HOW

CONTEXT
AFFECTS

Arch 16

ARCHITECTURE
CONTEXT
-the words that are used with a
certain word or phrase and that help
to explain its meaning

-the parts of a discourse that

surround a word or passage and
can throw light on its meaning
CONTEXT
*the set of circumstances or facts that surround a particular
event, situation, etc.

*background, milieu, climate.

*the interrelated conditions in which something exists or

occurs : environment, setting

*the situation within which something exists or happens, and

that can help explain it

*the conditions and circumstances that are relevant to an

event, fact, etc.

*frame of reference, background, framework, relation,

connection
CONTEXT
NATURAL SETTING

UNIQUE ENVIRONMENT

EXCLUSIVE/ESOTERIC
CONDITION
-the composite or generally prevailing
weather conditions of a region, as
temperature, air pressure, humidity,
precipitation, sunshine, cloudiness, and
winds, throughout the year, averaged over a
series of years.

(A microclimate is a local atmospheric zone

where the climate differs from the
surrounding area. The term may refer to
areas as small as a few square meters or
square feet (for example a garden bed) or as
large as many square kilometers or square
https://sites.google.com/site/climatetypes/
CLIMATE AS A MODIFYING FACTOR

-An important aspect of form-generating forces.

(Major effects on the forms)
-Conditions of weak technology and limited
environmental control systems.

*Man cannot dominate nature but must adapt to it.

(Survival, minimum materials for maximum comfort)

*If early houses were highly adaptive, why change?

-sanitation, modern amenities (evolution)
-but it doesn’t mean that we should forget about
climate adaptivity. Less energy… Maximize natural
resources.
*PROTECTION FROM WEATHER

-Adapt to conditions
-Solve problems by collaborating with nature

*The more severe the climatic constraints, the more will

the form be limited – pure climatic functionalism.

*But appearances vary due to other factors. We must

work around the “basis”.

*RESPONSE -the nature of solutions, the awareness of

the need
-great variety of designs related to conditions, cultural
and symbolic interpretations of conditions, and their
definition of comfort.
BUILDINGS SHOULD RESPOND
TO:
Temperature - heat and cold
Humidity - high and low
Radiation - desirable and undesirable
Wind - encouraged and discouraged
Rain – protection from it; retention of ventilation
Land form and topography
Tectonic movement - earthquakes
 BUILDING RESPONSE IN
PHYSICAL CONTEXT
• Building placement within /on

landforms/natural environment

• Building orientation

• Building mass/Thermal Mass

• Building form and space planning

• Building envelope

• Building materials
 BUILDING PLACEMENT ON LAND
FORMS

Chinese Cave Dwellings

BUILDING PLACEMENT ON LAND
FORMS

Earth Dwellings

External thermal
mass reduces
heat loss and
helps maintain a
steady indoor air
temperature.

Turf Houses, Iceland

BUILDING PLACEMENT ON LAND
FORMS

Earth Dwellings

Earth House Estate, Lättenstrasse, Switzerland

BUILDING PLACEMENT ON LAND
FORMS

Earth Dwellings

Earth sheltered rest area along Interstate 77 in Ohio

BUILDING PLACEMENT ON LAND
FORMS

Earth SHIP

Taos, New Mexico

BUILDING PLACEMENT WITHIN THE
NATURAL ENVIRONMENT
ELEVATED Dwellings

Vernacular houses, Philippines

BUILDING ORIENTATION

• Sun: east to west (southern path)

• 3/4 of building exposed to direct solar radiation at any
time of the day
• North – coolest part
BUILDING ORIENTATION

Because of the steep

site and an existing
entrance road, the
orientation of the
building was shifted
30 degrees from due
south.

Blue Ridge Parkway Destination

Center, Hemphill Knob, North Carolina
BUILDING ORIENTATION

http://techniki.com.gr/proper-orientation/
BUILDING ORIENTATION

Orientation for an elevated tropical house

http://www.yourhome.gov.au/passive-design/orientation
BUILDING ORIENTATION

http://articles.extension.org/pages/25670/how-the-exterior-architectural-features-of-a-home-built-in-a-warm-climate-affect-its-energy-efficien
BUILDING ORIENTATION

http://design490.org/tropical-climate-building-design-considerations/
BUILDING MASS

Spanish Colonial Churches

in the Philippines
BUILDING MASS

Spanish Colonial Houses,

Vigan, Ilocos Norte,
Philippines
THERMAL MASS

Basic Passive Solar

Design
THERMAL MASS

Stones and other dense material have thermal mass and retain heat.
The radiant heat from the stones melted the snow that fell onto them.

https://greenpassivesolar.com/passive-solar/building-characteristics/thermal-mass/
THERMAL MASS
BUILDING SPACE PLANNING
1. Main entrance
2. Rooms (facing the rear)
3. First courtyard (for cooking
and second courtyard was
a living space)
4. Rooms for the sons and
daughters
5. Inner Hall for greeting
guests and family
ceremonies
6. Main building (Living space
for parents)
7. Small side rooms (These
used for children and
extended family members) Typical two-courtyard house
plan, China
BUILDING SPACE PLANNING

The Lion’s Court

Alhambra, Granada, Spain
BUILDING ENVELOPE
A building envelope is the physical separator
between the conditioned and unconditioned
environment of a building including the resistance
to air, water, heat, light, and noise transfer.

The building envelope is all of the elements of the

outer shell that maintain a dry, heated, or cooled
indoor environment and facilitate its climate
control.

Building envelope design is a specialized area of

architectural and engineering practice that draws
from all areas of building science and indoor
climate control.
BUILDING ENVELOPE
Fenestrations

Wellington Zoo Amphitheatre, New Zealand

 BUILDING ENVELOPE
Fenestrations

Van Nelle Factory, Rotterdam,

Netherlands
 BUILDING ENVELOPE
Fenestrations

Agoncillo House, Taal,

Batangas

Goco House, Taal, Batangas

BUILDING ENVELOPE
Fenestrations

 Natural ventilation capacity:

allows cross ventilation and passive
cooling
BUILDING ENVELOPE
Fenestrations

 Maintainsinterior thermal
comfort throughout the sun's
daily and annual cycles

 Reduces the requirement

for artificial lighting &
cooling systems
Wellington Zoo Amphitheatre, New Zealand
BUILDING ENVELOPE
Fenestrations

Low energy designs:

Use of solar
shading (awnings,
blinds or shutters) to
relieve the solar heat
gain in summer and
to reduce the need
for artificial cooling
BUILDING ENVELOPE
Fenestrations

Skylights
BUILDING ENVELOPE
Roofs

Natural light from dome

radiates down to the
parliament floor.

A large sun shield tracks

the movement of the
sun electronically and
blocks direct sunlight.

Reichstag Building,
Berlin
BUILDING ENVELOPE
Roofs
BUILDING ENVELOPE
Roofs
BUILDING ENVELOPE
Roofs

18th century farm buildings in Heidal, Norway

BUILDING ENVELOPE
Roofs

White Roof Campaign

BUILDING ENVELOPE
Roofs
• Reduces heat loss by adding
mass and thermal resistance
value
• Reduces the outdoor average
temperatures during the summer
especially when there is a
concentration of sod roofs in an
urban area
• Reduces storm water run off by
absorption
• Helps to insulate a building for
sound; the soil helps to block
lower frequencies and the plants
block higher frequencies
BUILDING ENVELOPE
Walls and projections

Voladas in Spanish Colonial Houses

BUILDING ENVELOPE
Walls and projections
BUILDING ENVELOPE
Insulation
BUILDING MATERIALS

https://storify.com/ati_garg/the-importance-of-a-building-material-testing-lab
BUILDING MATERIALS

Malay House In Kampong, Malaysia

http://www.malaysiasite.nl/malayhouse.htm
BUILDING MATERIALS