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Geographical and environmental conditions were two of the most important factors on the design and construction of traditional architecture. Traditional earthen architecture is found throughout the Iberian Peninsula in numerous constructive techniques and variants, most notably rammed-earth, adobe and half-timber. The varied morphology, climate, geology and culture of the Iberian Peninsula, together with its immediate surroundings, have a direct effect on the development and the properties of traditional architecture. Thus, the objective of this research is to establish the relationship between the geographical characteristics and the distribution of the earthen techniques. For that purpose, the authors of this text have carried out a thorough data collection throughout the whole of the Iberian Peninsula in order to identify the main characteristics of this architecture in each location and to produce maps featuring the locations for each technique. This mapping of numerous techniques has been compared with other thematic maps of the territory, establishing relationships between the different techniques and specific properties of a given area. These provide hypotheses on which factors encourage or hinder the use of earthen construction techniques. Moreover, the relationship of traditional architecture with geographical factors and its specific morphology on a given place has provided many design lessons for a sustainable architecture. Those lessons must be taken into account on rehabilitation works and new architecture.

The article examines aspects related to the expression of national features in traditional Chinese architecture and art. The generalisation of research data on historical pagodas, temples, small pavilions and murals determines what exactly became signs of national and regional identity in them. Using the examples of outstanding historical objects, it is traced how, under the influence of local traditions resistant to change, borrowed architectural forms, such as pagodas, were transformed and changes in art took place, which is proven by the examples of Buddhist murals in Dunhuang. It analyses how the number of pagodas – dominants, which were supplanted by local forms of temple pavilions, gradually decreased. The symbolism, sacred content and artistic features of polychromy in architecture and art are studied. It is proven that the period of economic and cultural prosperity in the Sui and Tang eras simultaneously became periods of improvement in architecture and art, a period of active form formation and the search for new artistic techniques.

Günümüzde eski yerleşim dokularının ve dönem katmanlarının kültürel zenginliği, ülkelerin gelişmişliğinin göstergesi sayılmaktadır. Sürekli gelişen teknoloji, insanların yaşam şeklini doğrudan etkilerken fiziksel çevreyi dönüştürmeyi de zorunlu kılmaktadır. Modern kentlerde değişim olağan seyrinde ilerlerken geleneksel dokuların korunduğu yerlerde çağdaş yaşam koşullarına uyumda zorluklar yaşanmaktadır. Döneminin ihtiyaçlarına göre inşa edilen geleneksel kentlerde, değişime bağlı olarak ortaya çıkan talepler, kullanıcının yapıya müdahalesini gerekli kılmıştır. Bu müdahaleler, düşük gelirli kullanıcı profilindeki kent dokusunda denetimsiz ve bilinçsizce yapılmaktadır. Oysaki geleneksel yapılara çağdaş yaşam koşullarının kullanıcının ihtiyaçları doğrultusunda kontrollü ve bilinçli olarak entegrasyonunun sağlanması, geleneksel kent dokusunun özgün değerlerinin korunması, yaşatılması ve sürdürülebilir olması açısından büyük önem taşımaktadır.Bu çalışmada geleneksel Muğla evleri ve sokak dokusu incelenmiş, konut işlevini koruyarak günümüze ulaşan İskender Alper Evi’nde tespit edilen fiziksel değişimler ışığında, geleneksel yerleşimlerin özelliklerini kaybetmeden korunmasına yönelik öneriler sunulmuştur. Geleneksel dokuyu oluşturan bütün yapıların / yapı parçalarının dokunun ayrılmaz bir parçası olduğu ancak her yapının kendine has, özgün, tek olduğu ve yapıların fiziksel olarak korunmasının ancak içinde yaşayan kullanıcıları ile birlikte mümkün olacağı vurgulanmıştır.

The Haida plank house is one of the most important models built by the native American Indians. Built on the southwest coast of Canada, it adapts the tradition of the ancient pit houses to the requirements of the humid and cold climate characteristic of the Haida Gwaii Islands. This construction is composed by two main pieces: the central pit covered by a wooden envelope. Both protect its dwellers and their hearths. The ventilation system is based on two solutions: the gaps between the wall planks and a smoke hole that can be opened or closed in the roof at will. The aim of the present research is to analyze the way these two elements arrange the indoor airflow in order to ensure the comfortability of the house. Four cases have been proposed, according to four different dimensions for the gaps: 1, 2, 3 and 4 cm. Each case has been doubled in order to determine how the state of the smoke hole affected the corresponding results. This way, it has been concluded that if the gaps’ width becomes higher than 4 cm, the airflow velocity comfort level would be exceeded. It is been possible to observe how the state of the smoke hole influences the way the air moves around the dwelling.

Due to changing climates and demographics, questions of policy in the circumpolar north have focused attention on the very structures that people call home. Dwellings lie at the heart of many forms of negotiation. Based on years of in-depth research, this book presents and analyzes how the people of the circumpolar regions conceive, build, memorialize, and live in their dwellings. This book seeks to set a new standard for interdisciplinary work within the humanities and social sciences and includes anthropological work on vernacular architecture, environmental anthropology, household archaeology and demographics.

Artificial Intelligence Generated Content (AIGC) technology demonstrates significant potential in the fields of cultural heritage digitalization and cultural tourism design. However, when confronted with specific subjects such as Chinese traditional architecture, which embodies rich cultural connotations and complex visual elements, existing technologies still exhibit limitations in understanding vague user requirements, ensuring cultural accuracy, and generating diverse and high-fidelity images. To address these challenges, this study proposes a text-to-image generation framework oriented towards Chinese traditional architecture, based on multi-agent collaboration. This framework integrates multiple intelligent agents responsible for user intent understanding, creative prompt generation, traditional architectural image generation, aesthetic and cultural relevance assessment, and collaborative workflow scheduling. By constructing a Chinese Traditional Architecture Cultural Knowledge Base (exemplified by the Beijing Central Axis) and designing a collaborative workflow among the agents, the framework can efficiently and accurately transform users’ colloquial and vague descriptions into Chinese traditional architectural images with profound cultural connotations and high visual fidelity. Experimental results demonstrate that this collaborative multi-agent framework significantly outperforms baseline models in terms of handling vague inputs, ensuring the cultural accuracy of generated images, enhancing user intent matching, and creative diversity. This research not only provides new theoretical perspectives and practical pathways for AI technology in the digital preservation, creative transformation, and intelligent design of cultural heritage, but also offers an effective tool for empowering innovative digital cultural tourism experiences, holding significance for technological exploration and cultural inheritance.

Future generations deserve and need an honest accounting of architectural Modernism, and its Neo-Modernist and “Post-Modernist” variants, based on scientific analysis and the factual historical record. Reintroducing traditional tectonic culture and focusing on applying fractal and planar symmetries to design critique provides a more revolutionary account of the Modernist concept, its associated “propaganda”, and the physical legacy of the movement. The authors seek answers to two questions: (1) whether Modernist architecture justly conquered the world by its claimed “Zeitgeist” – or was its success due to other factors; and (2) to what extent Modernism brings about the originally promised cultural and social benefits today. This essay seeks to clear up the ambiguity of the Modernist architectural doctrine through facts, and includes criticisms regarding its massive detrimental impact on the world’s built and natural environments. A growing movement in Europe and elsewhere is challenging the legitimacy of many contemporary architectural designs. These critics attack the persistence of discredited Modernist theory, and the resulting harm to people and our planet. Defenders respond that the members of this movement are ignorant populists who do not understand the legitimate theoretical and cultural foundations of contemporary design. Here we examine this controversy and conclude that a considerable body of scientific evidence supports the critics. By focusing on the choices we do have today, we empower architects to implement drastic changes in new projects.

The village of Gornji Crnač, part of Široki Brijeg, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, offers insight into the authentic traditional construction of the Croatian population of Herzegovina. The heritage, however, is at risk due to the village’s depopulation. To build upon previous research and to assess the current preservation state, a field survey in the preserved hamlets was conducted, along with the interviews of the few remaining inhabitants. Some hamlets were permanently inhabited, while others were occupied only seasonally. Built with stone, structures have remained physically preserved and authentic, intact by decades of abandonment that shielded them from alterations, and modifications. It was found that previous research, focusing on the traditional housing construction techniques of the broader Široki Brijeg area, overlooked the distinct features uniquely crafted by local builders in the village.

The in-between space is a spatial concept that cannot be defined as either an interior space or an exterior space. It is seen as a bridge between the inside and the outside. The in-between space provides the protection offered by the interior, while at the same time allowing individuals to maintain contact with the outside. The objective of this study was to examine the differences in approaches to the creation of in-between space and the reasons behind the creation of this space between the past and the present. To this end, the study proposed a series of general frameworks for approaches to the creation of in-between space in traditional and contemporary architecture, which were developed through a comprehensive analysis of the extant literature on the concepts of in-between space in both traditional and contemporary architectural practices around the world. Utilising these frameworks, a set of examples of traditional architecture from various regions worldwide (the Middle East, the Balkans, and the Far East) and a set of modern buildings constructed after World War II until the present, from different regions worldwide, were analysed morphologically and spatially. The selection of these examples was based on the literature’s references to the presence of an in-between space. The study's findings revealed that, while the general frameworks are similar, there are remarkable differences in the approaches to the creation of in-between space and the social, functional, and environmental motivations behind its creation between traditional and contemporary architecture, due to the different technological possibilities between the past and present and the complex intellectual backgrounds behind the creation of in-between space in contemporary architecture. The fundamental objective of facilitating human interaction with the external environment persists as the paramount goal in the conception of interstitial space, irrespective of temporal distinctions.

This study was conducted in the context of the latest Chinese policy on “double carbon”. First, we obtained building skywell and meteorological data parameters through a site survey and measurements. We applied the PHOENICS software to simulate and analyze the wind environment of a traditional building skywell. Secondly, the outdoor wind environment of typical building skywells could be simulated and evaluated one by one. Finally, using the method of controlling the variables and by combining typical buildings and skywell-scale layouts, the study summarized and compared the wind environment of the skywell under different scale combinations from three aspects: building skywell shape, skywell scale ratio, and skywell door opening. The following conclusions were drawn: (1) Among the four skywell shapes, the wind environment inside of the skywell was best in the HUI shape. (2) The wind environment inside of the skywell was best in the simulated skywell width-to-height ratio D/H values of 0.2–0.6; the AO shape D/H value was equal to 0.3; and the best wind environment in the skywell occurred when the D/H value of the HUI shape was equal to 0.4. (3) The wind environment in the skywell was best in the range of 1–1.5 for the aspect ratio W/L in the HUI-shaped building skywell (when the width-to-height D/H ratio was 0.4). (4) The opening of the door of the residential building had a great impact on the wind environment of the skywell.