Comparative Study On Luminous Environment In Vernacular Architectures Between China And The United States Around The Latitude Of North 30°

Vernacular architecture is referred to by Arboleda(2006)as those buildings made by empirical builders in informal ways,rather than by ar chitects using design methodologies which should come from daily life.Considering more than 70% of the world's architecture is vernacular and the building industry(construction and operation)consumes over 50% of all energy in the world(Housing Research Center,1992),systematic studies on vernacular design and its energy implications warrant their indispensable role in our nation's long-term energy sustainability strategy.As pointed out by Le Corbusier,the history of architecture is the history of the struggle for light.For centuries,daylight was the only efficient source of the light available.With the emergence of electric lighting systems,modern architectural design was liberated from such a seemingly trivial climatic restriction;yet the rapidl y growing awareness on environmental conservation and sustainability makes it logical to re-visit the traditional vernacular,and learn if the historical experience could be informative to modern designers for their effort on creating modern architecture w ith latest ecological enlightenment.A research on luminous environment in vernacular architectures between China and the United States around the latitude of North 30 °is dedicated in this thesis,from the aspects of different types of houses between this two countries and light environment analysis.In this study,we collected on-site measurements and develop digital simulations of two specific houses from these two countries to learn how traditional vernacular responds to a critical climatic parameter,na mely sunlight,with respect to its illumination and energy implications.And finally a series of instructive conclusions in design methods are proved validated.This thesis contains six chapters.Chapter 1 introduces the significance and research methods as well as some definitions of key words.According to the previous vernacular buildings references,Chapter 2 presents the specific classification of vernacular architectures in China and the United States based on luminous environment,especially for those around the latitude of North 30°.In Chapter 3,the definitions of sunlight and luminous environment are illustrated,and the impact factors of light environment in vernacular buildings are investigated based on the contents of the previous chapter.The contents of Chapter 4 and Chapter 5 are both relative to the comparative study of these two buildings.Chapter 4 introduces the subjects and research methods,and in Chapter 5,some valuable conclusions are proved validated in this research by a series of comparative studies based on quantitative analysis as well as digital simulations.The conclusion summarizes previous analysis and states the innovative points as well as the prospect of this research.By this research,the author hopes it could be a bridge in traditional vernacular culture between China and the United States,and even plays a significant role in theoretical and practical fields,not only for the vernaculars itself,but the modern architecture design.