Evaluación térmica y lumínica en prototipos de cubiertas ligeras, para clima cálido húmedo

The zinc sheet roof is one of the most popular elements in Latin American architecture, and in many other regions with warm humid climates. Creating lighting and thermal alternatives focused on this typology would imply major benefits in the environmental and social fields. This study carried out in Manabí, Ecuador, evaluates three prototypes of light roofs, combining zinc with PVC, in order to determine the correct configuration of translucent material to create environments that are within thermal and lighting parameters. The results indicate that the empirical solutions model has the lowest variation in indoor temperature, with 32.63%, unlike the 32.97% of the cross-type model, and the 34.40% of the side strip model. Additionally, it was seen that the greatest influence of solar radiation on the roof is recorded from 1:00 p.m. to 2 p.m. approximately

Race, Architecture, and Belonging: Divergent Perceptions of Antebellum Architecture

Preserving historic buildings can have many purposes, including honoring proud moments in our history as well as acknowledging and redressing shameful ones. The preservation of Antebellum buildings, buildings with an architectural style from the pre-Civil War era that often features symmetrical brick or white-washed façades and columns in a Greek revival style, has been as especially fraught issue. In the present work, we contribute to this conversation by examining the psychological costs of preserving Antebellum buildings such as restored or preserved Plantations. In two studies (Ns=166 and 165, respectively), Black participants rated Antebellum but not New American architecture more negatively than White participants. They reported liking Antebellum architecture less and feeling less welcome in it. Further, Black (but not White) participants spontaneously mentioned racism/slavery when viewing Antebellum architecture. Interestingly, this pattern was also found for modern-built Antebellum architecture. This suggests it is not Antebellum buildings per se but Antebellum architecture and the ideologies it evokes that may be problematic. Next, we examined potential moderators of this effect. In Study 3, Black participants (N=81) read about an Antebellum museum with one of two missions, one devoted to reconstructing the museum for historical accuracy, common to historical museums, and the other to addressing and informing visitors about the era’s slavery. Participants also saw pictures of either a predominantly White or Black Board of Visitors. We found that only in the addressing slavery condition with a predominantly Black board did these Black participants report liking and feeling welcome in the museum. Importantly, they felt that museum would have more influence from and be more empowering for the Black community. The present findings have implications for interventions aimed at increasing Black Americans’ engagement with and sense of ownership in public spaces associated with Antebellum architecture. They suggest that reclaiming—and not only redeeming—spaces with such histories is important.

Uma coleção de arquitetura moderna: imagem e narratividade no catálogo latino-americano de Henry-Russell Hitchcock (1955)

RESUMO Os edifícios são colecionáveis? Houve quem colecionasse projetos, como o casal Tremaine, para quem Niemeyer e Johnson projetaram casas nunca construídas; certas exposições incorporaram protótipos arquitetônicos, como a casa que Breuer levantou no jardim do MoMA em 1949. Mas na grande maioria das vezes, as obras de arquitetura entram nos museus e na historiografia através de algo que as representa. Essas representações - fotografias, desenhos - geralmente compõem catálogos que, de certa maneira, desfrutam de uma vida independente das exposições que os originaram e superam-nas em longevidade. Latin American Architecture since 1945, catálogo decorrente da exposição homônima organizada por Henry-Russell Hitchcock para o MoMA em 1955, é hoje amplamente reconhecido como peça fundamental na construção historiográfica da arquitetura moderna latino-americana, bem como o Brazil Builds de Philip Goodwin (1943). Os catálogos de arquitetura são produtos bibliográficos onde as imagens têm papel preponderante sobre os textos. Entram na categoria da coleção de figuras ou do álbum fotográfico. Contudo, não obstante a prioridade da imagem sobre a palavra, o catálogo constitui, também, uma narrativa. O objetivo deste texto é interrogar a condição narrativa própria do catálogo como coleção de arquitetura, como álbum fotográfico, em suas correlações com os métodos da historiografia e com a formação do conceito de arquitetura moderna, através de Latin American Architecture since 1945.

Casa Fullana: a model for modern living in the tropics

Casa Fullana [Fullana House], built in 1955 in San Juan, Puerto Rico, is an exemplary model of Henry Klumb’s (1905-1984) design principles for modern living in the tropics. German architect Henry Klumb conducted a prolific architectural practice in Puerto Rico, producing some of the most iconic examples of tropical modernism in the Caribbean. His work, most notably at the University of Puerto Rico (1946-1966) (UPR) and in landmark projects like the San Martin de Porres Church (1948) in Cataño, constituted a breakthrough in Puerto Rican, Caribbean and Latin American architecture. Anchored in the principles of modern architecture, specifically of an organic architecture put forward by his mentor Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959), Klumb’s work is deeply rooted in the specificities of the landscape, topography, and climate of Puerto Rico as a tropical island.