Sustainable regionalism, climate responsiveness as a regional character stimulus.

摘要

Both of architecture and urbanism of the post-industrial era, in general, did not consider climate as a constraint. Recently, they are seen as climate-rejecting rather than climate-responsive. The lost regional character is one of the negative phenomena related to climate rejection. At the threshold of the Twenty-First century, a stimulating desire for sustainability has the potential to direct architecture and urbanism back towards climate responsiveness. Bioclimatic design is the tool by which climate responsiveness can be achieved. The benefits associated with bioclimatic design are economic, environmental, and aesthetic; which all comply with the objectives of sustainability. Sustainability is a universal concept, yet requires unique measures when applied in different contexts. That is why sustainability can enhance regionalism. The thesis suggests a hypothesis that is: “responsiveness to local climate can stimulate creating distinct regional architectural and urban character”. The approach adopted by the thesis is to explore the potential of the climate responsive architectural and urban form to stimulate a regional character. In the thesis, climate responsiveness is measured by the environmental performance of form. Environmental performance is measured by the energy use index. Can energy efficient forms play a role in creating a regional character? The thesis will try to answer this question based on the obtained sensitivity of the environmental performance of form due to change in a list of geometrical vocabulary elements, in the four world climates. Consistency of the trend in which form affects performance, in each climate, will determine the potential role of energy efficient forms to stimulate a regional character.