Open House International

Wilkinson, Nicholas

2013 Open House International

doi: 10.1108/OHI-02-2013-B0001

Open House International (OHI) has come a long way towards its recent accreditation as one of the leading academic journals in the field of Architecture and Environment. The journal has a focus on decision-making processes, which enable the various disciplines dealing with built environment to understand the dynamics of development and housing and so contribute more effectively to it.

Friedman, Avi

2013 Open House International

doi: 10.1108/OHI-02-2013-B0002

Contemporary environmental and economic factors make the construction of narrow-front townhouses a continuous attraction. As affordability is a primary concern for many homebuyers, opting to buy a townhouse can provide the cost savings they are seeking. With their dense planning pattern, building townhouses results in the reduced cost of services and land and affordability is achieved. However, limitations to community planning occur, namely, challenges to circulation and open space. These are two critical issues that need to be resolved early on; using principles and case studies, this paper will offer strategies for maximizing efficiency and functionality in communities that use townhouses as their main design feature.In designing communities with townhouses, it is imperative to begin by paying close attention to roads and parking as well as location and content of public and private open spaces. These issues will define the character of the community. When choices are made about the location of the dwellings in conjunction with these aspects, a liveable place will emerge and the stigma associated with developments with low-cost townhouses will be alleviated. Despite the fact that townhouses are a building typology rooted in earlier centuries, its many attributes makes it relevant to our time. It preserves the advantage of private residential living, yet offers higher density and the possibility to create sustainable communities.

Cömert, Nevter Zafer; Hoskara, Sebnem Önal

2013 Open House International

doi: 10.1108/OHI-02-2013-B0003

With the increasing number of universities in the country, research on urban form and architecture—with a focus on historic settlements—has accelerated in Cyprus in the last fifteen years. Lefke, a small traditional medieval town located on north-west Cyprus, warrants a detailed urban morphological study, as its traditional urban pattern has been shaped by a medieval character. Within its overall organic urban pattern, there are well-scaled narrow streets, a number of public buildings and irregularly shaped public spaces at the intersection of streets and/or in front of public buildings. Lefke's morphological characteristics, which have developed throughout many years, have been significantly impacted by British influences, as the Cyprus Mines Corporation (CMC), established in 1916, turned Lefke into an industrial town. The CMC district, which is the first industrial mass housing district in Cyprus, has uniquely impacted Lefke's urban patterns and still defines the morphological characteristics of the town today. Accordingly, this paper first explores urban morphology based on two pioneering morphological studies: Gianfranco Cannigia's theories of typo-morphological understanding, and the evolutionary insights of M.R.G. Conzen. The ultimate goal is to set up a typo-morphological basis for the CMC industrial mass housing district, which will drive future interventions, design and planning policies towards its conservation and sustainability.

Na, Le Thi Hong; Park, Jin-Ho; Cho, Minjung

2013 Open House International

doi: 10.1108/OHI-02-2013-B0004

Accounting for seventy five percent of urban housing in Vietnam, street houses refer to a mixed-use housing typology that emerged in the 17th century. Such housing has evolved in response to Vietnam's unique culture and environmental conditions. Residential and commercial functions are integrated in a flexible and expandable manner, creating a variety of compositional possibilities in spatial layouts. In addition, transitional spaces such as courtyards, balconies, loggia, and terraces provide shading, cooling, and ventilation effects throughout the building. As one of the most adaptive and popular urban dwellings, the street house has promoted daily domestic activities and the identities of Vietnamese urban areas. However, such valuable aspects have received less attention in many recent urban developments in Vietnam. As such, the goal of this study is to identify and analyze the unparalleled ingenuity of the street house, particularly focusing on its spatial flexibility and environmental responsiveness. Furthermore, this study is intended to apply analytical investigations to the design of contemporary high-rise housing in Vietnam.With such purposes, this paper is structured in two sequences. In the first phase, typological characteristics of the street house are studied; a field survey is performed to address the evolutionary transformation of the street house. By studying several precedents in Vietnam, our study focused on understanding the ways in which spaces are manipulated and in which diverse indoor and outdoor spaces are created. In addition, passive environmental systems are studied, meaning systems that are integrated with the spaces in order to control the microclimatic conditions of the house. Next, the morphology of the forms and space components are carefully examined through the contemporary examples of street house models in Vietnam. Especially, the flexible nature of the street house, in terms of spatial composition and expansion, is identified. In the second phase, a transition from the street house to high-rise housing is explored based on the previous analytical studies; compositional logic for arranging internal and external spaces are outlined to generate typological unit plans of street houses. Out of diverse design possibilities, an exemplary high-rise building is proposed to address the notions of spatial flexibility and integrated passive systems that are found in the street house. Ultimately, the proposed design aims to enrich dwelling environments for new high-rise urban communities.

Gómez M., Jaime E.

2013 Open House International

doi: 10.1108/OHI-02-2013-B0005

Vernacular transformations of underused places give shape to Ephemeral Urban Dwellings (EUD). By reading the spatial patterns of use of three of these buildings, this paper demonstrates that EUD replicate the way activities and ideas of privacy are related to space in the previous and permanent homes left behind by its inhabitants. The case studies are located in central areas of Bogotá and, although ephemeral, they have stayed for years. Personal interviews and mental maps drawn by the interviewees as well as on site drawings and photography by the author are the main sources of this study.The paper recalls the processes of cultural appropriation that take place when people adjust to new cultural contexts. In the case of the dwellings studied, these processes give clues on how the ideas that shape the way people use space are translated into new places. The paper's conclusion calls for further research on EUD as an object of academic interest.

Davidson, James

2013 Open House International

doi: 10.1108/OHI-02-2013-B0006

Given the broad scale and fundamental transformations occurring to both the natural environment and human condition in the present era, what does the future hold for vernacular architecture studies? In a world where Capital A (sometimes referred to as ‘polite’) architectural icons dominate our skylines and set the agenda for our educational institutions, is the study of vernacular architecture still relevant? What role could it possibly have in understanding and subsequently impacting on architectural education, theory and practice, and in turn, professional built environment design? Imagine for a minute, a world where there is no divide between the vernacular and the ‘polite’, where all built environments, past and present are open to formal research agendas whereby the inherent knowledge in their built histories inform the professional design paradigm of the day – in all built settings, be they formal or informal, Western or non-Western. In this paper, the author is concerned with keeping the flames of intellectual discontent burning in proposing a transformation and reversal of the fortunes of VAS within mainstream architectural history and theory.In a world where a social networking website can ignite a revolution, one can already see the depth of global transformations on the doorstep. No longer is there any excuse to continue intellectualizing global futures solely within a Western (Euro-American) framework. In looking at the history of VAS, the purpose of this paper is to illustrate that the answers for its future pathways lie in an understanding of the intellectual history underpinning its origins. As such, the paper contends that the epistemological divide established in the 1920s by art historians, whereby the exclusion of so-called non-architect architectures from the mainstream canon of architectural history has resulted in an entire architectural corpus being ignored in formal educational institutions and architectural societies today. Due to this exclusion, the majority of mainstream architectural thinkers have resisted theorizing on the vernacular. In the post-colonial era of globalization the world has changed, and along with it, so have many of the original paradigms underpinning the epistemologies setting vernacular environments apart. In exploring this subject, the paper firstly positions this dichotomy within the spectrum of Euro-American architectural history and theory discourse; secondly, draws together the work of scholars who have at some point in the past called for the obsolescence of the term ‘vernacular’ and the erasure of categorical distinctions that impact on the formal study of what are perceived as non-architectural environments; and finally, sets out the form by which curricula for studies of world architecture could take.

Róka-Madarász, Lívia; Mályusz, Levente

2013 Open House International

doi: 10.1108/OHI-02-2013-B0007

The aim of this paper is to evaluate the factors of gentrification based on the economical social and architectural framework in the field of maintenance management of real estates. Andrássy Avenue, announced to be a part of the UNESCO World Heritage site in 2002, is an inner-city neighbourhood in Budapest, which underwent a significant renewal process during the last two decade. This area was chosen because it represents very different types of gentrification processes. There are three research indicators defined and modelled over the statistical data. The applied modelling for evaluation of the gathered data are descriptive statistics and main factor analysis for the Shevky-Bell indices. The statistical model predicts that property market prices will rise after the architectural transformation however it will not have significant impact on the prices of the flats with bad conditions in the neighbourhood. This paper examines the renewals of the residential apartments as rent-gap or social displacement occurs. Factor points out that what motivate the young highly educated residents to move in the neighboured apartments of the Liszt Ferenc square area and what is the architectural benefit of these displacements. The facility manager of these buildings must be aware of the social profile of the owners of the individual properties inside the building to create their annual maintenance budget. The effects of rent-gap and the change in property functions are demonstrated as case study of the renewed residential palace in the under Teréz Town area of the Andrássy Avenue.

Sani, Rafooneh Mokhtarshahi; Shotorbani, Payam Mahasti

2013 Open House International

doi: 10.1108/OHI-02-2013-B0008

In recent decades, Iranian vernacular architecture has defined the local architectural identity by demonstrating distinctive characteristics. Defining such a critical role for vernacular studies has led to different approaches in the design of the contemporary architecture of Iran. The first approach of integrating vernacular and contemporary designs has focused on local people, their needs, local construction, and building materials. The revival of vernacular architectural design and building elements has been at the forefront of this approach in Iran. However, recent use in Iran has concentrated on the symbolic/abstract reuse of vernacular building forms. Vernacular architecture is known to merely provide for the functional requirements of buildings, and not for aesthetic purposes. Conversely, in the second approach, vernacular building elements are considered to be symbols of local identity. This paper will argue that although the symbolic reuse of vernacular features may not uphold the functional expectations of the vernacular form, this reuse is useful in reviving architectural identity. In addition, underscoring such a different role for vernacular building features in contemporary architecture might help to expand the realm of vernacular studies. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the conversion of vernacular architecture in Iran by focusing on the instance of wind-catchers. Wind-catchers typically were used in residential buildings and are considered potent symbols of climate adaptation. In contemporary architecture, however, a form of wind-catcher has been used as a symbol for local architectural identity. Through this transformation, the essential nature of the wind-catcher has found new life in the contemporary architecture of Iran.

Dadour, Stephanie

2013 Open House International

doi: 10.1108/OHI-02-2013-B0009

Unlike postwar reconstruction of urban districts, the architectural projects developed during the Lebanese war are a relatively unexplored subject, moreover if one is dealing within housing in the rural realm. Little attention has been paid to its contemporary propositions, especially to the ones directed by the Lebanese Diaspora during the war. By living abroad and by maintaining a link to their origins, members of the Diaspora put together all their strength and wealth to keep in touch with their land. For a large part, the idea of dwelling refers to their identity: by investing and building houses in their native village, they aim at preserving a place in their community.In this article, the Lebanese Diaspora will be regarded as an ethnoscape, figure of the globalization introduced by Arjun Appadurai, namely a social and political matrix structured by and for the production of a cultural model and identity. Our hypothesis postulates that each village constitutes a micro ethnoscape (with, of course, exceptions and alternatives) and uses a particular architectural language. However, it is not a question of homogenizing all constructions but rather to find a common vocabulary referring to identity and appropriation in the various villages of origin of the Diaspora.The houses built on the native soil by emigrants' take part in the debates that oppose the local production to the global one. Thus, contrary to many researches that denounce globalization for the cultural standardization that it produces, this article intends to show the imaginative character of the members of the Diaspora, their resistance to the traditional models and the contemporary interbreeding which results from it. In this sense, the local and the global are intrinsically related one to the other.

Abdullah, Bawa Chafe; Aziz, Wan Nor Azriyati Wan Abd

2013 Open House International

doi: 10.1108/OHI-02-2013-B0010

In 2000, Federal Ministry of the Federal Capital Territory (MFCT), Abuja launched a mass housing scheme (MHS) under the platform of a public-private partnership (PPP). This paper reports an evaluation of this reform in order to understand the scheme's impact on the cohort of low-income group (LIG) in Abuja, Nigeria. The study explores the multiple data sources available, including literature and policy material and empirical evidence collected through structured and semi-structured questionnaires. The findings of the study suggest that the scheme did not significantly improve the housing status of LIG. The research suggests that the cohorts' history of exclusion in housing delivery in the Abuja deepened further due to partly an inadequate mortgage infrastructure to support their participation. Moreover, with poor scheme implementation, it is clear that the scheme strengthened the polarised position of the Abuja with respect to housing which runs counter to the stated policy objective to provide all Nigerians with decent and affordable housing. The paper concludes by showing the wider implication of the contemporary approach of the housing strategy in Abuja and Nigeria in general.

Hürol, Yonca

2013 Open House International

doi: 10.1108/OHI-02-2013-B0011

CLIMATE CHANGE ETHICS – Navigating the Perfect Moral Storm