03 form giving climate part2 slides

CliC Climate Construction in Architecture Lecture 3. Form Follows Climate part 2.

Heating, Cooling, Lighting as Form-Givers in Architecture

Hot-Humid

Hot-humid climate presents a difficult challenge for thermal comfort because the high ventilation demand for human body and because the conventional evaporation cooling method is blocked by the high water content in the air.

Hot-Humid

Historical architecture in hot-humid climates utilize shadow and ventilation to provide thermal comfort. A traditional Japanese house shows the principles of this approach: the walls are moveable (large openings) to provide cross ventilation, and the building is raised from the ground to let air through also under the building.

Hot-Humid

Additionally, high ceiling is typical for hot-humid buildings, to take advantage of stratification (temperature difference) in the air and let warmer air gather above human body.

Shigeru Ban Associates: Curtain House

The curtain house in Tokyo, Japan takes this approach to the limit: the building envelope becomes a curtain to provide as much ventilation as possible. The roof is cantilevered around the building to protect indoor spaces from insolation (solar gain) and to provide temperature difference between inside and outside that enhances ventilation further.

Shigeru Ban Associates: Curtain House

The curtain however remains a real building envelope in terms of protection. The moveable surface can be closed anytime when required.

Cold climate

Cold climates are characterized by low insolation (solar gain) during both summer and winter and by low temperature and humidity in winter periods. Historical architecture strategies are therefore based on insulation.

Cold climate

Since solar heat gain is low, the windows are relatively small to minimize heat loss. Walls are not necessarily heavy, but always have high insulation capacity, which is either provided by the thickness or by the material (wood) of the structure.

Kengo Kuma Associates: Meme Meadows

Meme Meadows house is a unique experimental project that aims to find new and contemporary design strategy for cold climate. The concept is based on the local historical Ainu buildings.

Kengo Kuma Associates: Meme Meadows

Chise buildings have heavy and thick walls to minimize heat loss from indoors. The building always has a central heat space where fire heats indoors continuously. Nights are much colder than days, therefore the fire should heat with higher intensity when people are asleep.

Kengo Kuma Associates: Meme Meadows

Since this is not possible, the fireplace is sunken in the ground. Fire runs with same intensity the whole day. During daytime, the fire is more hot than necessary and therefore heats not just the air but also the ground and surrounding walls. At night the same fire is not hot enough, but the stored heat in walls and ground can provide the rest.

Kengo Kuma Associates: Meme Meadows

The same concept could not be adopted completely for Meme Meadows since Chise houses are very dark and therefore not suitable for 21st century lifestyle. Meme therefore was designed with light and translucent building envelope.

Kengo Kuma Associates: Meme Meadows

Lightness itself does not compromise thermal comfort, since the most important is insulation and not mass. To provide that, the architects came up with a translucent insulation system.

Kengo Kuma Associates: Meme Meadows

The design concept kept the sunken fireplace that serves the same purpose as in a Chise house. The heated ground is an insulated concrete thermal mass this time. The concept this way kept the qualities of historical architecture and combined it with cutting edge technology.

Mild climate

Mild climates are technically the 5th climate in Climate Construction. Since the requirements are almost entirely the same as for Tempered climate, the course discusses these 2 climates as one.

Mild climate

Mild climates are characterized by both comfortable winters and summers, temperature neither drops to low nor rises up to high. The focus here is rather on efficient use of weather conditions, above all the Sun for both illumination, ventilation and heating.

Cutler Anderson Architects + SERA Architects: Edith Green – Wendell Hyatt Federal Building, Portland

The aim of the project was to redesign the Federal Government building to increase energy efficiency and thermal comfort. The building’s new façade follows the climate conditions and solar gain requirements to the letter.

Cutler Anderson Architects + SERA Architects: Edith Green â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Wendell Hyatt Federal Building, Portland

Instead of relying on mechanical control to undue the heating effect of solar gain, each faĂ§ade was designed to allow sufficient sunlight into workplaces but also with enough density to avoid overheating.

Cutler Anderson Architects + SERA Architects: Edith Green â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Wendell Hyatt Federal Building, Portland

Additionally, the faĂ§ade has been carefully designed according to solar angles to make sure that sunlight can go deep enough in the large offices without glare effect. Insulation has been defined accordingly, with high rates in opaque areas and lower elsewhere to allow sunlight to pass.

Temperate climate

Among the 4 (+1) climates, perhaps temperate climate is the most difficult one, since it is characterized by both cold winters and hot summers (depending on proximity to water, summer may be hot-dry or hot-humid). Technically this means that temperate climates have different requirements in winter than in summer.

dRMM: Sliding House