Blending Traditional Materials and Techniques into Manually Operable Contemporary Façade Design to Achieve Comfortable Indoor Environment
摘要
The twentieth century endured experimentation and invention in the field of architecture and building façade design, and this practice is still ongoing. This led to innovative architectural imagery, most of which is incoherent in the post-modern world. The main objective of this research is to examine how it affects employing natural and eco-friendly locally available materials by using local construction techniques that need to be infused to blend the essence of traditional visual language into modernism. In addition, it has an influence on social, economic, and environmental sustainability by analyzing the ecological impact and performance of manually operable facades. Here, user engagement with the façade is a crucial aspect that gives value, a sense of belonging, and involvement in creating abstract and astounding façade forms that can be easier to maintain and operate manually. Each intricately designed façade tells a unique story; its visual voice may influence the current built form and introduce the new façade language for architecture that brings identity and delight to its neighborhood. This study focuses on the hot-dry climate condition of Gujarat. Here, the primary concern is to protect the indoor environment by designing a façade system that can be easily installable, rotatable or operable, restored or repaired, and easy for users to maintain. To comprehend the operational aspects and assembly details of façades, multiple study models (working models) were developed. This step toward sustainable façade design utilizing eco-friendly materials (e.g., terracotta and bamboo) gives new direction and paves the way for new architectural trends.