Title: 7 am

Comments: This sequence shows the interaction of electric light and daylight on a typical overcast June day. The electric lighting control scheme is modeled to maintain a minimum of 90 foocandles (maximum electric illumination and to continuously dim electric light levels to 40% (36fc) when daylight is adequate. Notice that a very constant illumination level is maintained throughout the space except for the grid points nearest the windows.

Slide #: 002 Author ID: OV-JUN08 SBSE Slide ID: CD003-002-S001-102 

Title: 8 am

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Slide #: 003 Author ID: OV-JUN09 SBSE Slide ID: CD003-003-S001-103 

Title: 9 am

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Slide #: 004 Author ID: OV-JUN10 SBSE Slide ID: CD003-004-S001-104 

Title: 10 am

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Slide #: 005 Author ID: OV-JUN11 SBSE Slide ID: CD003-005-S001-105 

Title: 11 am

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Slide #: 006 Author ID: OV-JUN12 SBSE Slide ID: CD003-006-S001-106 

Title: noon

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Title: 1 pm

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Slide #: 008 Author ID: OV-JUN14 SBSE Slide ID: CD003-008-S001-108 

Title: 2 pm

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Slide #: 009 Author ID: OV-JUN15 SBSE Slide ID: CD003-009-S001-109 

Title: 3 pm

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Slide #: 010 Author ID: OV-JUN16 SBSE Slide ID: CD003-010-S001-110 

Title: 4 pm

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Slide #: 011 Author ID: OV-JUN17 SBSE Slide ID: CD003-011-S001-111 

Title: 5 pm

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Slide #: 012 Author ID: OV-JUN18 SBSE Slide ID: CD003-012-S001-112 

Title: 6 pm

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Slide #: 013 Author ID: OV-JUN19 SBSE Slide ID: CD003-013-S001-113 

Title: 7 pm

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Slide #: 014 Author ID: OV-JUN20 SBSE Slide ID: CD003-014-S001-114 

Title: 8 pm

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Slide #: 015 Author ID: OV-JUN21 SBSE Slide ID: CD003-015-S001-115 

Title: 9 pm

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Slide #: Author ID: OV-JUN99 SBSE Slide ID: NO SLIDE 

Title: reference floor plane

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Slide #: Author ID: BLACKIE SBSE Slide ID: NO SLIDE 

Title: Black Transition

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Slide #: 016 Author ID: BLDGNE SBSE Slide ID: CD003-016-S001-116 

Title: NE view

Comments: This sequence shows how the building may be modeled with internal partitions, structures or furniture to better visualize light levels — and can be manipulated on the screen to look at different orientations.

Slide #: 017 Author ID: BLDGSE1 SBSE Slide ID: CD003-017-S001-117 

Title: SE view

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Slide #: 018 Author ID: BLDGSW SBSE Slide ID: CD003-018-S001-118 

Title: SW view

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Slide #: 019 Author ID: ARCHS24 SBSE Slide ID: CD003-019-S001-119 

Title: Nearby bank

Comments: A comparable bank building with 40% more floor area that was built at the same time approximately…

Title: Bank from Farm Credit Bank's Seventeenth Floor

Comments: and located right arcoss the street has 600 tons of air conditioning installed which run 100% of the time, year round…

Slide #: 021 Author ID: ARCHS26 SBSE Slide ID: CD003-021-S001-121 

Title: 200 ton A/C unit

Comments: while Farm Credit Bank's two 200 ton units rarely run concurrently.

Slide #: Author ID: COMPRES3 SBSE Slide ID: NO SLIDE 

Title: A/C compressor

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Slide #: Author ID: COMPRES1 SBSE Slide ID: NO SLIDE 

Title: A/C compressor

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Slide #: Author ID: COMPRES5 SBSE Slide ID: NO SLIDE 

Title: A/C compressor

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Slide #: Author ID: TANK1 SBSE Slide ID: NO SLIDE 

Title: Hot water storage

Comments: Waste heat is usually used to heat exterior zones when necessary

Slide #: Author ID: TANK2 SBSE Slide ID: NO SLIDE 

Title: Tank-waste heat

Comments:

Slide #: Author ID: BOILIMG1 SBSE Slide ID: NO SLIDE 

Title: Gas-fired boiler

Comments: Gas-fired boilers are used for domestic hot water and for winter back-up heating-about three months in Spokane's cold climate

Slide #: Author ID: BOILER4 SBSE Slide ID: NO SLIDE 

Title: Gas-fired boiler

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Slide #: Author ID: BOILER5 SBSE Slide ID: NO SLIDE 

Title: Gas-fired boiler

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Slide #: Author ID: BOILER3 SBSE Slide ID: NO SLIDE 

Title: Gas-fired boiler

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Slide #: Author ID: COMPUTR1 SBSE Slide ID: NO SLIDE 

Title: Computer HVAC Control system

Comments: The system is controlled and monitored by computer and a dedicated building operator.

Slide #: Author ID: COMPUTR2 SBSE Slide ID: NO SLIDE 

Title: Computer HVAC Control system

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Slide #: Author ID: COMPUTR3 SBSE Slide ID: NO SLIDE 

Title: Computer HVAC Control system

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Slide #: Author ID: COMPUTR4 SBSE Slide ID: NO SLIDE 

Title: Computer HVAC Control system

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Title: Annual energy use 1988

Comments: The annual energy use graph shows the three month heating season in red and a constant cooling load year-round in blue. A minor peak in July reveals a short period of concurrent A/C unit use.

Slide #: 023 Author ID: ARCHS27 SBSE Slide ID: CD003-023-S001-123 

Title: 17th floor cafeteria

Comments: Remember that this building is also an aesthetically pleasing

environment…

Slide #: Author ID: RAINBO5 SBSE Slide ID: NO SLIDE 

Title: Rainbow

Comments: That takes advantage of its natural environment

Slide #: Author ID: SUNSET2 SBSE Slide ID: NO SLIDE 

Title: Sunset

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Slide #: Author ID: BLACKIE SBSE Slide ID: NO SLIDE 

Title: End

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Slide #: 024 Author ID: UNKNOWN SBSE Slide ID: CD003-024-S001-124 

Title: River Day

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Slide #: 025 Author ID: UNKNOWN SBSE Slide ID: CD003-025-S001-125 

Title: River Night

Comments:

School of Architecture Renewable Energy Information Service

Arizona State University 4 Merrill Street

Tempe, Arizona 85287 Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139

Abstract

Concurrent with the re-emergence of solar architecture in the U.S. and Western Europe during the last decade, a vital and distinct architectural movement evolved in Hungary. New Hungarian "Organic" or "Living" Architecture has tenets which embrace manifold concerns. Intimate response to the particulars of the side is primary, as is concern with materials, energy and environmental issues. However passive solar criteria are not yet a consistent part of the movement. This paper briefly introduces Hungarian Organic Architecture. Using four case studies of distinguished buildings it examines the integration of passive solar design issues within this vital regional architectural movement concerned with climatic and cultural regionalism.

1.0 Beginnings

Indigenous housing was displaced by an International style of architecture. 

Slide #: 055 Author ID: Figure 1 SBSE Slide ID: CD003-055-S002-030 

Title:

Comments:

It promised economy, modern amenity, and the ability to prefabricate and industrialize the construction of buildings. These qualities, along with many others, contributed to the pervasive proliferation of International style architecture throughout Europe and both Americas. However the resultant reductionist design standard of lowest common denominator has been found wanting. Both physical accommodation and spiritual content were too often slighted.

Located in Central Europe, Hungary produced its share of International style buildings with it emergence as a nation and its importance internationally. Both with the advent of modernism in the 1920's and 1930's, and especially in the rebuilding of Europe after WWII, this new vision of the rewards of the industrial revolution were doubly promising. Perhaps as much as anything, the Hungarian "Living" architecture is a reaction to the poverty of ideas and paucity of forms embodied in the International style of architecture, in particular to the anonymous housing in new sections of cities that utilized the "panel style" of industrialized building.

The not very successful attempts by the Pecs Group of young idealistic architects in the early 1970's to animate and soften the stark prefabricated precast forms of a housing development in the nuclear power city of Paks became the pivot of public and political awareness. The so called "tulip debates" were an attempt to rediscover some of the essence of Hungarian culture as represented by the national flower. They also made the general public in the socialist country conscious of social values in the public and private environment.

Hungarian "Living" or "Organic" architecture is a current, regional movement. The terms are used interchangeably, The name "Organic" is partially inspired by the American architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright and his successors. Living Architecture also is rooted in the cultural history of Hungarian artisans. An examination of indigenous folk art will reveal a rich history, much of which consists of geometric abstractions of forms found in nature, and of natural expressions of the fibers, textures, and crystalline materials of traditional construction. 

Wooden tombstones in the 1973 Pecs Group manifesto illustrate this heritage.

Slide #: 028 Author ID: Figure 2 SBSE Slide ID: CD003-028-S002-003 

Title:

Comments:

Earlier formal architectural movements (such as Art Nouveau and Romantic Nationalism) were culturally stylized as they were adopted in Hungary and provide some of the inspiration for this new movement. The pungent flavor of the Hungarian culture is also evident in its agrarian vernacular buildings, thatched roof structures which often display careful wood joinery and abundant surface decoration.

Current Living Architecture, set in its Hungarian ethnographic context, is also intertwined with the theosophical biomorphism of Rudolph Steiner, the influences of U.S. organic architects, as well as the current political climate in Hungary. In addition, there are attempts to recall the imageries of prehistoric and Eolithic shelter. The manner in which these influences are combined may be best expressed through four case studies.

A pilgrimage to the Springhouse is an essential part of a serious appreciated of Hungarian Living architecture. This symbolic and seminal structure makes tangible the early reactionary efforts of a group of young architects in PJcs in the early 1970's.

Deep in the woods, the building is hidden from view until one walks around a bend and it is suddenly revealed. Similar in size and shape to the adjacent trees, the building inspires awe, and a sense of unreality. A patterned poured-in-place concrete ring approximately 10 foot high forms the base of the building, and from its center a short trunk emerges to carry the conical blossoming top. At the very peak is a crystalline spherical skylight. 

Slide #: 047 Author ID: Figure 3 SBSE Slide ID: CD003-047-S002-022 

Title:

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Living Architecture manifesto of 1973 showed the form of the Springhouse as a direct abstraction of tulip.

Slide #: 046 Author ID: Figure 4 SBSE Slide ID: CD003-046-S002-021 

Title:

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Radically symmetrical in plan, the building has a central spiral stair that serves as a structural stem connecting two rooms. 

Slide #: 048 Author ID: Figure 5 SBSE Slide ID: CD003-048-S002-023 

Title:

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The only light in this structure enters through a glazed geodesic patterned oculus. 

Slide #: 049 Author ID: Figure 6 SBSE Slide ID: CD003-049-S002-024 

Title:

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This room at the top of the spiral stair is the only special interior space. Heavily crafted of wood it evokes the feeling is of being inside of a flower. Sitting inside of the flower, the feeling is only of spirit and sky.

The crudity of the concrete work of the mushroom base makes a rich tactile statement about the rough boards of the formwork, as well as the uneven textures of what for some would be poor concrete placing. Here the effect is simultaneously ancient or antique, and emerging or blossoming. The organic growth form of the whole building is reinforced by the revelation of material fibers and granules.

The Orfh Springhouse seems impenetrable, more of a monument to a new unity of man and nature than a building. As a design, the Springhouse functions pragmatically and without Jlan. This building's true mission is one of spirit. It has become a chapel or shrine and by serving as a shelter for the machinery which pumps water, its water has become sacred.

4.0 Hillside Apartments, PJcs by Csaba, DJvJnyi, & Weiler (1977)

The city of PJcs dates from pre-Roman times. The climate, economy, and architecture of PJcs responds to its location where the mountains meet the plains. The south facing hillside is traditionally the preferred location for residences, as well as vineyards. Perimeter block buildings form the core of the city, but as the hill gets steeper rowhouses follow the contours of the land. In the steepest locations, detached single family dwellings perch among gardens and grapes.

These peculiar Hillside Apartments take another form. Two apartments wide and five deep, this building steps up the hillside and away from the street.

Slide #: 060 Author ID: Figure 7 SBSE Slide ID: CD003-060-S002-035 

Title:

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In this manner the roof of the apartment below becomes the outdoor living area for the apartment above. The street level is primarily parking. The curved profiles of the high masonry endwalls musically articulate the apartments across the hillside.

The apartment complex is bisected by a monumental stairway with forced perspective which provides access to each living unit. 

Slide #: 059 Author ID: Figure 8 SBSE Slide ID: CD003-059-S002-034 

Title:

Comments:

This internal pedestrian climbing "street" is covered with a translucent, serpentine roof. Its undulations roof set the organic theme; repeating in pipe frame and translucent plastic the curves that set the apartments in motion, rhythmically cascading down the hillside.

Title:

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Slide #: 063 Author ID: Figure 10 SBSE Slide ID: CD003-063-S002-038 

Title:

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Slide #: 064 Author ID: Figure 11 SBSE Slide ID: CD003-064-S002-039 

Title:

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Visually, the effect of the curved end walls is somewhat superficial, but upon visiting the building, the haptic effect is powerful. The building flows in bold ripples down the hillside, and the interior stairway is mottled with filtered sunlight. The apartments, with their expansive south glazing and massive concrete construction show the acceptance of solar radiation in this design to be as natural as a flower growing in the hillside.

Comparison of the PJcs apartments to solar hillside apartments in Malibu, California, (set on a similar slope and orientation) reveals the thinness of American construction. Although the California forms are similarly abstract, and also exclude major landscaping, the PJcs apartments seem simultaneously more grounded and more joyfully free.

5.0 The artists house for Katai at Szentendre by Csete (1980)

This single family house is an animate body. It shows our bodies to be houses for our spirit. Deceptively simple in plan, this building is spatially complex and sequentially refined. The plan is polarized by the dominance of two vertical cylindrical elements; one of glass located on the western perimeter, and one which is solid, located on the eastern interior.

Slide #: 052 Author ID: Figure 12 SBSE Slide ID: CD003-052-S002-027 

Title:

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Approached from the street, the artists house appears to be the quintessential "house" from Hungarian prememory. A reassuring, sheltering thatch roof protects a curved, textured, embracing stucco walls. Approaching the entrance, three circular window eyes bubble up from the thatch, evocative and mysterious in their intent.

The building is entered from the south side, and the first floor has the kitchen, living area, sunspace and auxiliary spaces. Stairs curve around the east end to the second floor which has two bedrooms, a bathroom and an additional living/sunspace area. The two living areas are connected by a two story open space; the sunspace is vertically continuous.

Slide #: 054 Author ID: Figure 13 SBSE Slide ID: CD003-054-S002-029 

Title:

Comments:

The west facing glass sunspace spatially projects both outside of the building and into the interior of the building. Built of a number of small panes, this two story, plant filled cylinder is full of life, and is the primary source of light for the interior. In this location, it is similar to the multifaceted glass sphere on top of the Springhouse at Orfu. It is a symmetrical transparent crystal that links the cosmos with the interior, a bridge between the outer and inner worlds.

Slide #: 057 Author ID: Figure 14 SBSE Slide ID: CD003-057-S002-032 

Title:

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The interior east cylinder contains an inviting fireplace on the ground level, and a bathroom on the second level. This area of the house is introspective and mortal, concerned with the base elements of fire and water.

The most eastern end of the building contains stairs, and must be walked through to get to the second level. This area, behind the fire and water is the most earthen area of the house. The ceiling is bare thatch, 20" thick and the odor of straw permeates the consciousness. The area is dark, the only light enters this primitive nest like womb through the three small circular windows piercing the thatch. Rather than provide light or view, these windows are aligned to admit the first rays of the sun at winter solstice, equinox, and at the summer solstice.

Slide #: 054 Author ID: Figure 15 SBSE Slide ID: CD003-054-S002-029 

Title:

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Moving from the east end of the house to the west, one must move from the dark to the light, closed to open, from body to spirit. This sequential metamorphosis occurs constantly during the activities of daily living.

From the exterior, the west side of the building is open, it is the "face" of the structure.

Slide #: 058 Author ID: Figure 16 SBSE Slide ID: CD003-058-S002-033 

Title:

Comments:

Its greenhouse "eye" admits sunlight and living substance, and its thatch "hair" shades its brow. Humble from the east, the building appears as a proud temple from the west. The house is clearly referential to the textures and forms of the traditional Hungarian "folk" house, and thus responds to the reality of material culture. But as solar architecture, the Katai house (while thermally sound) is symbolically more than thermally tied to the cosmos.

6.0 Solar demonstration house in PJcs by Szasz (1987)

On a south facing hillside in PJcs sits a small, well functioning solar house with passive, hybrid and active components. It has all of the energy collecting and conserving features you might expect, along with some innovative features. However, architecturally it is most noteworthy for the manner in which it demonstrates the combination of a regional aesthetic with pragmatic passive solar principles in a "flexible laboratory".

Entered from the north, directly off the street and sidewalk, the building vestibule opens up to allow one to enter the kitchen to the east, go upstairs, left to the garage, or forward to the main living area. The main living area has a central fireplace, two large two story trombe walls, and an isolateable two story greenhouse/sunspace that bridges across the trombe walls and links living room with outdoor terrace.

The interiors are bright and sunny and ideal place for people and plants. The floors are ceramic tile, and the walls are well insulated. Aluminized fabric curtains as movable insolation are used throughout.

Slide #: 067 Author ID: Figure 17 SBSE Slide ID: CD003-067-S002-042 

Title:

Comments:

1. Entrance, 2. WC, 3. Hall, 4. Kitchen, 5. Garage, 6. Lobby, 7. Living Room, 8. Greenhouse/sunspace, 9., 10., 11. Bedrooms, 12. Bathroom.

Floor plans of the solar experimental house, Pecs.

The building is unmistakably "Hungarian Organic" in its appearance, and its most liberal reference is the Hillside Apartments. The Solar Demonstration House has curving walls in both plan and section. Especially the all glazed south surfaces have been modeled and articulated to avoid the sheer plane of glass so characteristic of solar buildings.

Garden walls and a separated screen wall laterally attach the house to the hillside and bioclimatically modify exterior spaces. Gently enclosing and protecting in its forms, it cascades down the hillside. It is soft and tactile, and it follows the rules of biomorphic bilateral symmetry.

The building is carefully crafted. Brick walls and aluminum glazing make a statement of a non-romantic but yielding modernity.

(Figure 16, Slide 65)

Slide #: 065 Author ID: Figure 18 SBSE Slide ID: CD003-065-S002-040 

Title:

Comments:

More than this it does not do; its role is of a pragmatic technical demonstration showing energy efficiency in a regional context. Although influenced conceptually and technically by passive solar houses in Europe and the U.S., the design is informed and inspired by its native roots.

7.0 Conclusion

Slide #: 066 Author ID: Figure 19 SBSE Slide ID: CD003-066-S002-041 

Title:

Comments:

The Hungarian Organic Architecture movement has spawned hundreds of buildings which use site, climate and culture as primary design parameters. Reacting to sterile, monotonous and dehumanizing modern "panel" architecture, Living Architecture draws on biologically relevant meanings for its form references, and local materials with conventional crafts as its construction resource. Many of these influences are primarily symbolic (as in the windows at the artists house) or strongly cultural (geometric flower patterns on the pumphouse) rather than as bioclimatic responses to comfort needs. Regardless of the manifestation, all of these examples show environmental awareness to be a required element in the palette of an expressed architectural regionalism.

Pragmatic climatic tempering strategies as shown by the PJcs Hillside Apartments and the Solar Demonstration House are becoming more prevalent. As energy issues evolve, the architectural manifestations of these aspects of living architecture should be of great interest. Unlike the application of energy concerns to a standardized design, regionalism demands an approach of paticularness in which the environment informs the design. In this manner energy issues are intrinsic to architecture, and can become more meaningful in every aspect. We can no more deny them than we can reject the content and articulation of our native language.