The indigenous people of each territory, be it the Medinas in Africa, or the Old Towns of Nordic cities, have developed a knowledge of Architecture over thousands of years that is adequate to the environment.This project aims to utilize indigenous knowledge in order to generate a neo-vernacular form of Architecture that accomodates contemporary needs, in the context of Torshavn, The Faroe Islands.
Through out the history of Architecture, and especially within the 20th Century, Architectural projects have been perceived as a sculptural expression of the Architect, an artistic statement of spatial functions in three dimensional form. However, the current climate crisis has taught us that the built environment is far too big of a responsibility to be subject to only sculptural visions. Moving to a radical sustainable Architecture is a must, and it is a must immediately. The most important tool to design sustainably is studying the context : That is approached here through re-learning from the Vernacular.
The Environmental program is a marriage of spatial organization and environmental qualities/needs within the urban developement. The different buildings accomodate different performance levels on Acoustics, Thermals, and Wind speeds, hence allowing for a varied landscape of spatial qualities which then are utilized to suit the program to it's terrain.
A thorough site analysis, including environmental, social, cultural and urban qualities is elabroated in order to have an advanced vision of the projects surroundings and the impact of the buildings. Landuse studies are also an important component in attempting to comprehend the spatial program and better accomodate the needs of the Faroese population.
Vernacular Analysis of The capital of The Faroe Islands : From Climatic studies, to ancient building technologies and their environmental & social performance.
Vernacular Analysis of Chefchaouen, Morocco : From Climatic studies, to ancient building technologies and their environmental & social performance.
From the Masterplan level, to the Courtyard building twisting shape, and all the way to the Facade details. Environmental qualities are taken into consideration through analysis methodologies in Grasshopper.
