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BIOCLIMATIC FEATURES OF VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE OF NZULEZU PDF Print E-mail

S. O. AFRAM AND S. AMOS-ABANYIE
College of Architecture and Planning,
Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana


Abstract

In view of a series of energy crises and worries about ozone depletion and global warming and its effects on the built environment, there has been renewed interest in design of buildings in relation with the climate. Present day buildings are highly dependent on artificial systems; mechanical and electrical, to control the indoor environment. Vernacular architecture does not ignore or neglect the benefits of the outdoor climatic conditions, but takes advantage of them in order to provide ambient comfort conditions at minimum expenditure of energy. One of such architecture that literally rose from the environment and has survived 600 years can be found at Nzulezu.

The citizens of Nzulezu have been traditionally aware of the conditions imposed by the prevailing climate, and have accordingly designed and made their buildings using the local materials. The traditional architecture of Nzulezu presents a wide range of bioclimatic principles that can be adapted in architectural design for physiological, functional and aesthetic reasons. This study was carried out to identify bioclimatic design principles presented by the traditional vernacular architecture of Nzulezu. The craftsmen considered a lot of environmental factors before putting up their structures, not much of which has been documented. This paper also seeks to identify the construction modes of traditional architecture of Nzulezu and their relevance to contemporary design and construction methods. In the long run it is expected that a genuinely environmental responsive architecture, which is regional in context and in step with contemporary needs, will be identified.