Bad weather? Stay at home! Today, natural disasters are hardly considered a threat to our survival. So, it is not wrong when we say that in modern history, buildings are a symbol of development, a symbol of victory against the mighty nature. How? Humans were able to maintain permanent shelter against storms and droughts by confining themselves into small concrete units. This change in our behavioral pattern altered almost every aspect of our lives; shamanist and animist cultures are critically endangered today simply because we do not view natural elements as valuable and powerful forces as we did before.
However, studies now suggest that the internal environment of urban settlements, the sacred empires we built by our hands, may kill us. Slowly, surreptitiously.
As a child, I suffered from numerous autoimmune conditions such as rhinitis and atopy. After visiting hospital after hospital, it was suggested that I might be having the Sick House Syndrome (SDS). It is a situation where people experience health or comfort-related problems directly linked to their time spent in a building.
I used to think modern apartments were safer than traditional housing in terms of hygiene. Turns out, I was wrong. Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) from adhesives, wood products, and cleaning agents used in modern housing are one of the most common contaminants leading to respiratory illnesses. On top of that, the oil embargo in the 1970s incentivized more airtight building designs. This made the urban housing an unsafe environment full of stale, contaminated air.
Moreover, the contemporary solution to the ventilation problem is not at all sustainable. Why? Modern buildings have long lost their abilities to control their environment without having to rely on high energy consumption. Thus, they are harming both the people and the environment irreversibly.
Finding solutions from history
To solve this problem of unsustainability of modern architecture, experts have turned to the natural environment control system of the Korean traditional architecture (Han-ok).
This system is part of a core moral principle of East Asia, where the universe was regarded as being separated into 3 main parts: the great (nature), the middle (architecture and dwellings), and the small (us humans). Therefore, buildings had to coexist with nature, not harming or destroying the great universe in any way.
Furthermore, the geographic location of the country created a need for buildings to be flexible, enduring both extremely hot and cold climates.
Ancient Koreans dealt with this multitude of problems quite cleverly – by integrating simple physics.
Controlling temperature
In this mountainous country, people learnt to harness the power of the natural landscape to tame the effects of winds. They did this by building houses near or at the foot of the mountains. The mountains were the natural shields against searing wind and typhoons in late autumn and winter.
The composition of the building is designed to generate wind during the hot summer. A traditional court, called a madang, is situated on the anterior of the house, and there is a rear garden full of lush vegetation linked to a mountain. During summer, the forecourt is much hotter than the rear garden due to direct exposure to sunlight. This generates a local convection current when a temperature difference is created between the anterior and the rear of the house. The small, open windows amplify the wind as it passes through.
Today, there is a growing interest in the traditional under-floor heating system, known as the ondol. Unlike traditional heaters in the western culture, this does not involve a direct fire in the living space. Instead, it works by heating up the air under the house floor using the fire used in cooking.
Windows as walls, walls as doors
The rooms of a traditional Korean housing can be easily combined into one large space, as well as divided according to needs. For example, a bunhap-mun can act as a door, a wall, and a window during winter. During summer, it is removed to maximize the flow of air.
Also, the insulating properties of windows can be varied from season to season. Natural insulators, such as hand-made paper from mulberry trees and loose silk, were stuck on both the inner and outer sides of windows. This traps air between the 2 layers, preventing a spate of cold air into the house. This also acts as a natural barrier against insects.
Perhaps the most impressive feature of this architectural style is that it is built without using any nails or glue. All the pillars and elements are designed to fit perfectly while maintaining strong support. They borrowed the strength of the sturdy trees by keeping the trees in their original form as much as possible.
Considering how all the onerous urban problems today escalated rapidly only during these past 2 centuries, we should look back into the past and see how our Sapiens ancestors coexisted with nature for millennia. So, as Charles Darwin said:
“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor is it the most intelligent. It is the one that is most adaptable to change.”
Maybe it is due time for us to go back to nature.
References
- vergara, cherry. “The Natural Environment Control System of Korean Traditional Architecture: Comparison with Korean Contemporary Architecture.” Building and Environment, Elsevier, 2006, www.academia.edu/2538752/The_natural_environment_control_system_of_Korean_traditional_architecture_Comparison_with_Korean_contemporary_architecture.
- Joshi, SumedhaM. “The Sick Building Syndrome.” Indian Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, vol. 12, no. 2, Medknow, Jan. 2008, pp. 61–61, https://doi.org/10.4103/0019-5278.43262.
- house :, Korean. “Gateway Korea Foundation.” Gateway Korea Foundation, 2014, www.gateway-korea.org/korean-house.
- https://www.facebook.com/yunberlin.eyewear. “Madang – YUN Journal.” YUN Journal, 4 July 2018, yun-berlin.com/journal/madang/.
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