38 RESUSTAIN
By Maria Tziakou The traditional architecture of Cyclades, Greece is a characteristic example of sustainable design. It consists of a series of passive design that aim to maximize the comfort of the build environment., while they succeed in adjusting to climate. The Cycladic house is built in order to cover the basic daily needs in accordance with the environmental conditions of each island. The climate in general can be described as Mediterranean and it is moderate, coastal with dry, sunny and high temperatures and intense radiation from the sun in summers and mild, damp winters. The Cycladic islands are known for the strong winds with direction mainly from south, which are dry and hot, and from north which are dry and cold. Traditional architecture aimed at managing the diversity of winds, either by bringing the pleasant summer breeze in the house with cross openings or by preventing the harsh and cold winter wind with the use of high walls and trees.
The stiff landscape had a dominant role in the formation of the characteristic Cycladic style. The villages had to adjust to the, often unfriendly, terrain and at the same time take advantage of the available scarce resources.
Materials
The limited presence of wood and the difficulty of transferring materials from other places was also a decisive factor in the formation of the traditional methods of construction. The scarcity of resources would not allow the beams to be more than 3 meters, limiting in this way the structures to only one floor. In cases that the houses needed another floor, they were using the topography to gain height. The structures consisted mainly from stone that was very common material in area. The stone was covered with lime that provided the structures the characteristic white color that dominates in Cycladic architecture. This technique was used to protect the stone and protect the houses from the strong sunlight as the white color is known to reduce the sunrays absorption, especially during the summer months.
CYCLADIC And
Architecture
SUSTAINABLE
Development
