Œco-Prime Architectonics

The Nature of Architecture and Ecology of Building

J.M.Barmby 2012

Are you paying too much for your energy?

If you currently pay more than a hundred pounds per annum then you are already paying too much. You may be surprised to know there are zero-bills social homes out there right now. We have the knowledge and technology today to build such energy efficient dwellings your energy bills should cost next to nothing, or ever earn you a profit (Keynote 2013).

See my article Passive Revolution on fuel poverty and local government.

Eco-buildings are, or should be, about more than just energy consumption. Œco-Prime Architectonics is the nature of architecture and ecology of building, which proposes an analogy between past settlements and the present landscape, to create regional ecological buildings that re-connect with out past. Many ancient cultures designed dwellings with ecological features, but modern energy efficient building properly began in the early 20th century. The House of Tomorrow by George Fred Keck and the MIT Solar House of Hoyt C. Hottel were built in 1930s, although not truly green constructions. In 1969, Ian McHarg, a landscape architect, published Design With Nature about ecological design. In the early 1970s conservationists and ecologist recognised the effect we were having on the planet, Philosophers of the Earth 1972. We have the technology today to design energy-efficient ecological dwellings, yet we are still building to a construction method originating from the 19th century.

Primitivism and looking at the way people lived in the past is a way of adapting to a changing topography. We are slowly losing our connection with the past and our modern way of life has caused a separation from the landscape in which we live. ‘Some dwelling types that have evolved over millennia to suit their landscape are being lost from our memory, and with them perceptions of life and knowledge of our environment’¹. The classic vernacular tends to be owner or community built, and occupied on the principle of expression of site and climate, form and function, materials and skills. “True universality in architecture can be attained only through connection with the roots, gratitude for the past, and respect for the genius loci”². To truly live sustainably we must return to sources, ‘with value placed on geographical context of the building, and an emphasis on topography, climate and tectonic form’³. Historically our settlements have always had a close relationship with the landscape, only recently in human history have we sought to alter the environment to build our dwellings. The western frame of mind appears to be “impervious to the spirit of ecology”, and a ‘far cry from the natural morphology of our environment’⁴.

Sustainable architecture is becoming increasingly fashionable, while still restricted by the building construction industry, and in Britain, highly influenced by housing culture and the dominance of ‘traditional’ construction practices. The UK construction industry tends to exhibit a deeply conservative suspicion of unfamiliar building methods, particularly if they are assumed to be more expensive, regardless of the long-term benefit to the occupier. Even though sustainable building may be the new topic, conventional methods of testing and rating insulating materials and building methods does not favour natural materials. The architectural sphere often talk about the life-cycle of construction products and zero carbon housing, as conventional manufactured building materials embody significant high energy during production. Life-cycle assessment is often used by some manufacturers to justify unsustainable materials or production, although the method has lead to competition between manufacturers to develop more eco-efficient products, when really we should simply be trying to use as natural a material as possible. The main purpose of using natural materials is to minimise the negative effects that our built environment has on the planet, while increasing the efficiency and adaptability of structures.

Underestimating natural materials is easy in modernity, and except for the developing world, our understanding is receding into the forgotten past. Earth itself is a very abundant material which may be used in place of concrete and brick. Rammed-earth as it is called today, is a structure made from nothing more than, well earth, and stones hardened together to form a durable wall. Rammed earth has been used in the UK for around 2000 years. The stimulus for its re-emergence has primarily been the desire to reduce the environmental impact of building and to explore more sustainable and natural construction methods. Constructing a building from earth may seem extreme to the modern mind, not least with concerns over structural integrity and durability. In recent times earth construction and been used on high quality projects across the UK and Europe, with the emphasis on traditional crafts which meet current building regulations and benefit from the insert thermal properties.

There are many ways of using natural materials that will have little impact on how we live today, and offer great sustainable characteristics such as thermal mass and high insulating properties which save energy, and at the same time provide stable internal temperatures and regulate humidity for healthy living. Hemp-lime for example is a natural substitute for wattle-and-daub used in the restoration of historic timber-framed buildings. Evidence suggests that hemp-lime significantly performs far better that brick and block. The Building Research Establishment undertook thermal modelling on hemp homes built in 2002 and found that energy efficiency was far above the average dwelling, even though the industry standards predicted a poorer outcome.⁵ There is also a new generation of progressive composite and emergent natural materials. Natural fibers and biopolymers are now being engineered often from agricultural wastes, along with new developments in cob. Animal and plant fibers have recently been reintroduced by emerging companies for ecological insulation systems. Such organic approaches to architecture promote harmony between human habitation and the natural world, which is sympathetic to the environment and a sustainable resource. The balance of nature and technology is compromise and decision making, an expression of the future that does not forget the past. It is this movement to a more responsible architecture in the selection of materials and appropriate technologies, which prompts us to consider extreme measures in the convergence of biomaterials, or natural ‘light’ processed materials.

We really need to get away from concrete and brick. As much as I love concrete as a building material for its architectural properties and the ability to create thermally heavy buildings, it produces are large amount of carbon emissions in production. Materials we should be using are hemp, straw, cork, wood, anything we can grow. The main barrier to growing our building materials is that our society is built around commerce and industry which does not like natural production. Once all this has been achieved a renewable energy source is the final step to reduce cost and emissions further. Heat-pumps powered by renewable electricity is currently the best option. Again, our financial economy does not like free energy, but it is coming. Although sadly, probably not in my lifetime.

The ‘longhouse’ design is one of the oldest house layouts in Europe and one of the best for super low energy efficient homes. The longhouse is one of the simplest building forms characterised by a uniform height and width, of one room deep, becoming longer as required. This house based on the traditional early-medieval longhouse achieves superb energy performance.

Of course I am being deliberately provocative in reaction to the future crisis effecting our environment by depleting resources and energy demand, to challenge aspirations of how we live our lives and prompt extreme solutions in order to encourage long-term thinking about architecture. “What is needed is a new ethical consciousness, and that will not come without a major crisis to create a new condition zero, a state of disaster from which we must design ourselves an escape”⁶. Juhani Pallasmaa in his address at the Alvar Aalto Symposium, spoke of Ecological Functionalism when he said, “I cannot imagine any other desirable view of the future than an ecologically adapted from of life where architecture returns to early Functionalist ideas derived from biology…the time has come for architecture to come back to earth” and “again take root in its cultural and regional soil”.⁷

This article developed from my final university thesis of architectural study (BArch 2012) based on the architectural theory of Ecological Functionalism and rooting architecture in regional earth.​​ Through ideals derived from region, ecology, and culture, Ecological Functionalism guides responsive architecture to the environment in which it is placed.

1. Paul Oliver, 2003. Dwellings: The Vernacular House World Wide. Phaidon Press Limited.

2. Renzo Piano, in Kenneth Frampton, 1997. Modern Architecture: A Critical History. Thames & Hudson.

3. Kenneth Frampton, 1983. Towards a Critical Regionalism: Six points for an architecture of resistance, in The Anti Aesthetic: Essays on Postmodern Culture. Bay Press.

4. Oliver, 2003.

5. Rachel Bevan & Tom Woolley, 2008. Hemp Lime Construction. BRE Press.

6. Martin Pawley, ed, 1993. Towards an Ecological Functionalism, in World Architecture, Issue 25. Cheerman Ltd.

7. Juhani Pallasmaa, 1993. From Metaphorical to Ecological Functionalism, in Architectural Review.