Design with Climate: Bioclimatic Approach to Architectural Regionalism - New and expanded Edition
224
Design with Climate: Bioclimatic Approach to Architectural Regionalism - New and expanded Edition
224Paperback(New and expanded)
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Overview
First published in 1963, Design with Climate was one of the most pioneering books in the field and remains an important reference for practitioners, teachers, and students, over fifty years later. In this book, Victor Olgyay explores the impact of climate on shelter design, identifying four distinct climatic regions and explaining the effect of each on orientation, air movement, site, and materials. He derives principles from biology, engineering, meteorology, and physics, and demonstrates how an analytical approach to climate management can merge into a harmonious and aesthetically sound design concept.
This updated edition contains four new essays that provide unique insights on issues of climate design, showing how Olgyay's concepts work in contemporary practice. Ken Yeang, John Reynolds, Victor W. Olgyay, and Donlyn Lyndon explore bioclimatic design, eco design, and rational regionalism, while paying homage to Olgyay’s impressive groundwork and contributions to the field of architecture.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780691169736 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Princeton University Press |
| Publication date: | 09/01/2015 |
| Edition description: | New and expanded |
| Pages: | 224 |
| Product dimensions: | 10.20(w) x 8.20(h) x 0.70(d) |
About the Author
Read an Excerpt
Design With Climate
Bioclimatic Approach to Architectural Regionalism
By Victor Olgyay
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS
Copyright © 2015 Princeton University PressAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-691-16973-6
CHAPTER 1
GENERAL INTRODUCTION
THE EARTH AND LIFE
The full spectrum of earth's arena ranges from the rigor of the cold blues to the oppression of the torrid reds, and only the restful hues near green are associated with life. The bluish-white of icecaps in the polar regions blends into a brownish-green where vegetation makes its first stand in the tundra. This gives way to the dark green coniferous belt of the cold zone, which merges southward with the broadleaved deciduous trees of the fertile temperate region. Further down, the warm middle latitudes are marked with the sparsely inhabited yellowish-reds of the desert areas, and the tones finally deepen into the lush green of the permanent verdure around the equatorial belt.
Surrounded by oceans, the great land masses are relieved by heights and depths of mountains, plains, and plateaus, and enlivened by veins of rivers and networks of streams and lakes. On and beneath the surface lie the meager or abundant soils and minerals which make life prosperous or infertile.
There is a discipline, however, imposed on this complexity. The revolution of the globe gives the heartbeat of day and night which regulates the activities and reposes of natural life. The tilted rotation of the earth around the sun sets the rhythm of the seasons, which call to life the dormant vegetation and donate the bounty of harvests. Whether each locale is cool or warm is largely determined by its relative distance from the equator; but the imperative regularity of the sun also sets the pace for the patterns of humidity and wind that sweep across the earth.
The features of the physical environment are blanketed by a vast ocean of air, whose tides carry climatic elements to all parts of the earth and are in turn modulated by them. Climate not only plays a great part in the composition of soils, but strongly affects the character of plants and animals in different regions and — most important from our point of view — man's energy.
As life has arisen through the hidden aspects of natural laws, so for better or worse the rules of nature command that life make a close adjustment to natural background. The setting is impartial; it can be kind or cruel, but all living species must either adapt their physiology, through selection or mutation, or find other defenses against the impacts of environment.
ANIMAL LIFE AND SHELTER
Mankind's physical flexibility and capacity for adaptation are relatively feeble compared to those of many animals, who possess natural defenses against a large range of unfavorable climates. Against the danger of dryness animals have a number of weapons, and to relive the impacts of excessive heat they use heightened transpiration. The bear, in cold weather, can reduce his metabolism through slumber. The bat can survive a change of its body temperature of 60 degrees. The elephant can cool its blood by moving its honeycombed ear. As cold arrives the mink grows a new fur coat. In the hostile territory of the desert many animals reverse their life rhythm, live by night, and tuck away underground at dawn. Some rabbit breeds place their burrows with efficient foresight in relation to water and wind.
Birds can regulate their body insulation by trapping minute air bubbles with their adjustable feathers. When hardship becomes excessive, they seek to change to an environment where food and warmth are more favorable for existence. Birds during their stay do not rely entirely on their ability to adapt, but enlarge this ability with their building habits, with an innate instinct to cope with their environment. The varied forms and delicate patterns thus produced provide enlightening examples of the intuitive reconciliation of natural forces.
The open nest secures insulating qualities; the hanging nest utilizes the tensile strength of fibers, or grasses, and, pendulum-like, avoids the wind forces. The nest which is massively built from clay and straw prevents the intrusion of the direct sun and rain by its steep entrance. The vertical mud and straw nest is similar to apartment dwellings, where each opening is an individual nest comprised of two chambers. The first serves as an entrance foyer, the second an egg laying and hatching area. This very special form successfully avoids the nearly vertical sun rays, and minimizes the effect of precipitation. The mass of the earth can effectively relieve extreme temperature differences and secures more stable heat conditions. Each solution is an effort, with a different approach, to cope with some main element of the climatic surroundings.
These individual efforts for shelter are surpassed by the collective building of the insect world. Anthills vary with their surroundings; in temperate regions they are often found on southeast slopes, and elongated on a northeast-southwest axis to catch early morning warmth. But in the tropics, the immense buildings of Hamitermes meridionalis ("compass termites") are blade-shaped and point due north. The east and west exposures help to secure an equable temperature; but, as with most mound-buildings, the large mass of earth stabilizes the caloric range. Their towers are immense, reaching 400 times their body-length (10 mm), which translated into human terms would equal 2400 feet.
HUMAN LIFE AND SHELTER
Mankind in the same environments encounters the same stresses as other fauna. From Aristotle to Montesquieu, many scholars believed that climate had pronounced effects on human physiology and temperament. More recently interest has centered on human energy in relation to environment. Ellsworth Huntington has hypothesized that climate ranks with racial inheritance and cultural development as one of the three great factors in determining the conditions of civilization. According to him, man, who can apparently live in any region where he can obtain food, has strictly limited conditions under which his physical and mental energy (and even his moral character) can reach their highest development. He postulates optimum climate conditions for human progress:
1. average temperature ranges from somewhat below 40° F in the coldest months to nearly 70° F in the warmest months;
2. frequent storms or winds, to keep the relative humidity quite high except in hot weather, and provide rain at all seasons;
3. a constant succession of cyclonic storms which bring frequent moderate changes in temperature but are not severe enough to be harmful.
Another contemporary, Julian Huxley, relates human history to climate by comparing the incidence of early civilizations with that of dry and wet epochs. He speculates that the biological and economic effects of the shifts in climatic belts hold the balance for populations. When the belts shift, migrations are caused, which in turn bring not only wars but the fertilizing exchange of ideas necessary for the rapid advance of civilization.
Man's inventiveness enabled him to defy the rigors of his environment with fire for warmth and with furs for clothing. When the weakling among animals substituted Promethean inventiveness for the physical adaptation of other species, the shelter became his most elaborate defense against hostile climates. It enlarged the space of biological equilibrium and secured a favorable milieu for productivity. As the shelter evolved, accumulated experience and ingenuity diversified it to meet the challenges of widely varying climates.
ADAPTATION OF SHELTER TO CLIMATE
Virgil wrote: "Five zones possess the sky, of which one is ever/red from blazing sun and ever burnt by fire." Sacrobosco, in his Sphaera Mundi, projected these five celestial zones on the earth, and agreed that the central one was uninhabitable "because of the fervor of the sun. ... But those two zones ... about the poles of the world are uninhabitable because of too great cold, since the sun is far removed from them." Hence, he concluded, only the temperate zones were fit for civilized habitation, and most of the classical world agreed with him.
Nevertheless, the ancients recognized that regional adaptation was an essential principle of architecture. Vitruvius said in De Architectura: "For the style of buildings ought manifestly to be different in Egypt and Spain, in Pontus and Rome, and in countries and regions of various characters. For in one part the earth is oppressed by the sun in its course; in another part the earth is far removed from it; in another it is affected by it at a moderate distance."
In contemporary architectural thinking there are many approaches to man's physiological, as well as aesthetic, well-being. To treat climate as a primary factor is justifiable only if the thermal environment proves to be one of the influential factors on the architectural expression. Dr. Walter B. Cannon maintained that it is: "The development of a nearly thermo-stable state in our buildings should be regarded as one of the most valuable advances in the evolution of buildings."
One corroboration of this thesis is apparent when one considers the diverse housing forms developed by groups of similar ethnic background when they encountered widely varying climatic regions. It is generally agreed that the American Indians stemmed from Asia and that the waves of their migration across the Bering Strait established their populations from end to end of North and South America. As they spread throughout North America, the Indians entered into a broad variation of climatic environments, from the cold-cool northern territories to the warm-hot areas of the south, from the dry western areas to the humid parts of the southeast.
The tribes entering the cold zone encountered extreme cold and relatively scarce fuel. Under these circumstances, the conservation of heat became essential, so their shelters were compact, with a minimum of surface exposure. The Eskimo igloo is a well-known solution to the problem of survival in extreme cold. These low hemispherical shelters deflect the winds and take advantage of the insulating value of the snow that surrounds them. The smooth ice lining which forms on their interior surface is an effective seal against air seepage, and their tunnel exits are oriented away from the prevailing winds to reduce drafts and prevent the escape of warmed air. The heat retention of this type of structure makes it possible to maintain a temperature of 60° F inside when the exterior temperature is – 50° F. Such structures may be heated by a small lamp supplemented by body heat.
The Pacific Coast tribes of British Columbia encountered a less extreme climate, although the need for heat conservation remained acute. To meet this demand these Indians adopted a form of communal living, as shown by the structure of the habitations of the Kwakiutl Indians. The homes of these tribes were joined together to reduce the exposed surfaces. The large plank-and-timber shelters were built as double shells, an arrangement that produced an insulating air space and provided an enclosed ambulatory between family units for the snowy winter months. In the summer the outer shell could be removed for ventilation. Further mutual benefit was achieved by the placing of fire pits within individual apartments along a center aisle, thus creating a concentrated heat source. In the Mackenzie Basin, shelters were constructed of bark and timber, covered by low-pitched roofs with long poles anchored to the covering to retain the snow as an insulating blanket.
The temperate area, offering a naturally favorable climate, made fewer thermal demands on its inhabitants, and there is a corresponding diversity and freedom in the structures of these peoples. Unlike the communal groupings of the Pacific Coast, the villages of the eastern woodsmen and plains dwellers were freely organized and spread out, with peripheral units merging into the surrounding landscape. The typical dwelling unit of these tribes was the wigwam, a conical structure of poles covered by skin, which effectively shed wind and rain and was easily heated from a central source. It could be readily transported, an essential to migration.
In contrast, the hot-arid zone made extreme demands on the constructors of tribal dwellings. Characterized by excessive heat and glaring sun, this area requires that the shelter be designed to reduce heat impacts and provide shade. The southwestern tribes, like those far north of them, often built communal structures for mutual protection — in this case from the heat. Structures such as the pueblo of San Juan were constructed of massive adobe roofs and walls, which have good insulative value and the capacity to delay heat impacts for long hours, thus reducing the daily heat peaks. They also used very small windows. By packing buildings together, the amount of exposed surface was reduced. Pueblo structures of this type usually extend on an east-west axis, thereby reducing morning and afternoon heat impacts on the two end walls in summer and receiving a maximum amount of south sun in the winter months when its heat is welcome.
The hot-humid area, on the other hand, presented two major problems to its inhabitants: the avoidance of excessive solar radiation and the evaporation of moisture by breezes. To cope with these problems, the southern tribes built their villages to allow free air movement, and the scattered individual units were mixed into the shade of surrounding flora. The Seminóles raised large gable roofs covered with grass to insulate against the sun and throw large areas of shadow over the dwellings, which had no walls. The steep angle and extensive overhang of these roofs protected against rainfall, and the floors were elevated to keep them dry and to allow air circulation underneath.
As may be seen from these basic building forms used by the North American Indians in various regions, these people possessed a remarkable ability to adapt their dwellings to their particular environmental difficulties. An awareness of climate was integrated with innate craftsmanship to solve problems of comfort and protection. The results were building expressions of true regional character.
SIMILARITIES AROUND THE WORLD
Although a global evaluation is beyond the scope of this book, the zones of climate can be traced around the earth. There are many systems for classifying them, but W. Koppen's is generally accepted. Using the relation of climate to vegetation as a criterion, he determined five basic climate zones: tropical-rainy, dry, warm-temperate, cool-snow-forest, and polar. Some authors, such as Trewartha, offered modifications of these divisions based on the isotherms of the coldest months. Since the detailed classifications are not directly applicable to housing, a simplified map based on Koppen's system is presented here.
For the architect's use "homoclimate," or human need, is the determining factor. That a thermostable condition has for centuries been the main goal of builders is corroborated by Jean Dollfus' sampling of characteristic dwellings around the world. He finds that building styles are defined less by national frontiers than by climate zones. Allowing for some variation in local taste and tradition, the general forms of native habitation are born of the environment.
In his first category, the great equatorial forest and tropical savannahs (Africa, Monsoon Asia, Australia, Polynesia, Amazon), he emphasizes that the roof is more essential than the walls, which can be omitted altogether. Throughout this zone we find "timber skeletons, wood construction, branches, woven sticks, lath, thatch, and verdure."
In cold northern forest and mountain regions, from the northwestern U.S. through Scandinavia and to the Himalayas, Dollfus groups houses of heavy timber with beam construction. These have low-pitched shingle or wooden roofs that allow dry snow to act as insulation.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Design With Climate by Victor Olgyay. Copyright © 2015 Princeton University Press. Excerpted by permission of PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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Table of Contents
PART 1. CLIMATIC APPROACH
I. GENERAL INTRODUCTION 1
The Earth and Life - Animal Life and Shelter - Human Life and Shelter - Adaptation of Shelter to Climate - Similarities Around the World - Community Layouts and Climate - Regional Character - Climate Balance - To Find a Method - Summary
II. THE BIOCLIMATIC APPROACH 14
The Effects of Climate on Man - Shelter and Environment - The Comfort Zone - Relation of Climatic Elements to Comfort - The Bioclimatic Chart
III. REGIONAL EVALUATION 24
Climatic Evaluation by Region - Bioclimatic Needs by Region
IV. CLIMATIC ELEMENTS 32
Factors in Weather - Radiant Heat Transfer
PART 2. INTERPRETATION IN ARCHITECTURAL PRINCIPLES
V. SITE SELECTION 44
Microclimatic Effects - Effect of Topography - Natural and Built-Up Surroundings - Criteria for Site Selection
VI. SOL-AIR ORIENTATION 53
Bound to the Sun - Recent Theories - Sol-Air Approach - Regional Adaptation - Regional Application
VII. SOLAR CONTROL 63
The Structure - Transmission of Radiation and Heat - Economy of Shading Devices - Design of Shading Devices - Shading Effects of Trees and Vegetation - Obstruction of Surroundings - Summary of Method
VII. ENVIRONMENT AND BUILDING FORMS 84
Morphology in Nature - Impact of External Forces on Buildings - Criterion of Optimum Shape - Conclusions for Basic Forms of Houses - Regional Effects on Large Building Shapes - Morphology of Town Structures
IX. WIND EFFECTS AND AIR FLOW PATTERNS 94
Wind and Architecture - Wind Analysis - Local Factors in Wind Orientation - Windbreaks - Flow Patterns Inside Buildings - Summary of Procedures in Wind Control
X. THERMAL EFFECTS OF MATERIALS 113
Opaque Materials and Indoor Temperature Balance - Heat Entry on the Surface - Moisture Effects - Deterioration of Materials - Heat Transmission of Materials - Resistance Insulation, or Heat Capacity Effects - Time Lag and Calculation Methods - Balanced Insulation - Summary
PART 3. APPLICATION
XI. HELIOTHERMIC PLANNING 126
Comfort Criteria - Calculating Thermal Behavior of Structures - Method of Approach for Heliothermic Planning - Thermal Behaviors - Heat Analysis of Structures in Temperate Zone, Cool Area, Hot-Arid Area, Hot-Humd Area - Summation of Regional Conclusions
XII. EXAMPLES IN FOUR REGIONS 153
Architectural Application to Community Layouts
APPENDIX A. Technical Notes 178
APPENDIX B. The Thermoheliodon 180
BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES 186
INDEX 189
What People are Saying About This
"Design with Climate has had an extremely important impact on the practice of sustainable design, and is perhaps even more relevant today than when it was when originally published in 1963. In many ways the book was ahead of its time."—Peter Anderson, author of Prefab Prototypes: Site-specific Design for Offsite Construction"Design with Climate is a seminal work of continued relevance, and is especially needed as architects relearn the basics of climatic design in order to right the causes and effects of global warming."—Bruce Haglund, University of Idaho