Neo-Vernacular : A study on Ancient Urban & Architectural concepts and their applications

Neo-Vernacular: A study on Ancient Urban & Architectural concepts and their potential applications for a resilient built environment Master Thesis / El Kendi Abderrahmane

Institute of Architecture & Technology M.A in Architecture Copenhagen, Denmark

Illustration by Author CFD Simulation / Eddy3d in GH Rhinoceros 6 / Paraview

El Kendi Abderrahmane Semester IV / Research Tutor: David Garcia The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts School of Architecture IBT, Architecture and Extreme Environments

Acknowledgements ”So which of the favors of your Lord would you deny?”

55:13 - The Holy Quran We deny none of your favors, our Lord. All blessings and thanks be to your majesty.

This thesis, and the research behind it, would not have been possible without the generosity and favor of Allah, the only God, Creator of the universe, the all knowing, the all powerful and the sender of Prophets, including Jesus and Mohammed peace and salutations be upon them.

This academic project would also have not been possible without the kind and loving support of my dear parents, Hassan El Kendi and Houda El Khamar, my Grandparents, Uncles and Aunts, especially Amina Yahya, Salha Hamcha, Kaouthar, Rachad and Zakaria El Khamar, Chama and Fatiha El Kendi.

It is also, without doubt, my duty to sincerely thank David A. Garcia, my thesis supervisor for his dedicated involvement, great sense of academic responsibility ,unmatched artistic sense, and dedication to making an elite future generation of Architects.

Moreover, I would like to show great gratitude to the academic team of the Architecture and Technology department at the Royal Danish Academy, especially Will Lambeth, Runa Johannessen, Thomas Bøjstrup, Mads Johnsen, and to the professors of the Ecole Nationale d’Architecture in Tetouan, including Younes Diouri, Sefiani Abdellatif, Rania Ez-zoubir, Mohammed Benidir, Youssef Et-toumi, Mohammed Amezguiou, and Salmane Bouchra.

Preface This document is the theoretical part of the Master of Arts thesis for the Architect degree at the Royal Danish Academy in Copenhagen.

It aims to study models of Vernacular built environments around the world, focusing on two contexts that are unqiue and different : The Faroe Islands & Morocco.

This study aims to better understand how Vernacular Architecture peforms, and how a new vision of learning from Vernacular Architecture may arise, in order to improve our contemporary built environments, from the city scale, all the way to interior layouts.

This document is also a call for Architecture, and building professionals to critique the current building standards which are the result of the modernist rupture with ancient Architecture, and look to the past for solutions that may be efficient environmentally, and richer artistically.

Image by Author The Old Town - Torshavn

Chapter I The Old Town The Faroe Islands

Study site / Context The Faroe Islands

N

Images by Author / The Old Town - Torshavn

Introduction

Defining Vernacular in the Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands, a unique small archipelago in the middle of the Atlantic, is one of the world’s most remote destinations. Surrounded by the sea from all sides, the islands have long been a disconnected culture & space.

This unique area has known multiple changes during the last ~50 years, taking the country from a traditional easy going self sufficient state, into the hyped culture of international liberalism. Intense business, large exports & imports, highways, tunnels and airports.

The Faroe Islands made it into the contemporary times.This transformation of the cultural, economic, social, and religious organization of society has undoubtebly impacted the building environment. And hence forth, the new built environment will impact the socio-cultural identity of the population.

Albeit bringing great financial benefits to the residents of the Faroe Islands, the recent transformation is doing much harm to the Faroese culture and landscape, but also to the quality of life in the Faroese cities, namely Torshavn, considering that it is the largest port & city.

In this context, our aim to study Vernacular Architecture of the Faroe Islands is emphasized by two dimensions: First, the boundary of Vernacular and contemporary developements may at certain points be blurred, which would require further investigation into the temporal identity of each component.

Secondly, it is of high interest to objectively critique the built environment’s radical changes that are taking place in Torshavn.

In this sense, it is important to define Vernacular Architecture in the Faroe Islands as all Architecture that upholds the following dimensions through the lens of history: Temporal identity, Local vision, cultural belonging, local human intervention.

The core spatial element that will be subject to the study of Vernacular Architecture will be the Old Town, as one of the oldest spatial elements in the Faroe Islands.

This urban element will then be decomposed into public and private areas, before studying the basic units that joinely compose it : The Faroese houses.

Introduction

Scales of the Faroese Old Town Multiple elements in Torshavn are of great Architectural and Urbanistic interest. This can include the Old Town and the contemporary developements that surround it.

Yet, what is truly unique about the Faroe Islands Architectural culture can only be found in the ancient built environments of the country.

For this reason, the old town of the capital is of high interest on multiple levels that will be subsequently elaborated in detail through out the document.

The scales of interest for the Old Town vary from the Urban scale and it’s environmental performance, and all the way into the architectural detail & the building constructive systems.

The studied scales will hence include : - Urban Form -Architecture / Built form -Material / Color -Construcive systems -Architectural detailing These will be elaborated through imagery, drawings, simulations, and references of past studies on the matter.

The presented study process may also be divided into 2 processes : an Urban and an Architectural process.

The Urban process is of extreme importance as the performance of the Old Town in generating a unique microclimate is one of the world’s best examples of sustainable & efficient indigenous urbanism.

The Architectural study is also of importance as it invloves how the efficiency though process evolved within the building, and how such a remote location, with a remote population was able to develop an intensive know-how of the site, and build in order to counter the climatic difficulties.

Images by Author / The Old Town - Torshavn

The Faroese Old Town Urban microclimates

Climatic characteristics Yearly analysis graphs : Torshavn

Yearly Dry bulb temperature Torshavn

Yearly Relative humidity Torshavn

Yearly Wind speed Torshavn

UTCI & Wind speeds

UTCI ( IN WIND PROTECTED AREA) Torshavn

UTCI Torshavn

These two graphs are of very high interest for the project.We can clearly see that the UTCI, one of the most reliable comfort indices used, shows large periods of cold stress through out the year in Torshavn. This should not be surprising as The Faroe Islands are almost in an arctic area.

However, what is surprising is that in wind protected areas, the UTCI index shows very comfortable conditions outdoors, that are almost unimaginable in the Faroe Islands.

In Wind protected area UTCI : (4415 yearly hours of No thermal stress, 4018 of Slight cold stress, and 327 of Moderate cold stress and 0 hours of strong, very strong, or extreme cold stress ) Not wind protected UTCI : (416 yearly hours of No thermal stress, 2217 of Slight cold stress, 3913 of Moderate cold stress and 1972 hours of strong stress, 241 very strong, 1 extreme cold stress )

Psychometric Comfort Chart Torshavn

Yearly Diurnal graphs Torshavn

Climatic characteristics The Old Town

The capital of the Faroe Islands is a city on the eastern coast of the country. It is sheltered by the Faroese mountains from the strong atlantic ocean winds.

This, of course, does not generate full protection from the high wind velocities, as winds in the city may even reach speeds of 17m/s, yet it does make the city a lot more wind protected in comparison with the west coast.

Such speeds do not only ruin citizens comfort in the urban realm, but are also capable of generating serious hazards, even flipping a van.

This unique feat of super powerful winds generates a unique climatic experience in the Islands, even seriously impacting the socio-cultural identity of residents, where events (even indoors ones) are always dependent on the weather. The Islands are referred to by certain writers as ”The land of Maybe”.

As the Faroese can rarely confirm an upcoming event, until they see how the weather is doing, and so their answer when invited is rarely a ”Yes”, or ”No”, but often a ”Maybe”.

The Faroe Islands climate is known for it’s humidity, with yearly temperatures generally between 3° and 13°C. This makes for a weather that is rarely comfortable, as the humidity & precipitations are intensified by the temperature effect. As we can see in the dirunal graph, the wet bulb temperature is generally around 2 degrees lower than the dry bulb temperature. This hence impacts the comfort level in a negative, but bareable way.

The factor that most impacts the UTCI ( comfort metric) is the wind speeds, which is the sole factor that makes the perceived cold much lower than the dry bulb temperature.

This is noticeable through the UTCI graphs of unsheltered and sheltered areas : Wind protected areas have almost 49% of the yearly hours as no thermal stress time, while the unprotected zones have around 5% of the year as no thermal stress time.

On Urbanism

Exploring the Urban forms of the Old Town When strolling through the Old Town of Torshavn, or exploring a birdeye view of the area, one of the first detections is the randomized orientations of buildings.

There is no fixed axis that buildings align with, nor is there one that they revolve around. A lack of architectural logic, or poor formal novelty may seem like the reason behind such urban organization.

To the contrary, the modern & contemporary developements of Torshavn generate a different attitude : clearly defined urban axis, that are based on the transport roads. Clear repetitive parallel and intersecting lines, as taught by the modernists in their internationalist attitudes to urban form.

In this stark contrast of spatial values where the masterplan is not enough to establish comparison, between the two radically different urban forms, refering to the sensed promenade in both areas generates interesting insight on the quality of each developement : The Old Town Urban forms : While strolling through the oriented buildings of the Old Town, with their unclear orientations and rotated buildings, one enjoys great sensorial delight. The environment feels warmer, the wind calmer, almost inexistant, the noise is reduced.The visual journey is also rich and explorative.

Hence, The space is naturally inviting for human comfort & social interaction.

The Old Town is also desgined for the human scale, and through it. The streets are wide enough for human passage, sometimes even barely enough for 2 people to pass through. The buildings are also in an adequate height, where a person is not intimidated by the building size, and is rather invited to stroll, socialize, and take things slow ( as the Faroese people would say).

The Contemporary urban forms of Torshavn : While brawling through the sharp winds of the contemporary areas, one can understand the difficulty of living in such developements in the Faroe Islands, and the complexity of enjoying urban life therein.

In such a climate, the linear streets, and the ”barre” buildings generate wind corridors so strong as to flip cars, not just bother humans.

The human scale is also lost within the contemporary

developement areas. Buildings are too big, too distant, too metallic to be approachable for humans.

The pedestrian passages are also given very little value, and hence the strolling citizen experience is extremely poor. These areas are far better if one is driving a car, and far more enjoyable, as they are designed for that purpose, while putting very little value on pedestrians.

Of course, this has had large impacts on the Faroese population : First, the health deterioration caused by less walking is noticeable, as obesity & overweight rates have grown from 43% in 2003 until 56% in 2018.

Multiple members and organizations of the population have shown anger towards the low access to decent pedestrian urban amenities, but political visions seem to prioritize car access to every corner of the Islands.

Torshavn masterplan / Illustration by Author Plan provided by municipality

Torshavn masterplan / Illustration by Author Plan provided by municipality

Contemporary urbanism The human scale is also lost within the contemporary developement areas. Buildings are too big, too distant, too metallic to be approachable for humans.

The pedestrian passages are also given very little value, and hence the strolling citizen experience is extremely poor. These areas are far better if one is driving a car, and far more enjoyable, as they are designed for that purpose, while putting very little value on pedestrians comfort and delight.

When visually analyzing a large masterplan of the Faroe Islands, one of the immediate noticeable traits is the linearity of the contemporary developements.

These buildings follow the lines of streets, are organized in large numbers of parallel units, and allow for poor pedestrian experience to take place.

The sharp street corners and long linear avenues allow for wind corridors that not only allow for the atlantic sharp windows to impact the city, but such urban forms may even increase the speed of wind, provoking high danger zones within the city.

It is hence not of surprise to anyone to see the Faroese residents flocking to use their cars as often as possible, in order to avoid the discomfort of the pedestrian experience, and to feel more protected from the difficult climate outside. This has led to even more contemporary developements, and prioritization of car oriented urban design.

This form of urban planning has also invitied more warehouse architecture into the city, where repetitive metallic structures are placed and scaled to the different plots, often radically disconnected from the exterior, and sometimes even making no visible difference between a residential and a commercial building.

3.00

2.00

1.00

0.00 m/s Wind speed

Mitigation of Urban winds in the Old Town The Faroese Old Town is one of the world’s indeginuous most complex urban systems, that allows to generate high quality urban environments for citizens with relatively simple solutions.

In fact, the urban forms of the Old Town allow to reduce wind velocity to very low speeds, ones that make the environment very comfortable for human interaction.

This is done through a continuous change in the orientation of the buildings in order to avoid the wind corridors effect.

This may seem like a simple concept to grasp, which it is, but applying it to an urban developement efficiently without previous planning, and available CFD simulations, is no easy feat.

This is due to the fact that certain orientation combinations may instead of lowering the speed of wind, cause it to be even higher : making for dangerous urban areas.

This shows that albeit having orientations that seem randomized in order to ”break” the wind, the reality is that Faroese old town buildings are elaborately and intricately placed for optimal urban performance.

It is through this logic, that urban & architectural form can take shape in a microclimate making vision.

Wind corridor

HENNING LARSEN PROJECT / KLAKSVIK

The unit in this urban system ( the house) is utilized in a collective logic, where each house not only contributes to the well being of it’s owners, but also envisions to be a key element in the urban organization of the Faroese town.

And then, it plays an important role in creating a microclimate that is suitable for urban life to take place, without being wasteful in material use, nor being a burden on the city, but also benefiting therein, as the urban slow wind speeds allow for much lower heating needs for the Faroese homes.

Wind sheltered

HENNING LARSEN PROJECT / KLAKSVIK

TD EN

EV

E OP EL

TS EN

EM

OP EL

IC

OR ST

HI

D OL

D OL

LO

N

W TO

RT PO

RR CU

S NT ME

EV TD EN

RR CU

TS EN M PE VE E TD N E

RR CU

The Old Town

RR

CU

I TR

US

ND

TI EN

AL

RT

PO

Y AR ND

CO

SE TS EN

EM

P LO

VE

DE

RE

R CU T OR

LP IA

TR

US

D IN NT The old town has a central placement within the city. The remaining streets diverge from the Old Town

Secondary Developements Pitiis rest, consequat fugit entorro maiosap elestrumArum delesciisi simporporae voluptae consend aesequi cusapis simoluptam et laceprerum qui offici demquunt excesti beruptatem conserorum, occab ipsam, is non recea delis dolenti nonsed molendanis comnimo luptatistem faceaqu iatest, officim qui alis enducia voluptat

TS EN EM OP EL EV TD EN RR CU

TS EN EM OP EL EV TD EN RR CU

D

EM

OL

OP EL

IC

EV

OR ST

TD EN

RR

HI

CU

W TO

D

OL

TS EN

N

RT

PO

US

ND

TI EN

RR

CU I TR AL RT

PO

TS EN EM P LO VE DE

S ENT PEM VELO T DE REN

CUR

RY DA ON C SE

US ND I NT RE R CU

T OR

LP

IA

TR

On Architecture

Performance & qualities of Old Town Buildings The formal developement of buildings in the Faroese Old Town is intricately linked to their urban role & landscape identity. Yet, interior spatial organization does generate important impact on the building.

Through an deconstructive analysis of the building, we can detect points of architectural interest, and decompose them into the aimed effiencies and qualities.

Green roof systems as a form of Vernacular Sustainability First, most vernacualr Faroese Buildings use a thick layered green roof to cover their homes. The roof is often made out of double layered turf, and a grass covering. These are placed on top of wooden beams that are covered by birch bark, that is used as a water proofing.

This roofing system allows for mutliple qualities to evolve through the building : It generates excellent thermal and acoustic insulation on the superior part of the envelope. This method of roofing as insulation also integrates into the context subtely, as the grass roof creates a continuity of the landscape, rather than a contrast. And in a sense, it can be said that the houses are part of the landscape, and that the landscape is also part of the buildings. Especially when the sloped roofs with their different angles interact with the topography. And allow for continuous green surfaces.

The green roofs hence show that as a sustainable tool, they are well versed on all aspects. Culturally, they are deep rooted into the faroese landscape history.

Environmentally, Faroese green roofs are carbon positive, and allow great potential of developement for the biodiversity. Performance wise, the insulation qualities of the roofs is incredible. These green roofs can last for hundreds of years, and are easily maintained through the replacement of specific wooden beams that may age badly.

The Green roof system is hence a well-rounded vernacular design tool, ideal for the Faroese context.

In stark contrast, the contemporary metal roof, which is the most common form of construction in the Faroe Islands nowadayas; performs poorly on most aspects : RadRupture from the cultural identity, poor performance that requires thick layers of plastic based insulation, heavy carbon footprint, and a short lifespan before rusting and requiring full replacement

(around 30-50 years).

One of the main sensitivities of developers and inhabitants for green roofs would perhaps be leakage in the case of badly treated water proofing : This may have been a big issue anciently, but contemporary construction techniques can easily allow for water proof roofs, when coupled with well cut birch bark.

Overall, we can conclude that green roof systems are an ideal tool for sealing a Faroese house.

That is, especially, when coupled with accurate construction methods of the 21st century.

The general system for the green roof should also not be a contemporary industrialized version of the green roof, which stands merely as an aesthetic statement with a heavy carbon footprint and little impact on the building, but rather a revisited version of the Faroese green roof, with birch bark, turf and wooden beams, that is adapted to its temporal context through correct and accurate construction. Allowing the green roof to become an integral part of the building, both spatially and constructively.

On Architecture

Small scale planning & Constructive practices It is surely no overstatement, to say that the Faroese indeginuous populations have developed design solutions for the built environment that are of very high interest as contemporary explorations.

One of the richest examples of such complex design developement, is the qualities of urban & rural site layouts, and connections between buildings. The Faroese homes are rarely planned in a parallel logic, always rotate in different angles. This allows excellent wind breaking capabilties, hence generating comfortable environments for human delight and social interaction, but also allowing to reduce the energetic bill for each individual house.

First, even in locations that are less dense than the Faroese old Town, smaller buildings are used as wind breakers ( haystack, fish drying, or storage huts) dividing the wind force and making the area around the large home more comfortable.

The use of topography is also a complex process to generate as many sheltered areas as possible. This is complimented by a functionally and environmentally adapted use of materials on the facade, along with adequate studies of windows proportions and positioning, as can be seen in the figure below.

Aarhus School of Architecture - Nordic vernacular research

Concerning the construcive systems that Faroese vernacular Architecture adopts, these are often local materials, highly efficient and highly maintainable.

Like the wooden beams that make up the core of the house, they are joined in ways that allow for easy replacement of pieces.

The birch bark allows for efficient water proofing of the roof, while the turf roof generates a well insulated upper support that allows to reduce thermal loss, while reinforcing the cultural landscape of the Faroe Islands, and how houses fit therein.

Turf roof There are two layers of turf.

The first layer was placed down to protect the bark and act as drain.The second layer is faced upwards to create a solid surface.

The turf roof creates home for smaller animals and insects and helps maintain the biodiversity.

The heavy turf roof also helps to store the heat.

Gutters A heavy beam is placed along the eaves to help the turf to stay in place.

Holes are cut into the beam so water can ruf off the roof.

Birch Bark The bark is very strong, waterresistant and can last for generations.

The bark is only fastened by the weight of the turf.

Driftwood The inner construction of the building is made from driftwood found along the beaches of the Faroe Islands.

Construction The construction is made so it is possible to change the elements if one on the blanks breaks or gets destroyed in any other way.

This increases the lifespan of the building.

Aarhus School of Architecture - Nordic vernacular research

On Architecture

Interiors of the Faroese vernacular house The interior of the Faroese traditional home may not be the fanciest, but it surely generates functional & comfortable spaces within a delicate and difficult climatic area.

The organization of functions on the interior follow spatial logics that prioritize the traditional human sleep schedule (Work spaces need daylight / Sleep spaces don’t ), and hence the core of the Faroese vernacular home is completely windowless, while the only two small windows are found on the south facade and are utilized for the kitchen and dining room. Their role surely aims to include ventilation as well.

The rest, desk, and sleep area ( the old version of the modern bedroom) has no access to daylight, and is reinforced with a double wall : an interior wooden

Aarhus School of Architecture - Nordic vernacular research

wall, plus an exterior thick stone and clay wall that acts as further insulation.

The animal shelter is also included into the volume of the house, first for maximum live heat preservation, but also for high compactness of the envelope, and hence minimal heat loss.

This creates for complex and even weird forms of living : An animal shelter next to your bedroom, a windowless bedroom, a less insulated dining room.

Such forms of socio-cultural impact on the residents life shows how intensively Architectural design in vernacular Architecture developement is shaped by the climate, and thereafter the spaces shape the residents and their culture.

On Daylight

Windows & Openings : The Faroese house In terms of connection to the exterior, the traditional Faroese home aims to be as enclosed as possible.

Small windows sit on the southern facades, aiming to bring in daylight into only a specific area of the house.

Culturally, this generates an interesting perception of the home, where the interior is considered extremely intimate, and the remains of this cultural expression perhaps persist even in today’s Faroese society.

Surely, this is no surprise as that can be easily explained by the need for retaining heat as much as possible, and it can also be explained by the small need for daylight at a period in history where the major work tasks were performed outside, while the interior was reserved to sleep and food.

The reality is, the traditional people of the Faroe Islands excellently adapted their built environment to their sociological needs.Access to daylight is only reserved for areas inside that truly require daylight.

Like an area for sewing or intricate manual work, or a nearby kitchen / eating area at best.

Such logic may not be the explicit solution of today’s problems in the realm of architectural design, but it definitely is the start of an interesting path.

A path where we have to question the ratio between need and luxury within the home, and then the ratio of negative impact of design decisions to quality improvement that are brought forwards by that decision.

This can, for example, be elaborated in the form of asking the following questions : What is the carbon footprint of having a full glass facade ? Is the daylight benefit worth the environmental damage ? Is the spatial quality worth the continuous heating energy required ?

Proof of this, is that the old Faroese adapted to having no windows whatsever in a large part of their residences.

100%

66%

33%

Aarhus School of Architecture - Nordic vernacular research Daylight analysis by Author

0.00 m/s Daylight autonomy

On Color & Material The Faroese Old Town

When strolling through the Faroe Islands Old Towns, one will surely notice that most houses are of a dark color, either black, brownish black, sometimes blood red.

Some buildings also have wood that is burned on the outisde to have a black burnt material.

This is also a core part of the visual and cultural landscape of the Faroe Islands, and one might be inclined to say that the indeginuous people of the Faroe Islands probably could not afford other forms of paint ?

In certain versions, it is said that the black paint provess was brought by original norwegian viking settlers.

The origin of the paint may be doubt worthy, but it’s efficiency is not. In fact, it is common knwoledge that black surfaces allow for far more solar energy absorption than light shades of color.

This allows important enegry savings for the house, even in the context of the Faroe Islands where the solar radiation is quite rare.

The heat impact on the house is so important that in fact almost all vernacular houses are using this technology to absorb as much solar heat as possible.

This has been proven through multiple scientific studies, including a test where brown stucco plates were tested against white plates. ‘‘CNet.com conducted a basic experiment that illustrated the impact color has on heat absorption.

They painted siding boards with white paint, then set them out on a sunny day. Their results showed that the white boards showed no measurable heat absorption. However, a brown stucco wall in the same conditions measured 25 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than the white boards, according to CNet’s experiment.’’

The accurate choice of colors states much information about the complex understanding of indeginuous people’s relation to their environment, and how that understanding is translated through their built environment knowledge.

Agnieszka Spieszny - Flickr: Chefchaouen Chefchaouen - Morocco

Chapter II Chefchaouen Morocco

Images by Author / The Old Town - Torshavn

Introduction

Defining Vernacular in Chefchaouen Chefchaouen is a Moroccan city, clinched to the mountains of the North, surrounded by forests, and internationally famous for it’s Medinal streets, with various shades of blue.

In Chefchaouen, the contrast between the contemporary areas, and the Medina is radical.

Two different worlds, almost. One is just like any international third world city, busy, hot, cement based.

The other is a haven of calm and peace and humane design.

The urban spaces of the Medina are the first definable element, as they are a unique component internationally.

Multiple contemporary buildings nearby the Medina are painted in the attractive shades of blue, so one might struggle to distinguish where Vernacular Architecture is.

The Medina in the first place, is the result of a complex social order, compliemented by rich and diverse cultural practices, shaped through intelligent environmental mitigation.

The streets of the Medina are cool in the summer, cozy in the winter, with their orientations and proportions optimized for the site conditions.

The famous blue of Chefchaouen, or it’s older white, are also well suited in reflecting solar radiation, allowing the buildings to absorb less heat through both material and form.

A sense of social and environmental responsibility is clearly expressed through the built environment of the Medina, a predecessor of contemporary sustainable design thought.

Yearly Dry bulb temperature Torshavn

Yearly Relative humidity Torshavn

Yearly Wind speed Torshavn

Climatic characteristics Yearly analysis : Chefchaouen

The climate of Chefchaouen is a combination of moutain and mediterranean characteristics. With dry bulb climate generally less than 15°C, while reaching 30°C+ in the summer days. The climate is also quite cold in the winter, almost reaching zero degrees.

The impact of humidity on the perceived comfort in Chefchaouen should not be neglected, as the high humidity makes the heat far more uncomfortable, which can be seen in the UTCI analysis.

The wind speeds in Chefchaouen are generally not high, albeit reaching 10-12 m/s exceptionally.

The general climatic perception is that it is a humid city, with averagely cold winters, and hot summers, and normal wind speeds.

The wind speeds do however impact the experience of cold in the city, as the UTCI for wind protected areas is far more comfortable, in comparison with UTCI for unprotected areas.

The solar radiation in Chefchaouen should also be taken into consideration, as a very important source of discomfort, as it can reach 1000 KwH/m² during the summer months, making unshaded areas unbareable for pedestrians (Very strong heat stress).

It is important hence to take radiation protection and wind sheltering when designing for Chefchaouen, and studying how existing architectural developements perform.

UTCI Chefchaouen

Psychometric Comfort Chart Chefchaouen, Morocco

Dirunal yearly graph Chefchaouen, Morocco

Climatic characteristics

Chefchaouen & The Medina Albeit having relatively comfortable climatic conditions, the high wind speeds in winter and sharp solar radiation in summer can generate high levels of discomfort in the old city.

It is of interest to study how ancient vernacualr forms of Architecture dealt with such problems when designing the old town.

We can also detect from the diurnal graphs that the majority of radiation is direct rather than diffused, which impacts the perception of radiation leading to more discomfort, but also making surfaces hotter, and hence allowing for more absorbed heat by buildings.

The solar radiation in Chefchaouen should hence be taken into consideration, as a relevant source of discomfort, as it’s intensity can reach 800 KwH/m² during the summer months, making unshaded areas unbareable for pedestrians (Very strong heat stress).

The humidity is also an important factor when designing for Chefchaouen, as it emphasizes both the cold and heat perception, and it is hence important to also look into solutions of the vernacular into how to improve humidity within the medinal homes.

It is important to take radiation protection and wind sheltering when designing for Chefchaouen, and studying how existing architectural developements perform.

Climatic characteristics

UTCI : Urban comfort levels

Wind rose / Speeds & Directions Chefchaouen

The wind speeds in Chefchaouen are not extremely high, but they are high enough to generate intense discomfort at certain points of the year, especially when paired with high humidity and cold temperatures.

The impact of humidity on the perceived comfort in Chefchaouen should not be neglected, as the high humidity makes the heat far more uncomfortable, which can be seen in the UTCI analysis.

The wind speeds in Chefchaouen are generally not high, albeit reaching 10-12 m/s exceptionally.

The general climatic perception is that it is a humid city, with averagely cold winters, and hot summers, and normal wind speeds.

The wind speeds do however impact the experience of cold in the city, as the UTCI for wind protected areas is far more comfortable, in comparison with UTCI for unprotected areas.

The shading from solar radiation has an important role in improving the UTCI in the warmer months : from April until September.

In shaded areas, the UTCI shows 895 yearly hours of varying heat stress, while in non-shaded areas, Chefchaouen has more than 1160 hours of heat stress.

It is worthy to note that wind mitigation in Chefchaouen is not easy, as reduced wind speeds allow for less ventilation, and hence lower comfort in the summer months. In parallel, higher wind speeds reduce the comfort levels in the winter months. In order to better deal with this, it is interesting to have dynamic ventilation systems, like the medinal courtyards, which will be explored later on in this document, and can be seen in detail through the book ”Understanding Chefchaouen” by Letizia Dipasquale.

UTCI Chefchaouen

UTCI / In Shaded & Wind protected area Chefchaouen

UTCI / In Shaded area Chefchaouen

UTCI / In Wind Protected area Chefchaouen

On Urban form

Solid & Void : Medinal Density The Islamic Medina has one of the richest spatial organizations among types of urban vernacular Architecture.

In the Medina, The city becomes a continuum, a single building, into which are carved streets of varying sizes and plazas.

The streets continuously change in size as the privacy of the street varies, so much so that certain parts of the public streets are perceived as private areas by the nearby homeowners.

The streets merge and diverge, creating plazas in their intersections that are used as ‘souks’ ( markets), or as leisure areas (cafes).

The urban form of the Medina aims to be as dense as possible, minimizing the area of exterior contact for buildings, so much so that some buildings therein may have no exterior facade on the streets, but only interior ones on the courtyard.

This density vision is often told to have military advantages, as the Medinas used to be shielded by exterior walls as protection, but the delicate choice of urban form, building composition, and constructive systems leaves no doubt that careful environmental planning went into designing the Medina.

Albeit the fact that the Medina developed over hundreds of years, we can from the Urban masterplan see that a spatial logic clearly exists, almost as if designed by one Architect.

The Medina, although seeming like a single body that is placed on the landscape, is in fact a composition of multiple modular units, that are then adapted to their topography, environmental needs, family financial abilities, available materials, cultural and religious needs. This allows the Medina to be a predecessor of modular parametric design, where there is a single repetitive module, that is thereafter replicated in different form, dependeing on where it is to be placed.

This logic is visible through out the Medinal plan that shows inner building courtyards.

Undoubtedly, the Medinal urban form allows a multitude of climate mitigating qualities to take place through the careful manipulation of material, void, and connection to the exterior.

On Urban form

Full Medinal plan with inner courtyards

Understanding Chefchaouen / Letizia Dipasquale - Images

On Urban form

Performance & qualities of The Medina The Medina may seem on an urban masterplan, or when strolling through it’s tight streets as a continuum, a building-city that extends for multiple kilometers. This is surely a truthful perception of the Medina, but in its compositional essence, the Medina is like a brick wall. Each house is a small brick in the large composition of the Medina.

The houses also have a rectilignar base, the central courtyard, the nbah entrance, and the sided rooms, composed in ways that preserve intimacy of the interiors, even through the entrance of the home.

This linear essence is sometimes visible through the urban form, and sometimes the building is highly distorted by the topography, or environmental qualities of the site.

It is interesting to note the continuously varying scale of the courtyards through out the Medina. This is due to multiple factors : first, the more well off families could afford larger homes, and hence needed larger courtyards to achieve decent levels of daylight / ventilation.

The main urban lines of the Medina follow the topography contours, and adapt to it, showing a strong sense of integration of the city into it’s natural context.

Backfill and excavation efforts are minimized through adapting the form of the building as much as possible to the terrain, in continuously twisted shapes that follow the topography lines, and merge the linear form of the courtyard concept, to the flowing curves of the landscape. This can be seen through the contrast between sharp rectangular courtyards and smooth street curves.

Aadapted from Understanding Chefchaouen / Letizia Dipasquale

Illustration by Author / Based on University of Firenze dwg

An experts view

Letizia Dipasquale, PhD : On the Medina On the environmental advantages of the Medina of Chefchaouen, Letizia Dipasquale writes this interesting passage within the book «Understanding Chefchaouen», summing up multiple of the environmental qualities of the ancient Medina : «3-To reduce Pollution and waste materials : Traditional building materials are natural and local : limestone, earth, clay wood. They are not harmful or wasteful, they are renewable, recyclable or naturally decompose, turning to nature at the end of the useful life of a structure.

Therefore, the use of natural materials reduces pollution and environmental degradation and takes place in the context of a cyclical ecological process.

The materials are easily available in the immediate proximity of the construction site, thus decreasing the carbon foot-print derived from transportation: the stone is surfacing or at low depth, the excavated earth is used for the production of mortars, the clay, extracted near the medina, is transformed into bricks in special furnaces. On the contrary, today, issues of resource depletion, concerning for example the timber elements, as well as the ease of finding modem materials, makes access to natural materials increasingly rare.

4-To contribute to Human health and Welfare : The urban structure and the courtyard house, the widely used housing model in the medina, integrate bioclimatic principles that improve the internal comfort of the building. In the winding and narrow streets of the medina shady areas are generated, and refreshing breezes are channelled, while the effects of the strongest winds are reduced. At the urban level, other cooling systems are obtained thanks to wooden shading systems, sometimes integrated with vegetation, or thanks to covered passages (sabbat).

The building surface areas, exposed to the sun in summer and cold in winter, are reduced to a minimum, thanks to the aggregation system, where buildings are built against each other.

Courtyards are a key element in terms of lighting and ventilation. They present a series of passive design principles and thus allow optimising the

building’s thermal performance, thus enhancing human comfort conditions. The natural elements of the courtyard, i.e. earth beneath and sky above, ensure its direct contact with nature. The courtyards repre-sent the main channel of natural lighting to the indoor spaces of the building. They are generally sufficiently narrow to provide a shaded area in the summertime, and yet suffi-ciently wide to gain solar radiation in the wintertime. The thermal performance of courtyards has been studied by many researchers (Abdulka-reem, 2016; Aldawoud, 2008; Almhafdy et al., 2015; El Harrouni et al., 2018; Soflai et al., 2017; etc.). Studies show that the level of thermal comfort in a courtyard is determined by microclimatic factors, especially solar radiation and wind. The effect of these parameters may be evaluated with respect to the courtyard’s geometry, dimensions, proportions and its orientation, as the key design variants to provide appropriate thermal comfort in the courtyards.

The central courtyard acts as a natural cooling and ventilation system thanks to the air convection property that is based on the principle of the rising of warm air which is replaced by cool air. The air in the courtyard becomes warmer as the day progresses toward night-time, while cool air is stored in the courtyard in laminar layers and flows into the indoor spaces around the courtyard. The temperature in the courtyard slowly rises in the morning, allowing the courtyard to stay cool till solar radiation falls directly onto it. At night time, the air of the patio, which has been heated directly by the sun and indirect-ly by the walls, rises up while nocturnal cool air gradually replaces it.

As the cool air dissipates from the floor and adjacent rooms, convection current is created and therefore adds to the comfort within the house. During the summer period, night ventilation enables cool air to enter the indoor spaces through open windows and arches and thus removes the heat stored in the thermal mass of the building envelope during the day. The combination of shading and night cooling ventilation enables the reduction of temperatures of the indoor spaces and the courtyard, keeping them within acceptable limits, close to thermal comfort levels. When there are fountains, the presence of water provides evaporation cooling which increases air humidity and enhances thermal comfort conditions during hot-dry days. The arrangement of a large number of openings in the building’s walls around the court-yard helps towards the ventilation and the

Understanding Chefchaouen / Letizia Dipasquale

cooling of individual rooms. Smaller openings are located at a higher position in the exterior facades facing the street. Their high level position provides visual privacy from passers-by and ensures the cross ventilation of indoor spaces. Moreover, due to the difference in temperature and density of the air, they ensure the extraction of hot air towards the external environment (stack effect), thus contributing to the cooling of spaces during the summer period.

The walls of the courtyard houses are constructed using stones, earthen mortar and lime plaster with a thickness between 300-500mm. The thick wall acts as a thermal mass which regulates the temperature of the internal areas and enhances thermo-hygrometric well-being.

The building materials (earth, stone, wood) are non-toxic and hygroscopic (therefore capable of regulating the humidity of the rooms) helping to ensure healthy and comfortable environments.

5.To reduce the effects of natural hazards The medina is designed to provide a safe and protective environment for all its inhabitants.

The simple and compact forms of the settlement guarantee mutual contrast mechanisms between the buildings, favouring resistance over time and protection in the case of earthquakes.

The traditional building systems integrate small devices capable of guaranteeing a good response of the buildings to horizontal thrusts in the case of an earthquake: for example the presence of counter-arches in the narrow streets of the medina or the buttresses, located above all in the most vulnerable points of buildings or when these are located on steep slopes. Andalusiantype floors and roofs are designed to distribute loads evenly and to minimize horizontal thrusts.

Unlike most of the medinas in Morocco, the roofs of Chefchaouen have a double sloping pitch and particular attention is paid to the eaves system, to allow adequate outflow of rainwater.»

Environmental performance Daylight & Radiation qualities in the Medina The Medina, a visual and built continuum performs incredibly well in limiting the un-needed solar radiation gains, while retaining a decent quality of daylight within the homes.

Such vision is achieved through the high density building form, limiting the contact with the exterior for each house to it’s roof, with all ( or most) facades being adjacent to nearby buildings. The performance of the inner courtyard as a source of light and warmth is hence a vital component within the buildings.

The buildings, as can be seen on the figures, allow to create a well shaded environment within the Medinal streets, even during the hot time of the day.

The streets are also complimented by the building courtyards, as these allow the extraction of hot air, and the entry of cool air into the houses, through out the Stack effect.

Constructive systems Lintel / Entrance

Constructive systems

Arch / SemiCricular entrance door

Aadapted from Understanding Chefchaouen / Letizia Dipasquale

Constructive systems Chefchaouen & The Medina

The choice of materials, and hence construction systems, in Vernacular Architecture is often the result of local material exploration.

This is stated interestingly in Adolf Loos description of vernacular houses, when describing “houses, farms and chapels ”, which stand on the “shores of a mountain lake” as if “they had never been built by human hands : ”They look as if they had come from God, just like the mountains and the trees, the clouds and the blue sky ”.

This may be due to multiple formal & context factors and the delicate integration of vernacular buildings into the site , but one of the main factors provoking such an impression is the use of local materials of the site, that are thereafter strongly expressed through the constructive systems.

The expression of Islamic Moorish Architecture is also reinforced through the use of Arches and delicate brick & zellige work.

Seemingly, clay and stone bricks, with mud mortar have been the go-to construction method for Chefchaouen residents for hundreds of years. These allow for rigid construction, but also allow good environmental performance, generating a shield from the summer heat and a mediocre insulation from the winter cold.

Wood is also used partially as it is available in the area through surrounding forests. It is used mainly on the roofs and lintels, along with doors & windows.

This allows Chefchaouen’s Vernacular constructive methods to be a marriage of artistically expressive & environmentally performing building elements.

Constructive systems Embrasures

Aadapted from Understanding Chefchaouen / Letizia Dipasquale

Constructive systems Chefchaouen & The Medina

In the Islamic Architectural thought, privacy and intimacy are a core concept. Women are not meant to be seen by foreigners. The embrasures that align continuously on the facades of the building are meant as light drops on the inside of the building. But also as a connection to the exterior through which one can see.

The forms of embrasures vary and exploring them makes a strong statement on the moorish & andalucian identity of the Architecture culture in Chefchaouen.

Image - Understanding Chefchaouen / Letizia Dipasquale

On Color & Material The Chefchaouen Blue

The colors of the Medina are delightful, light, and richly interact with daylight, shadows & and contrasts of Morocco.

Albeit being historically painted in white, the city of Chefchaouen is now famous for it’s blue streets and houses, with it’s earth brick colored roofscape.

Multiple historic versions exist concerning the blue color choice in the Medina, and how the choice of paint went from white to blue.

One of the most reliable versions suggests that the Mellah ( the jewish quarter in the Medinah ) used to be painted in blue by the jewsih population of Chefchaouen in the 15th century, that arrived into Northern Morocco, as they fled Andalucia during the fall of the Umayyad caliphate.

This trend then moved to all the city later as it had great appeal to the population, but also felt cooler and repealed mosquitoes.

The choice may seem as simply an aeshtetic expression of the local population in Chefchaouen, but it has great impact on the environmental performance of the building and the Medinah.

Multiple studies have shown that lighter colors are the better choice in warm climates with high solar radiation. The white and the light blue perform excellently in this sense. The impact of paint alone can lead to a 2 or 3 degrees difference in temperature. ‘‘The creation of lighter land surfaces “could help to lower extreme temperatures… by up to 2 or 3 degrees Celsius” in much of Europe, North America, and Asia, says Sonia Seneviratne, who studies landclimate dynamics at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich, and is co-author of the new study. It could save lives, she argues, and the hotter it becomes, the stronger the effect’’ The walls of the Medina use light colors to help in cooling the city, white is one of the best choices as it allows for maximum radiation reflection.

The choice of color and material, along with the urban form and building typologies allows for well performing urban blocks that immensly reduce the perceived heat of the site.

On Daylight

Daylight simulation / Axonometry The Daylight Simulation is performed with the Ladybug & Honeybee envrionmental analysis suite, and has an accuracy of 0.2 meters (the analysis grid size).

En

clo

sed

f oo

fac

ad

R

s

Fir

En

tra

r loo

dF

n ou Gr

/

ms

o Ro

100%

e

rea

66%

a ce

n tra

n

/E

nc

Modelling & Analysis by Author Floor plans redrawn based on University of Firenze research

Daylight autonomy

or

lo tF

e

33%

0%

On Daylight

The Chefchaouen Medinal house The high density of the Medinal urban fabric may suggest that daylight quality therein is poor. This is understandable as the urban continuum generated by the Medina allows very little space in between buildings.

However, the courtyards that pierce through each home allow generous amounts of daylight to flow through each room.

We can see this in the daylight autonomy analysis : The ground floor may have relatively mediocre daylight quality in the rooms, but again, those rooms are mainly used as extensions of the central area where most of the activity takes place.

The central core is where people are welcomed, where women do the daily chores, and where the family may sit for a cup of tea.

The rooms surrounding the courtyard on the ground floor are hence generally used as bedrooms with the most open ones potentially utilized for salons.

The upperfloor shows that rooms in the upperfloor have very decent daylight autonomy allowing them be studyrooms also, or archive upholding rooms for scholarly families.

An important factor to note is that in most traditional Moroccan homes, it is rare to find rooms that have a unique function. Most rooms are lined with mattresses on the sides, and so are hence used as bedrooms and living rooms. There may exist a specific bedroom that is generally reserved for the parents in the household.

Ground floor

First floor Floor plans redrawn based on University of Firenze research

On Daylight

Daylight simulation / Plan The Daylight Simulation is performed with the Ladybug & Honeybee envrionmental analysis suite, and has an accuracy of 0.2 meters (the analysis grid size).

Ground floor

100%

Modelling & Analysis by Author Floor plans redrawn based on University of Firenze research

Daylight autonomy

66%

33%

0%

100%

First floor

Daylight autonomy

66%

33%

0%

General Vision Through out analyzing the ancient Architecture of both The Faroe Islands, and Morocco, two radically different contexts, we can undoubtedly see how efficient, intelligent, and aesthetically generous, the Vernacular Architecture is.

The Medina of Chefchaouen performs hundreds of times better than the contemporary areas of the city, all while being far more rich artistically and culturally, generating a unique context, with international attractivity.

Similarly, the Old Town in the Faroe Islands performs amazingly well, generating excellent urban and architectural comfort, all while creating a unique complex artistic expression, that is truly an extension of the Faroese landscape, a real part of the Faroe Islands. To the absolute contrary of contemporary developements in the Faroes, where neither artistic and cultural quality, nor environmental efficency are prioritized.

This invites a serious questioning about where our contemporary Architecture is coming from, and what it’s truthful destination is.

Neo -

-Contemporary construction & fabrication techniques.

-Computational design for performance optimization.

- Scientific analysis of site specific environmental factors.

21st century advancements explored materials.

Technological through local

- Lifecycle analysis & carbon footprint study.

Vernacular

- Thorough investigation of vernacular forms of Architecture & Urbanism in order to extract knowledge.

- Testing vernacular urban, architectural, and constructive techniques with scientific tools to assess performance.

-Gathering information from multiple vernacular contexts, in order to utilize thousands of year old spatial management techniques.

Image / Tulou Dwellings , Archdaily China

Vernacular + Tulou housing China

Image / Ma’adan Reed houses - Archdaily Iraq

Vernacular + Ma’adan - Reed homes Iraq

W

Vernacular + Staernes Stabbur Norway

Image / The Great Masjid , Archdaily Mali

Vernacular + The great Masjid Mali

Image / https://surfiran.com/windcatcher-an-ancient-engineering-feat-that-harnessed-the-wind/ Iran

Vernacular + The wind catchers Iran

https://www.archdaily.com/805415/11-vernacular-building-techniques-that-are-disappearing/58a42fc1e58ecea592000133-11-vernacu Denmark

Vernacular + Seaweed roofs / Læsø Denmark

ular-building-techniques-that-are-disappearing-photo

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Maison_obus.jpg Cameron

Vernacular + Mugsum Mud Huts Cameron

Conclusion Around the world, multiple forms of Vernacular Architecture have existed for hundreds, or thousands of years.

These have developed in parallel with the developement of mankind, just like agriculture, culture, and the arts, in a optimizing generative design logic. The buildings continuously keep getting more effiicent and more suitable, generation after generation.

For contemporary Architects, and with the continuous need for local, low carbon, energy efficient, culturally adequate forms of Architecture, learning from Vernacular built forms is a professional and academic duty.

Applying these principles through out the techniques and knowledge of the 21st century is the righteous step for a responsible Architecture, that is suited to it’s temporal and spatial context.

El Kendi Abderrahmane Semester IV / Research Tutor: David Garcia The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts School of Architecture IBT, Architecture and Extreme Environments