Field Study on Indoor Thermal and Luminous Environment in Winter of Vernacular Houses in Northern Hebei Province of China

In this paper,a climate-adaptation study of vernacular houses in northern Hebei Province has been conducted based on quantitative field surveys. Three typical vernacular houses with different kinds of building envelopes were selected. The field surveys included investigation on building material and construction,measurement of indoor thermal environment, infrared thermographic study of building envelopes and measurement of luminous environment. The results showed that the indoor air temperatures were below thermal comfort zone from late night till early morning and the horizontal temperature gradient was obvious. The adobe wall showed better thermal performance than the other two. As for the building layout,it is beneficial to put a storeroom on the north side of the house as a temperature buffer zone. Furthermore,due to missing insulation and the informal process of construction,significant amounts of heat escaped from building envelopes,especially from the corner of wall,ceiling and around the openings. The daylight factors on the work plan in the main rooms were accordance with design standards and the level of illuminance met the requirements of family's daily activities.

Confucian Moralizing Functions of Vernacular Houses:A Case Study of Vernacular Houses of Dongting East Mountain and West Mountain

Confucian ethics, idea and behavior criterion were embodied in "everything" of life, especially in the building as an important tool for moralizing. Taking a case study on vernacular houses of Dongting East Mountain and West Mountain, this paper reveals the "moderate", "etiquette" and "benevolence" as moral contents in the building's layout, form, space, decoration and so on. The moralizing reflects a subtle way of guidance, as well as diversified and systematic characteristics. Vernacular houses deeply mingled with daily life, had unique influence as physical environment, thus realizing the implementation and manifestation of Confucian moralizing ideas that have been converted to folk customs. In sum, the Confucian moralizing function carried by vernacular houses is the product of institutions and rules, and it is also the manifestation of conscious inheritance of cultural identity.

Analysis of the Features of the Vernacular Plank Houses of the Qiang Ethnic Group in Southern Songpan County: A Case Study of Xiaoxinggou

The Qiang ethnic group in southern Songpan county lives in vernacular plank houses(VPHs) with an architectural tradition that dates to the period of the ancient Di people.VPHs are now mainly constructed in settlements of ethnic groups such as Baima Tibetans, Amdo Tibetans, and the Qiang people living in Wenxian county, Longnan city of Gansu province, and Maoxian, Lixian, Wenchuan, and Beichuan of Sichuan province respectively.Although VPHs of the Qiang people living in southern Songpan share many similarities with those of adjacent Tibetans in structure, construction, and spatial layout, they feature the Qiang people's unique architectural culture, and reflect a style transition from VPHs in the north to blockhouses in the south.The VPHs, as represented by those in Xiaoxinggou, play a significant role in the diversified architectural culture of this ethnic group.Their unique cultural value is worthy of further exploration and protection.

Likelihood of Innovative Construction Techniques to Build Disaster Resilience for Vernacular Housing in the Highland of Central Vietnam

Disaster mitigation for marginal communities has become one of the most significant development goals of the 21st century. Vietnam has been reported one of the five most vulnerable nations in the world to climate change and so serves as a useful case study in developing appropriate housing solutions after disasters. In addition, some local communities in remote mountainous areas of Vietnam still keep strong vernacular traditions in their housing, especially the typical timber house-on-stilt, which need intense consideration before employing any new techniques of disaster mitigation on them. Perceptions on how to develop a sustainable housing solution for such communities, therefore, is still controversial with very few useful options developed to date. The paper investigates the existing unsafe conditions of traditional houses of a local community in the central highland of Vietnam, exposed to natural disasters, together with an identification of several traditional features of this housing that would be needed to preserve in future construction. Some important gaps of these traditional houses in terms of disaster risk reduction are then displayed to show opportunities where new construction techniques have a high possibility to perform against extreme climate events.

Influence of inhabitant background on the physical changes of Banjarese houses： A case study in Kuin Utara settlement, Banjarmasin, Indonesia

The disappearance of vernacutar buitdings is a common phenomenon worldwide and in Indonesia. The Banjarese house, a type of Indonesian vernacutar architecture, is a typicat riverside dwetling that shows the strong relationship between the river and the inhabitants. In view of the number of Banjarese houses facing degradation as a riverside type of vernacutar architecture, a study is necessary. The characteristics of the inhabitants must be considered when observing the condition of the remaining houses. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the influence of inhabitant background on the physicat changes of Banjarese houses for future revitatization. A research was conducted in the embryo of Banjarmasin atong the Kuin riverside setttement in Kuin Utara sub-district through a door-to-door survey with a questionnaire. The exploration indicates the following： （1） the original form of art remaining houses has been attered, （2） most of the inhabitants are ctassified as a tow-income society, （3） the different characteristics of the present inhabitants change the physicat condition of houses, （4） the retationship of the current house condition to the socio-cutture and economy of the inhabitants prays a prominent rote in revitatizing Banjarese houses as a vatuabte asset.