January_1968 — Page 35

Fig. 3. The heritage

but

logical vacuum or constant. should be tailored exactly to fit the climate in which they are built.

All the possibilities in making use of the natural climatic conditions to attain acceptable living conditions in- doors should be employed without having to resort to mechanical means. ("Air-conditioning has really been de- veloped to rectify errors or inade- quacies of the basic design"!) Build- ings should be working along with the natural climate instead of fighting against it.

Climate will influence the design of buildings in two principal ways8:-

1) the planning, layout, siting and

orientation should be such that advantage can be taken of the climatic elements that are fa- vourable to health, comfort and general well-being of the OC- cupants:

2) the materials and construction-

al method chosen should be such that they are best suited to withstand the climatic elements and weathering.

Hong Kong Architecture

That Hong Kong lives up to its name of being an internationalised metropolis can be seen from its con- temporary architectural diversity. A brief survey through the Central Area for example will reveal all the available architectural idiums through- out the world (Fig. 2).

However. most buildings simply follow this modern norm, with scant or no regard paid to the demands of the local climate, nor to the real, in- ternal comfort of the occupants. The styles and trends set in other urban centres are borrowed ad libitum be- cause it is fashionable in London, New York or Paris!

On the one hand, we have heavy, massive, masonry structures such as Greek temple banks and Roman bath civic buildings, just like in London or New York. These are functionally employed in cold climates with large seasonal variations and are styled to

Far East Architect & Builder January, 1968

withstand the weathering of ice and

snow.

On the other hand we have the mo- dern, lightweight, bird-cage sky-scrap- er office buildings, with all facades clothed in uniform curtain-walling, which cannot act as effective cover- ing against the driving rains and winds of typhoons nor as a good in- sulator in cutting down the solar load for the air-conditioning plants. It has been rightly remarked that "the indis- criminate spread of the curtain-wall technique throughout the world will probably go down as one of the archi- tectural follies of the age"!)

Few buildings show any significant difference in design and construction in relation to their siting and orienta- tion. "Standard types" are employed in as varied settings and diverse ori- entations as the building sites dictate. This is particularly reflected in the multi-storey housing estates. From the low-cost tenements to the high- class apartments, we often find stand- ard similar facade treatment but for different orientations!

When a form of solar control de- vice is deemed desirable, the first ex- ample that comes to mind will be chosen, without any real attempt to evaluate and adjust its effectiveness to suit the particular situation. Louvres, screens, grilles and so forth, the hall- mark of tropical architecture, appear as gimmicks on the elevations with no real functional significance.

Yet, on turning back to the not so distant past, we find that there is a fine heritage in a well-tried vocabul- arly. The advantage of Hong Kong being the meeting place between East and West appears to have been lost sight of. The so-termed "colonial style" buildings, (though there are Fig. precious few of them left

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3) originally developed for the tro- pical climate, with wide colonades and verandahs, generous ceiling heights, gracious low-pitched roofs, and copious overhangs, appear to bear obvious resemblance to the long, established Chinese architectural

style, and were tailor-made for the local warm-humid summers and mild winters. A distinctive architectural style, developed from this tradition and modern technology, should em- erge for the local environment.

Outlook

Climatic and other environmental factors are not of course the only pro- blems affecting building design con- siderations. The few illustrations given and the brief conclusions drawn are meant to indicate one important basic building design approach which ap- pears to have been neglected general- ly in local practice. They may how- ever serve to illustrate the wide range of

environmental building studies worth undertaking and developing. If this paper can create a greater aware- ness among local architects of the potential, and if it can further sti- mulate research in this field and lead to positive thinking and action, it will have served its purpose.

References

1. Wells, B.

Towards a definition of environmental studies: a psychologist's contribution. Architect's Journal, September, 1965. pp. 677-683.

2. ANZAAS

Proc., Symposium on the functional efficiency of buildings, Ade- laide, May, 1963.

3. Quarry, N. and Barton, D. Design for the integration of controlled envi- ronment. ANZAAS Congress, Sympos- ium on "The Design Process", Hobart, August, 1965.

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4. Hopkinson, R. G. Evaluation of the built environment. Inaugural address, University College, London, 11th November, 1965.

5. Marcus, T. Climatology and archi- tecture. Architectural Review, Decem- ber, 1960. pp. 452-4.

6. Olgyay, V. Design with climate: bio- climatic approach to architectural re- gionalism. Princeton University Press, Princeton, 1963.

7. Fitch, J.M. Buildings designed for climate control. Building Research Ad- visory Board, Conference Report No. 1: Weather and the Building Industry. pp. 91-99. Washington, 1953.

T

8. Phillips, R.O. Climate as an influ- ence on building design. Arch. Science Review, December, 1965. pp. 125-8.

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