Architecture is a frozen history and we are compelled to live in it. A building is meant to last for years, decades, centuries, and even millennia. However, (to last’ is only a relative term. In reality, a building is a process instead of a product. Over time it becomes obsolete, inappropriate, difficult to use, and a burden to maintain, does not meet new needs and regulations, and even falls out of fashion. So it is obvious that it must be under constant pressure to be changed. A whole set of activities is to be recognized: simple maintenance work, refurbishment, reconstruction, modernization, adaptation, addition, and in the end, unavoidable demolition and removal. The changes in the built environment, in architecture and – to limit the scope of the discussion – in housing, are caused and stimulated by past events at several levels: anthropological, historical, technological, cultural and architectural. The only constant is man, speaking in a more or less biological sense and within the framework of a time span that we can comprehend. The basic needs for food, shelter, safety, reproduction, caring for offspring, and cultural continuity remain essential regardless of time and space. However, even regarding this, things do change at least formally: the hunt has become sport, collecting food in the forest has been replaced by shopping, and telling stories has today been replaced by TV. Some other changes in the dwelling culture are well known: the separation of home and work, the size and kind of family, different patterns, and the attitude to privacy. Several new design methods have been invented to make anticipated future changes and adaptation possible: the flexible layout, modular coordination, the support and infill system, and so on. Recently, new doctrines have been introduced: allowing building parts to be changed or replaced independently, separating structural elements from the building envelope and technical equipment, and introducing new materials not traditionally used in building. The recent state of the art is to build temporary and even recyclable buildings. This paper presents several examples of these issues closely related to the regional (central European) tradition based on the author’s personal experience and limited to the time span of the last hundred years. This paper presents several examples of these issues closely related to the regional (central European) tradition based on the author’s personal experience and limited to the time span of the last hundred years.
The collective housing buildings are usually inflexible in the exploitation phase because of inflexible building structure. Inflexible structural model is composed of components and subsystems, more or less joined together into complex relations and fixed connections. Such physical relations stand as a limitation for elements to be replaced at the end of its service life and for the structure to be upgraded. Changes at the building level of ‘static’ systems are related with time and money consuming by long transformation processes, significant energy and material lose and enormous amount of waste production. The term transformation is introduced for dynamic changes in building structure on spatial, technical and material level. After each use phase, systems’ configuration should be assembled to indicate building suitability for transformations according to new changing requirements. Open configuration model, based on independent and exchangeable components and subsystems, applied for more permanent building parts like load-bearing structure, enclosing, services’ systems, may become the solution for the new dynamics in building structure. We will consider more specifically how controlled hierarchies, based on independency and systematization of elements in different technical levels, provide a context for flexibility in buildings. Technical composition of systems’ configuration will be presented as a graph model. Graph model is a description for systems’ configuration model to support systematization of structural elements into open hierarchy assemblies, based on edges between nodes and clusters. The cluster is an assembly of nodes (components) that perform the same function. The ‘edge’ is a demountable connection between nodes and clusters. Finally this research is about systems’ configuration model for building structure with special focus on: 1) more flexibility of long-lasting building parts 2) integrated model based on coordinated relations-edges, between assemblies-clusters 3) more transformation capacity of integrated systems and components; 4) configuration ability to transform according to demountable joints. Finally this research is about systems’ configuration model for building structure with special focus on: 1) more flexibility of long-lasting building parts 2) integrated model based on coordinated relations-edges, between assemblies-clusters 3) more transformation capacity of integrated systems and components; 4) configuration ability to transform according to demountable joints.
The purpose of this paper is to discuss a technology combination between easy assembling shelter and reflective insulation, starting from emergency needs of displaced people. Shelter means by definition (a habitable covered living space, providing a secure, healthy living environment with privacy and dignity to the groups, families, and individuals residing within it’ (T. Corsellis, A. Vitale). Materials like cardboard, aluminum guarantee the covered living space, giving privacy feelings needed for traumatized people after disaster. The lightweight, flexibility, recyclability of these materials offer an effective answer to this need presenting fast assembly structures. In combination with these marterials, to provide healthy living environment, different projects involve the use of reflective insulations. Exploiting the reflective properties of these components can be possible to increase the technological performance ensuring lightness, space saving and easy installation. The paper started studying the shelter state of art by different case studies, where reflective materials are used to improve thermal performance. (Ape Tau’ by Atelier 2, after Aquila’s Earthquake, is one of these projects, in particular for the use of thermo-reflective materials. This analysis is accompanied by (Paperboard Shelter Workshop’ practice, held on October the 4th, in Lecco. It was inside the current Academic Network for Disaster Resilience to Optimize Educational Development (ANDROID) and from (Cardboard Shelter Workshop’ Professor Toshihiko Suzuki experience, after Fukushima Earthquake. Students have gained awareness of the emergency requirements issues, with a small units construction, made of cardboard, useful to understand the meaning of handle spaces and easy fitting. The result is a technological design view where healthy and space performance is combined to guarantee psychological and physical safety to displaced people. The observation of reflective technology in this extreme context can be useful for civil application as a future development too understand the meaning of handle spaces and easy fitting. The result is a technological design view where healthy and space performance is combined to guarantee psychological and physical safety to displaced people. The observation of reflective technology in this extreme context can be useful for civil application as a future development too.
Sustainable communities need to be implemented economically, socially and environmentally to respect the needs of future settlement patterns. They are also defined as well-designed places where people feel safe, where crime or feelings of insecurity does not undermine quality of life. Safety and security are essential for creating successful sustainable communities and settlement patterns as these places are not only well-designed environments to live in, but also places where freedom from crime and fear of crime, improve the quality of life. In other words, sustainable communities embody the principles of sustainable development, such as; meeting the needs of existing and future generations as well as integrating the social, economic and environmental components of their community. In that case, planning and design of the built environment has a great effect on safety of public spaces and perceived safety of their users. Now there is also a change and shift of zoning paradigms for cities and residential settlement patterns from socially and economically heterogeneous at least interactive open districts and metropolitan bound city blocks, to closed system of more homogeneous societies under different names of gated community residences, and or satellite towns/cities. Although sustainable communities improve people’s quality of life by providing safe and healthy environment to live and work in, it also encourages (a sense of place’ with well-designed and well-used public spaces. Unfortunately, too little attention has been paid by planners and designers to crime issues so far in Turkey. To fill this vital gap, a survey has been conducted to analyze how safety issues are important for the Community members and what can be done to improve safety issues in new urban settlements to create sustainable cities and communities. In this particular study, the results of the questionnaire are discussed and recommendations have been made for creating safer and sustainable new settlements and communities for existing and future generations. Community members and what can be done to improve safety issues in new urban settlements to create sustainable cities and communities. In this particular study, the results of the questionnaire are discussed and recommendations have been made for creating safer and sustainable new settlements and communities for existing and future generations.
The paper is focusing the attention on the important aspects related not only to the acceptable safety level avoiding catastrophic failures and loss of life, but even tohigher performance level requested for some important buildings,like hospital,police station, communication centers. Such buildings need to be designed to remain functional after the earthquake event. The paper, moving from the current philosophy for seismic engineering, aims to recall and underline how the different levels of Performance Based Design of such buildings are still requesting investigation concerning the design and realization of technical devices. It is known that a building is able to respond with a predictable performance level if designed with ductility capacity, developed as response mostly by the structure. An alternative is to modify externally the building to reduce the demand or the response. This can be achieved either isolating the building from the ground, or dissipating the incoming energy. The paper introduce the work done by the authors, mostly developed at the University of Canterbury, by following the second design technique, describing and testing dissipating devices for wood structures.the response. This can be achieved either isolating the building from the ground, or dissipating the incoming energy. The paper introduce the work done by the authors, mostly developed at the University of Canterbury, by following the second design technique, describing and testing dissipating devices for wood structures.
Housing finance is considered to be the prime mover of a national housing delivery framework; a mechanism in that respect is designed to address issues of affordability for households, accessibility and viability for mortgage institutions and developers. In recent times, Nigeria’s National Housing Policy has undergone review, which sums up attempts at addressing housing challenge in the country. The short fall in housing stock is massive and population growth has completely out paced and overwhelmed provision. The Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) and Primary Mortgage Institutions (PMI) were mandated to support housing development under the 1991 National Housing Policy. This paper presents an appraisal of the impact of this policy with respect to the FMBNs average pooled funding of low, medium and high income housing and matters arising as reflected in the new (2012) National Housing Policy and memoranda to the National Council on Lands, Housing and Urban Development.
