Historic Housing Photographs

■ After World War II there was a long series of housing types built on Nauru. Whitfield refers to types 1 through 19 and he describes the smallest type at about 67 square meters, and the largest around 163 square meters.

■ This single family house, dated from 1951, and the multi-family housing, has assemblies common to tropical housing - sun shading, cross ventilation, ventilated crawl spaces, and ridge venting. Some of these assemblies add substantial cost to the buildings and so great weight was obviously given to the climate, and there was maybe less concern with absolutely minimizing construction costs, or to termites or rot under the houses.

■ It would be helpful to know more about Nauru’s experiences with this housing. The Smart House, for example, like these models, spends a little extra on a raised foundation that helps cool the house, but also spends less on wall openings for ventilation. Most every decision about your building program will revolve around cost and climate and the relative weight given to addressing each.

SECTION 2.0