NORTHERN Architecture: form follows latitude Mike Mense
a rchitecture is a social function and therefore its identity must have social legitimacy. A specific piece of architecture needs its own identity, its own look, and must communicate with everyone who walks by. We want a building to be an individual, but we also want to recog- nize it. We want to feel like we belong to it and it belongs to us. Site characteristics, program requirements, owner preferences, architect enthusiasms and contractor skills all contribute to the individuation of a piece of architecture. It must, though, spring from richer soil than that. Because of its social nature, those of us who had nothing to do with its creation must also recognize it as our own (or not our own if we are from another place). Architecture becomes recognizable to us when it lives the same life we live, especially when it responds intelligently to our shared environment. What are the environmental peculiarities of the north? What do those peculiarities tell us about how to make architecture in the north? Are there general truths about how a building will look if it is built appropri- ately for the north? YES.
A NORTHERN building should have a shed roof with the peak running east to west at the south wall. This is another way to make the south wall the biggest. This means the roof drains on the north in the shade. This means there are no valleys. Valleys are almost impossible to ven- tilate and collect drifting snow. This results in melting snow that builds glaciers. Glaciers damage roofs and are dangerous when they finally break off. Hip roofs are particularly inappropriate in the north. They drain everywhere equally and more often than not include valleys. Being outside in many northern climates is iffy even during the summer. It is often necessary to double the sun to make a warm outdoor space. Sun doubling occurs when the sun hits a person directly and also hits a person after bouncing off a south wall. Tall south walls increase the opportunities for sun doubling. The advantages of tall south walls do not end here. Snow gets melted and the ground gets dryer and warmer sooner in the spring. Playgrounds and gardens result. Tall south walls also increase the possibility for high windows. Low angle sun through high south windows can penetrate deep into the northern portions of a building. Roof glass, on the other hand, melts snow, builds glaciers and is typically much more exposed to cold outer space than it is to the warming, energizing sun. Skylights are a dud in the north. NORTHERN buildings may feature east-west symmetry, though more careful study of programmatic and site-specific issues will usually make this go away. They will never feature north-south symmetry. Large spaces, open space and spaces in which the dominant activity is sitting should always be on the south. Support space, small, enclosed spaces and spaces in which you stand can be on the north. The sun can see through and over the southern spaces. NORTHERN buildings should have on-grade entries inspired by the wisdom of the traditional igloo. Exterior stairs are too often danger- ously covered with snow and ice. Exterior,‘cold’ foundations are the most expensive and the most likely to misbehave. Floors of entries, whenever possible, should always be the lowest of the floors. Cold air let in by an opened door is trapped in the entry instead of pour- ing through the entire building. Entries where people wait to be let in need a roof overhang (supported on a cantilever). Roof overhangs on the south side stop the sun. Entries should be on the east or west where very low morning and evening sun angles can sneak in under the overhangs. Have you ever seen antennas in a remote northern location all qui- etly searching for the equator? Or consistently deformed trees on a windswept coast? These are places that speak loudly of their place and their history. A community of architecture with big, window filled, south faces, small north faces, compact perimeters and on grade entries might someday speak to us just as loudly about a sustainable human presence in the north.
NORTHERN architecture should be compact with a large ratio of volume to surface area. This reduces the cost of heating and minimizes the discomfort created by radiation-based heat-sucking exterior sur- faces. (I write this in a room where the interior temperature is 21ºC, exterior temperature is -12º and the cold exterior surfaces can see my feet and hands. Even the most insulated walls and roofs are much cooler than our skin when outside temperatures get below zero. Our exposed skin can’t help but radiate warmth to those surfaces and that makes us uncomfortable.) NORTHERN buildings should have ‘small feet’. Foundations in the north are terribly expensive and vulnerable to the misbehavior of freez- ing ground. Touch the ground as little as possible. Cantilevers and out- wardly leaning exterior walls are arguably NORTHERN. Having small feet also argues for a plan with a large ratio of area to perimeter. It is the perimeter foundations that are troublesome. Interior foundations, cozy in the warmth of the building are no different in Mexico City than in Whitehorse (except in permafrost areas, but that is a different story). A NORTHERN building has a compact plan. A multistory building is an appropriate NORTHERN characteristic. It has relatively small feet and it has a higher ratio of volume to surface area. A ceiling/floor is not the same as a ceiling/roof. A NORTHERN building would be a cube if the only issue were energy efficiency. It might even be a sphere (think igloo), but Buckminster Fuller, bless his heart, showed us what goes wrong when the engineering takes inappropriate predominance over the programming. The sun mat- ters most in the winter and the sun is only in the south in the winter. The building must show its biggest face to the south. That would argue for a triangular plan. A triangular plan has no north face but east and west faces are more available to non-summer sun than northeast and northwest faces. A rectangle extended east to west is the most appro- priate NORTHERN plan.
On Site review 11
62
Spring 2004
Architecture of the Circumpolar Region
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