Part A: Archetype Research

Akil Sami House, Dashure, Egypt (Hassan Fathy)

House is an environmental  filter

• The building is built using limestone, which is locally available, thus reducing cost and pollution from transportation, etc (Seragdelin, 2007).

•  The photo above shows wooden screens covering the windows on the external wall of the house. The screens' function is to reduce glare from sunshine entering the interiors and also to reduce the amount of heat and sun entering the interior spaces. Furthermore, as wood absorb moisture, the wooden screen helps bring humidity into the house. This happens when wind blows through the screens into the house and carries with it the vaporized moisture stored by the wooden screen (Naciri, 2007).

• As can be seen from the plan and section drawings of the house above, the walls of the house are very thick, which would help protect the interiors from the extreme sunshine and heat of the outdoors.
• The thick walls also serve as “extensive thermal masses” to “store coolness at night and slowly dissipate it during the day”. This keeps the interiors at a comfortable, cave-like temperature even when the outdoors temperature is uncomfortably high (Naciri, 2007).
• The building’s white colour would help it keep cool in the hot climate of its context, as according to Givoni (1998), “light colours, especially white, reflect the solar radiation and thus reduce the heat gain of the building and its indoor temperatures”.
• The house’s courtyard area allows daylight to enter the house and also helps with ventilating the house (Naciri, 2007).

House is a container of human activities

• The floor plan for the house is very compact in that the rooms are very close together (refer to floor plan drawing above). While the primary purpose for this spatial arrangement is to minimise the amount of exposed wall surface as a way of minimizing sun exposure, the close proximity between rooms gives the sense of a strong relationship between the interior spaces (Naciri, 1997).  
• The thick surrounding walls and window screens create a very private space for the interior spaces and courtyard. In the context in which the building was designed (i.e. for a Middle Eastern client in a Middle Eastern country) a high level of privacy is very desirable and needed especially by the female users of the building (Al-Kodmany, 1999).

House is a delightful experience

• Aesthetically, the building is very sculptural, flowing and organic looking because of its curved forms. The curved forms and the building’s light colour make the building look lighter and softer than it really is when the building material, i.e. limestone, is actually hard and heavy to the touch (Bachelard, 1964).
• The building expresses Islamic architecture through use of design elements such as the pointed arch-shaped doorways and windows and geometrically shaped patterns and forms (Ching, 1994).

Lambert House, Wilston, Queensland, Australia (Russell Hall)

 

House is an environmental  filter

• To cool down the house on hot summer days, the architect has incorporated a turbine on the tower's roof, which draws hot air from the lower levels up to the roof.
• Furthermore, the roof overhangs keep the house shaded from the sun during summer (Australian Institute of Architects, 2010).
• The design incorporates the traditional materials used for Queensland houses, i.e. timber and steel roofing which work well in the local climate. This keeps the house comfortably cool during summer (Australian Government, n.a.).
• The steel sunshades reflect sun away from the house, thus keeping the house cool and comfortable in summer (Australian Institute of Architects, 2010).
• The light building materials lessen the construction cost due to transport. 
• 
  

  The building takes up less space due to its vertical nature (Keniger & Hall, 1990).

House is a container of human activities

• The client requested a tower on a hillside, which the architect fulfilled with the design of the five-storey tower.

• Access and circulation through spaces is mainly by way of stairs, seeing that the different spaces are at different levels of the building.
• The bedroom on the fourth floor of the building appears to be the most private room in the building (refer to floor plans above). The fact on that floor there is just the master bedroom (and ablution rooms) enforces its private nature as only the owner of the master bedroom (i.e. owner of the house) would have the authority to use the floor. Other levels of the house seem more open to visitors, especially floors 2 and 3 because of their open plan.

House is a delightful experience

• The architecture style of the building (i.e. the exposed framing) and the materials used, i.e. timber with galvanized steel sunshades, is reminiscent of vernacular Queensland architecture, giving the building a strong sense of connection with the context while also ensuring that the building works well in the local climate (Evans, 2001).

• The unusual geometrical form of the tower (it has a dodecagon floor plan), combined with its old appearance makes it look unique and individual.
• The diagonal sunshades “provide a strong geometry in contrast to its vertical structure” (Australian Institute of Architects, 2010).
• The vertical nature of the building as well as its location on a hill provides the building’s occupants with beautiful views of nature as well as the city below (Keniger & Hall, 1990).

References

Al-Kodmany, K. 1999. Residential Visual Privacy: Traditional and Modern Architecture and Urban Design. Journal of Urban Design, 4(3): 283-311. (accessed March 19, 2011, from Informaworld database).

Australian Government. N.a. Australian architecture: Residential architecture and discrete climates. http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/articles/architecture/ (accessed March 19, 2011)

Australian Institute of Architects. Carpenter Hall House. http://www.architecture.com.au/emailnews/national/Heritage/13_QLD-Carpenter-Hall-house-citation-FINAL.pdf (accessed March 10, 2011).

Bachelard, G. 1964. DAB210 Architectural Design 2: Weekly Readings. Queensland University of Technology, Blackboard website. http://blackboard.qut.edu.au/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_63719_1%26url%3D (accessed March 12, 2011).

Ching, F.D.K. 1994. A Visual Dictionary of Architecture. Canada: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Evans, I. & The National Trust of Queensland. 2001. The Queensland House: History and Conservation. Australia: The Flannel Flower Press Pty Ltd.

Givoni, B. 1998. Climate Considerations in Building and Urban Design. Canada: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. http://books.google.com.au/books?hl=en&lr=&id=MGkArZ_berAC&oi=fnd&pg=PR11&dq=building+colour+hot+climate&ots=92G0FgKcMZ&sig=v8r-TtgWqnksdsaMBlUTaOThDQU#v=onepage&q&f=false (accessed March 11, 2011).

Keniger, M. & R. Hall. 1990. Australian Architects: Rex Addison, Lindsay Clare & Russell Hall. ACT: Australian Institute of Architects.

Naciri, N. 2007. Sustainable features of Vernacular Architecture: A Case Study of Climatic Controls in the Hot-Arid Regions of the Middle Eastern and North African Regions. http://www.solaripedia.com/files/488.pdf (accessed March 17, 2011).

Seragdelin, I. 2007. Hassan Fathy. Alexandria, Egypt: Bibliotheca Alexandria.  http://www.bibalex.org/attachments_en/Publications/Files/hassan_fathy.pdf (accessed March 10, 2011).