Bioclimatic strategies of traditional earthen architecture
Journal of Cultural Heritage Management and Sustainable Development
ISSN: 2044-1266
Article publication date: 15 January 2019
Issue publication date: 23 April 2019
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identify and characterise bioclimatic strategies of traditional earthen architecture in a specific territory, the Valencian region of La Serranía. These constructions were built in relation to their surrounding geography or climate through several mechanisms facing the action of solar radiation, water, wind, etc.
Design/methodology/approach
The research methodology is based on a comparative analysis of selected case studies representing the constructions and typologies of traditional earthen heritage in a territory with similar geography and climate, albeit with certain zonal limitations.
Findings
The results show that these constructions built with earth offer a global solution to environmental conditioning factors of the region by a series of strategies formalised at urban, architectural and constructive level, either independently or jointly. Although climate variations affect its behaviour, traditional earthen architecture seeks compactness to reach indoor comfort.
Originality/value
Traditional earthen architecture is a valuable heritage in danger which has been devaluated until several years in this remote region. Therefore, prior knowledge of its bioclimatic strategies and formal constitution is essential to establishing heritage intervention criteria and proposals adapted to its geographical, socio-cultural and socio-economic context.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors wish to thank the residents of the towns and villages of La Serranía for their collaboration throughout the data collection process. This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation as part of the research project “Restoration and rehabilitation of traditional earthen architecture in the Iberian Peninsula. Guidelines and tools for a sustainable intervention”.
Citation
Balaguer, L., Mileto, C., Vegas López-Manzanares, F. and García-Soriano, L. (2019), "Bioclimatic strategies of traditional earthen architecture", Journal of Cultural Heritage Management and Sustainable Development, Vol. 9 No. 2, pp. 227-246. https://doi.org/10.1108/JCHMSD-07-2018-0054
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited