VERNACULAR REHABILITATION AND REBUILDING FOR POST-CONFLICT MIGRATION AND RESETTLING

Abstract. Internal and external migration from vernacular settlements is not a new phenomenon. However, the scale and scope increased when forced migration is becoming exacerbated due to both armed conflicts and climate change. Political tensions are one of the most common threats to vernacular dwellings in conflict areas. Not only do destruction and vandalism cause harm to vernacular architecture, but people living in vernacular buildings are often forced to leave their homes in order to seek safety. On the other hand, vernacular architecture can help refugee crises in hosting countries. Billions of dollars are invested in establishing temporary refugee camps, yet we know for a fact they are rarely temporary. People stay in such camps for decades, commonly Cons located on the outskirts of cities, where vernacular settlements also tend to be. Investments in rebuilding, restoring and reusing vernacular settlements can be a win-win situation. The time and cost of the rehabilitation process might also not be suitable to many camps, or camp-like, contexts. Also, encounters some regulations for listed vernacular heritage sites that cannot be used as dwellings and must be kept as open museums. In this study, a proposal for reusing and rehabilitating vernacular settlements will be discussed together with reflections on challenges and obstacles. The case study chosen for this research is in the Middle East, where the majority of refugees settled after the Arab Spring. This paper demonstrates a methodology in which algorithmic modelling is applied to refugee settlement site planning

The Z Free Home – inspired by vernacular architecture

[EN] The Z Free Home is an eco-cycle home that is meant to represent a return to natural design solutions inspired by the passive and low environmental impact principles found in vernacular architecture. Throughout the centuries, vernacular building has exemplified climate resilience, resource efficiency and circular economic principles. The house will thus use these principles as design guidelines. It will be designed to offset all of its carbon emissions and aim to reach a negative carbon footprint. The Z Free Home will be built using bio-based fibres that can be repurposed from agriculture waste, meaning that when it is time to demolish the building, all its main components can be re-used again as building materials, food for animals, or biofuel. Even if an uninhabited Z Free Home is not demolished, most components will eventually rot and return to nature as compost. Building materials from the kitchen and toilet should however be recycled and reused so as to maintain the standard of zero waste. The house will be designed so as to construct in only 7 days with the help of 7 volunteers through a ‘do-it-yourself’ methodology and using only screwdrivers. All of these factors - zero energy, zero waste, zero carbon, zero labour cost (if you build it yourself), zero impact on the environment when the building is demolished – make the Z Free Home a unique challenge to design and build. This paper will discuss the methodological approach and show some preliminary results from the proposed low impact building envelope using natural materials (clay and plant-based materials like straw, reeds, wood, kenaf and jute) together with the passive and eco-cycle systems. As the project is still underway, this paper will describe outcomes to date and ending with a discussion on the next steps.Dabaieh, M. (2022). The Z Free Home – inspired by vernacular architecture. En Proceedings HERITAGE 2022 - International Conference on Vernacular Heritage: Culture, People and Sustainability. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 467-473. https://doi.org/10.4995/HERITAGE2022.2022.1560746747

Building with Rammed Earth -A practical experience with Martin Rauch

This booklet is a documentation for one week hands on workshop experience with Martin Rauch and his team. More information was added to this booklet for a complete overview on rammed earth construction from historical background to contemporary practice

ACCLIMATIZATION MEASURES FOR TEMPORARY REFUGEE SHELTERS IN HOT ARID CLIMATES; LOW-TECH MOBILE SOLUTIONS USING BEDOUIN TENTS

Global climate change has enormous impacts on urban areas in the developing world. The known and growing effects of climate change, like increased temperatures and increased incidence of severe storms, is evident. This winter, 2015, extreme cold waves and snow storms hit the Middle East region. Death rates in Syrian refugee camps were significant due to inefficient temporary shelters. Children and seniors were typically the most vulnerable. Additionally, the urban structures did not consider social needs and cultural behaviors. This paper investigates current social and environmental problems within Syrian refugee camps in Jordan, Egypt and Lebanon. The paper offers an analysis of Bedouin communities in the Middle East for possible use of Bedouin tents structures and clustering as a resilient solution for housing and shelter. The aim of this study is to understand the environmental behavior of the Bedouin tent structure together with socio-cultural implications among the Bedouin community. The paper applied an investigative and analytical approach using qualitative site survey methods. It concludes by defining thermal comfort adaptation measures and social clustering adopted by local Bedouin inhabitants inside their tents and draws an applicable and hands-on proposal for using such adaptation measures in current low-tech emergency shelters, especially for low-income refugees

BUILDING WITH REEDS: Revitalizing a building tradition for low carbon building practice

Since ancient times, reeds have been used as a low-tech building material in several construction purposes. Reed is a natural building materials that possess many useful benefits in contemporary building practices. Reeds grow around lakes, swamps and other water canals and have no environmental impact if dismantled after construction as they are biodegradable. Reeds are also easy to cut and handle making for a flexible material easily used in construction. Similar to several other building traditions, reed construction is disappearing in many parts of the world, especially now that there are no serious preservation or documentation attempts. In Egypt, this ancient and traditional building craft has been common for millennia, and was the predominant building technique in certain regions until recently. As previously the dwellings and the communal prayer areas of several fishing villages in Egypt were entirely built using reeds, there is still great potential for reintroducing reed building techniques to respond to different environmental and economical conditions in specific regions. This research paper demonstrates how we can revitalize this craft through learning how to use reeds as a low carbon contemporary building practice

Ventilated Trombe wall as a passive solar heating and cooling retrofitting approach; a low-tech design for off-grid settlements in semi-arid climates

In the coming years, it is anticipated that if we continue with the same pace of energy consumption, communities will continue to face three major challenges; a mounting increase in energy demands, pollution, and global warming. On a local scale, Egypt is experiencing one of its most serious energy crises in decades. The energy consumed in indoor cooling and heating is the biggest portion of total energy consumption in residential buildings. This paper is an experimental simulation study for building retrofitting in off-grid settlements in semi-arid climates, using Trombe wall as a low-tech passive heating and cooling solution. In this study, we made developments to the conventional classic Trombe wall using occupant-centered design and living lab experimental methods. The thermal efficiency of the proposed Trombe wall design is simulated during winter and summer peaks. In the proposed design we used gray paint instead of typical black paint in addition to 15 cm reversible natural wool insulation and two 3 mm thick roll-up wool curtains. The new design reduced the heating load by 94% and reduced the cooling load by 73% compared to the base case with an annual energy savings of 53,631 kWh and a reduction in CO2 emissions of 144,267 kg of CO2. The living lab test proved that the proposed design of the Trombe wall is economically viable and the payback time is 7 months. It is recommended that the proposed design be monitored for a whole year to have an accurate assessment of its efficiency. A post occupancy evaluation is also needed to measure local residents’ acceptance and perceived comfort after retrofitting

Towards Adaptive Design Strategies for Zero-Carbon Eco-Cities in Egypt

Eco-cities concepts are relatively new initiative launched by the World Bank, to help cities in developing countries realise ecological, social and economic sustainable future. Furthermore, with growing severe climatic events such as the rise in global temperature, flooding, wild land fires, and sea level rise, there is an urgent need to adopt sustainable and ecological design principles for the development of future cities. Egypt, one of the developing countries and third largest populated nation in Africa, is currently facing a series of threats. These include limited access to natural resources in relation to the population size and economic growth. In addition to the continuous challenging climate change implications. Despite that, till now there are no clear laws or legislation for eco-city design and construction. In this manuscript, we are trying to lay hands on hidden potentials and analysing successful private initiatives for existing eco-communities in Egypt. We adopted the analytical case study method tackling different aspects like renewable energy, permaculture, eco-sanitation, solid waste management, vernacular architecture, green transportation and green economy. The research contributes by critically analysing such attempts and concludes with design recommendations and strategies on how to reach an environmentally enriched, healthier, resilient and socially rewarding zero-carbon cities, running on their own locally available resources for the Egyptian cities