Erasmus - Sustainable development: from a local to a European perspective

1. Spijkenisse - Netherlands
March 7th - 14th 2017
Fourth Exchange of Group of Pupils

2. “The traditional house and
sustainable development”

3. “Does the preserving of traditional
houses contribute to the
sustainable development?”
Is there one or more than one
type of traditional house?
How do people see the traditional
houses? Do they like them?
Does the traditional house have any
touristic value?
Is the traditional house sustainable? What is a
sustainable house?
Is there any added value when the traditional
architectonic style of the houses in a village is
maintained?
Which supports/strategies are there for the protection and
promotion of this built legacy?

4. The traditional Portuguese architecture, based on the ancestral
art of building and humanizing of the landscape, is marked by:
 optimization of construction processes
 use of local materials and resources, according to the climatic
characteristics at the place of implantation
 and resulting in the development of various constraints
Is there one or more than one type of traditional house?
geographicaleconomicsocial historicalcultural

5. In Portugal the traditional construction is usually very diverse,
from region to region and within the same region.

6. Granite
Schist
Seia
Beira
Alta
The municipality of Seia is part of a region called Beira Alta where
traditional construction is influenced mainly by the climate and
abundance of rocks such as granite and schist.

7. Schist
Granite
In just a few kilometers’ range, the change of the rocky substrate makes
the typology of the houses change and in the zones of lithological
transition the houses present the two types of rocks in the construction.

8. The cold winter weather conditions the buildings and so the houses, which can have
between one and three floors, often are placed on the slopes of the valleys facing
south, in order to increase the solar gains and obtain protection against the cold winds.

9. In the vernacular architecture of the region of
Beira Alta, it is usual the building of balconies,
stone balconies, porches and roof eaves.

10. In these houses, due to the harshness of the winter, the windows and doors to
the outside had very small dimensions and appeared in very limited number.

11. Another common material in the
construction of this type of houses is wood.
It is used in construction of wooden floors,
supported by wooden beams, in the attics
and in the structure of the roofs.
Pine wood
Chestnut wood

12. In places where granite is the main building material, the
most resistant and best-looking stones are usually chosen
and placed on one of the façades.
The corners of the houses
are built using larger stones
to help the wall stay stable.

13. When schist is the predominant rock, the houses are built
with it sometimes presenting the corners reinforced by
granite. Only in some privileged places is it possible to
extract a piece of schist to build a window or door frame.
Due to this, in the lintels we use granite of fine
grain or durable wood of chestnut wood that,
with time, acquires a black color similar to schist.
graniteSchist

14. The roofs in granite houses are made of ceramic
tiles, fixed to a wooden structure with stones in
order to prevent the entrance of wind. Slate slabs
fixed in a manner similar to the ceramic roof are
used in schist houses.
Wooden structure
Ceramic tiles
Slate

15.  These architectural solutions, transmitted from generation
to generation, have been adapted to the climate and culture
of each region, adapting the materials and spaces to the
surrounding environment.
Therefore…

16. Is a traditional house sustainable?
What exactly is a sustainable house?

17. Our traditional houses have some sustainable characteristics:
 they are built with local resources, especially granite, schist
and wood;
 some of those houses are placed in sunny locations, their
terraces allow them to catch the winter sun and their
porches provide good ventilation in summer.

18. However, for these houses to fit into the concept of
sustainable house, and given their state of degradation, they
need to be rehabilitated from a perspective of sustainable
construction.

19. This would require:
 The introduction of electric and hydraulic systems that can control the
use of water and electricity.
 The use of materials to increase thermal efficiency;
 The optimization of the natural sun light;
 The use of traditional and recyclable resources during the building
rehabilitation process;
 …..

20. Therefore, the rehabilitation of these houses enhances the
main principles of the environmental sustainability when we…

21. reuse
existing
building
structures
reduce CO2
emissions
recycle
materials,
avoiding
wastage and
resource
consumption
reduce the
natural
impact of
maintenance
operations
reduce soil
occupation
with new
buildings
use natural
materials
(regenerative
and bio-
degradable)reduce the
consumption
of energy

22. From this point on, we came up
with the following hypothesis:
People like traditional houses though
they don’t fit in the patterns of the
recent construction.

23. Making a balance between those who would like to live in a traditional house
and those who prefer to live in modern homes it highlights a greater
appreciation of the traditional house.
So the assumption we started from that people like traditional houses seems
to be real, because they are valued not only because of their materials, their
architecture but also because of the beauty they bring to the villages and
landscapes.
People recognize that the dimensions are the biggest problem of these houses.
However, they think they are habitable, they could become comfortable
despite its recovery not being cheap comparing it to the construction of a new
house.
Some conclusions… :

24. Questions
Does the traditional house have
any touristic value?
Is there any added value when the
traditional architectonic style of the
houses in a village is maintained?
Hypothesis
Perhaps the traditional houses have a tourist value
capable of contributing to the sustainable
development locally.

25.  55% of the owners have no difficulty on renting the houses. However, there are problems
that may be related with the fact that the region is more attractive in the winter than in the
other seasons.
 Although not all owners depend entirely on the income of these houses, they´re an
important economic contribution. Even though some of the owners could make a living only
with the renting contribution, they don´t, because they enjoy their current job.
 The owners value the preservation of the villages and their typical houses, because it
contributes to tourism development.
Some conclusions… :

26. Which supports/strategies are there for the protection
and promotion of this built legacy?
Local policies find it difficult to promote the
rehabilitation of the traditional houses.
Hypothesis
Question
And now…