Analysis: Cabin

The house is an environmental filter

• The use of bamboo as a wall finish in the cabin as well as the exemplar allows natural light to penetrate the dwelling through the opaque/porous material that bamboo is.
• When designing the cabin, I wanted to use a very similar approach as Kengo Kuma did in his Bamboo Wall House, thus I also utilized the extra protection of glass as an additional ceiling unit to protect the bamboo and the dwelling.
  
• The overlapping of bamboo provides a shading device.
  
• Generously sized windows on all sides of the dwelling allow for copious amounts of natural light and breezes to enter all throughout the year depending on changing sun paths etc.
• The bedroom and more private areas of the cabin are located on the west side of the building, this afternoon sun will enter these spaces, and public ones like the kitchen and living room will receive sunlight during the morning, this keeps in line with Kuma's design concept for the Bamboo Wall House (through sun paths).

The house is a container of human activities

• In keeping with Kuma's concept for the Bamboo Wall House, the circulation of space when entering is public on the east side, then when moving further down the box-like shape to the west side spaces become private.
  
• Different spacial qualities/activities are separated by opaque bamboo walls, used more like separating screens rather than walls due to their ability to make spaces seem to divide rather than cut-off, only certain private spaces such as the bedroom and bathroom incorporate thicker walling systems in addition to the bamboo finishing.
  

The house is a delightful experience

• The cabin does not let its necessary structural components go to waste such as bamboo, rather it utilizes it to create a more pleasant and delightful experience by manipulating the way in which natural elements enter the space.
• The bamboo provides spectacular patterns throughout the year as the sun path changes.
• The unique walls allow for breezes to enter through all directions dispersing cool air through particular points in the dwelling where air flow may not have been present otherwise.
  
• Spacial arrangements are made to suit the occupant easier, whereby public spaces are present once one has entered the dwelling, yet they have to make the journey to get to private spaces, thus only a person who needed such rooms would have to make the journey (reduced population clutter).
  
• The bamboo finishing adapts to the surrounding topography and provides a delightful experience to the senses as one feels comfortable in the space and not out of place.
  

Analysis: Cabin Drawings

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Analysis: Exemplar Drawings

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Analysis: Cabin Diagrams

Firmness - a house is an environmental filter



Commodity - a house is a container of human activity









Delight - a house is a delightful experience

Analysis: Exemplar Diagrams

Note: refer back to the cabin diagrams as they relate due to the similarity in design (e.g. parti diagram).

Firmness - a house as an environmental filter







Commodity - a house as a container for human activity









Delight - a house as a delightful experience

Analysis: Site Analysis

Site Section



Site Plan



Site Analysis DIAGRAM

Site Selection



Site Location

The location of the Bamboo Wall House is in Badaling, Beijing, China, which is signified on the map by the 'A' marker.


Figure 1

Google. (2010). Great Wall Commune: Badaling.
Retrieved March 14, 2010, from http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=34.860491,108.26688&z=3&t=h&hl=en

Site Context

The Bamboo Wall House is part of a series of designs integrated into a project called the Great Wall Commune, which features the designs of Asian architects in correlation to the Great Wall.


Figure 2

Google. (2010). Bamboo Wall House.
Retrieved March 15, 2010, from http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=40.338524,116.04964&z=17&t=h&hl=en

Sun Path

The following diagram shows the sun path for 40°20'N 116°02'E, which are the coordinates for the Bamboo Wall House.


Figure 3

Luxal. (2009). Stereographic Sunpath Diagram.
Retrieved March 15, 2010, from http://www.luxal.eu/resources/daylighting/docs/sunpath_40_north.pdf

Analysis: Bamboo Wall House

The house as an environmental filter

Systematic design logic

• Opaque walls permit sunlight to enter throughout the house.
• Numerous openings on wall faces allowing breezes to enter through all directions.
• Open indoor areas create ventilation.
• Bedrooms located on the eastern side allow the winter sunlight to penetrate though in the mornings, making it nice and warm. Because of the higher sun angle in summer, not that much sunlight travels through therefore it will not get too hot.
• Even if there is sunlight in the bedrooms during summer, the breeze coming from the outdoor area will cool it back down.
• Afternoon sun directed at the more public areas; the kitchen and living areas. Breeze will cool down the areas that are getting too much sunlight.

Climatic filter

• House is located in northern China where winters are very cold and summers average at 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Summers tend to be wet.
• The sun rises from east to west.
• The north end of the house received the least amount of light according to the Asian sun path figure.
• The entrance wall of the building and the longest wall which provides views of the valley below provide the most sunlight.
• The sun is positioned at a higher angle in summer and a lower angle in winter.

Technology and resources

• Materials include bamboo, tile, and glass etc.
• Major materials include bamboo, tile, and glass.
• Bamboo is evenly dispersed throughout the dwelling in order to maintain consistency with the concept.
• Glass is the primary material used in order to protect the house and bamboo from natural elements, e.g. the ceiling is made from bamboo, yet a layer of glass is added in order to keep the bamboo and unprotected parts of the house dry.
• Bamboo is prevalent in China, therefore in order to maintain the resourceful and sustainable approach to the design; local materials such as bamboo which is readily available are utilized.

Macro-environment

• The orientation of the dwelling has been manipulated in order for light to enter the dwelling in the best possible way throughout all times of the year.
• The opacity of the materials used additionally provides copious amounts of light, yet also ventilation as there is no continuous separating element between air and the bamboo other than certain areas where glass is necessary (ceiling).
• The dwelling is orientated so that the morning sun will reach the public spaces on the eastern side first, then the private areas on the western side in the afternoon.

Micro-environment

• The main openings are conveniently designed to face the valley landscape, away from the imposing mountain which blocks views from the other side of the house which is not focused on as much.
• Another convenient factor is that the sun path moves along the route mentioned above, where it provides the most light to the major components of the dwelling.
• The flatness and uniformly straight shape of the dwelling makes it conform to the site contours and provides an element as though it is ‘moving’ as part of the site.

The house as a container of human activities

Spatial relationships

• Public areas are segregated to the eastern entrance of the dwelling, whereas private areas are nestled together on the western end.
• The ground floor provides room for utilities such as the laundry, storage, water tank, and staff rooms, whereas the upper floor provides room for areas which will be in high use for the occupants such as bedrooms, bathrooms, and the kitchen.
• Bedrooms are located near bathrooms.

Circulation

• Public areas, semi-private, and private areas are sequenced in that order, therefore blocking out certain parts of the house as the ‘journey’ moves along.
• The main corridors are the only means for moving along the space, from public to private, public being nearer therefore private space won’t be unnecessarily invaded.
• The stairs which connect the levels are on the main hallway at the end of the dwelling, providing only one area for connection between the two spaces.
• The stairs are located near highly populated areas, thus are not a hassle to get to.

Functionality

• Multiple spaces with various functions are provided, thus the dwelling is highly flexible as it can accommodate for nearly anyone.
• The house is almost like a pattern, with nearly identical formats for the lower and upper floors, providing ease of function.
• As mentioned, the bamboo lounge is the central space where other public spaces such as the living and dining rooms are located around, thus grouping together where social activities occur.

Family profile and needs

• The dwelling would be suitable for a medium family or a smaller one with frequent guests considering the amount of bedrooms and guest rooms.

Zoning of activities

• The bamboo lounge is a separating space for the public and private ends of the house, whereby the kitchen, living and dining rooms are nearer to the entrance, and the bedrooms are closed off on the opposite end.
• The central area of the dwelling—the bamboo lounge—is a public space, however elements of privacy are intertwined as it is a cut off for public spaces leading onto private ones.
• The stairs have been sectioned off away from the main constraint of the public space, providing a semi-private area, perhaps to separate it from guests who should be limited to the main public area.

Space distribution and collocation

• Rooms are varied in their dimensions on both levels, however most repetitive spaces such as bedrooms remain similar.
• The upper level provides both public and private areas, however it is the focal area of the dwelling considering most of the functions necessary for human activity remain there, whereas the lower level is mostly semi-private with guest rooms and numerous utility rooms.

Schedule of areas

• There are two levels, the lower for utilities and guest rooms, the upper for the general flow of the dwelling, including all major aspects such as social areas, bedrooms, bathrooms, living and dining rooms, and a kitchen etc.

The house as a delightful experience

Expression

• Has an oriental representation through its low profile, open rooms with organic separators, and 'sleekness'.
• Is sustainably designed to conform to the surrounding environment, not the other way around.
• The expression of the architect's views of local resources and gaining the most from local sources through the vast use of bamboo which also serves to be appropriate within the context.
• The many uses for the spaces provided in addition to the quantity of spaces signifies the house's permanence and ability to serve multiple occupants requiring various needs from the spaces provided.
• The originality of the design with relevance to its social, cultural and site context means that it can be categorized as timeless within the constraints of architectural styles present in current society.
• The landscape is used as a focal development aspect in designing the form.

Materials and materiality

• Bamboo used as the obvious main material in order to blend in with the surrounding natural environment, and to undertake a sustainable approach to design by utilizing local resources.
• Glass used in order to protect the dwelling structure from natural elements, yet to seemingly portray bamboo as the structural protection.
• Depending on if the bamboo was to be protected from the elements in order to shield it from premature deterioration, glass might be used externally as wetness will not cause much damage to it.

Structure

• Highly intricate detailing in concern to the bamboo based structure.
• The use of bamboo as a main material due to the architect's design strategy to utilize local resources.

Sensory experiences

• Breezes of the surrounding mountainous topography.
• Perception of visibly altering linear patterned shadows as the sun pattern changes through the day and year.
• Scent of the surrounding foliage.

Archetype

For my exemplars, I have chosen the following three designs:

1. Bamboo Wall House by Kengo Kuma (chosen apprenticeship)
2. Mooloomba Beach House by Brit Andresen and Peter O'Gorman
3. Marika-Alderton House by Glenn Murcutt

The reason why these three particular works appeal to me more than the substantial list of others provided to me is because they all share a common link: their close relationship to the environment around them, and a technique to designing which dealt with the topographical constraints by altering the design, not the topography, which was mostly seen in the Marika-Alderton House and especially in the Mooloomba Beach House. Therefore, when addressing the concept of a house being an environmental filter, a container of human activities, and a delightful experience, the separate designs at times come together with their similarities on issues such as climatic constrains etc.

Note: citations have been made where a direct statement is being presented, otherwise, the information I have analysed through sources which haven't been quoted in the text have cited in the reference list as they were a source for the general information I have presented.

Bamboo Wall House - Kengo Kuma
Figure 1
"All my buildings are experiments; I try to listen as carefully as possible to the site and consider how best to respond to it. Consistency is not so important" (Webb, 2003, p. 66). The essence of Kuma's architecture derives from his desire to 'erase' architecture, in that he "dissipates as much as possible the boundary that opaque walls provide. In making an anti-object he erases the primary characteristic of architectural form and embraces architecture as a sequence of human experiences. He sees the act of architecture not as an object but as an 'experience and phenomenon'" (Weiner, 2007, p. 248). This provides a direct link to the notion that a house is an
'environmental filter', a container of 'human activities', and a 'delightful experience' as Kuma's intention is to address these concepts in his architecture in order to make it truly delightful.

However we must refer back to Kuma's initial thought of erasing architecture in order to fully comprehend how these three aspects tie into his architecture. If architecture is erased, how do the three spacial qualities exist without form? As Weiner (2007, p. 249) questions, "this would be a place without quality. Does architecture without quality create place without quality? Is the erasure of architecture also the erasure of the possibility of the topos of architecture? Kuma's representation of architecture as deletion within an environment or surrounding challenges the notion of quality and its relationship to architecture and place." Therefore, the erasure of architecture does not necessarily lead to the diminishing of the three elements of architecture discussed previously, yet it provides a deeper element to the design if the architect is able to incorporate those three elements to make a space whole.

Kuma's design for his 2002 'Bamboo Wall House' borrows its low horizonal profile from the Great Wall itself. But while the Wall symbolizes permanence, solidity, and exclusion, Kuma's bamboo wall is meant to suggest the easy transfer of light and breezes from one side of the house to the other, as well as a certain lightweight, unfinished, and even fragile quality. The house is also designed to mimic the way the Great Wall runs almost endlessly along the undulating ridge line without being isolated from the surrounding environment. Kuma has also shown how luxurious sustainability can appear if put in the right architectural hands through his eco-friendly use of the local resource bamboo, which can be used both as light filters and as wallpapers. Kuma's architecture is made through the sheer digital preponderance of numeration, elements, parts, pieces and thei r repetition. he wants to break down or 'crush; the materials of architecture to the level of particles to achieve a fusion with nature. He calls this 'particalizing'. This affect is generally achieved by fabricating exterior walls that are more like open screens, membranes or a series of verticle or horizontal louvers rather than solid walls, as can be seen through the use of bamboo as his 'walls'. The building is a series of platforms and stairs depressed into and at times slightly breaking the ground plane. Exposed faces of architectural elements such as walls that protrude above grade and the line of the vegetation are minimised to the greatest extent possible. In a sense the building has no elevations but only visible edges. It reads like a tabletop without legs. The inhabitable portions of the building lau underground further emphasising the erasure of architecture. Kuma avoids making elevations that prominently protrude above the horizon, as can be perceived by the house being flat and under the impression of 'small' compared to the vast mountainous surrounding topography. By this procedure architecture itself is dis-qualified and de-natured, environment replaces nature and architecture lies buried in absentia.

Mooloomba Beach House - Brit Andresen and Peter O'Gorman
Figure 2
Secluded within the Stradbroke Island beach community at Point Lookout, is Brit Andresen and Peter O’Gorman’s 1996 'Mooloomba Beach House'. The Mooloomba Beach House manages to functionally include the three elements of a house as an environmental filter, a container of human activities, and a delightful experience through its intricate design and relationship to the surrounding environment, climatic and topographic constraints, and overall functionality which will be further elaborated upon as follows. The project gently heightens the sense of being in a particular landscape and in a climate where one can merge outside and inside a great deal of the year. The site is always acutely observed, with topography and vegetation enlisted as architectural elements. Sitting on an elevated north facing site, the two storey building is composed of a series of rooms of varying levels of enclosure or exposure, stretched along the length of the sloped boundary. "In this house, living takes place amongst a wild garden of Banksias and Boxtrees, wrapped by a light framework that houses the more complex requirements of dining, sleeping, bathing and preparing food. Following the movements of the micro-climate, the house faces the sun while the eastern wall is a filtering edge to the breezes that swing from southeast to northeast. This house is designed to accommodate a simple series of holiday living requirements: to sleep, eat, bathe, read, and relax" (National Timber Education Program, n.d., p. 15).

The site is dominated by garden, and edged by building. The siting strategy places the house along the long western boundary, so that the living spaces look east across the garden. The two-storey building is composed of two systems of framing and several different ‘characters’ of construction. These construction differences throughout the building are linked to the way that the building is organised, occupied and sited . The garden boundary side of the building is the structural core, housing the living requirements for sleeping, bathing, and preparing food. The western side of the house is slung between the structural core and a series of irregularly spaced cypress poles. It interacts with the garden through a free-form combination of structure and cladding that lightly frames a series of multipurpose ‘outdoor’ living rooms. The living room is an insulated, double skin space designed with an increased potential for enclosure, as a ‘warm’ place during cold weather. Sleeping boxes, large enough for a bed and a little storage, are off a narrow open walkway on the upper level that overlooks the garden side of the house. The spaces are tight modules fitted within strict framing based on the dimensions of standard plywood sheets. The house is large, yet has only sixty-five square metres of internal space. Using a single skin structure in response to the climate, fixing uncut, standard size sheets of plywood to the building, using locally sourced Cypress poles, and maintaining minimal kitchen and bathroom spaces, are also factors that have contributed to low costs.

Marika-Alderton House - Glenn Murcutt
Figure 3
“To touch this earth lightly” (Barreneche, 2002, p. 27), the environmentalist philosophy of Glenn Murcutt, is highly developed in his prototype housing for the Australian Aborigines: The Marika Alderton House. Extensive consideration of climate is developed in the Marika Alderton House concerning both specific and large-scale climatic issues. Wide eaves shelter the house from the sun, and pivoting tubes along the roof expel hot air which rises and vertical fins direct cooling breezes into the living spaces. Because the structure rests on stilts, air furthermore continues to circulate underneath and helps cool the floor, in addition to elevating the house in order to keep the living space safe from tidal surges.

Two primary specific issues surrounding the Marika Alderton House include its immediate cultural and social climate under which it was built and the specific weathering patterns associated with the site. More importantly, in his project Murcutt directly addresses the greater climatic issues of the house, in that it is in a hot, humid, tropical climate with ventilation being the primary concern lying behind the comfort and sustainability of the Marika Alderton house. The intentions for the Marika Alderton house are product of the immediate cultural and social climate of Northern Australia at the time of its conception. The Marika Alderton house was designed as a sustainable and economical prototype to be used by the Australian authorities to house the Aborigines. Providing an example of the benefit Murcutt's design has made, reiterates that "Aborigines were housed by Australian authorities in lit solid masonry boxes, which were poorly ventilated and uncomfortable. In the hot, humid and tropical climate of Northern Australia, these houses were often abandoned or destroyed by the Aborigines, as they were inappropriate and unusable" (Henderson, n.d., p. 2).

Murcutt develops the comfort of the building through his analysis and sensitivity to both the specific weathering patterns of the immediate site and of the greater climatic region.
As a starting point for his extensive climatic research, Glenn Murcutt began to take into consideration the specific surrounding weather patterns of the proposed site for the Marika Alderton house. The site lies in a cyclone zone and due to the high-speed cyclonic winds over the ocean the site is also prone to flooding throughout the year. Taking this into consideration, the steel structure of the Marika Alderton House was designed to be strong enough to resist the cyclonic winds. From the specific weather conditions of the immediate site to architect Glenn Murcutt’s prime climatic concern, the Marika Alderton house evolves into a completely environmentally aware and sustainable shelter. The Marika Alderton House lies in a hot, humid, tropical climate, and in such a climate, ventilation becomes the dominating factor in creating a comfortable and enjoyable place of inhabitation. Murcutt integrated many ideas and tactics to promote ventilation in the Marika Alderton house through his design of the houses’ walls, plan, floor and roofing elements. The shutters tilt down to allow for more shade as needed, they filter percolated light into the space, allow for airflow when open, tilted or fully closed, and create privacy when needed. Also, lining the exterior walls are large protruding fins. These fins, oriented towards the ocean, slow down, capture and redirect the cooling and fragrant ocean breezes into the interior spaces of the house creating an enhanced and more comfortable environment.

The plan of the Marika Alderton house is designed so that the sleeping quarters are to the southwest of the house. As a result of the buildings’ Southern Hemispheric orientation, in the evening, the southwest corner proves to be the coolest part of the building, which provides for more comfortable sleeping arrangements. Also to induce a cooler sleeping environment, the sleeping platforms are raised 2m off of the floor so that maximum air circulation underneath the bed can be attained. Following the remaining plan of the house, the living, kitchen and laundry areas are located in the northeast corner so that in the morning, when the residents do most of their laundry, food preparation and work exercises, that end of the house is coolest. The floor of the Marika Alderton house is raised up off the ground typical of hot humid vernacular architecture so that air can circulate underneath the building and so that the house itself does not absorb into the living environment, any of the heat which radiates from the earth in the evening. In the case of the Marika Alderton house, Glenn Murcutt magnifies this vernacular example of hot humid architecture, in that several gaps between the timber floor decking exist so that cool air from the exterior environment can flow directly up into the house from underneath providing a cooler environment for the inhabitants.

References

Architecture Australia. (2002, March/April). New directions in Australian architecture (2001). Bingham-Hall (ed), 60-64.
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Aymonino, A., Mosco, V.P. (2006). Contemporary Public Space Un-volumetric Architecture. Milano: Palazzo Casati Stampa.

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Retrieved March 5, 2010, from Academic Search Elite database.

Beck, H., Cooper, J. (2004). Figure 3. Arcspace.
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Department of Architecture. (2008). Figure 1. National University of Singapore.
Retrieved March 20, 2010, from http://www.arch.nus.edu.sg/50/lectures/kengo-kuma/index.html

Dovey, K., & McDonald, D. (1996). Architecture about aborigines. Architecture Australia, 85(4), 90.
Retrieved March 6, 2010, from Academic Search Elite database.

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Retrieved March 13, 2010, from http://www.architecture.uwaterloo.ca/faculty_projects/terri/pdf/Henderso.pdf

Keniger, M. (1999). Figure 2. The University of Queensland Library.
Retrieved March 20, 2010, from http://digilib.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:13466

Kuma, K. (1999). Kengo Kuma: Geometries of Nature. Bergamo: Poligrafiche Bolis.

Marika Alderton House. (2009). Architectural Record, 197(5), 105.
Retrieved March 4, 2010, from Academic Search Elite database.

National Timber Education Program. (n.d.). Mooloomba beach house.
Retrieved March 5, 2010 from Academic Search Elite database.

Stand, A., & Hawthorne, C. (2005). The Green House. New York: Princeton Architectural Press.

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Retrieved March 4, 2010, from Academic Research Library.

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Weiner, F.H. (2007). Architecture as such: refutations and conjectures of quality in the work of Kengo Kuma and W.G. Clark. Arq:
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