Traditional Cyprus House Design - Coursework Example

Factors affecting the Design of Houses: Traditional Cyprus House Design Introduction Cultural values and traditions are the bedrock of any society and they are reflected in all aspects of the society including housing. Traditional residential architecture is one of the fundamental discourses of culture and indicates the relations within the society where it is situated. It is for this reason that traditional architecture needs to be preserved and sustained so as to ensure continuity. Future generations may learn about their culture and traditions through such dwelling s and their surrounding (Gunce et al. 2006). Rural areas are better situated for preservation of traditional housing because of the special conditions that characterize these areas; most rural areas are demographically static, economically less dynamic, and prone to fewer transformations than urban areas. This is why many traditional dwellings have survived in these areas for hundreds of years although some have been reduced to ruins. This study aims to carry out material analysis by comparing the suitability of stone and adobe material with that of modern material in the restoration of an old traditional house in rural Northern Cyprus. The study also discusses the main factors that influence the design of houses in the area and determine the choice of material. Shelter and Why We Need It Shelter simply refers to a space or structure where humans and their animals can be able to shelter from adverse elements of weather. Human beings have depended on different types of shelter since time immemorial. Much earlier, ancient humans sheltered in caves and forests to take refuge from the hot sun, cold, winds, rain and other weather elements that could be harmful to health and well being. With time, human beings started innovating and coming up with different types of shelter that could give optimum protection from the same elements. With time humans started constructing houses, shades, and other types of shelter as part of human dwellings. Now human beings build much more advanced and complicated shelters because of the availability of a greater variety of material as well as in response to different natural and socio-economic conditions. It can be noted that traditionally humans have also built shelters to meet their needs but also using the available material and existing techniques. Considerations of many factors have also gone into shelter design over the years with things such as climate and weather elements, socio-cultural interactions, and economic activities being taken into considerations. Many different materials have been innovated for building of shelters but incidentally recent studies still indicate that materials that were used in older times remain the best in building in terms of their performance relative to climatic conditions. Materials such as stone, earth (adobe) and wood still present the best options for building Justas they did hundreds of years ago, however socio-economic considerations make it essential to utilize other material like concrete and steel so as to meet the needs of rising populations (Rapoport, 1969). Factors affecting the Shape of Shelter/ Houses in Cyprus Shelter is a basic human need, the reason housing is needed by human beings is so that it can shelter them from elements of weather, give them privacy and accord them comfort. For that reason, shelter is part of the lives human beings and factors such as social, cultural, political and economical factors play a great role in influencing the shape and form of the physical structures called housing. According to Rapoport (1982), structuring of a dwelling is a reaction between humans and the built environment. The author writes that; “The environment surrounding human structures of shelter is the best indicator of the relationship existing between people and their biological structure, their global view, their social organization, culture, lifestyle, their individual and group needs, climate, available material and the prevailing technology. All these factors combine to show the importance of physical, cultural and behavioural factors in determining the structures and forms of human dwellings.” (Rapoport, 1969, p. 27). What Rapoport explains above is that all the factors that are important in shaping the culture and way of life of the communities like their environment, global view, climate and the rest are also the determinants of the architectural designs the people assume, thus architecture is determined by the environment. The relationship between human beings and their environment as far as building shelter is concerned has been researched in many studies covering centuries. This relationship is described as being dynamic because it changes regularly depending on changes in physical, cultural and economic factors. Thus the environment-human behaviour relations has been defined as dynamic and adaptive process, human characteristics affect the structuring of their environment while on the other hand the environment affects the structuring of human dwellings (Altman, 1975). From the time human beings started establishing shelter for themselves, the lifestyles of inhabitants of the dwellings has played a central role in the planning and design of the dwellings. By definition, traditional residential architecture consists of that kind of architecture of a certain period in the past that the society formed for itself. In studying and reconstructing traditional housing it is therefore important to consider the architectural design employed in before as it reveals the values of the society, their global views, their traditions, their relationships, and their economic structure (Voordt, 2005). Before analysis of traditional residential architecture it is essential to analyze the natural and societal environment surrounding it before analyzing the construction materials and techniques employed in the construction. According to Koenigsberger, “Some of the physical factors that determine the design of a traditional dwelling include topography of the area in which the building is constructed, materials found in the area, the prevailing building techniques, and the climate of the region” (Koenigsberger, 1974, p.67). Just like in Rapoport’s earlier assertion, Koenigsberger indicates the importance of environmental factors on determining house design and provides a list of some of the most significant factors that influence architecture. The environmental factors include the means and methods of production in the area and the socio-economic level of the society, family structure and relations, lifestyles, religious beliefs, and other socio-cultural factors (Oktray, 2002). All the factors indicated above play a very important role in determining the design of Cyprus traditional dwellings; Natural and Physical Environmental Factors The climate in Cyprus and the whole Mediterranean area is very hot and dry during summer and moderate in winter with medium rains. Westerly winds however lessen the effect of the hot summers. All the regions of the country get sunshine an average of 340 days per year and the rainy season comes between December and May (Keshishian, 1993). This climate calls for consideration of the sun and air flow patterns very carefully in architecture. The impact of these climatic elements in architectural designs of the country is evident particularly in crowded villages. Pulham and Numan have examined the traditional architecture in the country and indicated that; “Examination of the architecture of traditional villages on Cyprus reveals that climatic factors like the direction of the sun and wind flow have been seriously incorporated in the buildings; both the streets and domestic buildings have been shaped in a manner to leave space for the flow of westerly winds and also enable casting of shadows in the streets to lessen the impact of intense summer heat” (Pulham and Numan, 2006, p.112). This observation indicates the importance of climate in relation to the comfort and convenience of home dwellers and the subsequent effort to design around climatic factors in order to get the most favourable conditions despite the elements like sun and wind. The windows and doors are located mainly in the west and designed to give access to the breeze from the streets. On the other hand, the courtyard is commonly located on the south of the house to conveniently provide a shadow so that people can sit there and freshen up during the heat of the summer as well as take advantage of the sun in winter. Although two main types of material are used in different regions of Cyprus, the plans remain relatively similar and only the construction techniques differ. The use of sun-dried mud brick and stones in traditional residential housing is attributed to the quality of the material as good insulators. The houses constructed with this material are cool in the summer and warm in winter (Gunce et al., 2008). Socio-cultural Factors It is noted that most rural people derive their livelihood through farming and thus their approach in many aspects of life is closely related to this. In rural Cyprus, like in many other rural farming areas, residents do not view housing solely as a place to live in but they view land as an inseparable part of the dwellings because agriculture is their sole source of income. It can be noted that many houses do not only have storage units within them but also have production units where processing of agricultural products can take place. For example there can be rooms or spaces for weaving or processing of grains, both for domestic consumption and for the market. It has been observed that “the traditional family structure not only brings social and psychological harmony but also illustrates some unity in production” (Dincyurek and Turker, 2007, p.3386). This implies that the need for family unity and harmony influences architecture by bringing extended families together in the same space and thus determining the design of house to be built. For example children who get married build extensions to their parents’ houses in the garden and therefore help to organically develop the built environment. Urban traditional architecture in Cyprus was largely influenced by a number of foreign cultures brought by the various different people who ruled Cyprus over the years. The architecture in urban areas is rich with co-existence of buildings from the Medieval, Renaissance, Ottoman, and the British colonial rule (Gunce et al., 2008). Some of the cities in Cyprus had a high level of organization in their traditional architecture, for example Nicosia and Famagusta had defence walls and the conquerors who lived in them wanted magnificence in the design of their religious and administrative buildings. They also required the establishment of organized open spaces (Gunce et al., 2008). For example, Keshishian indicates that; “Franco-Byzantine types of churches incorporated elements of Gothic art including use of ashlar and pointed arches. Buildings from the Renaissance period on the other hand display wide use of ashlar stone and the rustication of facades. On the other hand residential buildings indicate a preference for a central courtyard with mostly two storey buildings whose rooms open into the courtyard.” (Keshishian, 1993, p.17). The observation by Keshishian points out to the advancement in architecture brought in by the conquerors of Cyprus; they incorporated aspects of beauty and decorations, which was a departure from the traditional architecture which basically considered convenience and climatic factors. However, as the last statement indicates, the new designs did not overlook convenience. In the case of traditional houses, although the material remains relatively similar and the design is the same across most housing, the size of the house depicts the economic status of the owner. Larger houses belong to richer people or larger families. As a continuation of the strong social, cultural, and economic life within a village, the buildings reflect a situation where families, relatives and neighbours spend most of their time together in single extended spaces. This is because cooperation is widespread between families and neighbours. It is pointed out that “the building code is also informed by the fact that meetings and relaxing takes place in the porches which are cool in summers and sunny in the winters” (Dincyurek and Turker, 2007, 3384). This points out how community life and interaction shaped rural traditional architecture in Cyprus. When the winters are cold with no sun, it is common for guests to be invited into the semi-open space inside the house just after the pouch. This area is designed specifically for this and other multifunctional purposes. Facilities such as kitchens and cooking places are situated in consideration of the hot summers and cold winters. While in the summer cooking and other home chores carried out by women is done in the courtyard, during winter these activities have to take place within the house in special rooms allocated and designed for such purposes (Gunce et al. 2008). The comparison between urban and rural housing in Cyprus shows various similarities but there is a distinct difference in the variety and richness of styles between the rural areas and urban areas. According to (Gunce et al. 2008), the urban architecture was largely affected by multicultural influences resulting from the different sovereignties which ruled the territory over years. On the other hand the traditional architecture was largely based on consideration of practical needs, climate, and culture. The author indicates that; “The built environment of the urban areas clearly reflected the multicultural accumulation of different sovereignties. The architecture illustrated the different influences in terms of religion, administration, settlement housing, and military structures for Egyptian, Hellenistic, Roman, Islamic, Renaissance, Ottoman Turkish, and the British Colonial styles that ruled the territory over the ages.” (Dincyurek and Turker, 2007, p.3384) This statement reflects the traditional state of urban life in Cyprus and how it was influenced by a mixture of cultures and styles that influenced architecture over the years. Whereas the accumulation of high architectural styles in urban Cyprus expressed the strong connection of Cyprus and the other geographies in Europe and the Middle East, the genuine expression of original Cypriot architecture is expressed by the traditional rural building. The authors indicate that; “The traditional architecture of Cyprus was developed in response to the agrarian lifestyle of the Cypriots, available local building materials, and the prevailing climatic conditions. Irrespective of the differences in religion, ethnic background, and regions, the agrarian lifestyle and economic system ensured that all the rural populations of traditional Cyprus shared the same architecture.” (Dincyurek and Turker, 2007, p.3385). The implications of this observation is that the factors that shaped architecture in traditional Cyprus cut across the whole country and although some of them differed from place to place, the key factors of traditional life such as agriculture and climate were similar and influenced design more significantly. Physical, Spatial, and Functional Quality of Houses The traditional design of housing in Cyprus is carefully carried out with consideration of factors such as the physical location, spatial location in relationship to other structure and the functional purpose of the housing (Dincyurek and Turker, 2007). The designs mainly consist of open, semi-open and closed spaces from the south to the north of the house. One of the most important physical features of a traditional Cypriot house is the porch, which is a semi-open space located in the middle of the open courtyard. Other physical spaces located next to the porch include the kitchen, the depot, and a multi-purposed room. It can be seen that all these physical spaces have been located next to each other so as to complement each other. The kitchen relies on supplies from the depot because these are farming households and they store their produce in the depot. The depot may also contain other stuff that can be processed in the multi-purposed room (Oktray, 2001). For example cotton can be weaved in the multi-purposed room; on the other hand the open courtyard serves as the area where activities related to the other surrounding rooms are carried out. These include washing, cleaning utensils, preparing firewood, airing cloth and so on. The Relationship between the Site and the House The idea that a design should serve as well as facilitate multi-functional purposes, or that a single space is able to serve several purposes is correctly implemented in the traditional spatial design of building in Cyprus (Albrecht and Albrecht, 1994). By way of example, the author indicates that; “In the multi-purpose room, a number of activities including serving guests, cooking and eating, sleeping and indoor work can take place during different times of the year as long as it is convenient. The depot is positioned to the west and next to it is the kitchen. All the rooms mentioned here open to the porch that is located in the south with its arches and the house openings facing the west for air currents to get through. By virtue of this design, the porch forms an accessory space interfacing the street and the other enclosed rooms.” (Albrecht and Albrecht, 1994, 56). This statement illustrates the importance of the porch in traditional Cypriot residential house design. It is evident that this important semi-enclosed space served many purposes by being centrally located in an area where most activities took place and being an interface between the street and the inner parts of the room. Introverted space organization Traditional Cyprus Houses The courtyard is where most of the daily activities in a traditional Cypriot compound is carried out. This is where vegetables are grown, food for the winter is prepared, cheese is manufactured for the home, laundry is done, food is prepared and eaten, and people rest throughout the day. This space also serves as an accommodation for family pets. According to Altman (1975), for courtyards to function, then they is situated in such a way that there is a view out of it to a larger open space and two or three doors from the building should open into it. Also a porch is made just in front of the doors so as to connect the main house from the courtyard. All these provisions can be observed in a Cyprus traditional dwelling. The traditional dwellings in the country have also been built with great consideration of functionality in mind. For example there are single room, one storey dwellings mainly for one or two people. With time, this structure can then expand to multiple rooms that have been built side-by side because of introduction of more daily needs. Previously in the traditional set-up, single rooms were constructed on the second floor where they served as bedrooms for parents with the windows facing the east and west for ventilation. All the other living units would then be located on the ground floor in an east-west manner. As has been observed with the porch and courtyard, all physical structures were developed with consideration of the spatial relationship between them so as to maximize their functional utility and quality of service they would provide to the dwellers. The effect of soil structure and the direction and location of the site on the design of the house Soil structure is significantly important in determination of the design of a house. In traditional Cypriot houses, the structure of the soil determined various factors including the type of building material. Most houses in Northern Cyprus applied adobe in building walls because the soil was loam and could be compacted to form stable blocks (Altman, 1975). The soil structure in most parts of the country to supports storey houses because of their stability. It is evident that the traditional houses were constructed through careful consideration of the site. For example houses in hilly areas were located on the slopes with their front sides facing the lower north-eastern side so as to maximize flow of wind during hot season (Yeang, 2006). In traditional urban neighbourhoods the site determined the design of a house in many ways, for example, for safety along residential streets windows were customarily restricted to the upper floors which then often projected to the street. Climate factors in the Design and Material of Dwellings in Cyprus The local Climate The consideration of climatic characteristics in the design of dwellings is an old practice. Historically this practice dates back to the fourth century BC in Greece and much earlier than that. Ancient architects and planners learned to design houses so as to take advantage of the sun during cool winters and to avoid sun heat during the hot summers particularly in the Mediterranean countries (Keshishian, 1993). In this way, solar housing came into being. This involves the designing of buildings to as to take maximum advantage of the sun by responding to its changing positions seasonally. The Greeks were the originators of this design consideration when they learned that in the winter the sun’s path would be in a low arc across the southern sky and thus openings could capture much needed heat. On the contrary they knew that in the summer the sun followed a much higher path overhead and therefore a roof overhang provided great shading. It is also believed that the fact that most early buildings were constructed with stones was so as to support the storage of solar energy. The solar principles and other climatic qualities were not only considered in building single houses but were also extended to building whole villages and even towns. Roman towns, like Greek towns, had streets with walls of stuccoed brick so that shadows could keep them cool during the bright sunlight and the walls could protect them from cold wind during the winter (Yeang, 2006). In the late Romanian times, many village settlements in the Mediterranean region built colonnades along both sides of their principle streets so as to provide protection to pedestrians against climatic elements. In Cyprus, the prevailing climate is the semi-arid Mediterranean climate; however there are variations depending on the geographical qualities of different areas and the proximity to the sea (Mesda, 2012). The Department of Meteorology in Cyprus indicates that the general climate of the country consists of market strong temperatures, and rainfall. According to the department, “predominantly clear skies and high sunshine amounts give large seasonal and daily differences between temperatures of the sea and the interior of the island which also cause considerable local effects. In the summer Cyprus is influenced by low pressures extending from the great continental depression over southwest Asia which causes high temperatures and clear skies” (Republic of Cyrus, 2014). In traditional Cypriot settlements, the response to heat is almost similar in all regions, houses in towns and villages are mostly grouped close together so as to shelter each other from the midday sun. On the other hand, the ratio of building height to street width provided a protected space which could enable people walk comfortably and allow residents to sit in the streets during the hot summer months. Well-defined, open-to-sky courtyards of the houses formed climatically comfortable spaces for dwellers as well as providing many functions as examined earlier. During the hot summer months, the courtyard also acts as a trap for dense cool air in the centre of the house thus helping air circulation and lowering the temperature in the house (Oktray, 2002). The courtyard is also used as a garden; this means that several plants are planted here including trees, flowers, and small vegetables which provide the inhabitants with direct access to nature (Steele, 2005). The vegetation’s own evapo-transpiration has a cooling effect in the courtyard as well as filters blowing dust from the air. Environmental Impact of the Building on the site Ecological site planning allows appropriate levels of natural daylight and solar radiation to penetrate dwelling units. Each dwelling unit requires a relatively unobstructed southern exposure and the building design itself is such that the sunlight can enter to warm the interior of the house while the higher-angle summer sun is excluded to keep the house cool. Buildings throughout the Mediterranean countries including Cyprus were traditionally designed in relationship with other buildings on the site. Aspects such as self-shedding, over-shading, self-shading, vegetation, climatic variation, and pollution were examined to avoid negative effects on existing and new buildings (Steel, 2005). Sites that open to the south or North had equivalent conditions throughout the year with the western side being sunny in the morning and shaded in the afternoon. The difference in the amount of sunlight falling on a part of a site is one of the most important deciding factors in determining an area’s function (Ozay, 2005). In fact, the direction of sunlight is the only element of microclimate that can be accurately determined and planned for (Ozay, 2005). Estimation of the microclimatic element of wind is much more difficult and presents a lot of uncertainties. In Cyprus, each part of the country has traditional buildings made in ‘vernacular architecture’. Material use to regulate hot/cold weather conditions: Comparison between Adobe, Stone and Concrete Traditional designs and techniques used in building houses in Cyprus aimed at greater energy efficiency of the houses in terms of preserving heat during the winter and maintaining cool conditions during the hot summers. The design completely took advantage of a deep understanding of local climate and its characteristics (Yeang, 2006). Cypriot vernacular architecture has a long history of applying existing materials to great efficiency. According to Yeang; “Stone, earth (Adobe), and wood have been used to create shelter in Cyprus since the Neolithic age; it is only recently that modern material such as concrete and steel has been incorporated into building designs” (Yeang, 2006, p.37 ) Stone houses are relatively new, having been constructed in the late 1990s but with some vernacular influences. The main material used in their construction is sandstone. Stone buildings have shown that they take up heat slowly and lose it equally slowly because their high thermal mass requires time to transfer heat. As a result, the material proved to be useful in traditional Cypriot housing because during the cold weather the stone forms a kind of insulation between the inside and outside of the house and therefore the internal heat cannot be lost very fast. On the other hand, during the hot summer, the material takes up heat much slowly and therefore prevents the house from heating up fast due to the high temperatures outside (Steele, 2005). Adobe houses have been built traditionally in Cyprus for hundreds of years. They form part of the rural vernacular houses that have been built in the country for long where they depended on cross-ventilation and thermal mass for cooling. The adobe construction material is most regularly used with wood for roofing and flooring but ground floors are mainly earthen. Just like the stone houses, adobe houses have a high thermal mass that prevents fast intake or loss of heat. The adobe material has an even lower ability to absorb heat than stone and largely act as insulators. The material thus proved quite useful in the hot Mediterranean environment where they were used in houses to keep heat away while conserving heat in the house during cold conditions. Concrete houses are much more recent because concrete is a modern building material. Concrete material has the highest thermal absorption coefficient of the three materials and therefore gains and looses heat more rapidly. This may explain why this material was not favoured for construction of houses in the past and is not the best that can be applied currently considering the hot summer conditions in the country (Dincyurek and Turker, 2007). Compared to adobe and concrete, stone, mainly due to its high density and low heat uptake is the best material when constructing houses in Cyprus. The high thermal mass structure of stone controls rapid outdoor temperature increase better than adobe and concrete (Ozay, 2005). On the other hand adobe is also a high thermal mass and long period of natural ventilation. This enables adobe houses to stay warmer for longer at night because they lose heat very slowly. Concrete houses have the worst thermal performance of the three materials because concrete has high thermal conductivity and therefore gains and looses heat very fast. It has been observed in recent times that concrete house users are the only ones that have to use artificial air conditioning for controlling temperatures in their houses (Ozay, 2005). References Albrecht, P. and Albrecht, J., 1994. North Cyprus. London: Havellia-Publishing. Altman, I., 1975. Environment and social behaviour: privacy, personal space, territory and crowding. Monterey: Brooks Dincyurek, O. and Turker, O., 2007. 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Architecture in use: an introduction to the programming, design and evaluation of buildings. Amsterdam: Architectural Press.   Yeang, K., 2006. Ecodesign: A Manual for Ecological Design. Nye York: Wiley. Read More