends in Design Research. In Proceedings of the International Association of Societies of Design Research (IASDR) Conference, Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 12–15 November 2007. [16] Chan, J.W.K., Tong, T.K.L., Multi-criteria Material Selections and End-of-life Product Strategy: Grey relational analysis approach. Mater. Des., 28, pp. 1539–1546, 2007. [17] Fernandez, J.E., Material Architecture: Emergent Materials for Innovative Buildings and Ecological

International Journal of Contemporary Architecture ”The New ARCH“ Vol. 2, No. 2 (2015)

ISSN 2198-7688

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Construction; Architectural Press: Amsterdam, The Netherlands and Boston, MA, USA, 2006.

[32] ISO 6243: 1997, Climatic data for building design: proposed systems of symbols.

[18] Van Kesteren, I.E.H., Stappers, P.J.; Kandachar, P.V., Representing Product Personality in Relation to Materials in a Product Design Problem. In Proceedings of the 1st Nordic Design Research Conference, Copenhagen, Denmark, 29–31 May 2005.

[33] ISO 7162: 1992, Performance standards in building – Contents and format of standards for evaluation of performance.

[19] Chueh T.Y., Kao, D.T., The Moderating Effects of Consumer Perception to the Impacts of Country-ofdesign on Perceived quality. J. Am. Acad. Bus., pp. 70–74, 2004.

[35] ISO 9836: 1992, Performance standards in building – Definition and calculation of area and space indicators.

[20] Ashby, M.F., Johnson, K., Materials and Design: The Art and Science of Material Selection in Product Design; Butterworth-Heinemann: Oxford, UK and Boston, NJ, USA, 2002. [21] Cagan, J., Vogel, C.M., Creating Breakthrough Products; Prentice Hall PTR: Upper Saddle River, NJ, USA, 2002. [22] Saaty, T.L., Decision Making in Economic, Political, Social, and Technological Environments with the Analytic Hierarchy Process; RWA Publications: Pittsburgh, PA, USA, 1994. [23] Saaty, T.L., The Analytic Hierarchy Process; McGraw-Hill: New York, NY, USA, 1980. [24] Chen, S.-J., Hwang, Fu, C.-L., Multiple Attribute Decision Making; Springer-Verlag: Berlin, Germany, 1992. [25] Becker R., Foliente G., Performance Based International State of the art, PeBBu 2nd International SotA Report, CIBdf, Rotterdam, 2005. [26] Gross J.G., Developments in the Application of the Performance Concept in Building, Proceedings of the 3rd symposium of CIB-ASTM-ISO-RILEM, National Building Research Institute, Israel, 1996. [27] ISO 6240: 1980, Performance standards in building – Contents and presentation. [28] ISO 6241: 1984, Performance standards in building – Principles for their preparation and factors to be considered.

[34] ISO 9699: 1994, Performance standards in building – Check list for briefing – Contents of brief for building design.

[36] ISO 9000-00: 2000a, Quality Management system Fundamentals and vocabulary. [37] ISO 9001-00: 2000b, Quality Management system Requirements [38] CEN (2002). EN 12152:2002 Curtain Walling — Air Permeability —Performance Requirements and Classification. CEN, European Commission for Standardization, Brussels. [39] CEN (2002 − 2007). Structural Eurocodes (EN 1990 — Eurocode: Basis of structural design. EN 1991 — Eurocode 1: Actions on structures. EN 1992 — Eurocode 2: Design of concrete structures. EN 1993 —Eurocode 3: Design of steel structures. EN 1994 — Eurocode 4: Design of composite steel and concrete structures. EN 1995 — Eurocode 5: Design of timber structures. EN 1996 — Eurocode 6: Design of masonry structures. EN 1997 — Eurocode 7: Geotechnical design. EN 1998 — Eurocode 8: Design of structures for earthquake resistance. EN 1999 — Eurocode 9: Design of aluminium structures). CEN, European Commission for Standardization, Brussels. [40] UNI 10838: 1999, Building. Terminology for users, performances, quality and building process. [41] BRE – Building Research Establishment. [42] CIB - International Council for Research and Innovation in Building and Construction. [43] CSTB – Centre Scientifique et Technique du Bâtiment. [44] IAI – International Alliance for Interoperabilit.

[29] ISO 6242: 1992, Building construction – Expression of user’s requirements – Part 1: Thermal requirements.

[45] PeBBu Thematic Network.

[30] ISO 6242: 1992, Building construction – Expression of user’s requirements – Part 2: Air purity requirements.

[47] http://inuitshop9a.weebly.com/ (1. figure).

[31] ISO 6242: 1992, Building construction – Expression of user’s requirements – Part 3: Acoustical requirements.

[46] https://hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afrika_epiteszete (1. figure).

[48] http://www.umvp.eu/files/A_Balaton_Felvidek_ MNVH.pdf (2. figure). [49] http://greenr.blog.hu/ (2. figure).

International Journal of Contemporary Architecture ”The New ARCH“ Vol. 2, No. 2 (2015)

ISSN 2198-7688

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

[50] http://www.szimpatika.hu/ (4. figure).

[59] http://www.visasim.ethz.ch/ (8. figure Acoustic).

[51] https://www.mozaweb.hu (4. figure).

[60] http://www.ansys.com/ (8. figure Structures).

[52] http://www.myphotocreations.com/blog (5. figure New York).

[61] http://sweets.construction.com/ (9. figure).

[53] http://www.wikiwand.com/ (5. figure Dubai).

[62] https://technet.microsoft.com/enus/library/Database architecture (10. figure).

[54] http://archikron.blogspot.hu/ Argentina).

[63] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_architecture (10. figure).

(6.

figure

[55] http://www.homedsgn.com/ (6. figure USA).

[64] http://www.nist.gov/srd/materials.cfm (10. figure)

[56] http://www.archdaily.com (6. figure Poland).

[65] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo “Learning material on environmentally friendly construction and building (Encobuild) A New International Course Module for Environmentally Friendly Construction and Building - Leonardo Project 1999. (15. figure).

[57] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walt_Disney_Conce rt_Hall (7. figure). [58] http://www.nrel.gov/buildings/pdfs/ Energy).

(8.

figure

International Journal of Contemporary Architecture ”The New ARCH“ Vol. 2, No. 2 (2015)

ISSN 2198-7688

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

DOI: 10.14621/tna.20150302

Public Space as a Soft–Connection for Urban: Study on Japanese Streets Wei Shi, Beisi Jia, H. Koon Wee The University of Hong Kong 999077, Hong Kong, China, ailswanster@gmail.com

Abstract

1. Introduction

Public space is one of the most essential elements of people’s urban life, which provides the material foundation for people to exchanging goods, social activities and communication. The most common pattern of urban spaces for gathering activities is narrow and long street in dense blocks. As the majority of Japanese take part in social activities by intensive walking through dense blocks rather than stay statically in one square with certain form. This article studied on four famous Japanese streets –– Dotonbori (Osaka), Osu commercial pedestrian (Nagoya), Shijo Kawaramachi (Kyoto) and Omotesando (Tokyo) to figure out the characteristics of typical Japanese public spaces.

Urban open space is usually defined as out-door and indoor places in urban where people can reach at any time almost without any permission for accessibility. In Japan, the mobile or the immobile are both deducing characteristics of the new era as well as transmitting historical information respectively. And as a culture favour of antiquities and old things is one of the unique national spirit in Japan [5], traces and signets of different times have been transferred and preserved in urban texture tangibly or intangibly. The basic formation of Japanese popular public streets largely was contributed to traditional Japanese activities such as parade, garden tour, boat tour, etc. rather than assembling in one field statically. This means people go through a long and interesting route by a special way --“touring”. In a long term, some of these streets with regular activities become a trademark with function of symbolic or image for a city or its publics. And more business, culture, population are attracted to immigrant in. As a result, image of the most famous Japanese streets with vitality were built. Continuation of historical planning with proper adjustments, preservation of traditional activities, flexible adaption of open spaces, and fragmentary renewing for buildings in Japanese streets are all representatives of respecting authentic memory in urban design. Therefore, the analysis on typical Japanese vital streets can provide a significant reference for sustainable organisations of various usages in urban.

2. Background of cases Keywords:

Public space, Soft-connection, Urban density, Space pattern, Asian public life

Article history:

Received: 12 April 2015 Revised: 14 July 2015 Accepted: 20 July 2015

2.1. Dotonbori in Osaka Osaka is an international city, only second to Tokyo in output scale of industrial production scale and output in Japan. Iron and steel, machinery manufacturing and metal processing are its main heavy industry. Nowadays,

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________ W. Shi, B. Jia, H. K. Wee: “Public Space as a Soft–Connection for Urban: Study on Japanese Streets”, pp. 16–26

International Journal of Contemporary Architecture ”The New ARCH“ Vol. 2, No. 2 (2015)

ISSN 2198-7688

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Dotonbori is one of main business districts of Osaka. Along canal, there are many commercial strips and restaurants. Large-scale neon signs also become a famous symbol of Osaka.

2.2. Osu commercial pedestrian in Nagoya Osu Kannon temple was built in 1333, located in Kifuken Kuwabaracho Osu. Since 1612, the temple was moved to current site. The Osu commercial pedestrian is developed based on the temple-streets for temples such as "Osu Kannon temple", "Wan Song temple" since the Edo period. Now, it has become a business prosperous area, a collection of 1200 all kinds of old shops and novelty stores and also a growing popular tourist attraction.

2.3. Shijo Kawaramachi in Kyoto Until 1868, before Kanmu Tennō emperor was moving the capital from Heian-kyō to Tokyo in794, Kyoto had always been the capital of Japan. There are many traditional folk customs in Kyoto, such as Aoyimatsuri, Gionmatsuri. Shijo Kawaramachi means the flourishing blocks around the crossroad around the crossroad. Shijo Kawaramachi includs in the route of Yamahoko no Jyunkou in Gionmatsuri, and the “Tsujimaoshi” of turning left in this crossroad is a special scenic pot in the ceremony.

2.4. Omotesando in Tokyo The coexistence of history and contemporary has become one of the biggest features of Tokyo. Omotesando was constructed in 1920. It is a general term for the Santo of Meiji Shrine and the constructing urban road in front of Meiji Shrine. The urban road now is also the Todo 413 as knew, including road from Aoyamatori to Meiji Shrine. In general, Omotesando means the surrounding area around the urban roads and Omotesando Station. After the 1970s, “Harajuku Omotesandō” or “Aoyama Omotesandō” became the base of youth culture and fashion. Then it gradually became a dens place of boutiques.

3. Method 3.1. Figure–ground approach Figure-ground approach is a method for studying relationship between urban construction entities and open space. This analysis can be traced back to Nolli’s Roman Map. It was also called Mass-void Approach, which was built based on perceptual selectivity

psychology. By this study approach, structure of a city can be clearly recognized and open space with its built environment can be understood more comprehensively and deeply. Using this analysis approach to explain city pattern, space order and space levels, etc., then to offer reliable reference for designing positive urban open space.

3.2. Figure–ground approach Urban functional partition was reflected in construction of ancient cities. After industrial revolution, heavy industry, new material elements such as railway hub appeared in many cities, but due to no planning of city construction. Cities are often in a chaotic mixture of factories, houses, stores, warehouses, etc. Thus, functional partition problems began to attract attention. Function zonings form a mutual contact, rational layout of organic unity to create a good environment with well conditions for the city activities [4]. It is one of the important urban planning methods to decide land use and spatial layout form according to principles of functional partition.

3.3. Linkage–structure approach Linkage theory is also called "Associated Coupling Theory". Objective of the associated coupling theory is "lines" among all key elements of a city. This approach aims to organize a connection system or a network for building a structure for order space. And it emphasizes circular flowing structure diagram rather than a spatial pattern. Flowing system and infrastructure are prerequisites for reining in open space. It offers analysis principles for understanding urban spatial structure as well as thoughts and means for recovering, restoring or regenerating a harmonious and unified space. This kind of space could achieve organic uniting of new structure with original structure and internal structure with external structure.

3.4. Place–form approach “Place theory” considers more about culture, history and natural environment as indicators than previous three approaches. By assessing influence factors for urban environment such as social determinants, historical determinants and cultural determinants, intrinsic characteristics of the urban space could be outlined for guiding urban open spaces work much well on meeting different levels of people’s needs. Place theory advocates combine unique form of environment and internal details to give rich content for material space [8]. This is dialogue made for the internal context to enhance adaptability between new design and the current conditions. Social cultural value of users, visual

International Journal of Contemporary Architecture ”The New ARCH“ Vol. 2, No. 2 (2015)

ISSN 2198-7688

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Figure 1. Figure–around analysis of Dotonbori

perception and ability of controlling public environment is as important as the connection principles of spaces [1].

4. Case study 4.1. Dotonbori in Osaka (1)

One long street replaces squares

In figure–ground diagram of Dotonbori (Figure 1), it could be found that there is no large-scale public gathering square in Dotonbori as the piazza San Marco in Venice or the piazza del Campo in Siena. The most obvious space shape is a straight east-west main-street. In Dotonbori such a regular a clear space of street, it is not suitable for people to stay and gather in a mass point together, which will cause congestion. And limited capability of narrow streets decides it cannot gather people just in some special points. Therefore, walking through the main street is the most efficient behaviour to involved in the public space like Dotonbori. This street plays a role as leading much more people feel freedom of walking in regularly and controlled space with stopping or continuing to involve in organized social activities. And narrow channels decide as long as there is flowing of people come in from one enter of the street, constantly some others will be pushed out to finish touring in the street. Uniform forward flowing let

more people have chances to participate in street. Because of enough narrow of this street allow people to see shops on both sides clearly without worried missing something. The long and narrow characters lead participation of public events more efficient and sufficient. (2)

Streets with diversified factors parallels to river

Dotonbori is a canal excavated on considering transport factors. In developing process, more vendors and street entertainers gathered here due to convenient river transportation and frequently commercial events [6]. Main-street of Dotonbori is parallel to the canal and several relative narrow allies linking it to bank of the canal (Figure 2). Distances between these allies are similar. This not only leads to convenience of business activities but also the strong recognition of street with the canal could be seen by walking in the main-street of Dotonbori from time to time. People will not lost senses of direction by walking in the street. And many activities on water have been hold. The parallel of traffic–moving boats and walking people, builds a dialogue between canal and street, which lead to formation of a mixture atmosphere. Additionally, existence of canal strengthened people’s sense of Dotonbori area. People experience vigor culture and traditional culture by moving one enter of street to another enters with a busy

International Journal of Contemporary Architecture ”The New ARCH“ Vol. 2, No. 2 (2015)

ISSN 2198-7688

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Figure 2. Linkage–structure analysis of Dotonbori

people flowing with freedom of choosing leave this area or not at any time in this process. And sub-entrances are every easily to be found and accessed. (3)

Intersections work as a rhythm for understanding the area

In analysis diagram, it could be found that widths of streets, which perpendicularly cross Dotonbori mainstreet to river, are almost same. And widths of vehicle road are also similar. In addition, configuration of these intersections has a certain rhythm and beat. It means these intersections evenly divided Dotonbori mainstreet and make it quite convenient for people to get the scene of whole area. And these roads are all corresponding to bridges to another bank of canal. In the figure-ground analysis diagram, buildings near river are also as narrow as main-street. This kind of dimension makes buildings look like connection between mainstreet and bank road rather than dividers. Movement is essence of streets, but they also serve broader functions, which have often been lost in modern emphasis on rapid passage through city. Streets can be organizers of field (districts), linear centres, or links between entities. A traditional street is conceived as positive exterior space of richly varied uses in which traffic of different types coexists and in which functional and social activities are gathered. Crossroads in Dotonbori are very important communication space with appropriate scale, diversity form, identifiable mark, a variety of small entertainment facilities and more suitable and useful than vast and magnificent openness square. (4)

Image of food culture attracts people

"Space interface" is a constitution element of space place ― it refers to processing and connection mode for ground or façade, including its material, texture and combination, etc. In main-street of Dotonbori, different

colourful pavement bricks are used to surface on different roadways. Red, blue and white bricks are paved on grid mesh as arrangement rule as urban fabric of this area, which lead people to get a clear sense of field and direction. And one of the most essential reasons of Dotonbori as a famous landmark of Osaka is that: neon advertisement signs are giant, strange and unique. In Dotonbori, atmosphere is arose mostly by facilities and sculptures related to food themes of restaurants. Here, almost every restaurant or shop has not only colourful large models but also Patron Saint sculptures of Tsutengaku and interactive facilities. These supplements in various sizes and shapes attracted people to take photographic or take participate in interactive games. Some shops set up some seats outdoor, which is not occupying public space for private usage but attracting people to site on them no matter they want to buy anything or not by putting some siting Patron Saint sculptures on these seats. As Dotonbori near canal, water brings a cool, refreshing and natural breath to busy and noisy main-street. Especially in evening, people can crowd in main-street for tasting and trying leisure games or feel cool and refreshing night wind near As a summary, Dotonbori was developed based on scale of long, narrow and neat streets and relied on convenience of canal and macro natural environment. Food culture of Osaka is treated as core traditional theme in Dotonbori. Now, it has been a symbol and image of Osaka and attracts a number of local and non-local to enjoy an impression time here.

4.2. Osu commercial pedestrian in Nagoya (1)

Intensive events separately in pieces replace gathering events

Osu commercial pedestrian was developed based on traditional image of Osu Kannon temple. Because of width of roads round the pedestrian area is much wider

International Journal of Contemporary Architecture ”The New ARCH“ Vol. 2, No. 2 (2015)

ISSN 2198-7688

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Figure 3. Figure-around analysis of Osu commercial pedestrian

than in it. Field sense of this area is quite obvious. Even its dimension and texture seem not much different from surrounding circumstance. And various themes and culture are coexistence in this area. The analysis diagrams (Figure 3) shows that levels of streets in this area are very obvious. And the levels related to width of streets in this area are also quite clear. In this commercial area, whole area is two divided to scratchable latex form by two horizontal and two vertical streets. Because of blocks in east side and west side are much bigger than centre blocks, the third levels roads divided them into several sub-blocks as similar scale as centre blocks. Moreover, layout of each sub block pattern is also different: from sub-block 1 to 9, spreading way of buildings becomes more and more regular and integrated. And in figure-ground diagram, look at overall trend, continuous building areas are also larger and larger from 1 to 9 sub-block. And sub-block (middle one of right rank), which contains Urimonzen Park and Sanrinjinjya, occupies a relative large sub-block of land lead to more loose texture than other sub-blocks. Other sub-blocks, except sub-block 7，from western-north to eastern-south, textures of these sub-blocks change from fragments to integrated and completed gradually. This is because western area has more religious sites for shrines and temples, while eastern area has much more commercial land for public activities. (2)

Developing individual characters of streets based on gathering ability of temples

The business atmosphere could be traced to the religious temples, which is built in 400 years ago. However, this area has developed its own commercial characters after developing in hundred years. In Japan, spreading of commercial streets around religious buildings can reflect two different sides of social

characteristics of Japanese society. Juxtaposition of mixture commercial streets and temples does not seem as contradiction. It is totally accepted in this social culture. Nowadays, though Osu commercial pedestrian is as popular as temple without direct relationship, the temple attracts people to come still by its own religious character and atmosphere. This kind of combination between streets and religious temples is quite different to western democratic square formed on basis of church, which shared consistency connotation with square. In Japan, there are a variety of religions, including Shinto, Buddhism, Christianity, and so on. Development of commercial streets full of atmosphere with business, which is not related to religions directly, fully embodies way of treating relationship between inner and outer spirits, dealing contradiction between traditional and culture and modern life and leading social development with harmonious coexistence of variety. (3) Levels of grid connection lead to efficient flowing In this business district, 9 blocks have different functions slightly, as functions are developed on basis of suitable scale or layout of blocks. Blocks are uniform contacted to whole connection grid. And connections are almost vertical or horizontal throughout the region. Therefore, as some building facilities are set on middle of key crossnotes, people can get information from far away, judge distance or decide whether to go or not to another block. As a result, multi-level network connection contributes to efficient information transmission. Existence of little pieces of open space with different usage improved identification, position sense of facilitates and connection of whole district closely (Figure 4).

International Journal of Contemporary Architecture ”The New ARCH“ Vol. 2, No. 2 (2015)

ISSN 2198-7688

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Plutus Cat is always be packed in activities’ season. There are some relative big open spaces in this district, which are mostly developed on original culture and function to help shaping belonging sense of spaces. High acceptance for alternate mixture or diversification coexisting of fixed traditional events and temporary modern activities is one of charming characters of Japanese culture and also a reason for keeping streets’ vitality for a long time.

4.3. Shijo Kawaramachi in Kyoto (1) Figure 4: Figure-around analysis of Dotonbori

Although sizes of the 9 blocks are different, each block has roads narrow to main-streets dividing these blocks into similar sub- blocks. Each side of one sub- block is about 50-80m, which is appropriate to offer enough chooses to go to other areas or other roads without passing by too many shops they are not interested in. And no mater people in any points of this district, there is a least one straight route direct them to main-street of this area and no more than 50m. This helps people get senses of position and whole district. And it is also resolve congestion problem of cargo transport by offering many shortcut routes for choosing. (4) Different themes promote occurrence of activities Atmosphere of “Smorgasbord” is the biggest charm of Osu. In each sub-block, there is a small piece of nonbuilding land. They are set up for regional characteristics and individual theme space rather left as undefined land or fussy space. These spaces are used flexibly as venues for many subjects for public every once in a while. It is not rent as normal leased land casually, but for fixed theme international activities or performances every year, such as “World Cosplay Summi” in certain season and place. Numerous people will come to take participate in these activities every year, which also established a special image of Osu district. In addition, on main non-built place nodes of the 9 subblocks, some durable cultural facilities are also been set for active atmosphere and improve identification. For example, large Osu Plutus Cat is located in middle of 9 block, at crossroad of “Shintenchidori (新天地通)” and“Higashinioumondori (东仁王门通)” ― Fureayi. There is a screen under Osu Plutus Cat, which plays some service guide about shops in Osu ordinarily and sometimes broadcast live competitions of Nagoya local baseball and football team. And place in front of Osu

Inheritance of fine grid texture without large public spaces

It could be found in figure-ground analysis diagram: urban fabric of Kawaramachiis much more structured than Osaka and Nagoya with more dense buildings. Its texture looks like a maze, which is a result of continuation from ancient Kyoto city’s structure. Grid structure of streets is not only very neat and intensive： except two widest streets ---- Shijo Street and Kawaramachi Street, other roads of region does not have obvious levels. And almost all streets are west-east or south-north through whole area and constitute the gird structure. And the fine grid covers entire region and divided it into 60-70 small similar blocks. Every small block’s size is about 80m×130m. This kind of division is directly related to system of Japanese address. Brand of house number usually is not ranged by road. In the two figure-ground analysis picture (Figure 5), it could also be seen that there is no large urban open space such as plaza or square in Shijo Kawaramachi. And the only remained relative big non-built land is all used for not all-accessible public usage. Land privatization in Japan decided owner has a total right for efficiently use and manage his/her land to avoiding waste of space and reducing appearance of "lost space". Furthermore, in Japan, positive characteristic of space is not just embodied on one or two specific functional usage but also means multi-function in different seasons, years or moments. And rights of restoration and reusing from owner are also playing a role of reducing possible of big demolition for one new building. (2)

Traditional crafts and food were made and sold by self-employed in machiya

Shijo Kawaramachi is not a district with clear boundaries. It refers to surrounding area around crossroad of Shijo Street and Kawaramachi Street. Shijo Street goes through Shijo Kawaramachi area crossing Kamo River and connecting it to the famous Gion area,which is original place of Japanese geisha culture. And this street directly points to the front steps of Yasaka Shrine.

International Journal of Contemporary Architecture ”The New ARCH“ Vol. 2, No. 2 (2015)

ISSN 2198-7688

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Figure 5. Figure–around analysis of Shijo Kawaramachi

Most buildings in this area are shop-houses for making and selling traditional food and crafts and offering living places for shop owners, except some houses for residential. Street pavements on both sides of Shijo Street are converted into veranda for preventing rain. At the same time, as one part of façades along with the whole street, veranda makes Shijo Street have more or less unity and identity. In the fine grid structure of Kyoto urban texture, there is one kind of house named machiya is densely arranging in blocks. Machiya means blockhouse in Japanese, which works as shop-house in southeast. Integrated function of this house could not be found from out side. Machiya’s building plane is a long rectangular usually with the short edge along to streets. The front part is used as shops while the behind

part is used as residential house, which often includes a tiny courtyard. With time passed, more and more independent merchants and craftsmen tried to solve in centre of the city. At the same time, business activities increased dramatically. Their houses replaced a large number of blind real estate. By this way, the official order has been kept symbolically. And the landlord got an additional rental income. Now, therefore, along most streets in this area there are many narrow commercial shops connecting to each other with their facade of traditional Japanese house and consisting to an integrating street view. And at the back part of this house, a mini courtyard usually is still included.

International Journal of Contemporary Architecture ”The New ARCH“ Vol. 2, No. 2 (2015)

ISSN 2198-7688

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

(3)

Regular grid structure without obvious hierarchical streets

From the diagram (Figure 6), it could be found that Kamo River is almost from north to south straightly. With a change of direction near the crossroad of Shijo Kawaramachi, form of Kamo River looks like an arc. And Kawaramachi Street also change direction with the similar angle of Kamo River in the crossroad. The way of connection by the two parts of Kawaramachi Street makes its form look like an arrow waiting to bow. The bow structure connects north and south of this area. It makes two parts connected closely and entirely as the area is divided into two parts symmetrically by Shijo Street. Although most part of this area shows uniform grid texture, the bow shape with its widest street and

river solved the problem caused by too loose and tile of block connections. The bow built the tension of the north and the south of the region as well as the tension between the west and the east in Shijo Kawaramachi. Because of main blocks is quite big while the roads in it are as similar wide as sub-blocks, people hardly get view or information about on side of block from another side. And the street is too long for people to get a view to the end of it. Though people could recognize south or north uniform layout of roads in such a big region confuse people who are not familiar with this area. Fortunately, the traffic is very convenient here — people could get a good view corridor easily. It solves some problems from too much roads with similar dimension more or less. (4)

“Touring” as a main activity form are prevailing in Japanese ceremonies

In Japan, “public” is a spirit construction rather than a physical existence [10]. Many pleasant public space is not entirely depend on the excellent physical design. Shijo Kawaramachi as one of the most flourishing region in Kyoto is a great example of developing vital of streets on basis of inherence of traditional activities. Construction of public places along banks is quite suitable to Japanese national spirit: Japanese are always like to observe changes of nature. In the river scenic places, seasonal activities are often held, such as fireworks, or admiring flowers. Attractive of this area is not just stop on its traditional ceremony for non-local people but go further by attractive atmosphere of bank. For local, watching lanterns along Kamo River, people can go through bustling river with a sense of cutting off working day and turning back to Edo period is really a comfortable and ease experience. There are many stores here sale or rent traditional kimono and hair accessories, and also provide service of wearing and dressing. The natural and comfortable atmosphere advocates people feel fully immersed in the circumstance of this ancient city. In Japan, these activities are held by touring in a certain route in the city or block rather than gathering on a large public square. For example, Yamakasa Festival is one of “Kyoto Sandaiji” –– Aoyimatsuri, Gionmatsuri, Jidayimatsuri with more than one thousand years history. Ebullience atmosphere fills all streets and keeps enduring for a long time every year.

4.4. Omotesando in Tokyo (1)

Figure 6. Linkage–structure analysis of Shijo Kawaramachi

Hidden order of collage city in mixture of chaos and regular

It could be found by figure–ground analysis (Figure 7): urban texture around Omotesando in Tokyo seems much more chaos and random than previous three

International Journal of Contemporary Architecture ”The New ARCH“ Vol. 2, No. 2 (2015)

ISSN 2198-7688

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Figure 7. Figure–ground analysis of Omotesando

cases. It looks like there is a grid structure in organization of urban space faintly. The structure seemingly exists or not with often being interrupted by different space or suddenly turning to another direction totally out of previous structure. And the faintly existing grid context is also not north to south direction but on the direction of about 45 degrees counter–clockwise. Tokyo’s urban environment is a combination of chaos and order within a hidden order urban structure [3]. In the figure-ground analysis diagram, the size of traditional Japanese buildings in small plots is similar to other places. They are following the slightly to irregular roads and filling these plots in a loose way. Then, these plots seem to have a contact related with others intentionally or unintentionally. (2)

High mixed land-use for comprehensive commercial space

On both sides of Omotesando, there are many independent buildings for luxury stores respectively and a complex mall with a small plaza. Such as Omotesando Hills, which is reconstructed and rebuilt on basis of a residential building containing more than 130 stores and 38 apartments, which was built in 1927, which was detached in 2003. In February 2006, Andō Tadao redesigned it as part of Omotesando Hills, which includes many individualized luxury shops. Nearby Omotesando Hills is entrance of Harajuku. Its fashion sense and gleaming impressions attract a large number of young people to visit. Harajuku area is just on the east side behind buildings along Omotesando. It has a much younger favor as birthplace of non-mainstream culture with bright and color decorations. The narrow Takeshitadaidou avenue

Figure 8. Linkage–structure analysis of Omotesando

street (竹下大道) brings many supply stores, jewelry stores and boutiques together. The sites with relative big open spaces showed in the figure-ground diagram are used as dormitory or school, which are not accessible for all population. Fundamentally, there is no big open space for gathering people at same time. And people prefer to reach efficient communication and social activities in an intensive flowing of human between crowded and limited streets. (3)

Glyph “Jin” (“壬”) urban structure gathers loose clutters

In this area, it could be seen from the analysis diagram (Figure 8) that crossed roads constitute a skeleton of this

International Journal of Contemporary Architecture ”The New ARCH“ Vol. 2, No. 2 (2015)

ISSN 2198-7688

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

area as a Glyph Jin (壬) shape for controlling all fragmental pieces in this area. Though scale of the residential buildings behind famous commercial buildings along Omotesando Street is similar to housings in other Japanese cities [7], organization of these buildings are much more loose. The spacing between buildings is usually as wide as the road nearby the buildings. Therefore, it is not easy to figure out the hidden order of roads without to distinguish carefully. By considering this area, it could be found that building distribution is quite freedom with a loose network structure. Except the straight main street (Omotesando), other roads are more or less curved. The network structure also looks like collage [9] with cutting rather than one consistent piece. And these fragments do have clear together in their respective fuzzy border. (4)

Historical landscape and pavement with “indoor” attribute

Y. Ashihara described Tokyo’s streetscapes that meandering streets lined with buildings uncoordinated in any way, as a uniquely Japanese view [2]. It is performed outstandingly in Omotesando. There are a number of world famous brand's flagship stores in this street. These architectures, designed by international renowned architects, are contending in their colour, shape, material, atmosphere, etc. and setting off the radiance and charm of each other. At the same time, the brands in real constructions illustrate its ideal conceptions while the constructions borrowed the reputation of these brands to express themselves. Constructions and ideas of content in the constructions combined together by relied on each other mutually. Japan is a country where architecture is oriented from floor [3]. The first important thing in the city is to improve pavements and try to make them attractive. Ceramic decorated, abstract covers and ingenious carved stones are flexibility used in pavements. And it

helps to extend “internal order” of streets out of individual houses. To improve a city’s outdoor open space by indoor consideration is a unique Japanese method for urban development.

5. Conclusion The differences between the development of open space in classical European cities and Asian cities (Figure 9) are performed in two aspects: firstly, Asian cities such as Tokyo were built pieces by pieces in a huge extensive urban design framework without any certain rules in a long-term. It is different to people whom constructing classical European cities slowly, continuously with constantly expanding, adding, modifying. Secondly, the different developing processes of cultural contexts made people to have different demands and assessing system to open space for public activities in Asia and European cities. As most of the ancient Asian cities were not built on the basis of democracy, they have not as many big public-squares as European cities, which are used for gathering and collection to express wishes and to publish announcements. There is a traditional culture of implicit communication in Asian cities: people achieve a joint relationship by intensive connections between individuals in a frequent flowing between the fine nest-structure of streets. And this is also an exchange way for goods, information and materials in people’s daily life. On the basis of learning from the four famous Japanese vital streets in four cities (Dotonbori in Osaka, Osu commercial pedestrian in Nagoya, Shijo Kawaramachi in Kyoto and Omotesando in Tokyo) by figure–ground approach, function–location approach, linkage– structure approach and place–form approach, disciplines of forming and keeping vital streets in a long time can be figured out:

Figure 9. Flowing comparative analysis of the Piazza of S. Marko and four cases in this paper ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________ W. Shi, B. Jia, H. K. Wee: “Public Space as a Soft–Connection for Urban: Study on Japanese Streets”, pp. 16–26

International Journal of Contemporary Architecture ”The New ARCH“ Vol. 2, No. 2 (2015)

ISSN 2198-7688

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

(1)

A specific physical environment is the basic guarantee for people participate in social activities;

(2)

Built environment and its development are closely related to the specific context;

(3)

(4)

Natural resources such as rivers, trees [11], mountains combined with artificial heritage such as religion/ traditional architecture and garden could be the basic conditions to support activities; Tension created from juxtaposition or combination among multiple elements is the impetus of keeping the atmosphere of streets last in a long-term.

References [1] Agnew, Space and Place, The SAGE Handbook of Geographical Knowledge, SAGE Publications Ltd, London, UK, Chapter 23, 2011. [2] Ashihara, Y., The aesthetic townscape, MIT Press, Cambridge, 1983. [3] Ashihara, Y., The Culture of the Floor, The Aesthetics of Tokyo: Chaos and Order, Ichigaya Shuppansha, Tokyo, pp. 22–23, 1998. [4] Georgiou D., P. F. Carspecken and E. P. Willems, An expansion of Roger Barker's Behavior Setting

Survey for an ethno-ecological approach to personenvironment interactions, Journal of Environmental Psychology, 16, 4, pp. 319–333, 10.1006/jevp.1996.0027, 1996. [5] Hagiwara, The Alley as a Spiritual Axis for the Community: The Hikifune Project, Public places in Asia Pacific cities: current issues and strategies, Kluwer Academic, Boston Publishers, 2001. [6] Jinnai, The Waterfront as a Public Place in Tokyo, Public places in Asia Pacific cities: current issues and strategies, Kluwer Academic, Boston Publishers, 2001. [7] L.Meier, Notes on the Creation of an Efficient Megalopolis: Tokyo, Human Identity in the Urban Environment, Penguin Books, Harmondsworth, Eng., pp. 557-580, 1972. [8] Norberg-Schulz, Meaning in Western architecture, Rizzoli, New York, US, 1980. [9] Rowe, C., Collage city, MIT Press, Cambridge, US, 1978. [10] T. Hidaka, M. T., Japanese Public Space as Defined by Event, Public places in Asia Pacific cities: current issues and strategies, Kluwer Academic, Boston Publishers, 2001. [11] Trancik, R., Finding lost space: theories of urban design, Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, US, 1986.

International Journal of Contemporary Architecture ”The New ARCH“ Vol. 2, No. 2 (2015)

ISSN 2198-7688

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

DOI: 10.14621/tna.20150303

Adapting the Concept of Courtyard in Long–Narrow Attached Houses as a Sustainable Approach: The Saudi Experiment Tarek Abdelsalam Department of Architecture, University of Modern Sciences & Arts (MSA) 6th of October City, Egypt, tareqslam@gmail.com

Abstract

1. Introduction

Studying and investigating the concept of courtyard in residential buildings in contemporary Arab architecture allows the distinctive nature of tradition to be reinterpreted in the context of the contemporary era. Although most Arab people link the courtyard house with the traditional lifestyle, an increasing number are keen to see the courtyard typology adapted to modern needs. At this point, critical research questions are raised; how can we adapt the courtyard typology to modern needs, what design principles should be followed, and what are the likely urban consequences. This paper attempts to answer the previous questions and address the issue of adapting the courtyard concept in the long-narrow attached houses as a sustainable approach for hot arid regions. To tackle the research problem and answer its questions, a Saudi experiment of two contemporary courtyard housing projects will be analysed, investigated and discussed. Saudi Arabia is one of few countries in the world where most people still adhere to a strictly traditional way of life whilst at the same time having the wealth to possess advanced means of technology. Through the selected two projects the concept of courtyard will be examined and assessed in the long-narrow attached houses to set design principles and guidelines that could be followed in dealing with the issue of courtyard in contemporary residential buildings in the region. The paper discusses the characteristics and advantages of long-narrow attached courtyard houses in the region. it also examines the appropriateness of this approach for housing projects in the region with particular focus on the new urban developments in Egypt.

This research focuses on the Saudi experiment in utilizing long-narrow attached courtyard house because of the richness of the experiment compared to similar attempts in the region and also because of the distinctive nature of the Saudi society. Like many other traditional societies, Saudi society has been subject to a great many changes due to the phenomenon of globalization and this has resulted in a conflict between the authentic and the occidental, the local and the global, the traditional and western models [1]. Many people in Saudi Arabia continue to believe that the courtyard house is a manifestation of the local tradition linked essentially to the poor past. They have doubt regarding the appropriateness of the courtyard house to the contemporary needs of Saudi society, especially in the area of climate moderation and gender privacy. This notion could be ascribed to a couple of factors: (a) misunderstanding of the different values of this concept, and (b) the lack of appropriate contemporary models of the courtyard house that fulfil the needs and hopes of the contemporary Saudi society [2]. Focusing on the long-narrow house as a model through which the concept of courtyard is adapted is based on the significance of utilizing this approach at socio-cultural, economical and environmental levels.

Keywords:

Courtyard house, Long-narrow house, New urban developments, Saudi courtyard house

Article history:

Received: 11 June 2015 Revised: Accepted: 19 June 2015

To answer the research questions and attain its objectives, the research method will rely on discussing the theoretical background of the concept of courtyard and its significance. In addition, a documentary analysis of the advantages of the long-narrow house will be carried out including analysis of one western example in the UK. Based on the theoretical discussion and data collected from designers and their firms' archives the main two case study projects in Saudi Arabia will be analysed to answer the research questions and identify design principles and guidelines for future applications.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________ T. Abdelsalam: “Adapting the Concept of Courtyard in Long–Narrow Attached Houses as a Sustainable Approach: The Saudi …”, pp. 27–37

International Journal of Contemporary Architecture ”The New ARCH“ Vol. 2, No. 2 (2015)

ISSN 2198-7688

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. Significance of courtyard As a theoretical background to build a clear and reliable discussion, it is important to shed some light on the significance of courtyard at socio-cultural, economical and environmental levels: Cultural significance In Islamic societies, visual connection to the sky enhances many significant religious values and courtyard represents the window of the house to the sky. Courtyard ensures privacy for the house inhabitants especially women, as an important part of the household daily activities take place in the courtyard. In addition, reliance on the courtyard in the natural lighting and ventilation for the house spaces minimizes the need for windows in the external facades which supports the principle of privacy.

generic building forms used in the same location [7]. The courtyard helps in protecting the house spaces against sand storms. In addition it helps in isolating the house inhabitants from the street noise. Green areas and water features in the court helps in reducing the air temperature and purifying the air from dusts. Social and psychological significance The courtyard achieves the interaction between the inhabitants and the elements of the surrounding environment such as the sun, moon, sky, clouds, rain, .… especially for women and children. The courtyard also enhances the feeling of safety and sense of containment. In addition to its role as a circulation hub in the house, the courtyard could be used as a dinning or living space or children play area.

3. Traditional courtyard house

Economic significance The courtyard minimizes the energy consumption in artificial lighting and ventilation during the day. The household can utilize part of the courtyard in growing vegetables and fruits for their usage. In case of adopting the concept of attached courtyard house (from 3 sides) and reliance on one external façade, the facades' construction cost is reduced by 75%. Environmental significance As the courtyard is shaded most of the day hours, it helps in reducing the thermal pressure, solar exposure and glare from reflected sun rays. The courtyard also plays an important role in enhancing the air movement in the house as the hot air in the court moves upward letting the cool air to flow from the rooms' windows replacing the hot air in the court. In a study of housing typologies of the southern part of India, parametric modeling results show that courtyard houses have a 50% less cooling load requirement compared to other

Figure 1. Assehemi house in old Islamic Cairo

The courtyard house was found in ancient civilizations like Egyptian, Greek, Roman and Persian architecture, where its fundamental role was identified through social factors and environmental considerations [3]. Islamic architecture was distinguished by compacted urban fabric with narrow streets and courtyard houses with solid high external walls [4]. At this point, it is important to indicate that the introverted approach of house design in Islamic culture and negligence of external facades led to the reliance on internal courtyard as one of the main elements of Islamic house design. If we look at the traditional societies in the Arab world, we find that the courtyard house was the dominant housing type. In Cairo, traditional Islamic house was distinguished by its courtyard with a central garden and rich architectural vocabularies including wood works that are reflected in its architectural elements [5]. The image of the remaining examples of this house type in old Islamic Cairo – Assehemi House for example Figure 1

Figure 2. Traditional courtyard house in Saudi Arabia

International Journal of Contemporary Architecture ”The New ARCH“ Vol. 2, No. 2 (2015)

ISSN 2198-7688

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

First floor plan

Ground floor plan

Figure3. Plans of a circular courtyard house in Saudi Arabia

Figure 4. The circular courtyard of the house

gives the impression that such models are inappropriate economically for the present time with the calls for minimizing the construction cost. While, in the central region of Saudi Arabia where the residential areas are characterized by the compacted masses of attached houses with one or more courtyards and front and back entrances, the image is different [6]. The image of the remaining examples in this case gives the impression that the model is inappropriate for the present time because of the simple and primitive nature of the example Figure 2.

4. Courtyard in ‘modern’ Saudi house At this point, it is important to discuss one of the attempts carried out by a local Saudi Architect to adapt the concept of courtyard in a modern house. This

modern house was built in Riyadh in 2001 with a total plot area of 1300 sq. m. Figures 3 and 4. The architect attempted to integrate the concept of courtyard typology into a western oriented design where the spaces are arranged in an open and free plan layout [8]. To discuss the appropriateness of this contemporary courtyard house to modern needs, we need to examine it from different perspectives. The emphasis of the analysis will be on the spatial organization around the courtyard in the context of contemporary social and cultural values. From the cultural point of view, the courtyard in this house does not ensure total privacy for women at two levels. First, as the courtyard is open to the main façade and exposed to the neighbouring buildings, it cannot be considered as a private enclosure. Second, the entrance lobby and men's reception hall partly overlook this court. This may hinder the women free movement and use of this space when receiving guests in the men's reception hall. The original role of courtyard as a thermal modifier inside the house is questionable in this design. The open circular form of this courtyard minimizes the shaded facades and maximizes the exposure to the sun heat. With an open court to an adjacent garden and using thermally conductive materials such as steel and glass in its facades, this architectural design has provided a debatable environmental scenario, depriving the courtyard of its traditional climatic justification. It could be argued that the court in this design is better considered as part of the garden rather than an internal courtyard of the house. Hence, the functions and activities that can take place in this court are complementary to those that are acted out in the adjacent garden. This suggests that this courtyard design has failed both to attain the full range of cultural and

International Journal of Contemporary Architecture ”The New ARCH“ Vol. 2, No. 2 (2015)

ISSN 2198-7688

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

climatic advantages and to maintain the functional benefits of the courtyard typology. If we look at the aesthetic aspects in this courtyard, we find the variety of surface materials and treatments affects the required calm atmosphere for the courtyard. The extent of glazing and metallic panelling adds an alien dimension to the scene, and highlights the difficulty of balancing traditional and contemporary design.

5. Long–narrow attached house Before investigating and analysing two projects of longnarrow courtyard house in Saudi Arabia, we need first to discuss the advantages of long-narrow courtyard house as an appropriate sustainable solution for hot arid regions. One of the biggest advantages of a long-narrow courtyard house is access to natural light. Narrow layouts permit daylight to enter the full depth of a space. Floor plans that are one room wide gather and distribute light very efficiently. In addition, narrow layouts offer plenty of natural ventilation opportunities. Openings opposite one another take advantage of the physics of natural convection through drawing cooler air into warmer spaces. At the cost level, stacking narrow plans vertically adds volume without increasing the footprint. This helps to minimize site costs, which can often be substantial. It is important to indicate that the long-narrow attached house leads to a cheaper and more efficient system of subdividing land and providing service and infrastructure for urban areas. It conserves land and ensures the effective use of limited public resources. Investigating schemes with front to depth ratio of 2:1 through 1:1 to 1:6 plus demonstrated that as the lot ratio increases, economy in infrastructure and density increases [9]. This form of development maximizes the use of existing limited resources. For example, servicing a plot of 7.5-meter frontage will lead to a saving of 75% and 85% when compared to the cost of servicing a 30 meter and 60 meter plots respectively. In real terms, this means that 3 and 7 more additional plots can be serviced with the amount needed to service single 30 meter and 60 meter plots respectively [10]. The parcelling of lot with very narrow frontages means that these plots may also become more affordable. Other advantages which will spring from the use of longnarrow lot form of development include the densification of our cities, avoidance of unnecessary sprawl and the availability of more resources resulting from savings in the cost of transportation, in maintenance cost, and in the use of non-renewable resources such as gasoline. At a different level, a study made by Chermayeff, S. and Alexander, C. on housing design in the perspective of community and privacy concluded that long narrow multi-court house appeared

to be successful and appropriate in providing the community and privacy [11].

5.1. Western example To build a constructive discussion of the Saudi experiment of the long–narrow courtyard house, it is important to discuss one of the similar western examples (Figures 5, 6 and 7). Accordia Housing project in Cambridge, UK will be investigated to enhance the argument through introducing similar approaches in different cultures. This substantial project is widely regarded as having set a whole new benchmark for large-scale housing in the UK. This multi award winning project, which was built in 2009 includes 382 dwellings in a variety of innovative house and apartment types in the form of terraces and courtyard houses. The design replaces traditional gardens with a variety of private open spaces such as courtyards, roof terraces, and large balconies. Dwellings use the entire plot depth with private garden space being created through courtyards and terraces at different levels [12]. All houses are the long-narrow courtyard configuration with front to depth ratio ranging from 1:2 to 1:4.8. A study carried out by Goh Tee and Magda Sibley on the users' perspectives of performance of Accordia courtyard houses concluded that this long-narrow courtyard house is very well liked by the users. All respondents confirmed the need for more than one type of open space in the home giving reasons such as 'flexibility of different uses and outlooks’

Figure 5. Plans of Accordia housing project

International Journal of Contemporary Architecture ”The New ARCH“ Vol. 2, No. 2 (2015)

ISSN 2198-7688

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Figure 6. View from the living space to the courtyard

Figure 7. Cross section of the house through the courtyard

'direction of sun' and 'personal space in relaxing'. The open spaces in the home were used in domestic and leisure purposes, private exercise and part of access to the home [13]. It is clear that the positive response of Accordeia users regarding the performance of longnarrow courtyard house supports the previous discussion of the advantages of this house configuration.

6. The Saudi experiment At this point, we need to focus on the Saudi Experiment of long-narrow courtyard housing through investigating

and analyzing two contemporary projects in Riyadh and Jeddah.

6.1. Project 1: Alnakheel housing project in Riyadh This project was designed by Beeah Planners, Architects & Engineers in Riyadh, in 2002. It aims to develop an ideal and safe new residential environment within affordable cost limits. The site is located in Al-Nakheel district in Riyadh and occupies an area of 452,000 sq. m. The project houses 500 residential units with a range of

International Journal of Contemporary Architecture ”The New ARCH“ Vol. 2, No. 2 (2015)

ISSN 2198-7688

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

different sizes and designs, all based on the concept of courtyard housing. Each unit consists of ground and first floors within plot areas which vary from 176 sq. m. to 1475 sq. m. In addition to the residential units, the project comprises the necessary community facilities (schools, social centre, mosques, open areas and gardens, and commercial facilities) some of which also feature courtyard design. The design concept of the master plan – Figure 8 – is based on encouraging social interaction by dividing residents to homogeneous groups. It also encourages

Figure 8. Part of Alnakheel master plan

pedestrian movement by providing safe and pleasant walkways. In addition, it provides a pleasant and comfortable atmosphere for residents around a series of linked green spaces Figure 9. The residential clusters are organized around courts. These include children's playgrounds, small gardens and car parking facilities. The residential units are classified into six types according to their design concepts. This research focuses on three of them to explain the different approaches that the designer explored in the project as a whole [14].

Figure 9. View of Alnakheel residential units and facilities

Figure 11. View of the residential unit of type A (plot 20m × 40m) Figure 12. First floor plan of type A

Figure 10. Ground floor plan of type A

In type A, the designer adopted the conventional courtyard in the center of the house surrounded by the other residential elements. In this design, all of the dwelling spaces are articulated around this courtyard and overlooking it, Figures 10 and 12. Reception and dining areas for both males and females share the same courtyard, which affects the level of privacy negatively

International Journal of Contemporary Architecture ”The New ARCH“ Vol. 2, No. 2 (2015)

ISSN 2198-7688

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

in this layout. In terms of utilizing the courtyard space, the swimming pool in the middle hinders the use of the courtyard as a place for family gathering and activities. In addition, it ceases to function as a play area for children although the pool provides useful climate moderation Figure 11.

Type B: Plot (15m × 40m)

Figure 13. Ground floor plan of type B In type B, the designer employed three connected courtyards with three different levels of privacy (Figures 13 and 14). The front courtyard serves as an entrance court for the dwelling and can be used by both the residents and guests. The male reception and dining areas are articulated around another courtyard, which is connected to the front courtyard. This approach ensures a proper segregation between male and female spaces, which is one of the most important considerations in Saudi culture. To the rear of the dwelling there is a third courtyard which is adjacent to the female area. This courtyard helps in ensuring an appropriate level of privacy for women and provokes physical segregation between male and female guests. However, as this courtyard is partly open to view on three sides to the surrounding external areas, there is a potential loss of privacy. The third type of residential unit has a similar approach to the second type with some significant differences. The most important is that in type C the back courtyard provides for women a higher level of privacy than in type B, as the courtyard in type C is enclosed by rooms in three sides, Figures 15 and 16. Table 1 summarizes the key points of the previous analysis of the three types of Alnakeel residential units.

Figure 14. First floor plan of type B From the previous analysis and assessment of the three types, it is clear that type C reflects the best performance at the concerned levels. The long-narrow layout gives the highest level of privacy, which is one of the key advantages of the courtyard especially in the Arab culture. At the economic level, it is also the most efficient in terms of area utilization and small frontage with long depth. The long-narrow layout also gives better environmental impacts in terms of variety of sun and wind directions with the three courtyards in different locations. At this point, it is important to link this discussion with the survey carried out in Accordia housing project and discussed earlier in this paper. The users of Accordia confirmed the need for more than one type of open space in the house for flexibility of different uses and outlooks and different directions of sun and wind. The multi-courtyards layout can be perfectly attained in long-narrow residential plots. Reshaping the plot proportions by utilizing the concept of set-back from the front and back sides to create front and back courtyards -the case of type B- is not the proper way of dealing with long narrow plot. This way affects the level of privacy negatively, in addition to the limitations of space usage.

International Journal of Contemporary Architecture ”The New ARCH“ Vol. 2, No. 2 (2015)

ISSN 2198-7688

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Type C: Plot (8m × 21m)

Figure 15. Ground floor plan of type C

Figure 16. First floor plan of type C

Table 1: summary of the key findings of the three types analysis Type A

Type B

Type C

Typology

Conventional central courtyard

3 connected courtyards (front, middle and back)

2 connected and one separated courtyard

Floor plan

almost square

rectangle (1:2.2)

long-narrow (1:2.7)

cultural dimension

privacy is affected negatively

appropriate level of privacy

higher level of privacy than type C

Economic

large courtyard but difficulty of usage

3 small courtyards with different usages

The most efficient in area usage

Environmental

reduce thermal pressure and enhance air movement

the 3 courtyards gives better results than type A

3 different courtyard locations gives better results than type B

From the previous analysis and assessment of the three types, it is clear that type C reflects the best performance at the concerned levels. The long-narrow layout gives the highest level of privacy, which is one of the key advantages of the courtyard especially in the

Arab culture. At the economic level, it is also the most efficient in terms of area utilization and small frontage with long depth. The long-narrow layout also gives better environmental impacts in terms of variety of sun and wind directions with the three courtyards in

International Journal of Contemporary Architecture ”The New ARCH“ Vol. 2, No. 2 (2015)

ISSN 2198-7688

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

different locations. At this point, it is important to link this discussion with the survey carried out in Accordia housing project and discussed earlier in this paper. The users of Accordia confirmed the need for more than one type of open space in the house for flexibility of different uses and outlooks and different directions of sun and wind. The multi-courtyards layout can perfectly be attained in long-narrow residential plots. Reshaping the plot proportions by utilizing the concept of set-back from the front and back sides to create front and back courtyards -the case of type B- is not the proper way of dealing with long narrow plot. This way affects the level of privacy negatively, in addition to the limitations of space usage.

6.2. Project 1: Alnakheel housing project in Riyadh This project was designed by the author and Dar Almajd Consulting Engineers. The site is located in Shabaan village in Jeddah and occupies an area of 250,000 sq. m. The project houses 220 residential units in two different sizes and designs. The general intent of the housing provision in this project is to create house designs and residential environment that are socially responsive, environmentally suitable, and economically viable. Social Responsiveness relates to the layout of the house, the provision of adequate indoor and outdoor living spaces, the specific zoning of a Saudi house to provide for family and individual privacy, reflecting traditional and contemporary Saudi way of family life, Figure 17. Environmental responsiveness relates to building arrangements that are properly sited with respect to sun and wind, with the ability to shade each other. Space economy minimizing energy consumption, ease of maintenance, and availability, suitability and durability of building materials all are very significant factors that

Figure 17. Group of houses in a residential cluster

were taken into account in the house designs. Plot shapes and plot arrangements which influence the economy of infrastructure services and roadways were considered by using smaller plots and shorter plot frontages. The design intent is to create the housing areas as one consistent urban form which has an image of its own, Figure 18 [15]. The house design is distinguished by two courtyards, figure 19. The front courtyard services as a front entrance courtyard for visitors and the inhabitants utilize it also as a working space for handicrafts and other productive activities. The bedrooms and family living are articulated around the back courtyard forming a U shaped plan. This courtyard is utilized as the family courtyard with a higher level of privacy. It is connected to the back entrance, which leads to the cluster courtyard where the children can play and inhabitants can socially interact. The use of partially enclosed courtyard defines spatial balance of the courtyard space mediating between open and closed forms, Figure 20.

7. Discussion and conclusion To answer the question of adapting the concept of courtyard to modern needs, it is important to consider the principles of sustainable architecture as a key factor. As discussed in the theoretical part of this research, long-narrow attached courtyard houses give ideal solutions for issues of sustainability at all levels. If we look at the analyzed four examples, of courtyard houses that designed on long-narrow plots, we can classify them into three types in terms of typology and floor plans. The conventional central courtyard house (type Ain project 1) lacks key sustainability principles compared to the other examples. While the second type which relies on front and back set back to form front and

Figure 18. View of the residential cluster

International Journal of Contemporary Architecture ”The New ARCH“ Vol. 2, No. 2 (2015)

ISSN 2198-7688

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Figure 19. Ground floor plan

back courtyards (type B of project 1 and type I of project 2) gives a higher respect to the sustainability principles compared to the first example. If we look at the third type (type C of project 1) we find that floor plans utilized the entire depth of the plot without set back to form smaller courtyards along the longitudinal axis of the plan in different locations. This type attained the highest level of respect to sustainability principles compared to the other types. The house of type C is a strip of alternating plans and courtyards. The house is conceived as a linear multicourtyard house with extended circulation through connecting passages along the courtyards. The house is characterized by long views through the house and a varied daylight effects. This approach coincides with the idea of Serge Chermayeff of the linear courtyard house. He increases the privacy within the house when each courtyard relates to a particular part of the dwelling. Separating the different parts of the house, noise could not pass from one court to the next [16]. At this point we can argue that type C represents an ideal model that expresses the key design principles and guidelines that could be followed in dealing with the issue of courtyard

Figure 20. Views of the house showing the front and back courtyards

in contemporary residential building in the region. At the sustainability level, this type gathers and distributes natural lighting very efficiently in addition to offering plenty of natural ventilation opportunities. It also leads to a cheaper and more efficient system of land subdivision and providing service and infrastructure for urban areas. In case of attaching the houses from three sides the facades construction cost is reduced by 50%. Adopting this model helps in the densification of our cities, avoidance of unnecessary sprawl and the availability of more resources resulting from savings in the cost of transportation, in maintenance cost, and in the use of non-renewable resources. Accordingly, in a country like Egypt which suffers from all of the previous problems, it is essential to adopt this model in the housing projects in the new urban developments.

References [1] Abdelsalam, Tarek, The Arab Architectural Identity Dilemma: a Conflict between the Authentic and the Occidental, Architecture Plus, Vol. 1, issue 1, pp. 12-15, 2002.

International Journal of Contemporary Architecture ”The New ARCH“ Vol. 2, No. 2 (2015)

ISSN 2198-7688

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

[2] Abdelsalam, Tarek, Courtyard House in Saudi Arabia: In Search of Contemporary Typology, in Edwards, B., Sibley, M., and Land, P., eds. Courtyard Housing: Past, Present & Future, Taylor & Francis, pp. 203–210, 2006. [3] Lamey, Saleh, Islamic Identity in courtyard House Design, a paper to the Symposium of Housing in the Islamic City, Organization of Islamic Capitals, Jeddah, 1984. [4] Fletcher, Banister, A History of Architecture, University of London, the Athlone Press, 18th ed. 1975. [5] Warren, J. & Fethi, I., Traditional House in Baghdad, Coach Publishing House Ltd., Horsham, England, 1982. [6] Hariri, Majdi, The Courtyard House, Hariri, Makkah, S. Arabia, 1991. [7] Lobo, Caroline, Thermal Behavior of Buildings in Worm and Humid Climatic Conditions, Masters Thesis, Indian Institute of Technology, 1995. [8] Albena, Modern Saudi House, Albena, Issue 157, 2003. [9] Land, P., Economic Garden Houses: High Density Development, Vol. 1, Chicago, College of Architecture, 1977.

[10] Garaba, Shaibu, The Narrow Lot Attached House as an Alternative Form of Residential Development in Urban Areas of Nigeria, International Journal of Architecture, Issue 3, Vol. 17, 2000. [11] Chermayeff, S. and Alexander, C., Towards a New Architecture of Humanism: Community and Privacy, Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1966. [12] Cowan, Rob, Accordia, Cambridge: Regional Design and Historic Environment Champion's event, in www.accordialiving.co.uk, May 2010. [13] Goh, A. T. and Sibley, Magda, The Users' Perspective of Performance of Courtyard House Type in the UK, in PLEA 2009, 26th Conference on Passive and Low Energy Architecture, Quebec City, Canada, June 2009. [14] Archive of Beaah Planners, Architects and Engineers, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. [15] Archive of Dar Almajd Consulting Engineers, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. [16] Fores, J. F. ,Courtyard Housing: Environmental Approach in Architectural Education, a paper to the International Conference on Technology & Sustainability in the Built Environment, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 2004.

International Journal of Contemporary Architecture ”The New ARCH“ Vol. 2, No. 2 (2015)

ISSN 2198-7688

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

DOI: 10.14621/tna.20150304

Material Surface Features in Body Conscious Spatial Design Veronika Kotradyová Faculty of Architecture, Slovak University of Technology Namestie Slobody 19, 81245 Bratislava, Slovakia, kotradyova@fa.stuba.sk

Abstract

1. Introduction

The paper explores the issue of surface features, which has a special role within body conscious spatial design. We have set surface features such as particular quality, skin and interface that create limits or open an honest communication between the human and the built-environment. Roughness as a measurable parameter is very important for an overall feeling of comfort, especially contact comfort, and has a direct relation to all other parameters such as thermal comfort, sorption activity, possibilities of maintenance, antibacterial behaviour, control over body position or acoustic well-being, while in the most of these relations there is a direct proportionality. The paper presents the results of different tests related to the roughness of solid wood with chemical surface finishing with the aim of showing the consequences for well-being, based on recent research studies of the interaction of wood and human.

Real well-being, in a long term sense, starts with the quality of the inner space There is a reciprocal relation between environmental perception / spatial recognition in a momentary given environmental setting, social background/context, and a direct physical interaction with objects. For every environmental designer it is important to know the basic facts about visual, tactile, behavioural, somatic, acoustic and socio-cultural comfort, which is particularly important for spatial design. To master this knowledge, it is necessary to adopt a multidisciplinary approach and to deal with knowledge from social and medical sciences. It is time to think and act in a multidisciplinary and transversal way. Applied sciences like neuroergonomy, environmental ergonomics and environmental psychology are good examples of this approach. We need to think in a similar way also in the design process. In creating any kind of artificial environment, we have to consider the fact that the human is a cultural creature and at the same time an animal with a nervous system millions of years old.

Keywords:

Surface, Material, Spatial design, Neuroergonomy, Roughness

Article history:

Received: 15 June 2015 Revised: 01 July 2015 Accepted: 20 July 2015

Designing with respect for nature, humanity and material contributes to the lowering of environmental stresses. Conscious choices of materials, their forming and surface finishing for built-in elements and furnishings, play a crucial role in the well-being of users. In a time of extreme haste, progress in material engineering is bringing many new materials, moreover it is particularly important to understand and respect the pure nature and character of materials; this is also related to neuroergonomy and body conscious design with neuroergonomy as the application of neurosciences into ergonomics, based on the biological explanations. This approach brings new challenges and perspectives into the designing process. To be in a state of visual comfort on first entering any room, it is necessary to trust, to feel safe, and to consider the space as affordable and understandable. In this scale we perceive the space as a whole picture.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________ V. Kotradyová: “Material Surface Features in Body Conscious Spatial Design”, pp. 38–44

International Journal of Contemporary Architecture ”The New ARCH“ Vol. 2, No. 2 (2015)

ISSN 2198-7688

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Here, according to the Gestalt theory approach, the sum of the single items is less than the whole complex picture. But if we go closer, the appearance of single objects already matters more. At this level, these properties of visual comfort come into play: − Respecting the own-form principle for each material – shape authenticity; − Inspiration through well-known and functional shapes and principles from nature; − Sensitive dimensioning the materiality – proportion of material vs transparency; − Respecting socio–cultural contexts and semiotics − Quality and authenticity of surface. From this summary we have chosen one special character that has a strong impact on all the other parameters of well-being or complex comfort. It is the surface quality and authenticity concerning spatial elements. Surface properties, in narrow sense, are part of visual comfort, but they also have a significant effect on all the other parameters of complex comfort – tactile, performance, somatic, acoustic, olfactory, gustatory and finally socio-cultural comfort. This is the reason why we pay this phenomenon special attention. The authors have to submit carefully written and proofread manuscript. Spelling and grammatical errors, as well as language usage problems, are not acceptable. The authors should limit their papers to 10 pages, presenting their work as concisely as possible.

2. Surface features Among surface properties we can include colour of surface, texture/structure and topography. Some other authors also include translucence and transparency among surface features [1].

influence the authenticity of a surface, which is extremely important from a neuroergonomic point of view.

2.1. Authenticity of surface Every material surface has its own authenticity. First of all, through our visual interaction with materials of natural colour and texture/structure, there arise responses supportive of well-being. This is caused by the fact that they are already very well known to our nervous system from evolution as well as from cultural archetypes. But in the contemporary main stream housing culture there prevail materials like laminated particleboard, metals, glass and plastics; they are durable and it is easy to maintain them. But are they the right choice if we want to create really healthy microclimates? When we leave aside the impact on indoor air quality, there remain many other factors, such as tactile comfort. There is a trend toward using vivid or intensive colours and especially colour accents, but the most important factor here is not the colour. The responses to textures and structures are more appealing, especially for our reptilian brain, which is the evolutionary oldest part and is responsible for life function and for emotions. Nowadays, when a digital print can create any kind of imitation of a natural material, it is possible to create any kind of “fake nature”. But is our nervous system so blind? No, it isn´t. Imitating materials and surfaces creates completely different tactile, olfactory and acoustic microclimates. It is significant that visual interaction is more connected and interactive with culture and it is easy to trust visual contact with some illusions. But the other human senses are more connected with our inner instincts, and they are smarter in distinguishing between authenticity and pretence.

After nine years exploring the interaction of built microenvironment, going into the interaction of human and material and overall analysis of complex comfort in microenvironment there special attention was paid to surface features?. It is like a skin that either sets limits or communicates. Roughness, as a measurable parameter, is very important for an overall feeling of comfort, especially contact comfort and has a direct relation to all the other parameters of well-being such as thermal comfort, sorption activity, possibilities of maintenance, antibacterial behaviour, control over body position, acoustic well-being, olfactory and gustatory comfort, and also socio–cultural comfort. Most of these relations have direct proportionality.

To allow materials to express their authenticity, it is necessary to tolerate or respect their aging process. Plastics are already coloured during their production design, but natural materials have a native colour which is very often irregularly distributed across the surface. There is a strong need to modify and homogenize this in light of trends and cultural stereotypes. Colour modification and colour homogenisation with intention are thus among the main interests of material engineering. Another movement is also the finding of ”New authenticity,“ which is mostly understood as finding appealing decors from nature or industry, scanning them and copying them like a décor cover onto any other kind of material (Figure 1). These inventions then suffer due to rapid moral obsolesce.

Particular importance was given to the presence or absence of a surface finishing or modification that

In the aging process, the texture and structure of any surface is more stable than the colour. We have to count

International Journal of Contemporary Architecture ”The New ARCH“ Vol. 2, No. 2 (2015)

ISSN 2198-7688

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Figure 1. Examples of rough surface by solid wood and laminate with wood décor

on physical and chemical deterioration, which creates a patina. It is irregular and there are efforts to homogenize it too. One example of colour homogenisation or aging homogenisation is the Swiss BIOOD technology, which offers regular silvering of wood surfaces thanks to enzymatic processes carried out before the external application. Another fact that is necessary to accept is the irregularities of texture and structure of surfaces of natural materials. Swedish wood researcher Olof Broman (2000) found in his study, whose objective was to understand and describe how people see and evaluate visible wood “defects” (such as knots) in a given wood surface. And what did he find? The respondents assessed the wood surfaces based on a general impression rather than evaluating single surface features such as knots. The respondents favoured wood surfaces with a “balance” between the degree of harmony and activity in order to avoid a state of disharmony. The result of the study suggested that consumers do not reject wood surfaces with “defects” out of hand. Instead, wood surfaces may contain a rather large amount of activity-creating features (such as knots), if these activity-creating features are well balanced across the surface [2]. To feel visual comfort on seeing some textured material, continuity is very important, especially when it concerns a “big-flowered texture”.

2.2. Roughness and its impact on complex comfort or well being Western culture is a visual culture wherein tactile interaction is often underestimated in spatial design.

Structure and roughness are extremely important for tactile comfort, especially contact comfort consisting of several measurable parameters (thermal contact comfort, hardness, sorption activity etc. Especially thermal comfort is directly related to thermal conductivity and thermal effusiveness, which are the parameters expressing the behaviour of some surface and the human body. Usually, the rougher the surface is the higher contact comfort is possible to achieve. This statement can be stated after testing a chair with 12 exchangeable sets of different materials used in seating furniture (seat, arm rests and backrests) with the spruce wood set with no finishing considered to be the most comfortable, and the aluminium sheet the least comfortable. Tactile interaction and contact comfort are the main indicators of surface authenticity [3]. A strong “luxury look” component is good for vision and conceptual understanding, but less suitable for usage, especially for long-term interaction. Objects that scream at us: “Don’t touch me!” are not very good room-mates. There is also a significant relation of roughness and performance comfort. We will mention here one feature within performance comfort- it is the maintenance issue. Easy and effective cleaning of surfaces plays significant role in our culture, especially in humid areas such as kitchens, toilets and bathrooms, as well as wellness areas and health care facilities. The chemical and cosmetic industries support the illusion of a perfectly clean and disinfected environment and a fight against microorganisms. But is it a war that it is possible to win? To prevent the problems caused by leaving a material in its authentic form, high roughness of the surface, a

International Journal of Contemporary Architecture ”The New ARCH“ Vol. 2, No. 2 (2015)

ISSN 2198-7688

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

highly resistant chemical /artificial finishing is needed. But with chemical finishing are lost many of the positive effects of wood on a healthy microclimate, not to mention authenticity. Thus the conflict arises between man as a cultural creature and man as an animal with the same instincts as millions of years ago. So usually it comes down to a hard decision, whether to have the surface perfectly cleanable or authentic and truthful (Figure 2). Concerning somatic comfort, roughness brings better control over body position, by grasping/holding objects in the hand, by sitting it prevents sliding down and getting C-shape spine, by laying down, standing up etc. Another aspect of somatic comfort is a supporting the possibility to occupy a space in all kinds of body position and thus creating and offering tangible surfaces with high contact comfort , which is connected to roughness - naturally up to a certain limit, where the rough elements start to be a real danger and may cause some injury. Here using the structure of the surface has high potential for leaving a message or making a massage for the body. In acoustic comfort there is a direct relation between the more rough or perforated surface is and the better acoustic wellbeing it is possible to achieve. Here the acoustic balance can be set by a sensitive combination of rough and smooth and hard and soft surfaces. Within olfactory and gustatory comfort, the rougher a surface is, the stronger is its ability to manage air

humidity and VOC. Its smell is stronger, because the interface between the material surface and air has bigger dimensions. When it is left with open pores, without additional chemical finishing blocking the natural pores of a material, this effect is even stronger. At least in natural wood surfaces the correlation is valid, while this effect has to be further explored by the other materials. In clay plaster there is a correlation between the ability to manage air humidity and the thickness of the plaster and the content of loam in it. Surface features have strong impacts on regulation of air humidity and overall thermal comfort, particularly with naturally rough, porous and hydroscopic materials like clay, wood or straw. In addition, cooking and serving food on natural rough surfaces, brings more joy and potential taste for cooking in a healthier way. There is also set a hypothesis, based upon psychosomatic and psychoanalytic studies [4], [5] that this function of surface, like a material skin, is also connected to the communication between the material world and human. Matt/ rough/porous surfaces can be associated with belonging, welcoming, penetration, permeability, while high glance surfaces can be related to reflexion, refusing, rejecting, setting borders/limits. These associations are being further explored. Being surrounded by such a setting for a long term (in the work place or at home), can create a stressful setting that can lead to health problems , usually some of the civilisation diseases related to suffering stress.

Figure 2. Stains from water on brushed wooden surface ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________ V. Kotradyová: “Material Surface Features in Body Conscious Spatial Design”, pp. 38–44

International Journal of Contemporary Architecture ”The New ARCH“ Vol. 2, No. 2 (2015)

ISSN 2198-7688

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2.3. New trends and challenges Is the contemporary strong trend towards rough surfaces and “big flowered” textures just a fashion or a hunger for materiality caused by the virtual, digital and abstract environments we live in? Thus the roughness is so important. Here the “new authenticity” comes in. Material engineering brings new solutions in the structuring of surfaces, printing or pressing of different reliefs, 3D effects for decors (Figure 2), where only parameters of comfort and wellbeing show a difference with the original. Here the “new authenticity” begins to be very often transformed into superficiality. One can see this development particularly at furniture and materials fairs, such as INTERZOOM 2015 in Cologne in Germany. The question is what will come next? What will be the new trend for surfaces? We can predict that interactivity and advanced technologies, particularly nanotechnologies or technologies related to 3Dprinting, will permanently bring some progress and will be more available also for low-end products and thus will have a stabile position in material engineering and spatial design. There will be more and more solutions inspired by nature, bionics/biomimetic and using biological solutions for progressive technologies. At the same time, the strong need for coming back to roots and to naturalism and “normality” will remain as a sustainable value. Only new styles in artificialities and superficialities will bring every year some innovations as nutrition for the media business (Figures 3 and 4). Within the research project “Interaction of Human and Wood” are explored all sorts of this interaction, along with its potential to be an idea for the development of new materials and their finishing. A number of tests of visual and tactile interaction have been executed; a recent tactile test was introduced at a furniture fair in Nitra, Slovakia, in March 2015, where 80 respondents tested 5 solid oak surfaces with different levels of roughness achieved by different techniques, all without and with oil finishing. The respondents had to rate them according to subjective feeling and, right after, according to suitability for kitchen working counters and tables. The preliminary results show that even when respondents intuitively liked the rougher brushed surfaces, when they were asked to make a rational decision concerning indirect maintenance, they chose the more practical – the maintainable solution - the grounded finish. Here one can feel a lot the strong impact of western cultural concerns for hygiene.

We are developing a method for comparison of the subjective and objective rating of contact comfort with wooden surfaces to bypass time-demanding subjective testing. It would lead to a clearer categorisation of roughness, on the technical level but also on the hedonistic or well-being level. The ideal surface for humans in high performance environments is antimicrobic/antibacterial and hydrophobic at the same time and, despite this, still authentic [6]. Just now we are testing the hypothesis that it is possible to secure a surface modification such as adjustments by plasma or by finishing based on nanotechnologies and biomimetic, with the aim to reach the state that wood can be rated hydrophobic or even superhydrophobic, and thus easy to maintain. These are the topics of our contemporary and future research. Ideal surfaces for public spaces are antimicrobic/ antibacterial and hydrophobic at the same time, and despite all this, still authentic. The goal is to develop natural and authentic surfaces, using natural antibacterial and hydrophobic effects thanks to plasmatic and enzymatic adjustments.

3. Conclusion — Summary Surface features of built-in materials play a crucial role in the overall feeling of complex comfort. Particularly roughness has a significant impact on many other wellbeing parameters. But there is one more important fact: Environments leave a MESSAGE in us, educate indirectly, and influence future preferences and attitudes to values and sustainability. Materials in built environments have to offer real support for humans and be a complementary harmonising element to the virtuality and digitalisation of contemporary culture. When we give materials the chance to find their own authenticity, we can benefit from it in the form of a complex feeling of well-being which contributes to public health and to a positive social atmosphere, while also increasing productivity and efficiency in workplaces. Let´s introduce quality instead of quantity into environmental design. Let´s give materials the chance to find their own authenticity, also thanks in part to the truthfulness of their surface. At the end, we would refer once more to Wolfgang Haipl and his statement that “The truth is the best material”.

International Journal of Contemporary Architecture ”The New ARCH“ Vol. 2, No. 2 (2015)

ISSN 2198-7688

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Figure 3. New “rough”surfaces: HTS Exklusive oberflächen, Organoid panels, Franz Kolar, Stepwood, Truffle grey, Laminate decor of Pfleiderer ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________ V. Kotradyová: “Material Surface Features in Body Conscious Spatial Design”, pp. 38–44

International Journal of Contemporary Architecture ”The New ARCH“ Vol. 2, No. 2 (2015)

ISSN 2198-7688

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Figure 4: Nanotechnologies Fenix NTM at Interzoom fair in Cologne and interactive thermos-paint (Thermochrome laquer) by the German Hesse Lignal company.

Acknowledgements This work was supported by the Slovak Research and Development Agency under the contract No. APVV 0594-12 – Interaction of Human and Wood – Humanisation Potential of Wood.

References [1] Haipl, W., Haumer, G., Design – verstehen, lernen, ausführen, Trauner Verlag, Linz, Austria, 2005. [2] Broman Olof .N.,Means to measure the aesthetic properties of wood, Doctoral thesis / Luleå University of Technology, Sweden, 2000.

[3] Kotradyová, V., Teischinger, A., Tactile Interaction and Contact Comfort of Wood and Wood Materials, SWST conference proceedings book, Zvolen, 2014. [4] Tolja, J., Speciani, F., Pensare con corpo (Bodythinking), Zelig, Milano, 2003. [5] Ponešicky, J., Pschosomatika pre lákaře, psychoterapeuty i laiky, Triton, Praha, CR. [6] Kotradyová, V., Kalináková, B., Wood as material suitable for health care and therapeutic facilities, AMR Journal – Envibuild 2014.

International Journal of Contemporary Architecture ”The New ARCH“ Vol. 2, No. 2 (2015)

ISSN 2198-7688

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

DOI: 10.14621/tna.20150305

Universal Housing ⎯ Evaluation of the Spatial Qualities of Apartments in Albania Anna Yunitsyna Epoka University Rruga Tiranë-Rinas Km 12, 1039 Tirana, Albania, ayunitsyna@epoka.edu.al

Abstract

1. Introduction

Composition and spatial organisation of the dwelling can vary due to the multiple factors, such as economical, climatic and cultural, but the functional organisation of dwelling is defined by basic human activities. There is a desire in the new paradigm of construction the dwelling, which may satisfy the constantly changing needs of the inhabitants. Universal dwelling can be based on principle, so that every room can easily adopt the basic living activities without significant structural changes. Universality in use can be achieved by several techniques – by creating the spaces with equal size, access and similar spatial qualities. Contemporary housing in Albania is constructed without following of any housing space standards, which makes it important to evaluate the spatial qualities of the existing housing developments and to propose the basic guidelines for construction. Within the study 90 apartments built during last 25 years are analysed and the general tendencies of the changes of the spatial properties of the habitable rooms are explained. The concept of universality is used as an instrument, which allows to evaluate the design solutions.

Contemporary housing architecture in Albania takes the specialized and mainly mono-functional room as design unit. At the same time with the increasing costs of land and construction there is a tendency towards the reduction of the area of habitable rooms of dwelling. The size of dwelling is decreasing until the minimum one, which could be accepted by planning and design state controllers. The demand for the space within dwelling, which could be used differently and potentially can adapt several living actions, is also not reflected in the housing market. The user’s desire towards the housing structure is shifting from the homes with consequent arrangement of predefined spaces, such as kitchen, living room and several bedrooms towards the spaces with lower specification [1]. It becomes an inhabitant’s individual decision, where to place a single living function, and which variety of activities should be kept in house.

Keywords:

Article history:

Dwelling space standards, Universality in use, Housing in Albania Received: 17 April 2015 Revised: 11 June 2015 Accepted: 23 July 2015

In Albania, the approach towards the dwelling construction during the last 35 years has been radically changed. At the communist period (1980–1990) there was a strong influence of the ideology to the dwelling design. The size of the apartments and rooms, the variety of spaces and the ways of their interconnection, the building materials and construction technologies were limited. The same set of “typical projects” of dwelling was applied in all areas of Albania. Within the typical project, all apartments had the same spatial structure, the rooms with similar areas and proportions; the living room was always joined with kitchen. The construction of housing was done according to the state standards and all the rooms were projected as specialized spaces. After the communist period approach towards the dwelling design was radically changed. The space standards, which limited the minimal and maximal areas of rooms, were cancelled and the variety of the apartment typologies was constructed. The overall size

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________ A. Yunitsyna: “Universal Housing ― Evaluation of the Spatial Qualities of Apartments in Albania”, pp. 45–50

International Journal of Contemporary Architecture ”The New ARCH“ Vol. 2, No. 2 (2015)

ISSN 2198-7688

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

of the apartments increased, but the spatial quality of design without the state regulation appeared to be very low. Within the dwelling some habitable rooms and especially the service spaces like bathrooms became oversized, the bedrooms became smaller, and some spaces had lack of the natural light. The access to the apartment could be organized directly to the living room without designing any buffer area or corridor. During the contemporary period of housing design in Albania, there was no specific attempt to design the dwelling with the habitable rooms without the predefined function, but due to the lack of state housing space standards the apartment’s designs may have the prerequisites to be universal. Within the present study the large collection of the apartments has been tested in order to show the trends of the changing spatial qualities of the habitable rooms and to evaluate their possible universality in use.

2. Universality in apartment There are several theoretical presumptions regarding the minimal size of the room. For the mono-functional space the first attempt to define the universal size was done in 1950 by Le Corbusier. He proposed a living unit with dimensions 2.26×2.26×2.26m, “alveolar volume” – “a container of men, cellular volume, which allows a great variety in composition” [2]. The unit was understood as container, which could hold only one function – bed, table, kitchen etc. Those containers could be attached to each other in order to create infinite number of layouts [2]. According to B. Leupen minimal dimensions for the social space in house are 4×4 m [3], which gives a certain degree of universality – every space with such size can potentially have this function, and if there are more, than one of the spaces in unit can overtake function allowing exchanged between those spaces. Bernard Leupen proposes 6 basic activities: working, sleeping, eating, cooking, bathing and getting together. Each of these functions requires a specific space and also each has different importance for the human life. Adaptability is defined by Kevin Lynch as “generalized adjustability of the environment or artefact with minimum effort to future changes of use” [4]. In other words, for greater adaptability any shape or structure must be simple, averaged suitable for majority of users. In physical setting this type of flexibility can be achieved by using the unspecialized forms. The house with one simple square room is more adaptable than one with the elaborated design and complex organization. T. Shneider proposed two general methods in achieving flexibility, which are defined as “hard” and “soft” techniques [5]. Soft techniques are expressed through bringing the certain indeterminacy in design solution, to

adapt the dwelling plan according to the needs of users. Hard techniques, as opposite, are related to the prescription of the way house and the house design may be used. In this case the physical limits of the space are predefined. Soft use is primarily associated with the vernacular housing. The dwelling belonged to one family and it was built to meet the changing demands of it, to adapt in one house children and elderly. These traditional houses usually included one bigger space for the family gathering and certain number of rooms of the similar size equal in access. The approach of the soft use for the designer means “to provide a physically fixed, but socially flexible layout”. B. Manum examined the potential usability of dwellings by evaluation of the level of its generality or specificity [6]. Generality is the ability of dwelling to accommodate the variety of demands without making any physical changes in it. Specificity is the opposing strategy and aims to respond precisely to needs and demands of the inhabitant, to follow the detailed requests. The key factors affecting generality according to Manum refer to the physical properties of the room such as size and shape of the room, daylight conditions and technical equipment and to the context of the room such as accessibility and surrounding rooms In the “Timeless Way of Building” Christopher Alexander explains, that the quality of the place, even being the result of the individual perception of human, depends on the pattern of events and what could happen there [7]. In housing the room becomes such agent of the living pattern. The quality of building depends on the usual everyday actions happening there, and if more events can happen, then more liveable the place becomes. This statement is supported by Charles Jencks, who preferred multivalence in architecture in opposition to polyvalence [8]. Universal space can adopt to the wide variety of the living actions within one household without structural changes of the dwelling space. Within the universal room all four basic living actions can be performed. The application of such type of space can reduce the financial and resource waste for the adaptation and make the dwelling more sustainable. Universal dwelling can easily reflect on the changing demands of the inhabitant. Universality in use is directly connected with the size of the room, which means, that the biggest required size for the living activity (getting together, which is represented by living room) is the minimal size of the room to become universal. The width of the room is the second key factor, which defines the universality in use. Minimal width is established for the living room, kitchen and bedrooms and may vary according to the number of inhabitants. The maximal width is required for the living room, which established the minimal width of the space

International Journal of Contemporary Architecture ”The New ARCH“ Vol. 2, No. 2 (2015)

ISSN 2198-7688

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

to be universal. Access to the room is a third factor, and the highest restriction by access is applied for bedrooms. From this side of view rooms with just one points of access are considered to be universal. The criteria of universality are developed after the analysis of the 31 state European and 7 regional European dwelling standards.

3. Selection of the case studies and data patterns Present study concentrates on the development of apartment with three rooms, which is the most constructed typology in Albania during last 30 years. The universality of the room is understood as a possibility of it to host any of the four living actions, which are represented in dwelling as kitchen, living room, double and single bedroom. The rooms of the apartment supposed to be projected as specialized. Within 90 studied examples the majority is located in Tirana and the rest in the regions of Albania. The selected apartments are designed as one-floor apartments in order to exclude the extra circulation space of the stair. Case studies are separated in three groups according to the year of construction: the apartments of communist period (1980-1990), the apartments of the period of transition (1991-2000) and contemporary apartments (2001-2013). The further extraction of required data proceeded through the graphical analysis of each apartment. The

plan of the apartment was analysed using the following technique: the raster image was imported into vector program, rescaled and redrawn. Within each apartment four target habitable rooms were indicated. For the analysis it was assumed, that each room has not any predefined function. The rooms were numbered from 1 to 3 according to the size. For each room its area, width and the number of access points was measured and noted. During the graphical analysis each space was tested consequently against three criteria of universality, and the resulting diagram of universality was developed.

3.1. Universality of the room by size Diagram of the Figure 1 presents the distribution of the areas of the analysed four rooms of selected cases during last 35 years. Within each apartment the comparison is performed consequently for the groups from biggest to smallest room. In given distribution there is a clear division in size between the first room and two others. The areas of the rooms 2 and 3 are close to each other. The overall figure shows increase of the area of the room 1, which is as usual the aggregate living, dining and cooking room and decrease of the area of the smaller rooms with time. The maximal, average and minimal areas of the analysed spaces are presented in Table 1.

50 45 40 35

Room 1 area, sq m

Room 2 area, sq m

Room 3 area, sq m Linear (Room 1 area, sq m)

Linear (Room 2 area, sq m) 15

Linear (Room 3 area, sq m)

10 5 0 1980 1983 1986 1989 1992 1995 1998 2001 2004 2007 2010 2013 Figure 1. Size of the rooms 1–3, sq. m. and the year of construction ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________ A. Yunitsyna: “Universal Housing ― Evaluation of the Spatial Qualities of Apartments in Albania”, pp. 45–50

International Journal of Contemporary Architecture ”The New ARCH“ Vol. 2, No. 2 (2015)

ISSN 2198-7688

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Table 1. Minimal, average and maximal areas of the rooms 1–3, sq. m. Maximal area, sq. m. Room №

Average area, sq. m.

Minimal area, sq. m.

2000– 2013

1990– 2000

1980– 1990

2000– 2013

1990– 2000

1980– 1990

2000– 2013

1990– 2000

1980– 1990

Room 1

41.60

44.20

31.8

27.5

23.3

21.8

10.6

18.70

Room 2

24.79

20.25

26.5

15.0

14.5

18.0

9.2

8.9

11.80

Room 3

20.25

24.40

13.6

12.9

10.8

14.0

4.6

3.5

11.08

Room 3

Room is specialized

Room 2 2

Room 1 0

Room may host 2 activities

Room may host 3 activities

6 10

Room is universal

92 20

100

Figure 2. Universality of rooms 1–3 by area, in %

10 Room 1

Room 2 Room 3

Linear (Room 1) Linear (Room 2)

Linear (Room 3) 2

0 1975

1980

1985

1990

1995

2000

2005

2010

2015

Figure 3. Width of the rooms 1–3, m and the year of construction

The further analysis (presented in Figure 2) shows the level of universality of each of the four rooms using the following criteria:

– Room may accommodate 3 activities, if its area is 16.3–11.2 sq. m.

– Room is universal, if its area is more, than 16.4 sq. m.

– Room may accommodate 2 activities, if its area is 11.2–8 sq. m.

International Journal of Contemporary Architecture ”The New ARCH“ Vol. 2, No. 2 (2015)

ISSN 2198-7688

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

maximal width of the analysed rooms is presented in Table 2.

– Room is specialized, if its area is less, than 8 sq. m.

The further analysis shows the level of universality of each of the four rooms using the following criteria:

The level of universality is decreasing with decreasing of the size of the room. In most of the analysed cases the biggest room of the apartment is universal by size. For the rest two rooms in more, than half cases the room may accommodate 3 activities, which presents relatively high level of universality. With further decrease of the size increases the number of rooms accommodating 2 activities. Room 3 can have very small size and be specialized.

3.2. Universality of the room by width

Room is universal, if its width is more, than 3.1 m.

Room may accommodate 3 activities, if its width is 3.1–2.5 m.

Room may accommodate 2 activities, if its width is 2.5–2.2 m.

Room is specialized, if its area is less, than 2.2 m.

Figure 4 shows the percentage of the space with different levels of universality by width for each of the 3 rooms.

Figure 3 shows the distribution of the widths of the each of the four rooms of analysed cases during last 35 years. Within each apartment the rooms are numbered according to the size of the room.

The overall universality of the rooms by width is higher, than by area. Majority of the analysed spaces has sufficient width for accommodation of all basic living activities.

The diagram (Figure 3) shows a clear division in minimal width between the first room and the others. The width of the rooms 2 and 3 are close to each other and have tendency to be unified. The minimal width of the room is consequently corresponding to its size. The overall figure shows increase of the minimal width of the room 1 during last 35 years, meanwhile the widths of the rooms 2 and 3 remain stable. The minimal, average and

3.3. Universality of the room by access The spatial structure and composition of the apartment in Albania depend directly from the period of construction. During the communist period in all country

Table 2. Minimal and maximal width of the rooms 1–3, m Maximal width, m Room №

2000– 2013

1990– 2000

Average width, m

1980– 1990

2000– 2013

1990– 2000

1980– 1990

Minimal width, m 2000– 2013

1990– 2000

1980– 1990

Room 1

8.25

6.9

9.4

6.30

4.9

5.3

3.5

3.1

3.45

Room 2

6.60

5.0

5.3

4.26

3.9

4.6

2.9

3.40

Room 3

5.55

5.0

4.5

3.70

3.4

3.8

2.6

2.4

3.80

Room 3 Room 2

Room is specialized Room may host 2 activities

Room may host 3 activities

Room 1

100 0

Room is universal

100

Figure 4. Universality of rooms 1–3 by width, in % ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________ A. Yunitsyna: “Universal Housing ― Evaluation of the Spatial Qualities of Apartments in Albania”, pp. 45–50

International Journal of Contemporary Architecture ”The New ARCH“ Vol. 2, No. 2 (2015)

ISSN 2198-7688

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

there were used few typical projects of dwellings, where the living and dining room and two bedrooms were accessed through the corridor, which was established in the construction regulation. Later periods are characterised by the lack of dwelling space standards. Within the analysed apartments there were found together with the traditional corridor scheme the arrangements, which had the outer door of the apartment opening directly to the living room, or the bedroom, which also should be accessed through it.

3.4. Universality of the apartments during the three periods The main specificity of the analysed housing designs is the way, how the habitable rooms are changing from communist to contemporary periods. It is noticed the huge difference between the biggest room and two others, which is the result of the functionalistic approach in design. The main room is usually projected as the integrated cooking, living and dining area and it is almost double bigger in size the other two rooms. The other two rooms remain stable in size. The growing differentiation in areas shows the increasing specialization of the biggest room. Inclusion in its structure the kitchen with all technical facilities and equipment makes it’s hardly possible to assign to this space another living activity. The other two rooms at the same time are differentiated and have very small area. By the criteria of the width the analysed rooms have the sufficient dimensions to be universal. Potentially any kind of furniture or equipment may be accommodated. The universality by circulation is declining with time, which is directly connected with the cancelling of the state housing standards. Every room of dwelling of communist period was designed to have one entrance, meanwhile during the later times the living room could have multiple entrances and circulation from bedrooms to the toilets could pass through it.

of the alternation of the specialized dwelling structure with the changing needs of the inhabitant. Creation of the universal dwelling can be achieved through the balance of areas of the habitable room with slight reduction of the living and cooking area and similar increase of the area of two smaller rooms until 16.4 sq. m. Second strategy may be the separation of kitchen from the living room with allocation of the separate entrance to it. The overall size of the apartment in both cases will not change. In Albania there is no dwelling space standards, which regulate neither, minimal sizes and proportions of the habitable rooms nor the whole apartments. The study presents the current situation for these parameters, such as the area of the living dining and cooking room and bedrooms, minimal widths of spaces, which can be used as the guidelines for design.

References [1] Danny Lobos, Dirk Donath. The problem of space layout in architecture: a survey and reflections. Arquiteturarevista, Volume 6, №2, 2010. [2] Corbusier, Le. Modulor 2. Cambridge: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1955. [3] Leupen, Bernard. The Polyvalent Dwelling. International Conference On Adaptable Building Structures. Eindhoven: TU/e, 2006. [4] Lynch, Kevin. Environmental adaptability. Journal of the American Institute of Planners,Vol. 1, 1958. [5] Schneider Tatjana, Till Jeremy. Flexible housing: opportunities and limits. Architectural Research Quarterly, 9 (2), 2005. [6] Manum, Bendick. Generality versus specificity. 5th International Space Syntax Symposium. Delft: Techne Press, 2005.

4. Conclusion

[7] Alexander, Cristopher. The Timeless Way of Building. New York: Oxford University Press, 1979.

The study shows, that in Albania currently dwelling is constructed as a system of specialized spaces, but in the future development it is possible to solve the problem

[8] Charles Jencks, Karl Krop. Theories and Manifestoes of Contemporary Architecture. Chichester: Academy Editions, 1997.

International Journal of Contemporary Architecture ”The New ARCH“ Vol. 2, No. 2 (2015)

ISSN 2198-7688

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

DOI: 10.14621/tna.20150306

Simulation of Participation: Design Process of Residential Architecture Dalia Dukanac Faculty of Architecture, University of Belgrade Maglajska 34, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia, dalia.dukanac@gmail.com

Abstract

1. Introduction

The need to develop the variety of sustainable and cooperative solutions necessary for supporting communities has a weak basis in critiques of previous residential community models and practically non-existent participation. Postsocialist structures usually respond by strengthening local government cooperating with globally oriented organizations, but the idea of overcoming the sacred role of central government has usually proven to be an illusion, and centralization of power seems inevitable. Participation is no longer a matter of ideology but of the free market; however local authorities can assume the role of mediator between the specific interests of individuals and the institutional frameworks of investors. Simulation of participation can have an educational role for both sides if it is conducted gradually in a contextually appropriate manner. The case study presented in this paper includes a three-year project between an EU-sponsored program and municipalities in several countries in Central and South-Eastern Europe, including Savski Venac municipality in Belgrade. The research shows efforts to engage the cooperation of all participants in the process of designing residential architecture and community.

The first part of this paper presents an analysis of the relation between participation and simulation in the process of social interaction. The second part is an analysis of previously established models of participation in regard to the production of residential architecture in the territory of Yugoslavia. The third part is an example of application of a participative method based on the case study of the EU-sponsored MILD HOME project ⎯ a research project for planning and designing sustainable housing. Three assumptions follow the three-part structure of the paper. The first two parts are theory research based chapters, but the third part is an action methodology conducted research since the author of this paper is also an author of one of the winning-award projects for competition Eco Green Village based on MILD HOME.

Keywords:

Simulated participation, Co-operative community, Local initiative, Global standards, Residential design process

Article history:

Received: 14 April 2015 Revised: 02 July 2015 Accepted: 20 July 2015

This paper is not an attempt to set new definitions for methodological models in order to simulate participation. It rather argues that the nature of simulation is inherent to participatory methodology, which represents the first assumption. It also investigates the potential of simulation of participation in the contemporary context as an educational method that can generate a cooperative community. The second assumption is that throughout contemporary history the models of participatory design of residential architecture have proved to be models where users only appear to participate in the decisionmaking process. However, in the given context, these models suited the specific housing policy and partly solved the problem of housing funds. Today, they can enhance the dynamics of the structural totality of social relations. It is precisely the factor of simulation that encourages users’ initiative and overcomes the acquired inertia that has accumulated during the previous period of heavy reliance on the social system and state subsidies.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________ D. Dukanac: “Simulation of Participation: Design Process of Residential Architecture”, pp. 51–62

International Journal of Contemporary Architecture ”The New ARCH“ Vol. 2, No. 2 (2015)

ISSN 2198-7688

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Figure 1. Illustration of one of first–awarded project for Eco green Village Savski venac

The third assumption is that in the contemporary sphere of globalisation and integration, the simulation aspects of methodology are becoming more widespread and more efficient. Through the progress of technology and techniques of representation and communication, elements of the process are becoming available to all participants, and the transparency of their mutual relationships simulates a participatory process. The position is created from which individuals incorporates personal experience in their own space and can affect their own environment. They develop their own personal identity in relation to the community, enabling the community to become more stable, socially sustainable and recognised as a building unit of urban identity (Figure 1).

2. Participation as simulation Before further analysis, it is important to make a distinction between participatory methods and

cooperative community. Participation is a general method of action in processes of social structure, in this case the process of planning and design. Cooperative community is not exclusively defined by institutions, structures and networks. It recognizes itself locally and specifically in relation to its ethnographic and anthropological urban details, and is the most sensitive variable in the equation of cooperation [1]. Participation as a method of inter-social relations represents a mechanism of public and effective expression of opinion. Paradoxically, the interpretation of participation, through the sociological and philosophical discourse, often comes into conflict. The difference is in the direction of action of participation i.e. whether it is an action that is performed from outside in relation to the structure, or is inherent to the very structure. The first hypothesis of this paper explores the character of simulation of participation with a special focus on its course of action. As there is an attitude that participation is inherent to society, the

International Journal of Contemporary Architecture ”The New ARCH“ Vol. 2, No. 2 (2015)

ISSN 2198-7688

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

assumption is that the simulation is inherent to participation. A brief presentation of the positions of relevant contemporary researchers in order to investigate this hypothesis is necessary for its further interpretation in the context of architectural and urban discourse. During the fifties and sixties structuralists were investigating methods of participation within social structures as a hierarchical system. Within that system there are two directions in one course of interactions: the vertical. One operates according to the directives coming from the top of the social structure down to individuals, while the other encourages individual participants and interest groups to claim their interests from the authorities. Thus participation is interpreted as a process that comes from outside. Strong institutional frameworks versus the unstable inter-subjective relations of the society in developed capitalism of the welfare state and other social-democratic structures were fertile ground for this kind of interactions. Those were environments with dominant social paradigms and established value systems that originated in the first case from civil society, and in another from political ideology. Due to the centralized structure of these social and state organizations, participation was often a matter merely of norms and regulations; in these cases, participation was only apparent, with no real effect in practice. During the seventies the idea of structural crisis began to arise. Value systems, such as the system of use-value and exchange value, the products of modernization and urbanization, could cease to be universal and their meanings could be reviewed. The result was a standpoint with only diversity of values, representing no common denominators. The heterogeneity of individual value systems led to the strengthening of particular interests in relation to the collective. With an idea of sustainable society structure the method of dialectics was introduced into social sciences. The structure of society was no longer represented only by the institutional framework and autonomous individuals. It was better understood as a network of different participants, who have the same potential for interaction and the realization of their personal interests in order to achieve collective progress. Structural dialectics, introduced by Pierre Bourdieu, meant the constant conflict of different groups, individuals and institutions that, in the process of achieving personal interests, set common goals [2]. This interpretation of social relations involves participation as inherent to social structure. But the complexity of social relationships and the differentiation of social groups bring these standpoints into question. A more recent stance on the subject of the complexity of social structure, according to the Woolcock's model, is that social networking by participants is performed on three

levels - linking, bridging and bonding [3]. Thus, relations are not anymore achieved in the single vertical course, but also along the horizontal and in their intercombinations. Woolcock makes a clear distinction in the character of these relations. Within a homogeneous group of participants with horizontal relations, participation is inherent; however, vertical linking is done among heterogeneous groups, and is therefore an operation conducted from outside. In addition, to contextualize these theoretical concepts, empirical research methods were introduced, with researchers such as Lefebvre insisting on qualitative and individual case studies [4]. They considered quantification and analytical methods inadequate for complex structure of modern society. Although Lefebvre contributed dialectic with a third party, as Soja called it trialectic [5], a big complaint about these methodological models was their lack of feasibility. Pragmatists believed that critical theory and empirical studies, though useful in order to understand processes, could not actualize applied models [6]. Thus, in practice, stakeholders in participation often remained purely fictitious, and the decision-making process continued to be conducted from the top of the hierarchically organised institutional structure down. Some researchers, following critical theory and pragmatism, attempted to define applied models of social interactions. Based on the method of Parsons' AGIL paradigm [7], Habermas developed a theory of communicative action. Following the line of Hartman, Popper and Jarvie, "Habermas examines four influential concepts of social action - teleological, normatively regulated, dramaturgical and communicative action with an eye to their presuppositions and implications regarding rationality. He argues that only the last of these seeks an understanding and the negotiation of common definitions of situations" [8]. Habermas distinguishes a process that is directed towards achieving the goal and a process which focuses on the mutual understanding of all stakeholders, and which, thereby, synthesizes a cooperative community [9]. 1 – The teleological action expands on the strategic model that is focused on achieving the goal and is of anticipatory character. 2 – The normative action, as opposed to the teleological, does not provide for a specific event, but allows the participants to expect certain behaviour. Norms express an agreement obtained in a social group. 3 – he dramaturgical action involves an individual or a group of participants in the interaction who act in relation to the entire system. "The central concept of presentation of self does not signify spontaneous expressive behaviour but stylizing

International Journal of Contemporary Architecture ”The New ARCH“ Vol. 2, No. 2 (2015)

ISSN 2198-7688

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

the expression of one's own experience with a view to the audience" [10]. 4 – The communicative action starts from the teleological model and by using interpretive method tries to come to a consensus and mutual understanding of participants. The four domains of social action are based on Popper's idea of the three worlds - the objective, subjective and objective knowledge – which Jarvie supplemented with an interpretive method in order to contextualize Popper's theoretical concept [11]. The greatest weakness that Habermas recognizes in Jarvie's proposal is that "it permits no distinction between cultural values and institutional embodiment of values and norms" [12] a weakness that prevents the process of mutual understanding. Habermas introduced a referential value system (based on the idea of Popper's “third world” of objective knowledge) into the dialectic method, where common values and goals would be identified both by the structure and the individuals. We are introduced to Habermas' fourth world – the field of active practice of common value systems – which, abstractly speaking, is the field of participation. However it is necessary to distinguish illusion from simulation of participation, and to place the field of communicative action in the field of simulation. The review of the previous period demonstrated the illusion of participation as a form of practical use of methodological model of participation, and in the case of Habermas' relations between actions this difference can be observed. Habermas distinguishes manipulative processes from strategic processes of society. Strategies may include various social interest groups in achieving collective goals. But if the individual is not aware of the fact that he is a part of the strategic process, and has no insight into that entire process, he becomes a tool of manipulation - and only appears to participate. This makes his decision irrelevant in the context of the whole, and thus the process of participation becomes illusory. However, when an actor has insight into the process, he can perceive the effect of his participation; so even when the actor is not a relevant active factor at any given moment, and does not make decisions, his presence and experience is part of the process, and this makes the process of participation simulated. When we regard the process of communicative action, an additional assumption comes into play: that of a medium that reflects actor-world reactions. "At this level of concept formation the problem of rationality, which until now has arisen only for the social scientists, moves into the perspective of the agent himself. Communicative action introduces achieving understanding as a mechanism for coordinating action" [14]. It can be tentatively represented as a transparent act of dramaturgical action in accordance with the

regulatory actions and goal-oriented teleological action. Only then such social action can be an action of understanding. Having all this in mind, the focus of research has shifted from product to process. Transparency of action is what distinguishes the illusion of process from the simulation of participatory process. "By stressing the fact that the goal-directed actions of different individuals are socially coordinated, Habermas shifts our attention to the broader context of the individual purposive actions, to the structure of social interactions in which teleological actions are located" [15]. Baudrillard also suggests that the mere knowledge or information that we have about the process/ system/event, neutralizes it and turns the system into entropy. "Information in which an event is reflected or broadcast is already a degraded form of this event" [16]. Representation of the process itself is a simulation. However, as Baudrillard points out, the importance is in the transparency of the process. He believes that in the highly differentiated and heterogeneous relations of society, we are no longer able to perceive the wholeness of our environment and its social processes, nor our participation in them. Therefore, the emphasis shifts from consumption of the product to comprehension of the process.

3. Participation in residential architecture In order to understand the need for research of participatory methods, and to detect their character of simulation within residential architecture, it is necessary to present at least briefly the recent history of housing policy within a single territory, politically and socially regulated in different ways. The participatory model of designing living space represents both methodological and applicative models of housing construction that involve the active participation of different interest groups. A participatory model of designing living space was created to upgrade standardized models during the socialist period in the territory of Yugoslavia. This paper examines the actual degree of participation of individual participants in the design process. During the socialist regime, budgetary investments were focused mainly on increasing the housing funds, i.e. the state primarily invested in the production of housing, which was the dominant consumer sector housing policy. In other words, users were only consumers of housing, while the free market, as a potential cause of class inequalities, did not exist. Of course, all investments were made in the public rental sector, while subventions were not direct (like housing allowances in welfare states), but indirect, in the form of unrealistically low rents. Public sector housing funds were treated as general social housing, because they were fully funded from the budget; the state was supposed to be the main investor, manufacturer and

International Journal of Contemporary Architecture ”The New ARCH“ Vol. 2, No. 2 (2015)

ISSN 2198-7688

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

distributor of apartments [17]. Housing construction was therefore socially oriented, and participants in the process of planning and designing living space had only a fictitious freedom of decision. The totalisation of power by the political elite prevented the development of housing as a component of civil rights, and local authorities operated under the full influence of the state, trying to maintain a balance of capital and labour [18]. Here the participatory method proved to be illusory in the planning and design of residential architecture. Despite the large budgetary costs that the state suffered, the requisite number of apartments - which steadily increased - remained unattainable, and economic failure was necessarily accompanied by a social failure. Individual initiative existed, but was not articulated, and was ignored by the public mechanisms, so it resulted in illegal construction. Illegal construction, according to Hegedus and Tosics belongs to one of the alternative strategies that are called exit strategies [19]. By developing these micro strategies of "coping" within the official socialist system, social relationships that did not fit into the matrix of the dominant social structure and housing models were also developed. According to Mina Petrovic, this phenomenon was evidence of the heterogeneity of principles of social organization, in contrast to the general assumptions of the collectivist model of socialist society [20]. However, the parallel development of collective and particular production and consumption of housing is visible. Here the pursuit of various courses of action of participatory methods come into conflict – from inside and out. Moreover, it is the current position that the inherited civic inertia is derived from "learned helplessness", that is, citizens' constant reliance on government subsidies. While the awareness of the importance of the collective and common good was diminishing, paradoxically, the desire for personal and inalienable assets grew. The result was the illegal appropriation of land, social assistance, housing allowances and other tangible help without any awareness of wider negative effects on the social and urban community [21]. Independent, individual and illegal construction – typical of marginalised social groups during the socialist period – was spurred by the fact that land intended for individual housing construction was a rarity in Belgrade [22]. In order to self-construct it was therefore necessary for citizens to associate – which is also a presupposition of sustainable cooperative community. With the change of state and social order, there came changes in housing policy. With the collapse of the socialist regime, a reversal of the previous housing policy occurred. Since this meant a negation of the past institutional system, the socio-economic research of post-socialist countries had no interest in further studies of institutional housing. The new regime sought to

redefine institutions, and in the context of such an unstable and undefined housing policy, "research-based approaches to the study of the institutional legacy in shaping new institutions or individual housing strategies of coping with institutional transformation gained extraordinary importance" [23]. In this period of development, which is still ongoing, housing policies are often aimed at overcoming existing barriers perceived in the legacy of previous policies and planning. The full implementation of successful housing models developed in welfare states was impossible, and as a result they were often implemented partially with a lot of customization. The views of various sociologists were that the new concept of housing policy must be based on the principle of division of responsibilities between the state, market and households. With this in mind, studies researched the institutional and action potential of countries in transition [24]. "The role of government is changing, and from a direct "provider", it should become the creator of conditions in which households become participants in the housing market on the basis of income available "[25]. The new housing policy of post-socialist state accepts the basic principles of the capitalist order, which means participation of many more actors than in the previous period, accompanied by a well-developed financial and institutional framework to support it. The action potential of the population, although present, is currently not considered to be usable. In fact, due to the breaking of collective identity and collectivist strategy, there is an apparent "atomization of social structure and the predominance of individual strategies of survival and/or preservation of the material standard" [26]. The duality of housing policy criteria, which includes the inherited past and assumed models of the welfare state, has caused a "double-standard" treatment of market and customers. It is believed that institutional measures are insufficient for the proper articulation of the action potential, because people often show a reluctance to participate; hence the prime goal is to profile the stakeholder positions of different social groups. Offe points to the impossibility of forming a common identity of individuals in the complex convertibility of goods [27]. He stresses the consequential lack of defined, competent and cooperative collective participants in civil society who could play the role of promoting social/housing policy and its institutions. This results in a "parapolitical matrix of social services (the role of the family, clan, neighbourhood)" [28]. According to this analysis, it is possible to recognize the lack of viable relationships by using the analogy of Habermas' division of social action, i.e. we can recognize a lack of coordination between teleological, normative and dramaturgical action. The lack of communicative action is the reason for this, and the result is deficient transparency of action. Also, one of the most common

International Journal of Contemporary Architecture ”The New ARCH“ Vol. 2, No. 2 (2015)

ISSN 2198-7688

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

side effects of breaking the totalized management model is the "clientelistic way of coordination and negotiation, and the links between political and economic elite are still operating under the domination of command power. [...] The lack of transparency of the decision making process of the political elite channels the influence of private capital through corruptive and not partnership strategies and weakens the trust of all stakeholders in the institutions, and in particular inhibits participatory action of citizens in local governance projects" [29]. As the government was no longer the main investor in housing, financial support had to be raised in different ways. For example, the state still uses enterprises, institutions and offices to participate in financing housing construction. The most widespread subsidies are in the form of mortgage loans, which offer certain benefits to users, but are often insufficient because they address only those citizens who already have a certain level of economic power, while the socially disadvantaged or economically weaker are not considered for loans. In this way, the differences in socio-economic status of citizens are only exacerbated, with no prospect for solving long-term problems of housing policy solely through institutional channels. Consequently civic initiatives occur. In post-socialist countries, the lack of civic activities in claiming the right to housing is frequent. However due to inexperience regarding participation in civic initiatives, as well as a

poorly-defined competent authority in the field of housing, these and other initiatives lose their potential, and have had little notable participation in housing policy. Another possible factor for the reduction of potential is the heterogeneity of the community and spontaneity of their actions. If, from the beginning, organizational power and technical assistance was provided to particular initiatives, illegal construction could probably, at least partly, be prevented. However, the actions of individuals within a group strengthens social capital, which is of importance for the formation of community identity. As Habermas and Popper introduced a new field of understanding - the reference field - one of the possible solutions to the problem of coordinating action of participants from different backgrounds and interest groups is the introduction of a third party. This third party would work to strengthen ties between the private and public sectors, as well as citizens and organizations, and potentially reduce the occurrence of alternative non-institutional (often illegal) strategies. The main connection would be made with local administrative units, and it would be necessary to strengthen local communities, government and partnerships, as well as recognize their potential at higher levels of state administration (Figure 2). Third parties may be presented by organizations at a higher level than the national authorities. These are found in supranational organizations that are a consequence of globalization,

Austria

Central federal government R

In coordination with providers

Local government in provinces E, FS, L

Denmark

R, FS

E, L

R, FS, E, L

E, L

France

R, FS, L

Germany

In coordination with providers

L E, FS, L

Hungary

R, E, FS, L

Ireland

R, FS

E, L

Netherlands

R, FS

E, FS, L

Sweden

R, FS

E, FS, L

System for determining rents R

financial subsidies system determining FS

New development extent E

new locations for housing development L

E, FS, L

Whitehead, C., Scanlon, K. “Social Housing in Europe“, in: Social Housing in Europe, ed. Whitehead, C. and Scanlon, K., London School of Economics and Political Science, London, July 2007. Figure 2. Who makes decision on public housing? ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________ D. Dukanac: “Simulation of Participation: Design Process of Residential Architecture”, pp. 51–62

International Journal of Contemporary Architecture ”The New ARCH“ Vol. 2, No. 2 (2015)

ISSN 2198-7688

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

international co-operation and aspirations for achieving dominant significance for participants outside the administration of state governments. These are mainly non-governmental organizations and movements financed by the unions of different national structures. One of the possible capital investors who might take over the role of government in financing projects is the European Union (EU). However it is necessary to adjust the project so that both sides receive benefits – the EU as well as beneficiaries of the project". It is necessary to articulate urban demands in a way that is beyond the local framework, given that the conditions of life reflected in the local framework result from different levels of decision-making process and flows of resources. In other words, it is necessary to ensure that the operation of local needs takes place in a proper global context and that movements focused on local social problems acquire the ability to simultaneously move from level to level and connect within a network of similar movements around the world" [30].

4. Simulation of participation in residential architecture Global tendencies In this chapter, I will briefly present an example of an established and ongoing partnership with regard to residential architecture. The Belgrade municipality of Savski venac - with partners from Italy, Austria, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Greece - took part in the EUsponsored MILD HOME project (My Modular, Intelligent, Low Cost, Do it yourself, nearly zero energy house for our Eco Green Village) which is implemented in the South East Europe Transnational Cooperation Programme of the European Union. The MILD HOME project aims to prove that it is possible to build environmentally friendly, energy saving settlements in South Eastern Europe, which are still accessible to people interested in building their own home.[31] As we can see, the target is adjusted to trends of the global context. The project started in November 2012, and completion was scheduled for September 2014. Joint research by project partners has resulted in architectural and urban competitions in various municipalities for Eco green villages consisting of MILD HOME housing units designed according to standards of sustainability in construction and exploitation. The competition tasks were announced in February 2014. Eight local architectural competitions were conducted in eight municipalities, including Savski venac, where three feasibility studies were made on the basis of the winning proposals. The intent of the feasibility studies were to research the potential for the municipality to influence potential investors and banks, which would enable citizens to secure favorable loans for the construction of

energy-efficient prefabricated houses. The aim of the project was also to gather creative and innovative proposals and to establish a local supply chain for building MILD HOME units in the South East Europe region. In addition, local governments – as project participants - would raise awareness among citizens, broadly inform the public about the benefits of sustainable houses, and encourage the banking sector into sponsoring construction of Eco Green Villages. Four municipalities (Sofia, Castel Nuovo, Miles and Savski venac), conducted four open calls for concept designs for the construction of the first Eco Green Villages on the basis of MILD HOME principles, and two building sites for their construction were opened. However, after obtaining the concept designs, Savski venac announced open call tenders for a feasibility study. Two pilotprojects of Eco Green Villages were envisaged to be constructed, which never happened. The MILD HOME project was presented to the Covenant of Mayors for further propagation of the idea. A local campaign for promoting the MILD HOME project to citizens and municipal authorities was organized in order to introduce this new type of construction into city building plans. MILD HOME information stands were set up around various municipalities, and a regional workshop for potential customers, participants interested in the construction industry and political representatives was planned. Contrary to the global context of the project, related to the achievement of the energy efficiency in housing, the resolution of specific problems in economic and social contexts was pursued at the local level (Figure 03). The differentiation of living space and the emphasis of different aspects of sustainability depended mainly on the participants in the process [32]. The special value of the award-winning proposals was recognized in their models of cooperative housing and the introduction of innovative relations between different housing typologies that would economically rationalize the process of housing construction, while at the same time building community identity, cohesion and social capital.The terms of the project required the participation of a licensed expert in the field of materials technology and energy efficiency. This condition committed all entrants to participate in a cooperative process with at least one expert from a nonarchitectural domain. This extended the range of participants in participatory process of designing and planning of a particular living space. If there had been an open call for the execution of some of the conceptual designs, cooperation with the participant representing financial capital for beginning housing construction would also have occurred. All the winning projects were promoting the participation of future residents of the settlement, so the process would include both citizens and citizens' initiatives in the process too. Starting from

International Journal of Contemporary Architecture ”The New ARCH“ Vol. 2, No. 2 (2015)

ISSN 2198-7688

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

sociology, technology of materials, energy efficiency, and a creative service class) we arrive at a particular investor with economic capital and citizens who would participate in the operationalization of living space. Such a process would, in theory, represent a participatory process of design, planning and construction of residential environment.

Figure 3. Illustration of one of first-awarded project for Eco green Village Savski venac showing global and local tendencies (ecological and social sustainability)

the EU as a representative of a supranational organization and as a source of financial and conceptual construction, and working trough the Savski venac municipality as local government representatives and experts in various disciplines (architecture, economics,

However, because of the inconsistencies and shortcomings of the project – which was inevitable due to inexperience of participants in the process – the methodological model was not realized as applicative. It should be noted, however, that the project was, by its nature, experimental. Petrovic claims that the relatively limited involvement of local communities is the consequences of a "lack of knowledge, but also experiential underestimation and overestimation of expert knowledge" [33]. It is possible to enhance the small impact that local authorities have at the national level by using the influence of supranational actors. European interests in this case acted through local authorities (municipalities), resulting in the implementation of certain global standards in the wider region of South East Europe. As shown previously, however, the participation of actors from the groups of experts was neither realistic or effective. A valid contract was formed, and thus in the bureaucratic domain the project was justified, but participation was reduced to a number of joint meetings with no real participation in the decision-making process. Participation existed only on paper for the purposes of the administrative and financial viability of the project. On the other hand, the same process was conducted differently in different environments, which again can be connected to the involvement of more experienced representatives of administrative bodies, local authorities and those who make the process cooperative within the local community. Transparency within the local community increased the effectiveness of the local stakeholder's participation. Local processes were also influenced by the possibility of participation in global processes and its visibility to global stakeholders. However the decisionmaking capacity of various actors remained very limited (or even nonexistent) and the centralization of decisionmaking processes still seems inevitable. The difference is in the form of central government, which shifted from national/state to supranational/global level of free market. Yet what makes the difference between this process and previous participation processes is the specificity of opaqueness versus transparency and an open process of admission. All participants in this process have access to information related to the project, and insight into the bigger picture of the project through various websites [34]; in today's sphere of information and communication technologies it is possible to ensure the transparency of the process. Again, transparency has simulated access to the project

International Journal of Contemporary Architecture ”The New ARCH“ Vol. 2, No. 2 (2015)

ISSN 2198-7688

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

and the possibility of participation, although it was not effective in this case. The local authority acted as a normative-regulated action, while the individual actors represented the domain of dramaturgical action; teleological action was represented by EU-sponsored project organization; And communicative action was enabled by communication between global and local, and simulation of the participatory process at the global level. This simulation of global participation encouraged the actors to engage themselves, on a local level, in a process of comprehension. It is in this act of inclusion, information and comprehension where the process of understanding and recognition of common goals is being performed. The possibility of co-operation between and vertical connection of different actors is thus presented. Various experts initiative, as well as an interdisciplinary approach to research and an integrated design process are being encouraged, which makes this method of simulation of participation an educative method. Instead of residential communities, now we have a cooperative community proposed as a structural unit of collective housing. Local initiatives Through the project, presented in this part of the paper, the authors explore the possibility of establishing cooperative community as housing unite (Figure 04). This project, which was awarded with one of three equal prizes at competition for the architectural and urban design for Eco green village Savski venac, proposes the model of communicative action through application

within the architectural and urban discourse. In the previous section I discussed methodological models of communicative action, its origins and application in the process of planning residential environment. The focus of this paragraph is on design process of residential space, which is set temporally and relationally. At the root of proposed project is the idea of designing relations between two different housing typologies. According to competition task, one of the conditions was designing at least two housing typologies, under the banner of sustainability research of housing settlements as urban entities. The authors of this project have tried to achieve a symbiosis of demands and opportunities of the competition task. The project includes the participation of the institutional framework, as well as representatives of primer capital, and the participation of future users of apartments in creating their own environment. The project anticipates instantaneous construction of collective housing, with the possibility of flexible adaptation of internal space in relation to the change of its user. Change of the user is enabled, and also conditioned, by the temporary character of collective housing. Apartments in the collective housing provide a temporary accommodation for citizens who are willing to invest the money saved on rents in building their own individual homes (Figure 05). This simultaneously enables the flow of inhabitants through the settlement, which would at best enhance differentiation of the population, and thus,

Figure 4. Illustration of one of first-awarded project for Eco green Village Savski venac ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________ D. Dukanac: “Simulation of Participation: Design Process of Residential Architecture”, pp. 51–62

International Journal of Contemporary Architecture ”The New ARCH“ Vol. 2, No. 2 (2015)

ISSN 2198-7688

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Figure 5. Illustration of one of first-awarded project for Eco green Village Savski Venac showing dialogue between collective and individual housing

strengthening community relations and social and human capital. All this is needed in order to enrich the collective experience necessary to carry out an independent construction of individual homes. Tenants who moved from the building of collective housing in individual housing units remain territorially close to future tenants, which is very important for the process of transferring experience and its incorporation into their own housing environment. In this way, individual identities gradually build community identity. Individual housing units are not finally architecturally modelled because they involve direct impact of future users. The only limitation is the subdivision of the site, which

directs the construction of housing space. All residents of the village are users of public spaces, which also include a ground-floor level of the building of collective housing. The contents of this area are envisioned as the beginning of integration with the surrounding neighbourhoods, but also as a place for strengthening local connections, as they offer extra commercial and recreational programs (Figure 6). On the other hand, this is also a way of repayment of primary investment done by institutional framework. With further construction of individual units it is possible for collective apartments to reallocate their content from residential to commercial, cultural, and recreational.

International Journal of Contemporary Architecture ”The New ARCH“ Vol. 2, No. 2 (2015)

ISSN 2198-7688

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Figure 6. Illustartion of one of first-awarded project for Eco green Village Savski venac

5. Conclusion The aim of this proposal is certainly an incentive for building cooperative community involving different stakeholders and different value systems. In the process of building and expanding the settlement, particular interests and individual identities would, through communicative practical character, synthesize common goals and recognize common values. The emphasis remains on the process of mutual understanding through the process of designing, planning and construction of housing. This paper aims to show possibility of cooperative processes in designing and planning residential environment and community. It also argues that simulation is inherent to the process of participation, but proposes a model that would enhance its positive sides. It argues that simulation can be used in educational purposes as a part of decision-making process, opposed to its prior use - manipulation. The main goal of this paper is to investigate levels and directions of knowledge exchange through transnational and local cooperation.

References [1]

Gulin Zrnić, V. Kvartovska spika – Značenje grada i urbani lokalizmi u Novom Zagrebu (Quart talks –

Meaning of a city and urban localisms in New Zagreb), Institut za etnologiju i folkloristiku Naklada Jesenski i Turk, Zagreb, Croatia, 2009. [2] Filipovic , M. "Strukturalna dijalektika kao metod istraživanja društvenih pojava", Sociologija : časopis za sociologiju, socijalnu psihologiju i socijanu antropologiju, Volume 26, Issue 1-2, pp. 111–124, 1984. [3] Woolcock, M. "Social Capital and Economic Development: Towards a Theoretical Synthesis and Policy Framework", Theory and Society, Vol. 27, No. 2, 1998. [4] Lukasz, S. Henri Lefebvre on Space: Architecture, Urban Research, and the Production of Theory, University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, USA, 2011. [5] Soja E. Thirdspace: Journeys to Los Angeles and Other Real-and-Imagined Places. Oxford: Blackwell, Massachusetts, USA, 1996. [6] Badiou, A. Being London,UK, 2005.

and

Event,

Continuum,

[7] Frankenberger, R. "Governmentality and the Comparative Analysis of Dictatorship", 22nd IPSA World Congress of Political Science, Madrid, Spain, 2012.

International Journal of Contemporary Architecture ”The New ARCH“ Vol. 2, No. 2 (2015)

ISSN 2198-7688

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

[8] McCarthy, T. Translator's Introduction, Habermas, J. The theory of communicative action: Reason and the rationalization of society, Beacon Press, Boston, USA, pp. xv., 1984. [9] Habermas, J. The theory of communicative action: Reason and the rationalization of society, Beacon Press, Boston, USA, 1984. [10] Ibid. pp. 86. [11] Ibid. pp. 75–85. [12] Ibid. pp. 81. [13] Ibid. pp. 90. [14] Ibid. pp. 93–94. [15] McCarthy, T. Translator's Introduction, Habermas, J. The theory of communicative action: Reason and the rationalization of society, Beacon Press, Boston, USA, pp. xv, 1984. [16] Baudrillard, J. Simulacra and Simulation, The University of Michigan Press, USA, pp. 86, 1994. [17] Petrović, M. Sociologija stanovanja (Sociology of housing), Beograd: Institut za sociološka istraživanja Filozofdkog fakulteta u Beogradu, Serbia, 2004. [18] Petrović, M. Transformacija gradova : ka depolitizaciji urbanog pitanja (City transformations: towards depolitization of an urban question), Institut za sociološka istraživanja Filozofskog fakulteta u Beogradu, Serbia, pp. 10, 54, 2009. [19] Petrović, M. Transformacija gradova : ka depolitizaciji urbanog pitanja (City transformations: towards depolitization of an urban question), Institut za sociološka istraživanja Filozofskog fakulteta u Beogradu, Serbia, 2009,pp. 59; Petrović, M. Sociologija stanovanja (Sociology of housing), Beograd: Institut za sociološka istraživanja Filozofdkog fakulteta u Beogradu, Serbia, pp. 274, 2004. [20] Petrović, M. Sociologija stanovanja (Sociology of housing), Beograd: Institut za sociološka istraživanja Filozofdkog fakulteta u Beogradu, Serbia, 2004. [21] Ibid. [22] Petrović, M. Transformacija gradova : ka depolitizaciji urbanog pitanja (City transformations: towards depolitization of an urban question), Institut za sociološka istraživanja

Filozofskog fakulteta u Beogradu, Serbia, pp. 10, 54, 2009. [23] Petrović, M. Sociologija stanovanja (Sociology of housing), Beograd: Institut za sociološka istraživanja Filozofdkog fakulteta u Beogradu, Serbia, pp.99. 2004. [24] Petrović, M. Transformacija gradova : ka depolitizaciji urbanog pitanja (City transformations: towards depolitization of an urban question), Institut za sociološka istraživanja Filozofskog fakulteta u Beogradu, Serbia, pp. 55– 56, 2009. [25] Petrović, M. Sociologija stanovanja (Sociology of housing), Beograd: Institut za sociološka istraživanja Filozofdkog fakulteta u Beogradu, Serbia, pp.101, 2004. [26] Ibid. Pp. 102. [27] Petrović, M. Sociologija stanovanja (Sociology of housing), Beograd: Institut za sociološka istraživanja Filozofdkog fakulteta u Beogradu, Serbia, pp. 103, 2004. [28] Petrović, M. Transformacija gradova : ka depolitizaciji urbanog pitanja (City transformations: towards depolitization of an urban question), Institut za sociološka istraživanja Filozofskog fakulteta u Beogradu, Serbia, pp. 67, 2009. [29] Ibid. Pp. 64–65. [30] Ibid. Pp. 204. [31] Competition task for Eco Green Village in the teritoty of Savski venac municipality consisting of MILD HOME housing units, Serbia, 2014. [32] How to build an Eo Green Village based on MILD HOME manual, ed. Bedin D. Condotta M. Di Noto F. Horvath T. Herdics, A. Ion N. and Momi S, Regional Union of Veneto's Chambers of Commece, Venice, Italy, 2014. [33] Petrović, M. Transformacija gradova : ka depolitizaciji urbanog pitanja (City transformations: towards depolitization of an urban question), Institut za sociološka istraživanja Filozofskog fakulteta u Beogradu, Serbia, pp. 89, 2009. [34] MILD HOME, www.mildhome.eu, SOUTH EAST EUROPE, Transnational Cooperation Programme, www. southeast-europe.net

International Journal of Contemporary Architecture ”The New ARCH“ Vol. 2, No. 2 (2015)

ISSN 2198-7688

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The Journal

e21

About the Journal

e22

Instructions for Authors

e24