Biodiversity and climate change adaptation through non-discrete architectural spaces and architectures

Marie Davidova,Dana Rakova

doi:10.7577/formakademisk.2287

Abstract

The research claims that traditions are not static. They develop and adapt based on the present situation. Due to the recent climate extremes coming to formally mild climate locations, their architectures can learn from traditional ones from more climate extreme locations. The present systemic design study on semi-interior, ‘non-discrete spaces’ (Hensel, 2013; Hensel & Turko, 2015), of Norwegian traditional architectures, so called ‘svalgangs’ and ‘skuts’ examine its reuse for today climate change adaptation and support of biodiversity that is currently decreasing. Our agricultural land become so toxic, that its species are recently moving and adapting for life in the cities. The discussed traditional spaces offer various boundary penetration of its surrounding environment while providing mediation of its biotic and abiotic agency. These do not cover only anthropocentric benefits for its users such as light and climate comfort but also offer opportunities of communication with other species or their sheltering.  This practitioners’ historical research survey motivated by design co-developes its own systemic process based methodology Systemic Approach to Architectural Performance that originates from ‘Systems Oriented Design’ (Sevaldson, 2013b) and ‘Time Based Design’ (Sevaldson, 2004). Where, this ‘non-anthropocentric architecture’ (Hensel, 2012) is in over-evolving co-design with ambient environment’s abiotic and biotic agents, including humans.

Highlights

Conclusions based on recent observations confirm a decrease of 80% of flying insects’ biomass in Western Europe over the past twenty years
Our research posits that our cities need to adapt for the present situation if we are to avoid even greater biodiversity loss
We argue for the architectural ecologies and environment extension and fusion into an eco-systemic, time-based co-design that involves all-environmental agency over time through full-scale prototyping/production interventions

Summary

Introduction

Conclusions based on recent observations confirm a decrease of 80% of flying insects’ biomass in Western Europe over the past twenty years. The most prevalent reason is the use of pesticides in agricultural land (Vogel, 2017). Various specific landscape ecologists’ reports conclude that our agricultural land has become so toxic, that recently its species are moving and adapting to life in the cities. The most commonly known observation of such adaptation is the fact that in cities, birds sing louder or use higher frequencies compared to their conspecifics in forests. These habitat-specific differences in song have been interpreted as an adaptation of the city birds to mitigate acoustic masking by low-frequency traffic noise (Nemeth & Brumm, 2009). The bellow-discussed traditional spaces offer various penetrations of the surrounding www.FormAkademisk.org

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