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Traditional architecture, building materials and appropriate modernity in Chilean cities
RENEWAbLE ENERGY PERGAMON
Renewable Energy 15(1998) 283-286
TRADITIONAL ARCHITECTURE, BUILDING MATERIALS AND APPROPRIATE MODERNITY IN CHILEAN CITIES. Dr I. A. Cartes School of Architecture, Department of Planning and Urban Design, Universidad de1 Bio-Bio, Av. Collao 1202, PO Box 5-C, Conception, Chile.
ABSTRACT This paper discusses and analyses new buildings, inspired by traditional models of architecture, that propose energy savings and the use of local material revalidating the urban image of Chilean cities. However, as this paper demonstrates this adoption of traditional models, with their subsequent emphasis in ecological measures, such adoption is still intuitive and not a major principle of design. Therefore, isolated examples of modem buildings deal in an appropriate manner with their climatic and geographical context. This kind of urban development contradicts the image of the country, which has been perceived by the international community as one of the most emergent economies. Consequently, central and local governments know that they have to aim a more environmental development in order to balance an explosive, and sometimes uncontrolled, way of building our cities. The conclusions stress the importance of creating common patterns of design for achieving better performances of buildings, owing to the fact that traditional models have been inherited and already exist as valid references. Especially, if Chile is to pursue both economical and sustainable development. 0 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
KEYWORDS Tradition, patterns of design, climatic effects, geographical context, local/recyclable materials, built form, appropriate modernity.
THE IMPORTANCE OF LOCAL CONTEXTS Prevailing Economic and Geoaanhical
Contexts
Chile is considered a wealthy nation and recognised as one of the most dynamic process of development. Its economy is one of the fastest growing in the southern hemisphere. The country’s economy “has earned it the epithet ‘Puma of South America’ because it has grown almost 7% for each of the past nine years. In the early 199Os, construction output grew 10% a year” (Bill, 1995). This process is also reflected in new schemes demanded by this dynamic market, particularly in the areas where this flurry of economic development has taken place showing a boom in construction activity. The weather in the country, approximately 4,500 Km in length, is influenced by the Pacific Ocean along its coasts, and reveals surprising and contrasting scenarios with different architectural expressions that depend on a variety of geographical contexts. front matter 0 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved PII: SO960-1481(98)00174-8
0960-1481/98/$-see
WREC
284
1998
In the North, stone, mud-bricks, small openings and flat roofs, reflect the arid and dry desert surrounding the cities. Thermal mass and ventilation of traditional buildings have inspired many of the new public constructions and housing projects._On the contrary, in the South the rainy and cold weather is an intimate part of the landscape which is composed of several islands, high mountains and vast sectors of forest that provide the basic element for a renowned architecture in timber, which uses the material for both structure and cladding. The latter also provides an important renewable resource and constitutes one of the major exports. (Cartes et ol., 1996)
TRADITIONAL AND CONTEMPORARY
SCHEMES
It is impossible to conduct an exhaustive survey of new buildings built m the last two decades along Chile. However this paper attempts to give an overview of some examples and the way in which they are related to their context. Most of them have been inspired by referential models that have an excellent built response to external effects, have been kept as important landmarks and their construction date back to more than a century ago.
Low Cost Housinp. in Putre Putre is 650 population village in the Andes mountains, close to the border with Bolivia. This scheme demonstrated that even if the need for housing is small, a low cost housing project has to be designed and built in the right way. Extremely high temperatures during the day and below zero at night forced to built with mud bricks in order to provide thermal mass. The roofs equally important for good insulation were covered by a thick layer of raw straw found in the surroundings. Few and small openings gave the houses the same appearance of the existing ones but also avoided thermal bridges through an excessive glassing area. Some particular details like the simple built form integrated the buildings to the urban landscape. Additionally, as the walls were rendered with cement & mud and the doors clad with cactus bark, this simple detail related the houses in a better way to their geographical context.
Fig. 1. Traditional street in the North of Chile.
Fig. 2. Low cost housing in Putre on the Andes.
Banco Osomo in lauiaue Iquique is a coastal city in the North. Its urban fabric is based on a square house with an exterior gallery, a central courtyard with vegetation that protects internal spaces from excessive sun, as well as awnings like wooden blinds attached to windows provide the necessary shade. All these types of buildings were built with timber shipped from California in the days prior to the construction of Panama Canal. The Banco Osomo building was refurbished and all the above mentioned characteristics were retained and enhanced. Therefore, the result is a functional public building well ventilated by a glass roofed central courtyard, protected from excessive hot temperatures by its external gallery and its improved insulation in the walls. The built form is the same and the original architectural layout was kept using the rooms as private lobbies whilst the centml space was left for public service areas. This building has exactly the same
WREC
environmental conditioning.
285
1998
performance compared to other buildings that need forced ventilation and high energy air
Fig. 3. Typical street and its urban fabric in Iquique. Fig. 4. Osomo Bank, refurbished building
Boarding House in Chiloe Island This is perhaps one of the most significant buildings in the far South and it was awarded the Andrea Palladio prize in Italy. The building is basically inspired in several constants of design easily found in the architecture of the Island. It not only rescues a basic and pure geometry of the existing built forms, but also its positioning and colouring allow the building to be seen as a landmark by sailors off-shore. During the process of construction there were carefully selected recycled zinc sheets to enhance some particular elements such as bow-windows and the porch. The result is quite a remarkable building, timber framed, well insulated, clad with timber and with a high heating performance. It is perfectly associated to other existing houses that have massive and pure volumes with small windows. Pitched roofs are one of the main features of the these buildings (normally 45%) because of heavy rains in the area. Northern facades are often protected from rainwater by zinc sheets or shingles as in this new building -,
Fig. 5. Comer house in Castro, Chiloe island.
Fig. 6. Local Boarding House in Castro.
This kind of patterns of design and construction should be intemalised and systematised. The recently approved ‘Law of Environmental Impacts of Buildings’ (EIA) added to the ‘Law of Quality of Construction’ for residential buildings will demand further environmental considerations from now on in the Chilean construction sector. (Suarez, 1998)
APPROPRIATE MODERNITY The term ‘appropriate modernity’ takes almost the same meaning as ‘critical regionalism’ coined by Kenneth Frampton. It has been defined as ‘appropriate’ because the architecture ‘accommodates’ itself according to the reality that serves and stands in harmony with its context. (Femandez, 1989)
WREC 1998
286
As environmental development plays an important role in architecture, the concept of recycled materials and embodied energy has defined a new attitude when designing new buildings or converting existing ones. Besides, the geographical isolation of many areas of the country, to certain extent, has allowed a new local architecture which remains based on local materials, whilst improving quality of life with efficient ventilation and heating. Subsequently, contemporary approaches have developed a wider range of systems, such as breathing walls or much better sealed windows, that did not exist in the past. The use of timber, for instance, has encouraged the government to set up plans for forest management and also to control the quality of the soft woods that are used more often as a renewable resource.
CONCLUSIONS Along Chile it is possible to find lively constructive answers to local needs, based on existing architectural models, but reshaped to modem life. The social and economical context has changed through the years requiring new solutions from the building sector. What has not changed is the opportunity to retain the local identity by the appropriate use of local and renewable materials as it has been inspired by this so called ‘appropriate modernity’. This approach has reinforced an existing architectural image and integrated new buildings into the urban fabric, enhancing the urban memory of towns and the perception of their inhabitants. The concept of embodied energy has been well understood in the building process using locally produced materials and avoiding the higher transport costs of bringing other imported ones. Advantageously, these traditional materials are not only related to this particular context, but have also provided a better answer to the climatic conditions. The use of local materials and the introduction of recycled elements has also allowed the negative environmental impact of buildings to be diminished. This suggest that better examples will appear in time. In fact, economic wealth is providing the arena for designing buildings with better standards of construction, This has permitted the adaptation of traditional methods of construction to new technologies, but using the same available local resources such as timber or shingles in the South. This series of urban, architectural and construction principles are the main arguments in the conclusion that these examples represent a right approach to sustainable buildings, because all of them are based on a wide range of local traditions. As argued in this paper, some of them go beyond the architectural or urban scale and are well integrated into the geographical scale. Therefore, it is rational to advance an idea of ‘sustainable design’ and to have an appropriate image of architecture. Consequently, simple operations related to the design and construction of spaces where we live, can transform the way we interact with our built environment, thus producing this necessary change on the global scale and bringing the necessary identity to modem architecture and its fitture inhabitants.
REFERENCES Bill, P. (1995). Latin American Studies, Building. J, 13 October, &I, 44-45. Femandez, C. (1989). Modemidad Apropriada, Arquitecturas del Sur, Facultad de Arquitectura, Universidad del Bio-Bio, & 4-6. Cartes, I. (1989). Osomo: Evolution Urbano-arquitectonica, Arquitecturas del Sur, Fact&ad de Arquitectura, Universidad del Bio-Bio, Is, 2-4. Cartes, I. Chilton, J & Scoffham, E. (1996). Tradition and local Architecture in the South of Chile, Tradition and Modernity in Asia and Beyond, Conference Proceedings, Mercu Buana University, Indonesia, 307-3 17. Suarez, R. (1998). La calidad empieza por casa, El Mercurio , E, l-22.
Renewable Energy 15(1998) 283-286
TRADITIONAL ARCHITECTURE, BUILDING MATERIALS AND APPROPRIATE MODERNITY IN CHILEAN CITIES. Dr I. A. Cartes School of Architecture, Department of Planning and Urban Design, Universidad de1 Bio-Bio, Av. Collao 1202, PO Box 5-C, Conception, Chile.
ABSTRACT This paper discusses and analyses new buildings, inspired by traditional models of architecture, that propose energy savings and the use of local material revalidating the urban image of Chilean cities. However, as this paper demonstrates this adoption of traditional models, with their subsequent emphasis in ecological measures, such adoption is still intuitive and not a major principle of design. Therefore, isolated examples of modem buildings deal in an appropriate manner with their climatic and geographical context. This kind of urban development contradicts the image of the country, which has been perceived by the international community as one of the most emergent economies. Consequently, central and local governments know that they have to aim a more environmental development in order to balance an explosive, and sometimes uncontrolled, way of building our cities. The conclusions stress the importance of creating common patterns of design for achieving better performances of buildings, owing to the fact that traditional models have been inherited and already exist as valid references. Especially, if Chile is to pursue both economical and sustainable development. 0 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
KEYWORDS Tradition, patterns of design, climatic effects, geographical context, local/recyclable materials, built form, appropriate modernity.
THE IMPORTANCE OF LOCAL CONTEXTS Prevailing Economic and Geoaanhical
Contexts
Chile is considered a wealthy nation and recognised as one of the most dynamic process of development. Its economy is one of the fastest growing in the southern hemisphere. The country’s economy “has earned it the epithet ‘Puma of South America’ because it has grown almost 7% for each of the past nine years. In the early 199Os, construction output grew 10% a year” (Bill, 1995). This process is also reflected in new schemes demanded by this dynamic market, particularly in the areas where this flurry of economic development has taken place showing a boom in construction activity. The weather in the country, approximately 4,500 Km in length, is influenced by the Pacific Ocean along its coasts, and reveals surprising and contrasting scenarios with different architectural expressions that depend on a variety of geographical contexts. front matter 0 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved PII: SO960-1481(98)00174-8
0960-1481/98/$-see
WREC
284
1998
In the North, stone, mud-bricks, small openings and flat roofs, reflect the arid and dry desert surrounding the cities. Thermal mass and ventilation of traditional buildings have inspired many of the new public constructions and housing projects._On the contrary, in the South the rainy and cold weather is an intimate part of the landscape which is composed of several islands, high mountains and vast sectors of forest that provide the basic element for a renowned architecture in timber, which uses the material for both structure and cladding. The latter also provides an important renewable resource and constitutes one of the major exports. (Cartes et ol., 1996)
TRADITIONAL AND CONTEMPORARY
SCHEMES
It is impossible to conduct an exhaustive survey of new buildings built m the last two decades along Chile. However this paper attempts to give an overview of some examples and the way in which they are related to their context. Most of them have been inspired by referential models that have an excellent built response to external effects, have been kept as important landmarks and their construction date back to more than a century ago.
Low Cost Housinp. in Putre Putre is 650 population village in the Andes mountains, close to the border with Bolivia. This scheme demonstrated that even if the need for housing is small, a low cost housing project has to be designed and built in the right way. Extremely high temperatures during the day and below zero at night forced to built with mud bricks in order to provide thermal mass. The roofs equally important for good insulation were covered by a thick layer of raw straw found in the surroundings. Few and small openings gave the houses the same appearance of the existing ones but also avoided thermal bridges through an excessive glassing area. Some particular details like the simple built form integrated the buildings to the urban landscape. Additionally, as the walls were rendered with cement & mud and the doors clad with cactus bark, this simple detail related the houses in a better way to their geographical context.
Fig. 1. Traditional street in the North of Chile.
Fig. 2. Low cost housing in Putre on the Andes.
Banco Osomo in lauiaue Iquique is a coastal city in the North. Its urban fabric is based on a square house with an exterior gallery, a central courtyard with vegetation that protects internal spaces from excessive sun, as well as awnings like wooden blinds attached to windows provide the necessary shade. All these types of buildings were built with timber shipped from California in the days prior to the construction of Panama Canal. The Banco Osomo building was refurbished and all the above mentioned characteristics were retained and enhanced. Therefore, the result is a functional public building well ventilated by a glass roofed central courtyard, protected from excessive hot temperatures by its external gallery and its improved insulation in the walls. The built form is the same and the original architectural layout was kept using the rooms as private lobbies whilst the centml space was left for public service areas. This building has exactly the same
WREC
environmental conditioning.
285
1998
performance compared to other buildings that need forced ventilation and high energy air
Fig. 3. Typical street and its urban fabric in Iquique. Fig. 4. Osomo Bank, refurbished building
Boarding House in Chiloe Island This is perhaps one of the most significant buildings in the far South and it was awarded the Andrea Palladio prize in Italy. The building is basically inspired in several constants of design easily found in the architecture of the Island. It not only rescues a basic and pure geometry of the existing built forms, but also its positioning and colouring allow the building to be seen as a landmark by sailors off-shore. During the process of construction there were carefully selected recycled zinc sheets to enhance some particular elements such as bow-windows and the porch. The result is quite a remarkable building, timber framed, well insulated, clad with timber and with a high heating performance. It is perfectly associated to other existing houses that have massive and pure volumes with small windows. Pitched roofs are one of the main features of the these buildings (normally 45%) because of heavy rains in the area. Northern facades are often protected from rainwater by zinc sheets or shingles as in this new building -,
Fig. 5. Comer house in Castro, Chiloe island.
Fig. 6. Local Boarding House in Castro.
This kind of patterns of design and construction should be intemalised and systematised. The recently approved ‘Law of Environmental Impacts of Buildings’ (EIA) added to the ‘Law of Quality of Construction’ for residential buildings will demand further environmental considerations from now on in the Chilean construction sector. (Suarez, 1998)
APPROPRIATE MODERNITY The term ‘appropriate modernity’ takes almost the same meaning as ‘critical regionalism’ coined by Kenneth Frampton. It has been defined as ‘appropriate’ because the architecture ‘accommodates’ itself according to the reality that serves and stands in harmony with its context. (Femandez, 1989)
WREC 1998
286
As environmental development plays an important role in architecture, the concept of recycled materials and embodied energy has defined a new attitude when designing new buildings or converting existing ones. Besides, the geographical isolation of many areas of the country, to certain extent, has allowed a new local architecture which remains based on local materials, whilst improving quality of life with efficient ventilation and heating. Subsequently, contemporary approaches have developed a wider range of systems, such as breathing walls or much better sealed windows, that did not exist in the past. The use of timber, for instance, has encouraged the government to set up plans for forest management and also to control the quality of the soft woods that are used more often as a renewable resource.
CONCLUSIONS Along Chile it is possible to find lively constructive answers to local needs, based on existing architectural models, but reshaped to modem life. The social and economical context has changed through the years requiring new solutions from the building sector. What has not changed is the opportunity to retain the local identity by the appropriate use of local and renewable materials as it has been inspired by this so called ‘appropriate modernity’. This approach has reinforced an existing architectural image and integrated new buildings into the urban fabric, enhancing the urban memory of towns and the perception of their inhabitants. The concept of embodied energy has been well understood in the building process using locally produced materials and avoiding the higher transport costs of bringing other imported ones. Advantageously, these traditional materials are not only related to this particular context, but have also provided a better answer to the climatic conditions. The use of local materials and the introduction of recycled elements has also allowed the negative environmental impact of buildings to be diminished. This suggest that better examples will appear in time. In fact, economic wealth is providing the arena for designing buildings with better standards of construction, This has permitted the adaptation of traditional methods of construction to new technologies, but using the same available local resources such as timber or shingles in the South. This series of urban, architectural and construction principles are the main arguments in the conclusion that these examples represent a right approach to sustainable buildings, because all of them are based on a wide range of local traditions. As argued in this paper, some of them go beyond the architectural or urban scale and are well integrated into the geographical scale. Therefore, it is rational to advance an idea of ‘sustainable design’ and to have an appropriate image of architecture. Consequently, simple operations related to the design and construction of spaces where we live, can transform the way we interact with our built environment, thus producing this necessary change on the global scale and bringing the necessary identity to modem architecture and its fitture inhabitants.
REFERENCES Bill, P. (1995). Latin American Studies, Building. J, 13 October, &I, 44-45. Femandez, C. (1989). Modemidad Apropriada, Arquitecturas del Sur, Facultad de Arquitectura, Universidad del Bio-Bio, & 4-6. Cartes, I. (1989). Osomo: Evolution Urbano-arquitectonica, Arquitecturas del Sur, Fact&ad de Arquitectura, Universidad del Bio-Bio, Is, 2-4. Cartes, I. Chilton, J & Scoffham, E. (1996). Tradition and local Architecture in the South of Chile, Tradition and Modernity in Asia and Beyond, Conference Proceedings, Mercu Buana University, Indonesia, 307-3 17. Suarez, R. (1998). La calidad empieza por casa, El Mercurio , E, l-22.