Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
CHAPTER 3
study houses are about 150 to 200 years old. The houses that were built in
these port towns are far before the introduction of electric energy to these
villages and hence they are most appropriate examples to be the study houses
which are found to be most suitable for this research (Table 3.1).
Table 3.1 The sample vernacular building selected for study in the
coastal region of Tamil Nadu
Place of the
Typology sample house / House description View of the house
period of study
Vernacular houses
Thoothukkudi with country made
(summer and tile in sloped roof
Type -3
winter of year with sky vent (clear
2010 and 2011) storey window) and
sky lighting
They are (1) Hot and dry, (2) warm and humid, (3) composite, (4)
cold and cloudy, (5) cold and sunny and (6) Moderate (Figure 3.2). All the
study areas viz Parangaipettai, Tharangampadi, Nagappattinam and Tuticorin
come under warm and humid climatic zone. Vernacular houses in these
coastal regions are about 150 to 200 years old. As mentioned earlier, these are
incidentally the ancient harbour towns. The qualitative studies in all these
places were conducted during May 2009 and May 2010, so that the summer
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3.2.2 Climate
is the South West monsoon (June to September) contributes about 20% of the
total annual rainfall.
will be above 90% during night in most of the seasons and during normal
seasons wind velocity varies from 4m/s to 9m/sec.
The soft mud (raw clay 70-75%) and sand (25-30%) are mixed and
used as the binding material (mortar) and also used as plastering material
(mortar). Mud plastering is the most commonly used technique. Sand is
mixed with clay to reduce shrinkage cracks. Lime is yet another locally
available material and most economical too and is sometimes used as binding
material (mortar) in brick masonry.
The walls are white washed with liquid lime. The interior walls are
mostly plastered in mortar (mud/lime) and lime washed. The inclusion of lime
in a mortar promotes more intimate contact between the mortar and the
masonry units. Lime mortar generally leads to improved water resistance. For
roof frames (mostly sloped roofs) normally country timber or bamboo are
used and for roof covering hand-made burnt country tiles are commonly used.
Figure 3.4 Front elevation, plan and the section of a sample traditional
wind catcher house - the study house -1
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mechanism of the wind catcher is dependent on the wind effect due to air
pressure difference across inlet and outlet. The catcher traps and channels
down air at higher velocity and lower pressure than ambient air. This is
known as Venture effect. It is also possible to use evaporative cooling to cool
the air. During night time, the relatively lower outdoor air temperature helps
to cool the building. If there is no wind then the heat released by the wind
catcher heat up the air inside it and sucks it outside the building and the rooms
were replaced by the cool air from the courtyard (stalk ventilation). In wind
catcher the driving forces for the airflow are all natural. They arise from either
a blowing wind, or a temperature difference between the building interior and
the outside. When wind catcher is placed on the roof of a building, a blowing
wind will generate a high pressure on the windward side of the wind catcher,
and lower pressures inside the building and on the leeward side of the wind
catcher. These pressure differences are often enough to drive the fresh air
from the wind in to the building and extract the stale air out through windows
and ventilators (reverse stalk ventilation) and again all the rooms will get cool
cool air from the courtyard .
The vernacular house selected for study (Figures 3.6 and 3.7) has a
typical unidirectional wind-catcher measuring 1.2 m x 2.1m above the
courtyard measuring 2.9m x 2.7m. This wind catcher is opening along the
windward direction of the sea, which facilitates to bring cool air inside the
building. Figure 3.9 shows the wind-catcher of the study house facing
windward direction which captures the cool air from the sea. As a natural
process during the day time the wind enters inside the house through the wind
catchers and pushes away the existing warm air to move out of the house
through the openings (doors, windows and ventilators) in the leeward end.
During night hours, the wind movement from the land towards the sea
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(leeward direction) enters the house through the openings (windows and
ventilators) and pushes the stagnated hot air towards up so as to escape
through the wind catchers. This keeps going and maintains the house well
ventilated. This wind catcher has been constructed above the courtyard to
generate incessant natural ventilation.
Wind shadow
When moving air strikes an obstacle such as building, this will slow
down the air flow but the air flow will exert a pressure on the obstructing
surface. This slowing down process effects a roughly wedge shaped mass of
air on the windward side of the building, which in turn diverts the rest of the
airflow upwards and sideways. A separation layer is formed between stagnant
air and the building on one hand and the laminar air flow on the other hand.
Due to its momentum, the laminar air tends to maintain a straight path after it
has been diverted; therefore it will take some time to return to the ground
surface after the obstacle. Thus a stagnant mass of air is formed on the
leeward side at reduced pressure. This is not stagnant and a vortex is formed,
the movement is light and variable and it is often referred to as wind shadow.
In the study area wind catchers are not located in the wind shadow of another
building. Wind shadowing from adjacent developments can cut out, almost
completely, wind incidence on a building as has happened in many densely
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packed cities. This is why the wind catcher was used to catch the faster
flowing air over the roof scape and channel it down in to the buildings below
(koeinsberger et al, 2009). The material used in the wind catcher also plays an
important role. The texture of wind towers is polished with natural color of
tiles and other sides are painted with white color, which also ensures that the
wind towers do not absorb rays. Wind catchers trap the desired wind currents
and transport these to the interior spaces. To fulfill this purpose the wind
catcher is designed to raise above roof the building. It serves it function
effectively through appropriate utilization of wind currents, the ratio of its
length and its width to height is important. Lots of survey on wind catchers
shows that 60% of all wind catchers are less than 3 metres high above the roof
parapet wall. If the wind current is at lower level , wind catchers may receive
it in lower height (M.C Carthy, 2005).
The residential regions in hot humid climate are built along the sea
side. In hot humid regions the temperature on the land surface is low and
desired wind and breeze or current is at a lower level and wind catchers in
such areas do not rise very high at the highest, they rise only one level above
the roof (Ahmadkhani Maleki, 2011).
insulator. It works on the principle of thermal mass where the thickness of the
brick wall delays the heat gain. The requirement of high thermal mass to
maintain higher time lag so as to provide capacitive insulation (insulation
operates as a function of time which provides a temporal control of heat flow)
was well understood by the local builders. The time lags of these walls are
high; they store heat during the day time and radiate it into the room at night,
when the outside temperature is below the comfort range. Therefore, the walls
and roofs are very thick, mostly in brick or in mud respectively. The light
coloured surfaces of the faade are used as a mechanism for the protection of
the high thermal mass walls against solar radiation as they absorb less heat in
summer, thus preventing the rise of internal temperatures. The interior walls
are painted in white allowing good internal reflection and results in high
levels of indoor illumination. The roofs are most often single pitched (slope
<30) and supported on wooden trusses or rafters. The gable walls are plain
and often have a small ventilator near the ridge. Many varieties of local
timbers are used for roof trusses, which are built by the carpenters. Thick
stone wall plates receive the roof trusses, which are often supported on the
courses of brick on edge. These brick on edge courses through spring action,
providing resistance against lateral thrust, often found in walls supporting the
sloped roofs.
In order to increase the heat capacity of the roof, tiled roofs are
provided with air gaps (200mm thick), these country tiles are fixed to the
wooden purlins. These tiles are laid to a very gentle slope on battens
supported by wooden purlins. The pitched roofs give adequate protection
from rain and sun. The triangular space below the pitched roof is sometimes
used for storage facilities. Therefore higher volume of air is available for
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circulation, while hot air is accumulated near the ceiling and exits from the
ventilators provided at a much higher level than the occupants body level.
3.3.4.5 Thinnai
The day lighting required for the entire house is achieved through
the wind catcher. The wind catcher prevents suns radiation to enter into the
building directly whereas the open courtyard does not allow it. But it traps the
wind as it is oriented against the wind movement inside the building. The day
lighting through wind catcher spreads evenly within the building sufficiently
for carrying out various activities. Other than wind catcher, ventilators at the
side, the openings at the front and back faade provides additional day
lighting within the building.
As the study houses are located in the rural and semi-rural areas,
the vernacular houses selected for study shows comfortable environment in
terms of noise levels, neither are they disturbing nor are they discouraging. In
the qualitative assessment the noise levels were found to be satisfactory.
3.4.1 Topography
3.4.2 Climate
street. Street with vernacular buildings arranged with shared walls and court
yard in the centre. This spatial arrangement of individual houses may vary
depending on the financial status of the owner. A central courtyard room
around, more than one courtyard, elaborate kitchen area with a small light
well, an upper storey with living room, etc could be few of the differences
noticeable in comparison to the general spatial organization.
The order of the spaces lies as public, semi private, private space
and most private. The public space consists of solid compound walls with
welcoming gateway, followed by a planted front yard. The front yard acts as a
transition space between the public space and the semi private space. The
semi open veranda is an amalgamation of the Tamil concept of Thinnai and
Portuguese style of sit out facing the front lawn. The Private space consists of
living room that leads to rooms on either side. The semi open space that
succeeds the living room acts as a transition space between the private and
most private space. The most private space consists of courtyard, kitchen,
granary, storeroom, toilet and door to backyard. The house is 150 years old
and organized in such a way that a very interesting arrangement reflects the
social norms that dictate gradation in interaction (Figure 3.12).
The shape of the building is in such a way that it makes most of the
surface area exposed to prevailing wind direction. This helps in excess heat
loss for thermal comfort and enhances natural ventilation to the building
which is one of the essential requirements to overcome the high humidity of
this climatic zone. It has a Thalvaram in the front along the width of the
house which leads to a foyer followed by a central courtyard (2mx 4.5m)
which is also the benevolent social extension of the house and it provides
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shade and protection for the passers. Thalvaram protects the building wall
from sun and rain. It acts as a transition space between house and street. It has
3 rooms surrounding the central courtyard.
The roof overhang of the thinnai shades the walls and windows
from harsh radiations therefore reducing the heat gain into the building. The
vernacular residential buildings in the coastal region had courtyards which are
used as drying, cleaning and preparing cereals, food, keeping tulsi plants (an
auspicious plant for Hindu people) in the centre of the courtyard for
worshipping, socializing activities etc. the rear side verandah is used for
utility. The courtyard is surrounded with corridors which lead to various other
private spaces like bed rooms, store rooms etc.
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69
Section A-A
Section B-B
Section A-A
Section B-B
Figure 3.12 Section across courtyard and plan of the study area
2 - courtyard house at Tharangambadi
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reemitting to the open sky during night. In traditional buildings corridors were
built between courtyard spaces that enable cross ventilation through the
corridor to draw air from the courtyard, through the adjacent rooms via side
door.
As the longer side of the building faces the North and South
direction and the shorter side of the building faces the East and West
direction, the walls are less exposed to the direct sun. As North and North east
winds are prominent it provides a lot of air movement into the building.
circumambulatory passage. The main activities that take places are working,
cooking, playing, drying clothes and sleeping. Buildings with such courtyards
have been considered to offer a substantial potential for utilizing passive
strategies for indoor thermal comfort. As an open space within a building, a
courtyard is a design element in most of the vernacular buildings. By the
presence of these courtyards sometimes the spaces can also overheat the
residence as it transmits solar radiation directly to spaces surrounding the
courtyard resulting in overheating. This problem can be avoided by promoting
the air flow effect, shading and thermal mass issues. Airflow is a primary
effect that has the capacity to dictate the thermal environment inside the
courtyard. The effects of airflow within, promote comfort cooling for the
occupants. They enjoy better microclimatic conditions than the surrounding
open areas, and are supposed to have a positive effect on the indoor comfort
conditions of the enclosing building volume. This is true under certain
conditions, by allowing solar access to all parts of the building, and by
enabling better ventilation of internal spaces. In the courtyard, a pool of cool
air is retained as this is heavier than the surrounding warm air. As we know
that the courtyard is an excellent thermal regulator in many ways the heat gain
from the sun will be more in the upper part of the courtyard, this makes the air
in the upper part of courtyard warmer and lighter, causing the air to move
upwards. Thus a low pressure develops in the courtyard and it induces an air
movement from outside to inside, through the surrounding spaces
(Figure 3.13). After sunset also the phenomenon continues till the air in the
courtyard cools fully by convective flow.
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During the day, as the courtyard gets heated up with the direct
sunlight falling into it, the cool air is pushed into the neighbouring spaces
through doors, windows and ventilators (Figure 3.14). As the cool air enters
from a large space through smaller openings, the pressure of the air gets
increased and flows through a higher velocity. This helps in good air flow
movement within the indoor spaces and also enhances thermal comfort and
makes the day cooler.
During night the temperature falls and the hot air in the indoor
space rises up and the cold air flows through the outdoor and settles down as
it is heavier due to the moisture content in it (Figure 3.14). The hot air being
of lower density rises up and escapes through the vents present above the
lintel as well on the roofs.
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Figure 3.14 Expressing the courtyard effect during day and night
The windows are present only on one side (southern) of the house
and no windows are present in the Northern wall, because it is a sharing wall
for the next house. The openings in only on one side of the wall creates a
problem for the air circulation in all directions equally, however the presence
of courtyard substantiates this issue and enhances the air movement in this
(where there is no window presence) spaces also, but with lower velocity.
Humidity in this zone is quite high throughout the year, to maintain
comfortable conditions from the high humidity, windows, doors and
courtyards play an important role in modifying the indoor environment to
withstand from the high humid climate (Figure 3.14). The openings vary
from 20% to 25% of the total floor area, which in turn helps in achieving the
enhanced ventilation. Vernacular houses of this zone are porous in
construction and infiltration is very high. Shading plays an important role in
modulating heat gain of the building.
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3.5.4.5 Thinnai (The raised sit out area in front of the house)
The Thinnais are the extended sit outs and acts a good thermal
regulator, as because it is an extension of the original major activity area. In
the morning hours, the thinnai may not be used by the occupants because the
morning sun would be striking this space as this is mostly oriented facing the
east in the morning. At the same time this will certainly act as a buffer area
and does not allow the heat to enter directly in to the house. These houses
have overhangs (Chajja) over windows and also roofs are extended outward
to act as overhangs. Extended roofs and overhang windows not only protect
the wall from crumbling due to rainwater but also provides shade so that the
surface area does not come in to contact in the direct sun radiation. The
thinnai in the evening hours has been used as the sit out area for social
interactions. Mostly the kids used to play in the evening hours in these shaded
areas until sunset.
The day light for the entire house is achieved through the courtyard.
As the courtyard is completely open, the solar radiation seems to be intense in
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this building as it enters directly into the residence without any obstruction.
But such day lighting helps in carrying out their daily activities from morning
to evening like washing utensils, drying of clothes etc.
3.6.1 Topography
3.6.2 Climate
The order of the spaces lies as public, semi private, private space
and most private. It is a typical single storied traditional house of floor
area1245 sq.ft. The public space and the semi- private, private spaces are
connected directly without any transition space. The faade depicts the
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simplicity of the tradition. The Veranda forms the semi- private space and
leads to the accountants room on either side. The verandah leads to the living
room which also partially acts as a dining room followed by the bedrooms
and finally to the backyard which comprises of kitchen, toilet and open space
(Figure 3.18).
Figure 3.20 The front view of the study house -3 at manapad- Tuticorin
The living room has two tiered roofing to support stack effect.
There is an open ventilator at the central roof which helps the hot air to
escape. The ventilators are about 2 height and are on all the four sides
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supported by wooden frames and fines to protect the building from rain. The
roof hangs out to about 6 with decorated eaves which acts functionally
incorporating traditional characteristics and add to the carpentry art, which
is one of the major characteristics of this place. The rooms are located at the
either side of the living room. Each room within the building is well lit with
the provision of window. The Backyard consists of kitchen, store room and
toilet with an open space used for drying and other purposes such as cooking,
etc.
The three distinct stones are excavated in this region and used for
different purposes. They are pallkkal, arulakkal and kuruvikkal (kal in tamil
language means stone). The pallkkal is regular rectangle in shape and
dimension is 1-1/4 X 6. It is excavated from ground near sea shore at 10
depth. It is used at the corners and in the construction of Pillars at the sides of
window and door frames. Arulakal is irregular in shape and variable in
dimension. It is excavated from ground near sea shore at 10 depth. It is used
in the construction of walls. The soil excavated from site itself is used for
construction. Lime, 1- 2 thick Lime mortar is used for plastering both sides
of the walls and Kuruvikal (Figures 3.21 and 3.22). It is in regular rectangle
shape and dimension is 6x3. It is used in the construction of pillars, walls,
arches, roofs. It is country burnt terracotta bricks. In addition the lime used
here is colloquially named as Chippi Sunaambu and Kal Sunaambu The
Lime is prepared by grinding it manually using large ammi (Manual
grinding machine) into fine granules and is used for construction. The walls
are normally 1-6 to 1 -9 thick. The wood used are Kongu and Teak. The
Kongu is used for hard frame, and the Teak is used for doors, window shutters
and for intricate carvings the water which are added for the construction
purposes are the special water prepared with kg of Kadukka and Karupatti
each is soaked into the water for two days and the water is used for the
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construction. The wall finish is made out of the specially made plaster called
as the egg plastering. Egg white and lime is used to give the final shinning
finish. The normal Ceiling height is 12ft to 15 ft
kitchen, toilet and open space. The entry is towards the eastern side. The entry
is through a doorway of 4 wide that opens directly to the verandah. The
Entrance door is a triple panel door made of teak wood. The Veranda forms
the semi-private space which leads to the accountants room on either side.
For most of them the major occupation was dry Fish exports and trade
whereas agriculture was the other minor occupation.
The order of the spaces lies as public, semi private, private space
and most private. The sky vent which is provided within the building allows
the cool air to flow in and results in creating the stack effect. This helps in
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maintaining the human comfort with the building, but the required lighting is
not completely achieved.
3.8.1 Topography
It is a plain land with a gentle slope towards the sea in the eastern
side. The slope is from west towards east.
3.8.2 Climate
Section line
western side and toilet at the eastern side and semi open space is located at the
Northern side.
The walls are 1-6 thick, the external and internal walls are painted
with white distemper to avoid much heat absorption and to have maximum
reflection of light inside. The floors are contrast to the walls. Lime washed
and polished floor are seen in the liveable space and rough brick bat flooring
is done in the backyard and other utility spaces. The door frames, door and
window shutters are made out of locally available timber called poovarasu
tree. It is a typical single storied traditional house of floor area 2475 sq.ft.
Unlike the other study houses, the source of light and ventilation is
only through windows and ventilators. Though the thermal comfort is
achieved, visual comfort within is unsatisfied. In such houses the axis is
maintained in order to bring in cross ventilation through the door openings.
Majority of the activities are carried out in the Thinnai space and in the
verandah.
As said, for these houses also aural comfort is not an essential issue
as they are rural in nature. However the vernacular building materials used are
natural materials and they are noise absorbent materials. The problem
encountered in this study house, which is apparent, is about the visual
comfort. Visual comfort is not evident as per qualitative assessment which is
felt inadequate.
There are two windows measuring .3m x 1.2m in the front part of
the house and two windows (almost like ventilators) are there on the sides of
the house but positioned at the height of the ventilators say at about 1.5m
above the plinth level. There are two more windows at the rear sides; the only
source of ventilation in this residence is only through windows, ventilators
and doorways. This results in deficient lighting. Within the building, this
creates discomfort for the occupants. The air movement is little bit achieved
however not found to be adequate.
The walls are made up of sun dried or burnt bricks and daubed with
mud mortar, the thickness ranges from .45m to .6 m and tapered little bit at its
pinnacle. Mostly the country made tile roof is seen in almost all the houses in
parangipettai. They are shielded with country made tile roof framed with
palm tree rafters and battens. They possess good insulation and protection
against strong winds, inclement weather, fires, and earthquakes.
3.9.4.4 Thinnai
The term has already been explained, most of the activities, in such
type of buildings, take place in the Thinnai space Figure 3.29. It provides
shelter for the outsiders who pass-by. As this is a semi open area this is well
lit and people find it comfortable to work here and are also used as interactive
space.
The walls being 0.45m thick provides quite a good insulation and
thermal comfort for people within. The other component in the residence that
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helps in maintaining the thermal comfort for the occupant is the roof. It is
made of country tiles with two layers of rafters. These two building
component are considered as the key for the thermal comfort, however the
ventilation and the lighting quality are inadequate and has to be addressed.
3.11 CONCLUSION