Abstract
The Haida plank house is one of the most important models built by the native American Indians. Built on the southwest coast of Canada, it adapts the tradition of the ancient pit houses to the requirements of the humid and cold climate characteristic of the Haida Gwaii Islands. This construction is composed by two main pieces: the central pit covered by a wooden envelope. Both protect its dwellers and their hearths. The ventilation system is based on two solutions: the gaps between the wall planks and a smoke hole that can be opened or closed in the roof at will. The aim of the present research is to analyze the way these two elements arrange the indoor airflow in order to ensure the comfortability of the house. Four cases have been proposed, according to four different dimensions for the gaps: 1, 2, 3 and 4 cm. Each case has been doubled in order to determine how the state of the smoke hole affected the corresponding results. This way, it has been concluded that if the gaps’ width becomes higher than 4 cm, the airflow velocity comfort level would be exceeded. It is been possible to observe how the state of the smoke hole influences the way the air moves around the dwelling.
Highlights
The dwellings built by the Native American Indians are one of the most interesting examples of primitive architecture that can be found
It should be taken into account that the present research has assigned the same width to every gap in each case, which is a variable that could be studied in further research
This way, it can be seen that the envelope of the Haida plank house let the indoor area breath
Summary
The dwellings built by the Native American Indians are one of the most interesting examples of primitive architecture that can be found. It can be seen that they were designed in the search for one main goal: to achieve a construction that takes advantage of its environment and of the available resources in the most efficient way [1]. It was necessary to have a deep knowledge about the way that the environment worked and the advantages and disadvantages offered by those resources. Such was the case of these communities. In the architecture field, they gathered a great amount of information about the dwellings they had the opportunity to visit. Dimensions, building materials, building processes, or indoor distribution are some of the features described in the documentation they created
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