Uploaded on 2015-05-11 by Julia_ub

Buildings (thus cities) generate an intrusion in the environment and represent an addition to it. We have to minimize that intrusion in order to keep the balance in the ecosystem itself. As much as we start to generate visual impact, use non local materials and make the building itself energy-dependent on centralised systems will alter the surrodings and probably it will provoque that other buildings around follow the same dynamic, making the neighborhood unsustainable. I also consider important to make self-sustainable buildings by using decentralised energetic systems, placed in each building (i.e. solar panels, waste management, water cooling/heating systems). Only to add **some polemic** to the discussion this week…I think vernacular architecture might be the solution of course but the concept could be a little utopian. I consider it might be the solution in a moderate town/village. Once the city starts increasing, the necessitiy of supplies get bigger, the infrastructures more complex and the need of transportation becomes a reality…seems quite difficult to me keeping the vernacular architecture in the whole city as more typologies are needed. My personal understanding of vernacular architecture is a building which takes the advantage of the climatic conditions of the country/city in which is located and uses as many local/available materials as possible. However in a big city more solutions have to be pondered. ***Examples of vernacular architecture in The Netherlands: Timber farms and clay bricks*** By the beginning of the 20th Century, the country counted over 30 different farm types. However, they shared some basic characteristics. The most important is the use of organic building materials, due to the lack of stones in the country, the oldest traditional rural buildings were all timber-framed. The roof was supported by a structure of heavy wooden frames. Walls were made of wood, twigs and clay, roofs were covered with heather, straw or reed. From the late Middle Ages, a prosperous brick industry started to develop, bricks were increasingly used as building materials for walls and tiles for roofs. ![Farm in The Netherlands][1] [1]: https://edxuploads.s3.amazonaws.com/1431334168401764.png