VERSUS HERITAGE FOR TOMORROW Vernacular Knowledge for Sustainable Architecture
Fig. 8 Beehive homes in Jinshan, China (PRC) (photo: A. Synaptic, CC BY 2.0). Fig. 9 Embankments. Ouroux-sur-Saône, Bourgogne, France (photo: N. Sanchez). Fig. 10-11 Stone houses in Forio, Ischia Island, Italy (photo: A. Picone).
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5. To Mitigate the Effects of Natural Hazards The habitat should provide a safe and protective environment for all its inhabitants. In hazard-prone areas, vernacular builders have implemented constructive strategies for coping with local natural risks. These techniques have primarily been empirically developed throughout centuries in relation to each particular environment and usually employ local natural materials (timber, bamboo, stone, etc.) (Oliver, 1999). Technical solutions change according to the prospective hazard, local culture and environmental resources, and range ‘from constructive details to territorial planning’ (Caimi and Hoffmann, 2014) such as vegetative barriers, breakwaters, embankments, etc. (fig. 9). Construction technical measures can be permanent or temporary. The former are integrated in building shape and/or constructive details (joints, masonry wall type, buttress, etc.), whereas temporary ones are easily implemented by inhabitants at the moment it is needed (nets, ropes, ground anchoring systems, moving shelters, etc.) (Caimi and Hoffmann, 2014). Principles of environmental sustainability in vernacular and contemporary architecture Among the vernacular examples, the ‘stone house’ of Ischia (Phlegraean Islands, Gulf of Naples) includes most of the environmental strategies illustrated previously. In regard to the first principle, local community occupied the rocks through minimum interventions on environment. Outwardly, the boulders have retained their original shape (the few added elements, like stairs and rain water channels, have been adapted to the rocks’ natural configuration), whereas the domestic space had been dug into the boulders, getting from the rock both the living space and the furniture (fig. 10). Such deep integration of humankind within the environment has also affected the surrounding rural land: people dug connections (mule track, steep stairs and path) and terracing for viticulture (parracine), using dry stone walls made of local green tufa (principle n.3). Architectural and technical solutions exploit the local bioclimatic features to ensure the health and well being of inhabitants (principles n.2 and n.4). These include: • The thermo-hygrometric behaviour of tufa and wall thickness (up to 2m) provide excellent thermal insulation throughout the year and prevents heat dispersion.