Le facteur séisme dans l'architecture vernaculaire

A large part of ancient built environments in earthquake prone areas have been accomplished exclusively thanks to the experience that their builders developed over centuries of practice. Several of the resulting techniques have showed a satisfactory performance during earthquakes, attesting sometimes of risk cultures. Nowadays, the seismic phenomenon is not systematically considered as a factor that might have been taken into account by ancient builders. A lack of knowledge about vernacular building cultures and their correlation with these phenomena raises the probability that interventions on ancient built stock and prevention activities do not take advantage of site potentialities, even increasing its vulnerability. These issues have been investigated on the basis of the following research assumption: decoding the link between vernacular architecture and earthquakes considering cultural, structural and cognitive aspects, could contribute to reduce the vulnerability of people and ancient built environments, thanks to an in-depth understanding of mechanisms and dynamics supporting their resilience. Thus, this research aimed at highlighting questions and arguments fostering the appreciation of inventiveness inherent to past building cultures and enhancing their value in contemporary practice. Correlation factors between vernacular built environment and seismic phenomena have been explored through three research axes. The first one considers cultural determinants, namely the aspects that have a marked impact on the society reactions to earthquakes. The second one investigates types of vernacular structures that could be qualified as paraseismic. The third research axe concerns cognitive resources regarding effectiveness of a particular building practice implemented in many seismic regions, based on the integration of horizontal wood elements in masonry walls. The exploration of these axes has been accomplished through literature review and field studies considering vernacular built environment from multiple perspectives. It has been perceived as an environment permeated by resilience strategies referred to measures reducing building vulnerability and to precautionary behaviours adopted by populations (L'Aquila Province, Italy). At the same time, buildings have been examined as testimony of structural solutions adapted to the historical seismicity of the area (territory of North Anatolian Fault, Turkey), and as the expression of knowledge closely related to horizontal forces effects (Ohrid Lake region, Macedonia & Albania). Findings from this research highlight the potential of an approach questioning aspects referred to perception, technique and knowledge. Decoding the link between vernacular architecture and earthquakes as between cultural determinants, types of structures and cognitive resources, thus becomes a source of substantial and contextualized elements from which develop resilience strategies that are multi- and trans-disciplinary.

New Vernacular Architecture as Appropriate Strategy for Housing the Poor

Sytse de Maat

Improving living conditions of the poor often involves a drastic change in lifestyle, in order to fit daily life into industrially produced dwellings. Slum rehabilitation programs replacing informal settlements with standardized mass housing, have often resulted in a mismatch of inhabitants and their built environment. Participation strategies meant to counter this problem, show little effect unless the user is in charge. What is the problem with development and participation? This chapter will discuss ‘housing the poor’ as a case to illustrate how industrialization and systemization are at odds with participation. We will consider two ways of producing housing: industrial mass housing, and informal settlement. The focus is on the connectedness of the user, the inhabitant, with his dwelling. It will lead to the observation that participation aims at meeting the diversity that is natural to human beings, whereas systemization requires and produces the opposite: uniformity. Moreover, the term user-participation implicitly states the user is an outsider participating in developers' projects, which after all are dominated by the interests of the construction industry. An Appropriate Technology - approach in housing the poor would benefit from a focus on user-building interaction as it taps directly into people’s most powerful resource: creativity. Western systemization is not the only route to improvement. Strategies based on vernacular are at least as effective, appropriate, and humanly sustainable.

Springer Verlag2012

On the Symbiosis of People and Building

Sytse de Maat

Controversies continue to exist between architects and the public about what is a good building. High-style modern architecture is often disliked by the public. Moreover, in everyday life people blame the architect for everything they find impractical in a building. The non-operable window is emblematic of this controversy. The kernel of the problem lies in the lack of knowledge about how people relate to their buildings. This thesis investigates the relationship between people and their buildings, a topic that lies on the interface of architecture, psychology, and anthropology. In architecture, many have attempted to create buildings that feel alive, although much of what is built today feels alien to those who inhabit it. Environmental psychology has its focus on perception and meaning, whereas in anthropology, the habitat is often observed in a cultural perspective. This thesis aims at building theory that connects the insights of these disciplines. The importance of the topic lies in the increasing alienation of people from their buildings. Although many architects work on buildings that we can better relate to, alienation and disconnection continue to exist because, to mention one aspect, the built environment is made by more people than only architects. In the multidisciplinary world, improvement of the relationship of people and building would surely benefit from the introduction of a clear focal point and an adequate conceptual framework. From literature, insights were collected that explain the relationship in four perspectives: human aspects, properties of buildings, its relation to society, and abstract systems. Together they form a model that can serve as the focal point. Next, in order to identify what is changing in the relationship, the model was used as research tool in different contexts, ranging from vernacular to modern. Fieldwork research was conducted in traditional habitats, state-of-the-art modern buildings, and settings in between: primitive housing in urban slum or informal settlement. Detailed research methods for the survey of people's interaction with buildings were newly developed in the field and combined with existing sampling and coding techniques. Architects tools like sketches, scale models, and photography were used next to interviews and participatory observation. Results are presented in several reports ranging from slum dwellings to hi-tech. Besides architecture, they describe the practice of everyday life, logic and inconsistencies in building methods, and effects on the people-building relationship. From the findings, we concluded that what happened to the people-building relationship in the transition from vernacular to modern could be described in five trends. These trends explain the current disconnection as well as the difficulties we face in creating live buildings. Thus, together with the focal point, a conceptual framework is created holding the patterns typical of the people-building relationship. This knowledge can be used as both tool and theory by the profession. The research suggests that in order to create a strong people-building relationship, the whole process of building, dwelling, and daily operation must be focused on inclusion of the end-user. Today's technology and regulations favor exclusion and therefore contribute to a built environment that is not humanly sustainable.

EPFL2015

On the Symbiosis of People and Building

Sytse de Maat

EPFL2015