Editorial: Forging Advances in Sustainable Architecture and UrbanismGrierson, David; Salama, Ashraf M.
2016 Open House International
doi: 10.1108/OHI-04-2016-B0001
Sustainability has been an important topic in many disciplines over two decades, and its urgency is rising. At the same time, a conceptual understanding of sustainability remains rather vague, posing a challenge for research in this area. Nevertheless the term ‘sustainability’ is increasingly used in the context of ecological, economic, and social studies. In green economics it is often used interchangeably with the term ‘sustainable development’, defined by the World commission on environment and development in 1987 as, “development which meets he needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” this underlines sustainability’s ethical dimension where a normative view implies treating sustainability as a form of intergenerational equity and fairness. The question of intergenerational equity constitutes a growing concern, and our obligation to future generations requires us to look beyond short-term public policy preoccupations to anticipate building a better future for all.
Morphological-Ontological Analysis of Urban Texture Changing with Dwelling TypologiesAydın, Dicle
2016 Open House International
doi: 10.1108/OHI-04-2016-B0002
Cities are defined by historical, geographical, sociological, cultural, economic and administrative aspects; each concept exposes different characteristics of cities as social structure and architecture from the others. The differentiating characteristics also form the identity of cities/settlements. While the physical fabric of cities makes it necessary to analyse in a morphological way, the ontological structure which is affective on the formation of this morphological structure and searches background of “existence” is seen as an unknown aspect of space. In fact, morphological and ontological space calls into being and affects each other. In this study, urban fabric changing with the existence of new dwelling types is accepted as a factor affecting the urban change. The ontology of the new one is investigated and the negation brought to the context is handled morphologically and sociologically. Konya is selected as site area; it is focused on Meram region as one of the main districts. Differentiating life conditions and the reasons of that is various in Meram regions like any other area; the existence of new dwelling typologies deteriorates the fabric pattern. This negative situation is investigated in this study not only morphologically but also sociologically because of different user profiles. In last 10-15 years, high rise buildings with security, private buildings with security, studio type dwelling applications started to exterminate the original one. Especially studio dwelling applications and designs disowning the social dimension have the potential of exterminating and changing the morphological and ontological sustainability of the neighbourhoods defined as sub-public area.
Sustainable Plot-Based Urban Regeneration and Traditional Master Planning Practice in GlasgowBarbour, Gordon; Romice, Ombretta; Porta, Sergio
2016 Open House International
doi: 10.1108/OHI-04-2016-B0003
The failure of conventional, post-war development to bring about the housing-led regeneration of much of Glasgow’s vacant and derelict inner-city land has exacerbated the loss of middle-income households to car-dominated suburbs built on green-field sites. Plot-based urbanism offers an innovative approach to development, based on an urban structure made up of fine-grained elements, in the form of plots, capable of incremental development by a range of agencies. The historical and morphological study of traditional, pre-war masterplanning methods in Glasgow suggests that a typically disaggregated pattern of land subdivision remains of great relevance for development, and that the physical form and organisation of urban land may relate to the capacity for neighbourhood self-organisation. This study assists future masterplanning and investment in the regeneration of inner-city neighbourhoods by suggesting ways of making investment more informed, and the development process more responsive to urban change. We argue that the publicly-funded sector could take on the role of lead provider of development opportunity through the adoption of methods derived from traditional masterplanning processes, providing opportunities for small-scale house building, and thereby supporting resilient and adaptable communities in the sustainable reuse of vacant inner-city land.
Design for Change: Five Proxies for Resilience in the Urban FormFeliciotti, Alessandra; Romice, Ombretta; Porta, Sergio
2016 Open House International
doi: 10.1108/OHI-04-2016-B0004
The sheer complexity and unpredictability characterising cities challenges the adequacy of existing disciplinary knowledge and tools in urban design and highlights the necessity to incorporate explicitly the element of change and the dimension of time in the understanding of, and intervention on, the form of cities. To this regard the concept of resilience is a powerful lens through which to understand and engage with a changing world. However, resilience is currently only superficially addressed by urban designers, and an explicit effort to relate elements of urban form to resilience principles is still lacking. This represents a great limit for urban designers, as the physical dimension of cities is the matter they work with in the first place. In this paper, we combine established knowledge in urban morphology and resilience theory. We firstly look at resilience theory and consistently define five proxies of resilience in urban form, namely diversity, redundancy, modularity, connectivity and efficiency. Secondly, we discuss the configuration of, and interdependencies between, several constituent elements of the physical city, as defined in urban morphology and design, in light of the mentioned five proxies. Finally, we conduct this exploration at five scales that are relevant to urban morphology and design: plot, street edge, block, street and sanctuary area / district.
The Impact of Affordable Housing Developments on Sustainability in Gulf CitiesWiedmann, Florian; Salama, Ashraf M.; Ibrahim, Hatem G.
2016 Open House International
doi: 10.1108/OHI-04-2016-B0005
The recent construction boom has led to new urban development dynamics in Gulf cities driven by real-estate speculations and large infrastructure investments. While in the past affordable housing for medium income migrants and their families was integrated within the fringes of old downtown areas and compound developments in the suburbs, recent investment patterns have led to an increasing challenge of these economically highly engaged social groups to find residences. In recent years, a newly emerging trend in the Gulf region has been the establishment of large scale mass housing projects as new dormitory settlements to address the growing demand for affordable housing. This paper presents an overview of current development patterns by exploring two major affordable housing projects and their impact on sustainability in Doha and Dubai. This is undertaken by establishing a preliminary assessment framework that involves relevant sustainability parameters. The assessment reveals the major differences between both projects and their impact on environment, economy, and society.
Reframing the Notion of Sustainable Urban Development in the Middle East Bagaeen, Samer
2016 Open House International
doi: 10.1108/OHI-04-2016-B0006
In offering reflections on key themes affecting sustainability in the Middle East, this paper explores how an imprecise concept such as sustainability can, co-constituted with other powerful political and economic systems, such as nation building, drive forward new agendas for urban development. Rather than focus on specific empirical findings, the paper reflects instead on some of the assumptions underpinning competing approaches to sustainability highlighting multiple alternate visions of urban sustainability. In doing so, the paper engages with the literature on sustainability, master-planning and real estate development inviting the reader in the process to think about and ponder on the role of vision in the process. The reader is therefore invited to consider the aggregate impact of individual master planned projects on the urban fabric of fast growing cities and to think about how projects such as Masdar City in Abu Dhabi and the Msheireb downtown redevelopment in Doha demonstrate how sustainability and nationalist discourses are intertwined offering competing visions of what a sustainable city might become while at the same time hiding urban inequalities in plain sight with the help of the ‘forward looking’ facade of sustainability.
Towards the Development of a Space/Nature Syntax at ArcosantiMunro, Karen; Grierson, David
2016 Open House International
doi: 10.1108/OHI-04-2016-B0007
The world’s urban population is rapidly growing, now exceeding its rural population, and is expected to reach 70% of the world’s total by 2050. Research in environmental psychology increasingly supports the Biophilia Hypothesis which holds that our connection with Nature is innate. Thus, how do we maintain a human connection to Nature in an increasingly urbanising world? This paper is based on current research work and explores the boundary between built and natural environments, specifically how visual connectivity to Nature affects how people use social spaces, compared to spatial connectivity. Case study work is being undertaken at Arcosanti urban laboratory in the Arizona desert. Arcosanti construction began in 1970 to test Paolo Soleri’s Arcology Theory which proposes, in opposition to sprawling cities, a new form of urban setting which is compact with tightly restricted horizontal growth, leaving the surrounding natural environment as undeveloped “wilderness”. Through development of a Space/Nature Syntax methodology applied within a uniquely compact urban form, this research attempts to understand how designing to maintain the instinctive bond with Nature can affect social interaction and inform future design choices within built environments. This paper describes the development of, and basis for, the Space/Nature Syntax methodology, presents initial findings achieved through its recent application at Arcosanti, and outlines future work. Initial analysis indicates that visual connectivity to Nature is a significant influence on certain types of social interactions when compared to spatial connectivity, although more research is needed to verify the level of significance.
Arcology, Arcosanti and the Green Urbanism VisionRae, Ruth A.
2016 Open House International
doi: 10.1108/OHI-04-2016-B0008
Arcosanti is a prototype city being built based on the visionary architect Paolo Soleri’s principles of Arcology which integrates architecture with ecology. Arcology proposes a compact three-dimensional urban form to provide a lean alternative to the unsustainable urban sprawl city form found in most of America. In its reduction of dependence on the automobile, reliance on pedestrian transportation, proximity to nature and proposal to have agriculture integrated into the city, Arcology is a vision of Green Urbanism. The design of Arcosanti incorporates Biophilic principles that preserve the biodiverse natural landscape, has a compact organic form, and functions with a circular metabolism that is analogous to nature when complete. Arcosanti, located in central Arizona, was begun in 1970 as an urban laboratory, and has been constructed by over 7,000 workshop volunteers over the past 45 years. Following Soleri's death in 2013, the Cosanti Foundation has established a Strategic Planning Steering Committee to help guide the continued development of Arcosanti as a prototype Arcology. The Strategic Plan will provide a framework for future organization and development. This article examines how the concept of Arcology and the development of the Arcosanti prototype encompasses principles of Green Urbanism and sustainable development.
Unfinished Business at the Urban Laboratory - Paolo Soleri, Arcology, and ArcosantiGrierson, David
2016 Open House International
doi: 10.1108/OHI-04-2016-B0009
This paper reviews the prospect of a radical redefinition of the relationship between society, technology, and Nature as posited within Paolo Soleri’s Arcology theory, and anticipates a transformative social order and environmental setting in support of sustainability as demonstrated within the urban laboratory Arcosanti. It locates the roots of Soleri's ecological architecture within a rejection of urban sprawl emerging from his early apprenticship with Frank Lloyd Wright at Taliesin West in Arizona, and argues that his own theoretical model, in presenting a fusion of architecture and ecology, prefigures a utopia of transcendence and offers a more rational planned response to the challenges of our age, while offering environmental movements a vision of what a sustainable urban future might look like. The paper argues that the positive utopian tendencies in Soleri’s work should be reaffirmed and, at the same time, it underlines an urgent need for multi-aspect and multi-disciplinary research, and postgraduate education, to be undertaken at Arcosanti, to test the parameters of micro- and macro-structures within alternative models of ecological design. In concluding the paper gives acknowledgement to the ongoing work of the Cosanti Foundation’s Board of Directors and its new Strategic Plan Steering Committee, and their commitment to attract renewed levels of financial and human resource in support of the urban laboratory’s unfinished business.
Assessment of Integrated Performance and Roof Geometry for Solar EnergyLeón, Esteban Zalamea; Alvarado, Rodrigo García; Arriagada, Reinaldo Sánchez; Baeriswy, Sergio
2016 Open House International
doi: 10.1108/OHI-04-2016-B0010
The roofs of houses located at middle latitudes receive significant solar radiation useful to supply their own energy demands and to feed back into the urban electricity network. However, solar panels should be properly integrated into roofs. This study analyzed roof geometry and integrated solar performance of Photovoltaic, thermal-photovoltaic, and hybrid solar collection technologies on dwelling cases selected from a sample of recent housing developments in Concepción, Chile. Hour-by-hour energy generation estimates and comparisons with demand levels were calculated for representative days during seasons of maximum, minimum as well as mid-season. These estimates took into account the roof tilt and orientation effects also. Trnsys@ software was used to determine electricity supply and F-Chart tool for thermal energy supply. The results show five times more panels can be placed on the largest and most regular shaped roof sections than on those with the smallest and most irregular shapes. The house model with the largest roof section can provide up to six times more energy than the model with the smallest second roof section in different seasons and systems. This paper thus provides new findings on the performance of solar technologies when related to home energy demands and roof geometry.