Tradition is very important for our culture, especially in architecture. Times have changed, as well as materials, tools and circumstances, and also the use: basic elements of architecture are security, comfort and culture – all with an important influence on the economy. Today, this is all together understood as sustainability.
Theory: architecture has risen from the simplest solutions in the past to the most complex compositions today. It started with natural materials, vegetal fibres and earth, followed by stone and wood, finally with combinations of several materials. ... MORE >>
PRINCIPLE - The first human shelter was undoubtedly a cave. In the beginning, it was a natural cave, where there was natural protection from five sides for passive security. The sixth side, the front, was left to the head of the family
and this protection was active, with simple weapons and hands. A cave is a natural shelter, a hut had to be built by primaeval man himself (Oliver 2006). Use of the brain, instead of physical power, came later, with fire. ... MORE >>
Clay is a natural material. It can be used as a solid building material or in bricks. The first system is dried in air, bricks can be either dried in air or fired. Adobe, as air dried bricks, is brittle material, fired bricks are much more durable (Vegas Mileto 2007).
Daub, which is a mixture of clay, aggregate and water, hardens in the air, although it is still brittle. Cut straw fibres are mainly used for reinforcing clay, sometimes stone, for instance in France (Juvanec 2010).
There are two systems of using raw clay: 'handwork' as kneaded daub and 'footwork' or rammed clay. Such constructions can use any dimensions, without traditional rules, the dimensions follow use: for both humans and animals. Adobe means the use of dried bricks, made by hand and dried in air. ... MORE >>
The most effective technique with clay is undoubtedly firing at high temperature. The clay is thus technologically changed and can no longer return to the primary form, which is still possible with raw clay. Cob, rammed earth and adobe can be crumbled to dust and recreated afresh by the addition of water.
Fired bricks can be used in several compositions, but one principle has to be assured: overlapping of at least one quarter of its length. Use of the whole brick is possible, its half or three quarters. All the bricks have to be placed alternately, what is longitudinal on one side, is transverse on the other, the same as with courses. Each brick can be laid as longitudinal or transverse in a double setting. ... MORE >>
Stone is a natural material, appearing as rock or ground into small pieces, ultimately sand. As a material, stone is hard to dress, but it is very durable. It is a good conductor of warmth or chill, in a wall it is bad insulation.
Stone constructions can be used as collected, raw (without orthogonal shapes), as broken strata with a constant thickness, as hewn stones in regular shapes, and finally as hewn stones with connecting material. ... MORE >>
Theory and practice are very close in wood constructions. Hewing a trunk is practical work, using a circle and a square. Horizontal, vertical and diagonal directions are the guide. This not only draws the theoretical scheme but means simplification in sawing the beams and joining them together.
The first problem is the profile of the beam. A natural trunk is essentially circular. A simple wall construction of trunks cannot be sealed, there are problems with connections between the elements. A usable beam needs an orthogonal profile: a square or a rectangle. These elements compose a constructionally sound and sealed wall (Juvanec 2012). ... MORE >>
Log construction: log over log is the most primitive construction of logs, in which the horizontal elements are just set one on top of another.
This system allows a corner, but this construction is covered only by half: one log shuts the surface, and the space between two logs is open.
This stave architecture or log on log system can only be used for objects for drying: hay sheds, sheds for
nuts or chestnuts. ... MORE >>
Timber framed construction enables several executions of panelling. It is only a construction, filling the spaces between the beams is another problem.
The main problem of the frame system is its construction in cross direction: theoretical rectangles can be pulled downwards with side stresses (wind, physical influences, bad, unsealed details). Vertical and horizontal elements of a frame need transverse connections as brackets. The bracket can be just a short lath at the corner or a system of crossed beams or a long beam over the whole construction, or as latticework. ... MORE >>
Timber is an essential part of a house. A roof is the upper part of a building, protecting against almost all vertical influences: water (rain, snow), wind and heat, and of course also physical invasions. A roof has a construction and covering materials.
The construction supports itself – some bearing constructions are extremely heavy because of the spans. A roof construction can be simple or double. For longer spans and for heavier material, the construction is doubled: the primary rafters
carry a horizontal top beam – and secondary rafters stretch from this beam to the overhang beams. Rafters can be tied with a tie-beam, which connects them and composes a triangle – a very stable construction. ... MORE >>
Blacksmithing is the work, art or trade of a blacksmith dealing with wrought iron. Its chemical designation is Fe (ferrum) and it can be melted at over 1500 degrees centigrade.
Rough iron comes from iron ore by blasting it in smelting furnaces, using coke or in smaller furnaces charcoal. Iron was introduced in the second and first millennium BC, immediately after the copper and bronze ages. It is well known because of the finds of cold weapons, spears, swords and knives. Iron today is used mostly as steel, with controlled carbon and is very useful, but the surface needs after treatment because of strong corrosion. Steel elements are very suitable for grandiose constructions, but are dangerous because of its relatively low threshold of inflammability. ... MORE >>
Glass is a non-crystalline, amorphous solid, often translucent or transparent. Naturally it appears only as volcanic glass; it is most often produced industrially by rapid cooling of the molten form. The oldest and most familiar is silicate glass, as a chemical compound of silica or quartz. It was produced in the 4th millennium BC in Mesopotamia, Egypt and Syria as vases, bowls, bottles and jars. It can be made as a plain surface or blown glass, in vernacular architecture it can be found mostly in windows.
Glass exists as clear, transparent material or coloured with natural colours; it can be plain as plate glass or blown in 3D shapes, free or in moulds. Special glasses are pyrex, wired glass or safety bulletproof glass, it can have ornaments. ... MORE >>
Some materials need surface protection and some have to be painted for a better appearance. Protection is needed against weather conditions, mostly against humidity, sun and heat. Humidity destroys materials, the sun can damage surfaces with its ultraviolet rays, and differences of warmth and chill ruin substances.
Painting is a very thin layer of material, resistant to some external influences. This protection has a limited lifespan and has to be repeated in time. Only modern painting materials are without pigment and can be transparent. Pigments are originally special earths, added to liquid. Those are mostly brown colours, reddish can be achieved by cow’s blood. ... MORE >>