Review Of Design With Climate: Bioclimatic Approach To Architectural Regionalism By Victor Olgyay
In the Introduction of the book Design with climate: Bioclimatic Approach to Architectural Regionalism by Victor Olgyay, Olgyay talks about how to identify regions bearing different climatic orientations and explains the effect of each on air movement, thermal requirement, materials needed to adapt to the environment.
Olgyay discusses in his book as to how architects can incorporate the knowledge and understanding of certain climate into their design that will not only reduce the climatic stress but will also utilizes the natural resources available from the surrounding environment to create a sustainable climate balanced structure that will also fulfill human requirement and meet human comfort.
In order to fully explain how climate and building design are inter related to human comfort, Olgyay gives examples of various structures displaying diverse building techniques suited to adapt with the climate; for example-tribes residing in northern territories where there is a scarcity of fuel and harsh cold; it is important to have their shelter built in a way that will take minimum space and will minimize the surface exposure to retain heat within the walls. One common low hemispherical structures as such would be the Eskimo Igloo. It is designed to utilize the insulating value of the snow and the ice lining within the interior surface acts as a seal and helps in deflecting the cold wind to seep through. Even their tunnel exits are designed to minimize drafts and prevent the escape of heat within the walls. With the way the structure is strategically built, it is possible to maintain a temperature of 60 degree Fahrenheit within the interior even when the temperature outside exceeds -50 degree Fahrenheit.
To design a climate balanced structure, Olgyay proposed that architects should take this four step method into consideration to better create an integrated structure. First of which is collection of climate data which will give the architect an idea of the location, the impact that the climate has and the problem surrounding it. Secondly, to compare that data to the biological and psychological need of the people that the building will be designed for. Thirdly to figure out a technological solution that can be applied to each climate-comfort problem and lastly, to weigh in the pros and the cons of the solution and apply it to the design.
To conclude, strategically planning and designin ga building to its climate and the surroundings while priotizing human comfort has been a problem throughout the centuries. However, sustainable designs will help humans in the long run and it should be prioritized when designing a building. Architects should be more aware of how a building affect people and their environment. Design with Climate raise that awareness and acts like a stepping stone for architects to understand and utilize their knowledge to create more integrated designs
