The research deals with the transformations of the block structure of the historic center of the city of Zagreb. The focus is the historical development of the city and the contemporary processes and pressures that affect spatial changes in the face of expected urban renewal after years of neglect and recent devastating earthquakes. Unlike many studies focusing on the architectural heritage of the envelope (outer perimeter) of the block, the focus of this research is on changes in the interior of the block (in courtyards), as well as on the ground floors of street facades as two aspects that have been insufficiently explored for decades but are an integral part of the block and play a significant role in its direction. Literature on this topic is extremely scarce, and the last comprehensive research of the Lower Town was done more than 30 years ago. Therefore, the conducted research represents a significant contribution to improved knowledge about the changes and processes of the Lower Town, necessary for making informed decisions when planning urban renewal.

Other research contributions can be divided into three basic units as follows:

Spatial units of the city have been identified for which it is possible/desirable to design a particular urban renewal project.

Processes have been identified, whose consequences and the manner of planned control have to be incorporated into the concept of complete reconstruction of the city.

Three conceptual models of transformation of selected blocks are proposed as an illustration of the necessary individualized approach to the reconstruction of each individual block/neighborhood.

The research confirmed that it is not possible to establish a single principle of renovation for the Lower Town space. The established basic development stages of the city (before 1889, between 1889 and 1923, after 1923) influenced the creation of three significantly different areas recognizable by construction features and living standards (facilities, block size, construction features—earthquake resistance, etc.). Therefore, the process of integral reconstruction should begin in a specific way in individual city parts divided by historical urban development boundaries. A similar approach to improving social welfare was applied in Barcelona during the 1980s by differentiating zones of different characteristics for which particular urban renewal projects were designed, such as Ciutat Vella [44].

Although the focus of the reconstruction of the city immediately after the earthquake is focused on repairing structural damage to individual buildings, the analysis of the processes that characterize the city in the second half of the 20th century pointed to negative trends in space (depopulation, 'congestion' of blocks, loss of historical identity and globalization, reduction in the number and type of content on street ground floors, and uncontrolled tourism), which significantly affect the reduction of quality of life and therefore, have to become a part of the measures taken for the purpose of complete, planned and long-term reconstruction of the city. Like the concept of reconstruction and revitalization in Milan, it has to be an integrated approach between construction, energy efficiency, and environmental sustainability for the deep renovation of the historical area [45]. The relationship of people, space and architecture as well as the relationship of political power and space all together ultimately influence the choice of the model of urban renewal [46].

Given that the Lower Town area is today considered an area of extremely well preserved and particularly valuable historical urban structure and is the tightest protection zone of the cultural and historical ensemble of the City of Zagreb, radical changes, such as dissolving and/or increasing the dimensions of the outer block perimeters, as was done in Rotterdam in the 1970s, are not applicable. In the Zagreb case, it is more realistic to expect urban renewal by implementing small-scale projects that are able to regenerate the quality of life in neighborhoods and are based on the concept of transformation of public urban spaces. One such successful example is the 1991 Barcelona remodeling model, by which 43 markets that make up the network throughout the city were renovated and built. The positive effects of this model are visible in the social structure of the neighborhood, the suppression of oligopolistic trends and the economic promotion of the city [47].

Preserving and improving local urban identity is one of the most important premises of urban renewal. By avoiding uniform solutions and with targeted city policies, the features of local identity and social behaviors that grant Zagreb its local city identity and reflect inherited values can be encouraged. Like in other successful community-based renewal projects (Gracia and 22 @ in Barcelona), these features are mostly related to open public space and are as follows: festivals, public food markets, playground spaces, limited vehicular traffic, space calibrated to pedestrian scale, numerous public plazas, etc. [48]. The proposed models of the transformation of the interior of the blocks (A, B, C) illustrate the principle of an individual approach to reconstruction with the aim of achieving recognition and meeting the real local needs (of the block and the neighborhood). They are based on the change of the conceptual role of the block yard, which should take over the role of a site for the socialization of tenants, through upgraded public open and green spaces, teeming with activities in the function of improving everyday life in Lower Town. Of

particular importance in this context is the share of green areas of the block whose value was recognized in the early twentieth century in Berlages' plan for Amsterdam, when the interior of the block saw an interpretation of housing conditions in a traditional house by providing private gardens on the ground floor and grouped collective gardens in the center [14]. The proposed conceptual sketches differentiate the newly established public and green areas according to the size, type and manner of use and consider them a part of a fully designed system at the city level (urban green infrastructure).

The role of the street in modern sustainable planning is changing substantially. Following up on the example of the Barcelona model of superblock, it is proposed to discourage car traffic in the city center and transform individual streets into pedestrian or shared space zones. Their additional activation is possible by reaffirming the neglected spaces and opening new stores in the street ground floors of blocks, while taking into account the offer of content. With targeted city policies, it is possible to preserve some of Zagreb's traditional crafts with incentive systems, but also to meet the modern needs of residents and tourists. Outdoor terraces, as an extension of the use of the premises on the ground floors of buildings, have a very high potential to activate the streetscape. Their impact on morphological and social attributes of public space is reflected in the occupation of a large number of pedestrian areas, contributing to convivial feeling of security and safety in the neighborhood. Numerous cities, such as Barcelona, have recently seen an increase in the number of terraces in public space under the influence of multiple factors, such as tourism growth, the implementation of anti-tobacco law, prioritization of pedestrian realm in public space and, more recently, COVID-19 restrictions [49].

**Author Contributions:** Conceptualization, S.G.; T.J. and A.M.; Methodology, S.G. and T.J.; Investigation, S.G.; Writing—original draft, S.G. and A.M.; Visualization, S.G. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

**Funding:** This research received no external funding.

**Institutional Review Board Statement:** Not applicable.

**Informed Consent Statement:** Not applicable.

**Data Availability Statement:** Not applicable.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.

#### **References**

## *Article* **Urban Morphometrics and the Intangible Uniqueness of Tangible Heritage. An Evidence-Based Generative Design Experiment in Historical Kochi (IN)**

**Alessandro Venerandi 1,\*, Ombretta Romice 1, Olga Chepelianskaia 2, Kavya Kalyan 2, Nitin Bhardwaj 2, Vija Viese 2, Sebastián Ugás 2, Shibu Raman 3 and Sergio Porta 1**

**Abstract:** Asia is urbanising rapidly. Current urbanisation practices often compromise sustainability, prosperity, and local quality of life while context-sensitive alternatives show very limited impact. A third way is necessary to integrate mass-production, heritage, and human values. As part of UNICITI's initiative, A Third Way of Building Asian Cities, we propose a scalable and replicable methodology which captures unique morphological traits of urban types (i.e., areas with homogenous urban form) to inform innovative large-scale and context-sensitive practices. We extract urban types from a large set of quantitative descriptors and provide a systematic way to generate figure-grounds aligned with such urban types. The application of the proposed methodology to Kochi (IN) reveals 24 distinct urban types with unique morphological features. Profiles, containing design-relevant values of morphometrics, are then produced for a selection of urban types located in the historical district of Fort Kochi/Mattancherry. Based on these, figure-ground design demonstrations are carried out in three sample sites. Outcomes seem aligned with the urban character of their respective types, while allowing distinct design expressions, suggesting that the proposed approach has potential to inform the design in historical/heritage areas and, more broadly, the search for a Third Way of Building Asian Cities.

**Keywords:** sustainable urbanisation; liveable urbanism; urban morphology; evidence-based design; Asian cities

#### **1. Introduction**

Recent economic growth in Asian countries has resulted in rapid urbanisation in the region. Many cities are both rapidly expanding in size and population. These cities hosted 0.3 billion urban dwellers in the late 1950s, 2.1 billion in 2015, and are projected to host 3.3 billion by 2050 [1]. This unprecedented growth comes at the cost of significant vulnerabilities. The United Nations (UN), for example, estimates that 31.2% of the urban population of Central and Southern Asia currently reside in slums [2]. In addition, Asia is the most climate vulnerable region in the world. Summer temperatures are estimated to rise 6 degrees that could result in a rise of the sea-level by 1 m to affect most Asian cities, increasing the risk of floods and storm surges along the coastlines. Urban development also adds to these vulnerabilities due to the high greenhouse gas emissions associated with the use of conventional concrete, cement, brick, and steel materials [3]. The Global Infrastructure Basel Foundation estimates that more than 75% of the infrastructures that will be existent in 2050 are yet to be built, and a large part of them will be built in Asia [4]. Aforementioned challenges are likely to exacerbate further if the business as usual (BAU)

**Citation:** Venerandi, A.; Romice, O.; Chepelianskaia, O.; Kalyan, K.; Bhardwaj, N.; Viese, V.; Ugás, S.; Raman, S.; Porta, S. Urban Morphometrics and the Intangible Uniqueness of Tangible Heritage. An Evidence-Based Generative Design Experiment in Historical Kochi (IN). *Heritage* **2021**, *4*, 4399–4420. https://doi.org/10.3390/ heritage4040243

Academic Editor: Éva Lovra

Received: 31 August 2021 Accepted: 15 November 2021 Published: 18 November 2021

**Publisher's Note:** MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

**Copyright:** © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/).

way of building cities continues, in which case Asian urbanites will be locked into a low quality and unsustainable life conditions for decades.

The housing industry in Asia currently offers two main ways of urban expansion. The first features mass-produced building materials and neighbourhood designs out of corporate-centred urbanisation processes (Figure 1, left), targeting the expanding market of the urban middle/upper-middle class. As a result, Asian cities are overwhelmed by identical, standardised urban and building patterns repetitively iterated to cover most formally urbanised land independently from local social, economic, cultural, and environmental contexts [5].

**Figure 1.** Downtown of Mumbai (IN), example of BAU way of building (**left**) (source: [6]), and vernacular huts in Kutch (IN), example of niche, sustainable and local context-tailored building solutions (**right**) (source: [7]).

This BAU way of building is associated with higher carbon footprints and shorter lifespan of buildings. Every year, the world emits over 30 GT of CO2 and nearly 40% of it are related to buildings, of which nearly 1/3 comes from manufacturing of conventional building materials such as iron and steel, cement, aluminium, and glass (estimate based on data from [8]). The operational energy consumed to run these buildings is also very high due to the incompatibility of the materials with the local context. Lighting, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning in glazed commercial buildings represent over 70% of the total consumed operational energy [9]. BAU buildings also last for less time. The average lifespan of a traditionally built building (bricks and wood) is at least twice that of a typical modernist building (reinforced concrete and glass curtain wall): 120 years versus 60 years [10]. The loss of place identity and sustainability associated with the BAU way of building cities goes hand in hand with the loss of economic competitiveness as qualified/talented individuals tend to settle in places with character and more liveable urban environments [11]. Related to this, the BAU way of building cities is also detrimental to urban liveability. According to The Economist Intelligence Unit, which measured liveability in terms of quality of life, mental and physical health, safety, walkability, public transport, and cultural and natural environments, and produced a ranking of the world's most liveable cities, two Asian cities (Osaka and Tokyo) feature in the top ten, however they are both located in the only developed country of the continent (Japan) [12].

The second current way of urban expansion relies on sophisticated, sustainable, locally sensitive, and context-tailored designs (Figure 1, right) for the cultural and social elites. This, however, represents a very small portion of the overall built-up stock. Finding a third way to build both fast, well, and affordable, is crucial and non-deferrable if a viable alternative to the lose-lose choice between unsustainable/insensitive/malfunctional urbanism and slum ghettoisation is to be factually found. Such Third Way of Building Asian Cities should meet today's infrastructure and housing needs of building fast and affordable in dense urban environments and, at the same time, the need to building unique, sustainable, and liveable cities made of places that recognise and treasure the spiritual

and cultural identity of local communities as embedded in the spatial structure of tangible urban heritage. Most importantly, it should re-activate the interrupted cycle of continuous renovation and formation of the urban heritage of tomorrow, by consciously integrating in new planning policies and practices of the collective wisdom that historically was a natural part of the granular, local processes of city production. This is the mission of a non-for-profit initiative, A Third Way of Building Asian Cities, launched in September 2019 at the 55th ISOCARP World Planning Congress in Jakarta (ID), by UNICITI, a French think-tank and consultancy (https://www.uniciti.org, accessed on 31 August 2021).

This paper presents a contribution to phase 1 of the aforementioned initiative, which was initiated in December 2020. It aims at identifying viable alternative solutions that can help build a unique, sustainable, and liveable urban fabric in Asian cities today. In line with this initiative, we propose a replicable methodology, named Urban MorphoMetrics (UMM), that captures the morphological uniqueness of homogeneous urban areas and helps to design new masterplans with the advantage of a controllable awareness of it. More specifically, UMM: (i) identifies homogeneous patterns of urban form in cities, i.e., urban types (UTs hereon) via a rich description of current urban form, based on hundreds of numerical spatial descriptors (morphometrics); (ii) extracts from each UT its own numerical form code by distilling a sub-set of six main morphological features, which are relevant to city planning and place design; (iii) operationalises these profiles to inform the formation of evidence-based design codes (DCs hereon) in designated areas. UMM, is specifically designed to pair up richness of information with XL-scale of application, potentially fit to cover the whole of Asian cities. It is also of great relevance for urban heritage planning as it permits to capture the morphological essence of places and generates figure-grounds respectful of this essence, while not being replicas. More broadly, UMM allows to capture the "collective wisdom" embodied in historical/heritage urban types and shapes an urban future in line with it. This not only implies understanding and measuring the built heritage of the past, but also building tomorrow's heritage, that is, urban areas to which future residents will attribute values of identity, attachment, and use, which largely stay unchanged through time.

While UMM must be applied to the whole of Kochi to function, including UTs that are not in historical/heritage context, a proof of concept of UMM is presented in this work through its application to the historical district of Fort Kochi/Mattancherry. Here, we demonstrate that despite working in very challenging environmental conditions and with a largely sub-optimal base of input data, the UMM seems to demonstrate a significant ability to capture relevant features of the city of Kochi, which is the base for the development of an innovative generation of evidence-based design codes (EBDCs). We obtained 24 different UTs, characterised by distinctive morphological traits. Morphometric profiles are then extracted for three specific UTs, located in the historical district of Fort Kochi/Mattancherry. Moreover, figure-ground-only design demonstrations are generated for a selection of blocks within each selected UT. Design demonstrations—not to be confused with proper masterplan proposals—are abstract design exercises enacted as part of UMM's development. In this context, they are aimed at exploring the ability of UMM-based numerical design guidelines to lead a plurality of professionals towards design outputs which would be distinguishable from each other and yet visibly reflect the intangible "uniqueness" or "distinct character" of any UT, including historical ones. These exercises are to be considered successful if this intangible balance of unicity and typicality is achieved, insofar: (i) a radically reduced set of six only descriptors are plugged into the demonstration; (ii) figure-ground of building envelopes (rather than real building footprints) are actually designed, and (iii) demonstrations consistently achieve both terms of the balance across different UTs and, within each UT, across proposals by different designers.

The remainder of this paper is structured as follows: in Section 2, we illustrate the UMM methodology through which we identify UTs, obtain morphometric profiles, and operationalise them to generate figure-ground design demonstrations. We then present, in Section 3, the study area (the city of Kochi), its main geographical characteristics and

urban development. In Section 4, we describe in detail the input dataset and urban form descriptors generated from it. We then show, in Section 5, the resulting numerical taxonomy of Kochi, the detailed morphometric profiles, and the figure-ground design demonstrations for three of its UTs. The paper finishes with a discussion of the results and conclusions in Sections 6 and 7.

#### **2. Methodology**

The methodology is illustrated in two parts. First, starting from a large set of morphometric descriptors, we identify the UTs at city-wide scale and produce their morphometric profiles (statistical elaborations of all descriptors applied to each UT). The second part uses these profiles to inform the figure-ground design demonstrations. Whilst these tests are purely conceptual at the moment, we explore their potential for applicability in real-life scenarios.

#### *2.1. Morphometric Taxonomy and Profiling of Urban Types*

The technique for the classification of UTs used in this paper is a development of previous work by Fleischmann et al. [13], specifically designed for this application. We thus summarise next its main features and illustrate with more detail advancements proposed and applied in this specific work. The morphometric taxonomy is the quantitative classification of morphological patterns starting from single measurable descriptors of urban form. Each descriptor measures a single dimension of the physical city (e.g., building footprint, coverage ratio, block size), while their combination detects recurring morphological patterns in a specific study area. Descriptors measure a variety of dimensional and relational aspects of basic components of urban form, at the very local scale of the components themselves and for local areas, accounting for spillover effects typical of spatial phenomena [14]. While previous studies (see, for example, [15,16]) selected one or very few descriptors to test specific but narrow research questions, this approach is based on the idea of comprehensiveness as well as richness of information, retaining the largest number of morphometric descriptors utilised in urban morphology that could operationally fit our technical framework, augmented with a few new ones allowed by our method alone, to comprehensively describe the urban form under examination [17].

The morphometric taxonomy relies solely on two georeferenced vector datasets: building footprints and street network. From these, morphological cells (a quantitative version of the cadastral parcel or plot) are created via a Voronoi tessellation-based partitioning of space [18], reflecting the zone of influence around each building; 74 primary characters are then computed for each cell across the entire study area, allowing to numerically quantify morphometric elements (street segments, building footprints, and cells) in any urban fabric, by capturing the relationships between them and their immediate surroundings. The entire list of primary characters can be found in Fleischmann et al. [13]. As mentioned above, a crucial aspect of this approach is accounting for the local context: four different statistics, or "contextual characters", are thus computed for each primary character over aggregations of cells around each cell and attributed to it. The interquartile mean is the average computed on the values between the first and third quartile of the distribution. The interquartile range is the range in values of the central 50% of the distribution. The inter-decile Theil index, a measure of local inequality, and the Simpson index, a measure of heterogeneity of values, are both measures of diversity. Full formulas for computing these statistics can be found in Fleischmann et al. [13].

Having computed the contextual characters, a cluster analysis is performed to synthesise this rich description and generate a taxonomy of UTs for the area under examination. The morphometric taxonomy presented by Fleischmann et al. [13] is based on the use of the Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM), a probabilistic version of the k-means clustering. However, the purely statistical nature of this technique, to a certain extent, jeopardises the result as, by not considering the spatial structure of the data, it introduces noise (i.e., misclassified buildings) in otherwise homogeneous UTs. For this reason, a different technique, i.e., agglomerative hierarchical clustering (AHC) [19], which imposes a spatial structure on the definition of the UTs is used in this paper. More specifically, AHC is a hierarchical technique of cluster analysis, which builds a tree (dendrogram) of clusters (UTs) starting from the single observations (buildings) up to a main branch, following a merge strategy based on the reduction of the sum of squared differences within all clusters. A third order connectivity matrix is used as a connectivity constraint to impose a spatial structure on the clustering (only nearby clusters can be merged together). The optimal number of clusters (UTs) is identified via the computation of the silhouette score, a common heuristic technique used for validating consistency in cluster analysis [20]. Since it is possible that the output of this method identifies UTs with too large variations in terms of urban form, successive rounds of clustering and silhouette scores can be performed on a selection of UTs to better differentiate sub-patterns. A final dendrogram, crucial to evaluate levels of similarity across UTs, can be built by recomputing the hierarchical tree starting from the cluster centroids of each UT.

Once the optimal solution is reached, morphometric profiles of UTs are built from six primary characters: cell area (CA), coverage ratio (CR), building footprint (BF), building elongation (BE), alignment to surrounding buildings (ASB), and mean distance between buildings (MDBB). These are selected due to the easy readability of their units (e.g., m2, percentages) and because they provide enough spatial information to generate coherent figure-grounds in sample sites, within specific UTs. Furthermore, they are often used in design codes and guidance, such as the National Model Design Code recently proposed by the UK Government [21]. Importantly, morphometric profiles are offered for each UT in one table, reporting for each of the six primary characters: (i) 15 intervals of values identified through natural breaks' discretisation at the level of the entire study area, and (ii) the percentage of buildings falling in each of these intervals. This form allows designers to smoothly translate analysis outputs in (ranges of) design instructions.

#### *2.2. From Morphometric Profile to Figure-Grounds*

The development of figure-ground design demonstrations involved four professional urban designers of the UNICITI think-tank. They helped to conceptualise, test, and validate the workflow through a series of experiments. None of them had previously taken part in the development of UMM: they effectively acted in the role of end-users. This was intentional, as our aim was to test the applicability and effectiveness of UMM to professionals without any background knowledge. In particular, at this stage, we wanted to assess to what degree four different designers, working under an extremely reduced framework of six characters only, could come up with figure-ground proposals which: (i) were all different from each other, and yet (ii) all retained the typical "character" or "feeling" of the UT of reference.

A full illustration of the results of the exercise is provided in the Results section. The workflow developed by the UNICITI designers entails the following steps:

by multiplying the distribution percentages for each interval by N and dividing this value by 100.

#### **3. Kochi**

Kochi (or Cochin) is a coastal city with a population of 0.67 million [22] in the southern Indian state of Kerala. It is an important port town with tremendous industrial and tourism potentials. It is one of the 100 cities that was selected for the smart city funding from the Government of India [23]. Today's Kochi consists of the historical Fort Kochi and Mattancherry peninsula, Ernakulam mainland, reclaimed Wellington Island, Bolgatti Island, Vipin island, and several other islands in the estuary of the Vembanad lake, adjoining the Arabian sea.

The great flood of the river Pariyar (1341) resulted in the formation of a new natural harbour. The Kochi state, formed in 1102, shifted its capital to Kochi in 1405 following this flood [24]. By 1440, a large settlement around Mattancherry hosted a wide variety of traders from China to the Middle East, making Kochi an important port town on the southwest coast of India [24]. By 1503, skirmishes between the Portuguese army and the local kingdom resulted in the battle of Kochi, with the Portuguese taking control of the city [25]. In 1665, the Dutch and, by 1795, the British, captured this important port town and controlled the spice trade [25]. By 1814, Kochi became part of the British empire who ruled the town until independence in 1947. During this period, Kochi expanded significantly in its population and area (Figure 2) to its current form.

Kochi today is a strategic port city on the western coast of India. It hosts the headquarters of the southern naval command and the new container terminal of Vallarpadam island that opened in 2011, making it the 4th most productive in the country [27]. Kochi's predominant economic sectors include IT, tourism, ship-making, spice export, health services, and banking [28]. Even today, the influence and fusion of Arab, Chinese, Portuguese, Dutch, and British periods can be seen in the architecture and culture of the city, with many historical buildings, religious spaces, as well as intangible cultural elements such as foods, traditions, customs, or the practise of different languages in everyday life [29].

**Figure 2.** Expansion of Kochi from 1890 to 1980. Source: [26].

#### **4. Dataset, Primary, and Contextual Characters**

UMM relies on the input information of two georeferenced datasets: building footprints and street network. However, since reliable information on the latter was missing in Kochi, the methodology was adapted to use only building footprints instead. These were manually drawn in vector format by architecture students at Cardiff University (UK), between October 2020 and January 2021. The area of Kochi considered in this paper (Figure 3) consists of 94,963 buildings. Due to aforementioned data constraints, only 26 of the 74 primary characters of urban form were considered, after exclusion of all those related to streets. For instance, in terms of buildings, footprint areas, elongation, and alignment to neighbouring buildings were measured. In terms of cells, size, coverage ratio, and ratio between number of neighbouring cells and cell perimeter were calculated; 104 contextual characters were then derived from the 26 primary characters by computing their mean, range, Theil index, and Simpson index for local areas up to three topological steps. The 26 primary characters and the 104 contextual characters alongside their median values across the study area are presented in Table A1, in the Appendix A.

**Figure 3.** Study area. Black represents building footprints, the only input information used for the UMM application in Kochi.

#### **5. Results**

#### *5.1. The Morphometric Taxonomy of Kochi*

AHC, with a third order connectivity matrix as spatial constraint, was recursively applied to the 104 contextual characters for solutions up to 25 clusters. The best silhouette score, combining best value with the most detailed classification, was found for 17 clusters (UTs). However, after having mapped this result, two UTs, roughly corresponding to the historical district of Kochi/Mattancherry and Marine Drive were still characterised by considerable morphological heterogeneity. For example, the latter included both the area of the historical Ernakulam Bazaar, characterised by a dense, fine-grained urban fabric, and a newly developed area north-west of the Kerala High Court, which, although being dense, did not have the same granular urban fabric of the former. A second round of agglomerative clustering was thus performed on these two UTs. Through the silhouette score technique, seven clusters (UTs) were found to be the optimal representation of Marine Drive and five in the historical district. By combining this clustering output with the first one, 24 different UTs were identified overall. The unified dendrogram and map of Kochi with buildings colour-coded according to their respective UT and levels of similarity are presented in Figures 4 and 5, respectively; in both figures, a colour-code is attributed to UTs such that each UT is distinctively identified by a different colour, and the more similar the colours, the more similar the urban form.

The 24 UTs seem to align with different phases of urban development of Kochi as well as specific functional areas, providing a first validation of the effectiveness of the process. The most historical part, located in the west peninsula, is largely characterised by UTs in the green shades (e.g., UT6, UT7, UT8).  Often occupied by makeshift buildings of one storey only, ground floors, especially along main streets, host a range of commercial activities. Streets are often of variable width with several levels feeding into each other. The area of historical warehouses, located around the top of the peninsula, are correctly classified as a separate UT (i.e., UT11): this is mainly characterised by a compact, medium built-up density, one two-storey building on tight cells, aligned to respond to street hierarchy, often hosting public and retail activities on the ground floor. Larger cells and buildings are generally located along main roads and crossings. Blocks are quite regular, with high internal permeability thanks to interconnecting lanes. Willingdon Island (located east of the peninsula hosting the historical core of Kochi) with its mix of military, maritime, and industrial buildings is well represented by UT15: this type is mainly characterised by bulky buildings, a great diversity of cell and building sizes, generally much greater than in any other UTs. Access takes place from main arteries and many cells have direct access to water. It has an unconventional form, ad hoc to function. Kochi mainland has also undergone different phases of urban development and hosts specific functional areas seemingly reflecting the UTs identified through the UMM approach. More precisely, we notice a correspondence between the oldest parts of Kochi mainland, facing the backwaters of the Arabian Sea, dating back to the beginning of the 20th century, and the UTs represented with warm colours. UT21, for example, largely corresponds to the historical area of the Ernakulam Market: it features above-average density, a relatively more chaotic urban fabric, with both compact and elongated buildings mostly not aligned with their respective cells, except in the three main streets of the area (Market street, Broadway, and Jew street). For what concerns more recently developed areas, UT12 seems to capture most of them. It is mainly characterised by a fairly homogeneous, granular, dense urban fabric, often punctuated by large, specialised buildings (e.g., Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, PVS Memorial Hospital) and infrastructures; here, the former tend to colonise the edges of main urban roads, while ordinary types are independent, compact, medium density buildings, with medium cell coverage and in close proximity to each other, with access from a network of secondary and local streets. Each block has a high permeability due to

frequent capillary roads and cul-de-sacs. The orientation of buildings is more regular along main roads, while it breaks down towards the inner parts of blocks.

**Figure 4.** Dendrogram of the 24 UTs of Kochi, colour-coded according to their level of similarity. The *y*-axis represents Euclidean distances between UTs.

#### *5.2. Morphometric Profiles of Urban Types in the Historical District of Kochi*

Since the research aims at exploring the degree to which (re)-generative figure-ground design demonstrations capture the intangible character of pre-existing urban fabrics, and this is particularly relevant in historical sites, morphometric profiles are generated for three UTs (i.e., UT7, UT18, and UT1) located in the historical district of Fort Kochi/Mattancherry. Intervals for the six primary characters and percentages of buildings falling in each interval for UT7, UT18, and UT1 are provided in Tables A2–A4, respectively, in the Appendix B. UT7 is characterised by a very fine-grained, relatively dense urban fabric, with most cells (90%) and most buildings (61%) falling in the first interval of their respective distributions, i.e., up to 336.1 m2 and up to 79 m2, respectively. Coverage ratios tend to be more evenly distributed, however, the intervals with more observations (those with more than 10% of them) have values around 0.50 (i.e., 50% cell coverage). Mean distances and alignments between neighbouring buildings tend also to be very small: 46% of buildings are located between 0.1 and 3.7 m from their nearest neighbours and tend to align with them, most buildings diverging only between 1.4 and 4.8 degrees. In terms of elongation, buildings of UT7 show values evenly distributed across intervals, corresponding to a mix of building footprints, from squares to elongated rectangles.

The morphometric profile of UT18 suggests a slightly coarser and less dense urban fabric, with roughly half of the cells falling in the first interval (up to 336.1 m2) and 34% being in the second one (i.e., between 336.1 and 650.9 m2). Building footprints follow a similar pattern, with most (40%) concentrating in the second interval, i.e., between 79 and

145.1 m2. Cells of UT18 tend also to be less built-up than in UT7, with most concentrating in intervals with coverage ratios between 0.29 and 0.47, corresponding to a coverage of 29% and 47%, respectively. As in UT7, buildings tend to be close to each other, 62% are less than 8.3 m away from their respective neighbours, and aligned with them, 77% diverge for 4.8 degrees or less. Finally, building footprints of UT18 tend to be more square-shaped than rectangular, with most observations falling into the top seven intervals.

**Figure 5.** Morphometric taxonomy of Kochi. Buildings are color-coded according to their respective UTs and level of similarity.

UT1 is the least dense and coarsest of the three, with most cells (36%) measuring between 336.1 and 651 m2, and most building footprints (42%) measuring between 79 to 145 m2. Coverage ratios tend to be lower than in UT7, with most values (intervals with more than 10% of observations each) concentrating between 0.11 and 0.33, i.e., 11% and 33% cell coverage, respectively. Mean distances between buildings tend also to be slightly larger than in UT7, with most being distant from 3.7 to 17.3 m with respect to their neighbours. On the other hand, buildings tend to be more aligned with each other than in UT7, with most (41%) diverging between 0 and 1.4 degrees. In terms of elongation, building footprints tend to be more square-shaped, with most values concentrating in the top intervals of the distribution.

#### *5.3. Producing Figure-Grounds in Sample Sites*

In this section, we present three figure-ground design demonstrations in sample sites that belong to UT1, UT7, and UT18. The first is illustrated in detail, including the process that generates building envelopes from the morphometric profile. The other two applications are purely demonstrative and showcase one design solution for each UT. Since at the time of writing the article, no development areas were officially identified in the district Fort Kochi/Mattancherry, the demonstrations are purely abstract and the only discriminant for the selection of the sample sites is the size (not less than 100 buildings as explained in the Methodology section).

The sample site in UT1 exhibits 140 buildings and has an area (A) of 114,541.7 m2. It is delimited by Jawahar road to the north, Santo Gopalan road to the east, Cochin College road to the south, and Pandikudy road to the west (Figure 7, top left). After removing the existing fabric, three of the four UNICITI designers involved in the development of the workflow set out to develop, independently, a design iteration each for the site.

To do so, intervals and distribution percentages of CA (Table A2, Appendix B) were used to compute the sum of TCAs (Table 1) and the total number of buildings (171) for the sample site by multiplying A by 100 (the total of all intervals) and dividing this value by the sum of TCAs (66,958 m2). Having obtained this datum, the number of buildings for each interval, for each of the six primary characters, were then calculated (see Table 2, as an example for BF). Random values were then generated for each interval and primary character, to obtain the actual dimensions of the building envelopes that will populate the site. Values of BF and BE were then randomly matched to avoid uniformity in the new urban fabric, and longer (LD) and shorter dimensions (SD) for each building were subsequently computed. Figure 6 shows the resulting building envelopes for the selected sample site, with intervals and distribution percentages of BF.

**Table 1.** Computing total cell areas (TCA) and sum of TCAs for the sample site in UT1, starting from intervals and distribution percentages of cell areas (CA) contained in the morphometric profile (Table A2, Appendix B).

By visually inspecting the main spatial characteristics of UT1, the three UNICITI designers then produced the following design observations to guide the positioning of the building envelopes on the site. UT1 is characterised by both relatively small buildings in close proximity, constituting the majority of the ordinary urban fabric of this UT, and isolated specialised ones, often surrounded by open space. Both types of buildings tend to abut on nearby streets from which they are accessed with their shortest sides. The existing street network is relatively regular and well connected, tending more to a grid than a tree-like structure. Along main streets, especially those pointing towards landmarks, cell, and building alignments, are more regular. These observations, together with the last step of the methodology, were then used by the UNICITI designers to independently generate three figure-ground assemblages (Figure 7, top right, bottom left, bottom right) for the sample site (Figure 7, top left). Starting from re-connecting the street network, around and through the site, using the context as guidance of local practice, they followed with arranging buildings along main streets and spaces, and adding secondary streets. The results show how a similar urban character was achieved, but in three distinctive attempts, all considerate of the existing contextual character. This suggests that, as a design aid, the morphometric analysis combined to the workflow were effective in generating urban fabrics structurally similar, but not identical to that typical of UT1.

To demonstrate the capability of the workflow, two further exercises of figure-ground generation for UT7 and UT18 are presented in Figure 8. Note that, this time, for matter of brevity, calculations are omitted. The sample site in UT7 is delimited by Eraveli Road to the north, Mohammad Abdul Rahaman Road to the east, Pullupalam Road to the south, and Chakkara Idukku Road to the west. The sample site in UT18 is delimited by Kocheri road to the north, Mary Auso Vaidhyar Road to the east, Pt Joseph road to the south, and Nazareth road to the west. Just out of a visual assessment, the design outputs (Figure 8, top right and bottom right) seem to confirm the ability of the proposed approach of producing new urban fabrics in line with the character and uniqueness of existing ones (Figure 8, top left and bottom left).

**Figure 6.** Resulting building envelopes for the sample site, with BF intervals and distribution percentages.

**Figure 7.** Sample site with existing fabric (**top left**) and three different figure-ground design demonstrations (**top right**, **bottom left**, **bottom right**) proposed by three different designers, in compliance with the morphometric profile of UT1.

**Figure 8.** Two sample sites with existing fabrics (**top left**, **bottom left**) and two figure-ground design demonstrations (**top right**, **bottom right**) proposed by the same designer, in compliance with their morphometric profiles, UT7 and UT18, respectively.

#### **6. Discussion**

In terms of significance of the results, as a design tool, UMM generates typical iterations for selected UTs. Importantly, the workflow leads to the formation of figure-grounds in terms of building envelopes, hence not in terms of real shape nor function. It needs to be reiterated that although UMM can potentially provide useful information to inform a new generation of evidence-based design codes (EBDCs), this potential, as such, is not explored here. At this stage, we are presenting a design demonstration whose subject matter is a fairly reduced proxy of what can be obtained from a full UMM application, in particular, because of data limitations (we are working with 26 out of 74 primary characters of urban form), which do not include any information on streets and building heights. In short, UMM is run on building footprint information alone. As a result, the UTs are identified on the ground of only 104 out of the full set of 296 contextual descriptors normally utilised with optimal input data. Understanding the degree of quality of UMM's output under such largely sub-optimal input conditions was also a reason why we embarked in the study of Kochi in the first place.

In terms of validation, notwithstanding these aforementioned constraints, after a detailed validation (see Section 5.1) conducted with students and staff of Cardiff University, experts with direct experience of the place, against Kochi's urbanisation history and mainland-uses' distribution, we do observe that the resulting taxonomy seems to capture the main characters of the real city to a surprising degree. This gave considerable support to the outputs. However, a systematic process of validation against other layers of social, economic, and environmental information will require further investigation.

In terms of relevance of the proposed methodology and results, UMM-based numerical design guidelines seem to be effective in helping distinct designers towards delivering design outputs that both capture the intangible essential quality that makes for the unique identity of historical UTs of Kochi and yet remain clearly distinguishable from each other. Most importantly, this ability shows up: (i) out of an application based on sub-optimal input data; (ii) over the design of figure-ground building envelopes only, and (iii) across different demonstrations both delivered by different designers over the same UT and by the same designer over different UTs. In all evidence, this potential is particularly interesting when applied in historical/heritage areas, where morphological assets are recognisably associated with deep local socio-cultural contexts and fragile values of place identity, hence continuity with such traits is particularly valuable. However, we would like to stress the importance for Asian cities not only to preserve their current heritage from their valuable past, but also to build today the heritage of their equally valuable future. Stating this means highlighting the importance to learn the essential nature of the past we still treasure to link it up to the present we operate in. A nearly madly ambitious task, to be true, which certainly cannot be reduced to the physical structure of spaces and must involve the forms of city production, its governance and industrial management, its equity and political viability. As per the master planning process alone, it is our ambition, in this paper, to account for an innovation of technical nature that we believe can promote helpful progress in many aspects of urban (heritage) planning. Most importantly, such innovations could potentially impact on the other—and often neglected—side of the medal, which involves the informal settlements of today and tomorrow, along with slums' community protagonism in their production and development in time. Further site analyses and considerations should be carried out to gather more context-based knowledge, which is fundamental to transform figure-ground envelopes through the workflow, helping to define their architectural styles, their relations with private/public spaces, street sections, and surfaces. The workflow for figure-ground generation must also be adapted to reflect possible constraints dictated by local design briefs. The first application of the workflow shows a range of alternatives, none of which is identical to the existing one nor between each other, but all are close to it in terms of figure-ground, character, and circulation showing that we are in the position to generate urban fabric from a limited set of input data which is similar in substance to the original one, but not identical to it. This overcomes a frequent criticism of generative design, perceived as deterministic or acritical. The proposed workflow can be a powerful, evidence-based tool in the hands of designers who want to capture and reproduce the essential character of a place, in fact, any place that makes sense to them as well as the communities involved in the process. This does not mean to reproduce acritically design solutions, but to replicate the structural spatial patterns that have proven an ability to develop, in time, qualities which are considered valuable assets in current society. Such quality should not be reduced to aesthetic ones, but, in fact, involve quality of adaptability in time, hence resilience, flood recovery, support to healthy lifestyle, and walkable access to basic services, etc. This preliminary demonstration suggests that the combination of UMM and a new generation of EBDCs could inform a positive development of the BAU way of building towards a more sensitive and locally responsive urban development framework while, at the same time, keeping it responsive to current requirements, standards and needs. It is also an alternative to niche, context-based, but small-scale developments as the approach is replicable and scalable and can thus be applied to cities and project sites of virtually any size. It can be effective in situations characterised by limited resources, difficult operative conditions, political instability, and widespread informal practices. By providing an established background of knowledge (of UTs and their effectiveness in their context) and flexible spatial proposals, it can also help to retain overall quality control while, at the same time, allowing for the co-production of space. One natural avenue to exploit the potential of UMM towards this Third Way for Asian Cities is testing DCs based on a rigorous, replicable, scalable, and comprehensive science of urban form. Such science is by no means mature but is now rapidly expanding with and beyond the proposed

UMM method. The implications on policy are many and currently under development in forthcoming publications.

In terms of limitations, we acknowledge three main ones. First, while the clustering process to identify UTs is unsupervised, the selection of the optimal number of UTs is based on a heuristic method (i.e., the silhouette score), leaving space to interpretation. Kochi might thus be defined by a different number of UTs. Nonetheless, having tested different clustering solutions and comparing them to phases of urban development and existing functional areas, we believe 24 to be a faithful representation of the different urban fabrics of the city. A second limitation concerns the presence of outliers in the data (e.g., too small BFs). Due to the size of the input dataset, these might go unnoticed, creating a partially biased representation of specific intervals in the morphometric profiles. If that is the case, the morphometric profiles containing outliers can be used to identify them and correct or filter the input dataset. A third limitation is inherent to scalability: a first-hand, accurate, human-based site survey cannot be replaced by any unsupervised morphometric procedure, and, in fact, it should not. UMM should be seen as a large-scale applicable ecosystem whose best use is in conjunction with local, project-specific, and communitybased surveys, or, in fact, the development of project-languages along the human-based tradition mastered, for example, in Alexander's pattern language work [30,31].

#### **7. Conclusions**

Asian cities are developing exceptionally fast. How we guide and support such development is crucial, for those living in it, for the planet, for both environmental, cultural, and economic reasons. The BAU mode has already compromised the physical and social significance of many urban environments, with forms which are incompatible under many points of view. On the other hand, niche and more sustainable ways of building can embed local cultural contexts, however, they are not capable of coping with the large demand for new housing. This context calls for an alternative which can simultaneously ensure quantity, affordability and, at the same time, respond to the need of building unique cities which embed local cultural values. In this paper, to address this challenge, we proposed a replicable and scalable methodology to: (i) detect morphological uniqueness in cities via the identification of homogeneous patterns of urban form (UTs); (ii) extract morphometric profiles for target UTs; (iii) input this information in a workflow for the generation of new urban fabrics aligned with the character and uniqueness of their respective UTs. The proposed methodology was applied to the city of Kochi, where 24 different UTs were identified, seemingly matching historical-functional patterns. Three morphometric profiles were generated for UTs located in the historical district of Fort Kochi/Mattancherry and used as inputs for figure-ground generation. The outputs showed that, by using the same workflow, it is not only possible to produce urban fabrics aligned with the morphological character of their respective UTs, but also produce different design solutions for the very same sample site. The combination of morphometric analysis and workflow for figure-ground generation can contribute to the production of context-based design in historical/heritage areas and, more broadly, to the above-mentioned Third Way of Building Asian Cities, by providing a scalable and systemic way of identifying the unique character of different city parts and producing design outputs aligned with such uniqueness. While this approach has been presented in relation to the rapid urbanisation in Asia, it is still replicable in virtually any place in the world, provided that, at least, data on buildings are available.

**Author Contributions:** Conceptualisation, A.V., O.R. and S.P.; Methodology, A.V., O.R., S.P., K.K., N.B., V.V. and S.U.; Software, A.V.; Validation, A.V., O.R., S.P. and S.R.; Formal analysis, A.V., O.R., K.K. and N.B.; Investigation, A.V., K.K., N.B., V.V., S.U. and S.R.; Data curation, A.V., K.K. and N.B.; Writing—Original Draft Preparation, A.V., O.R., O.C., S.P. and S.R.; Writing—Review and Editing, A.V., O.R. and S.P.; Visualisation, A.V., K.K. and N.B.; Supervision, A.V., O.R. and S.P.; Project Administration, A.V.; Funding acquisition, S.P. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

**Funding:** This research was funded by the Axel and Margaret Ax:son Johnson Foundation, grant number GEN2971-100.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.

#### **Appendix A**

**Table A1.** The 26 primary characters and 104 contextual characters with their median values across the study area.

**Table A1.** *Cont.*

**Table A1.** *Cont.*

#### **Appendix B**

**Table A3.** Morphometric profile of UT7.

**Table A4.** Morphometric profile of UT18.

**Table A4.** *Cont.*

#### **References**

### *Article* **Safe Haven—Bath House and Library by the Burmese Border**

**Anett Mizsei 1,\* and Péter György Horváth 2**

	- **\*** Correspondence<EMAIL_ADDRESS>Tel.: +36-70-340-16-50

**Abstract:** This study gives an overview of contemporary vernacular tendencies in Thai architecture. The research includes ecological, economical, ergonomic and cultural aspects, and the aim is to find a possible future direction for architectural design that is able to incorporate local features and follow traditions yet apply them in a contemporary way. As an example, a case study was carried out about a project realized in Safe Haven Orphanage in Thailand. It consists of two small-scale buildings designed and constructed by TYIN Tegnestue Architects, Sami Rintala and Hans Skotte, together with volunteers and the local community, and they are great examples of a community building "healing architecture". Due to their aesthetics, their ecological and sustainable approach and their structures, they can provide cultural continuity, which is key for the organic evaluation of regional architecture.

**Keywords:** architecture; healing architecture; ergonomics; community building; ecology; architecture for children; low-tech; universal design; vernacular architecture; regionalism

#### **1. Introduction**

The core question of this research is what design and construction methodologies can be applied to create projects on a small scale, yet with great added value, with no standards and regulations and almost no sources for construction and maintenance present. The answer may lie in a rather underrepresented branch of architecture, which puts the real needs of users first, opting for low-tech solutions and considering local cultural, climatic and social characteristics and creating a balance between ecology and human comfort.

The location chosen for this study is Central-Western Thailand. The traditional architecture and technologies specific for this region were well alive back in the 1970s. However, "rapid urbanization and economic development of the countries in the region led to a massive destruction of these buildings and replacement by modern types at the beginning of the 1990s" [1]. This international style of contemporary architecture lacks the values and cultural content that traditional architecture owns in regards of comfort, ecology, economy and aesthetics [2]. In contradiction, in Western countries, this 20-year period was exactly the era of professionals and thinkers of the field rediscovering the ecological and aesthetical values in vernacular architecture [1]. It was not until the early 2010s that "the vulnerability of vernacular traditions under the threat of modern developments is the issue most commonly addressed, used as object of research and applied to policy" [3]. According to publications, the damage in architectural heritage was the greatest in rural areas—particularly smaller, traditional residential buildings—compared to important national monuments, acknowledged and protected more efficiently and effectively [unige]. As a conclusion of studies and articles [1–3] on this era, it is clear that copying Western patterns without adapting them to local needs led to a significant tangible (actual buildings) and intangible (technology, traditional building methods and knowledge) loss, in addition to decreasing comfort for users.

Ergonomics, as a discipline, is present in all phases of product design and manufacturing and has an extensive literature in academia. The aim of the ergonomic approach is to

**Citation:** Mizsei, A.; Horváth, P.G. Safe Haven—Bath House and Library by the Burmese Border. *Heritage* **2021**, *4*, 2105–2123. https://doi.org/ 10.3390/heritage4030119

Academic Editors: Éva Lovra and Nicola Masini

Received: 13 July 2021 Accepted: 30 August 2021 Published: 2 September 2021

**Publisher's Note:** MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

**Copyright:** © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/).

optimize human–product interactions, i.e., to make human activity more efficient, safer, more comfortable and more satisfactory in all respects [4] when producing or using the product, service or process.

Focusing on the concept of ergonomics in the field of architecture, it can be said that a number of ergonomic aspects are fixed through various regulations: in order for a building to be realized, it is necessary to comply with current legislation, which is often based on ergonomic and anthropometric data. Design decisions are therefore possible only within this legal framework, considering the given task, the needs of future users and the available resources. Creative freedom primarily covers aspects not included in law [5]. The interesting thing about the two projects chosen as the subjects of this case study is that they were built in a location with significantly less regulations than in Europe or North America. Such a situation—in addition to the freedom of design—means a great responsibility for all participating creators. At the same time, it provides an opportunity to work more closely with the user group, to recognize real needs and to serve them in as many ways as possible (Figure 1).

**Figure 1.** (**a**) Picture of the Bathhouse. Photo of Safe Haven Bath house, photo: Pasi Aalto, architecture: TYIN Tegnestue (Andreas G. Gjertsen, Yashar Hanstad), Available online: http://www.tyinarchitects.com/download/works/2009 \_safehavenbathhouse/01\_safehavenbathhouse\_photos\_hires.Zip (accessed on 13 July 2021). (**b**) Picture of the Library. Photo of Safe Haven Library, photo: Pasi Aalto, architecture: TYIN Tegnestue (Andreas G. Gjertsen, Yashar Hanstad), Available online: http://www.tyinarchitects.com/download/works/2009\_safehavenlibrary/01\_safehavenlibrary\_photos\_hires.zip (accessed on 13 July 2021).

The aim of this paper is to study two contemporary buildings of the Safe Haven orphanage in Burma (designers: TYIN Tegnestue Architects, Sami Rintala, Hans Skotte) based on the methodologies and analytical aspects presented in the above sources. In this case, it is not simply a kindergarten or school environment, but provides home for a traumatized, injured and vulnerable group, where the cooperation and community building mentioned above are of increased importance. At the same time, the financial resources were limited, so the project is also a good example of low-tech and low-cost architecture based on local traditions and heritage, realized through cooperative construction. Such projects, although small in size, become more and more valuable in our time and provide new ways for architecture that allow for a more harmonious coexistence of people, design and environment while fulfilling important social missions. The two projects are chosen to represent the significance of ergonomics in architecture, both in the physical and psychological points of view. In addition, they might be a possible future direction for vernacular design, adopting and keeping local traditions alive in a contemporary way.

#### **2. Materials and Methods—Theoretical Background**

The aim of this study is to analyze two buildings created for a special group of children (orphaned Burmese refugee children) and their mentors, caregivers and teachers. Three main aspects are to be considered: ergonomics, ecology (including economy and

sustainability) and connection to regional architecture. This chapter includes theoretical background and an overview of publications on these topics.

The most important question is how traditional knowledge and technologies—regional architectural features—can be preserved in a contemporary way. Is there any method that leads back to the sustainable and environmentally conscious way of building and living, without impacting the comfort and well-being of users? These issues are essential to solve in order to prevent further damage and loss of valuable architectural heritage. Meanwhile it opens up the possibility to develop contemporary vernacular buildings, which evolve from that heritage, fits in local cultural patterns, and still meet the challenges of the 21st century.

#### *2.1. Ecological Aspects*

In the second half of the 20th century, mass production and consumption, mobility, energy demand and, with it, emissions of pollutants and waste have reached alarming proportions. The 1970s brought a widespread recognition that a change of approach was needed in industry, design and even everyday life to offset the environmental damage caused by the above. Reducing size and quantity, while raising awareness for quality and design for the whole lifecycle of products have slowly come to the forefront of interest of product designers and architects: a new design paradigm has begun to take shape. Parallel to this, a number of other sectors have also begun to discover a more ecological approach, considering sustainability and the human–nature relationship. This ecological approach came hand-in-hand with the rising appreciation of vernacular architecture and traditional knowledge, as pointed out in the introduction.

In 1973, Ernst Schumacher published his book Small is Beautiful—Economics as if People Mattered, in which he defined the principles of a new, humane economics. He asks himself what is really required from scientists and technologists in these times and answers in three points that became the core of his work. These characteristics of methods, technology and equipment are that they are affordable and accessible to everyone, suitable for small-scale application and also relate to people's creativity [6]. These postmodern ideas are the basics of post-industrial society, and they soon swept through architectural theory and practices, too. In addition to high-tech solutions, architects rediscovered local, traditional solutions, and a wider discussion started about people's real needs. In Northern Europe, the theoretician, professor and architect Juhani Pallasmaa was one of the most important representatives of this field.

It is no wonder that Sami Rintala and his collegues, who studied in Pallasmaa's workshop, have been leading their practices according to those principles. Rintala approaches all of his projects as eco-design experiments, especially focusing on the relationship between man and nature. In most cases, the key is to break down the sharp line between the built and the natural environment in order to guide people back to their origins and make them aware that they are still a part of it. However, his ecological thinking does not end in this poetic attitude. He strives to create reasonable buildings: the first and most important step in sustainability is to reduce size in all cases. Instead of the needs created by the media and the consumer world, it researches one's real needs and desires—understanding this is key to creating a reasonable scale and comfort [7]. It is a very important point to consider when helping people of different cultures. Bare import of technology has its risks and setbacks. Despite good intentions, they may cause more harm than benefit when the result is foreign to local culture. The outcome might cause psychological and sustainability issues which cannot easily be solved later and which Thailand (alongside many other developing regions of the world) is already suffering from.

#### *2.2. Ergonomics*

In recent decades, the architectural profession has begun to acknowledge the importance of ergonomics and its own shortcomings in this field. Emerging social sensitivity, a demand for a more inclusive environment for groups or individuals with altered abilities, have put aspects of ergonomics at the focus of research. For example, comprehensive anthropometric databases have been developed, such as Childata, Adultdata and Olddata (Department of Trade and Industry), published between 1995 and 1998. Recent possible publications on the subject analyze these issues in a complex way, especially in areas of social importance such as hospitals and educational institutions. In many cases, their authors formulate specific methodologies to aid design [4,5,8]. It is increasingly common for the field of ergonomics to be extended beyond physically measurable anthropometric scaling to include psychological, spiritual or cultural factors [9–11].

In addition to the importance of individual design decisions and attitudes, the implementation of ergonomic design also depends on factors such as available basic data, that designers rely on, or local regulations in place. In addition, sustainability issues need to be mentioned here. By the 21st century, ecology has become an unavoidable ethical and design aspect, while the comfort, health and well-being of users are not to be compromised for the sake of environmentally friendly construction. One of the most important tasks of architecture is to reconcile these two aspects along a new paradigm that allows for the well-being and harmonious coexistence of man and nature [12]. As another study points out, "an environment-friendly building design cannot neglect the fact that building users are themselves part of the environment" [4]. From another point of view, the leading rating systems for the building's sustainable performance, such as LEED, as an example, mentions ergonomics as part of their strategy, these indicators are rather focusing on human interactions with specific elements or equipment, not buildings as a whole [4].

Similar ideas are expressed by Finnish architect-theorist Juhani Pallasmaa: "The essential mental task of architecture is accommodation and integration" [11]. Dwelling—in other terms "existence" itself—is closely related to the primary function of the building, but it is also more than that: "Architecture articulates the experiences of being-in-the world and strengthens our sense of reality and self" [11]. In order to establish this integration, the building should not draw a sharp boundary between external (natural) and internal (artificial) spaces [9]. In the design practice of Pallasmaa's student Sami Rintala, these transitional spaces are the key: the surrounding natural landscape can be experienced from there, in contrast of the seclusion and loneliness of the interior. Otherwise, this transition space induces a dialogue between the building, its user and its environment [7].

Although there is no comprehensive design methodology that is universally applicable, available publications from recent years have set out certain principles and factors that are key to the design of a product in terms of ergonomics. In addition, these were the basis of the design methodology of the architects, who created the two projects.

The political crisis in Burma, as in most wars, has serious consequences for the population to this day. Many children lose their families or find themselves in a hopeless situation from which only outside help can provide a way out. The Safe Haven orphanage was established to heal physical and mental injuries and to build a better future for those it cares for [13]. The events these children experience—the loss of their families, leaving their homes—are traumas that affect their sense of security, their socialization, their image of themselves and their place in the world in the long run. All this makes the ergonomics of their environment a high priority, especially regarding psychological and cultural factors.  Therefore, caregivers and teachers are also to be considered the primary users of the building, alongside children. For children to feel safe and develop in a healthy way, they must have a loving relationship with at least one adult, and that adult must be present in their lives regularly [10]. The formation of these bonds should and can be supported by good design. In the case of children, the improper or inaccurate use of buildings and equipment must also be taken into account as their foresight of the possible consequences is limited. Beyond safety, a comfortable environment adapted to a child's scale promotes physical development and should always be shaped by ergonomics [9]. Of course, the users who maintain and operate the building also need to have an effective and safe work environment.

An environment that meets the needs of children (especially in the preschool age group) is challenging and stimulating for children with different perceptible textures, sounds, lights and colors. A diverse and multisensorial spatial system can serve them well. Quiet places serve for individual studying, more open community spaces for group activities and a completely open outdoor area for freedom of movement and physical development. There are four basic aspects to nursery architecture: space, scale and proportions, colors and lighting [10].

The psychological aspect of spaces created for children is also a major issue. More and more articles are considering it as equally important as the physical aspects of ergonomics: "involving the compliance of the product with the needs of physical compatibility (anthropometric, biomechanical and perceptive) of safety, well-being, and finally of value—emotional and subjective—that the individual-user attributes to his relationship with the product" [14]. In carefully shaped spaces, children's spatial intelligence develops, as the space stimulates and directly influences their behavior, thinking, feelings and imagination [4]. Architecture creates certain frameworks for our lives, our existence. A carefully designed environment for children provides space for physical, social, emotional, linguistic and cognitive development. Four main aspects can be distinguished for this purpose: movement, comfort, competence and control. A variety of possible movements and activities are the core of both muscular and intellectual development. In addition, spatial orientation and the development of healthy boundaries are related to the spaces provided for them. The comfort of the place involves the proper amount of stimulation for all senses. A supportive environment helps children to develop the feeling of competence: they can explore, use and live the space freely and independently if the space in question is designed with the correct features for each activity or function. Control is both about safety and the children's own experience of being in charge for their own actions. Design should consider the safety and access of the caretakers as well as the privacy of children [10]. To sum up, a safe and ergonomically designed space not only motivates children but also sets limits. These constraints can be realized on two levels: on the one hand, through the building's own design, and on the other hand, by providing the supervisor control over the situation with the appropriate vision, acoustics and accessibility.

Isenberg and Jalongo state similarly in their five criteria that architectural design:

When it comes to architecture, according to publications from the past decades, there seems to be a tendency for professionals of the field to become more and more aware of the significance of ergonomics and adapting and researching it with a holistic approach. In addition to the physical and psychological aspects, sustainability also became part of the discussion. Very few of them mention, however, the importance of local cultural and architectural heritage and mainly focus on historical aspects [15]. This article is therefore aimed to emphasize how cultural and architectural heritage of a specific area can induce a balance between ergonomics and sustainability, meanwhile exploring the design methodology which made it possible to connect them.

#### *2.3. Traditional Architecture in the Region and Contemporary Vernacularity*

The archetype of traditional house in this region evolved from early examples, that date back in the 13th century. There are basically two types:

The latter can be temporary/semi-permament, usually built from bamboo, or permanent and made of wood [3]: "The traditional Thai house is ideally adapted to its environment. Open high-pitched roof that facilitates air circulation. Open windows and walls in combination with a large central terrace provide ideal ventilation and offer relief from the hot and humid climate. Wide overhanging eaves protect the house from sun and rain. Rainwater runs off the steep roof quickly and falls through the permeable terrace and house floors" [2]. From another point of view, vertically, these buildings consist of three main parts: the roof, the floor structure built on stilts and the living area enclosed by the two [16].

Raised floors serve more than one function. It provides optimal ventilation, protects the interior from flooding waters [17] and marks the different functional zones of the house [16]. Ventilation has a significant role in the evaluation of Thai houses. Due to the humid and hot climate, it is the only way to prevent mold and structural damages without chemicals. It is also essential for a healthy and comfortable environment for users. Another important characteristic element serving this purpose is the gap between the top of the walls and the roof [17]. In the floor plans of traditional Thai houses, the terraces are the key organizers of the life of the users. Larger open spaces in the center or narrower verandas around the house under the overhanging eaves serve as transitional spaces [16].

The contemporary vernacular architecture of the region is still underestimated and weakly documented. According to the study of Punpairoj, it is an organic process which is a result of a community working together rather than the design of an individual architect. There are two opposite approaches of vernacular architecture: the "decline" or "revival" of them, using modern structures and materials to meet the requirements of today [3].

Projects such as the two small-scale houses of this case study are opportunities to find new possible approaches for contemporary architecture, inspired and influenced by local technologies and culture. The significance of them lays both in their design and community-building effect, which can make a huge difference for both builders and users. This cooperation is, however, crucial, as it guarantees to avoid alienating and forced designs, which are not sustainable, mainly because the community has no connection to it.

#### **3. Results—Case Study**

"The body image [...] is informed fundamentally from haptic and orienting experiences early in life.  The analysis of the next two case studies is based on the above aspects, focusing on their functionality, actual usage and connections to their physical, social and built environment. Their geometry, technical design and ecological features were taken into consideration, in addition to decoding their dimensions according to anthropometric data for each age group, through their published plans, on-site construction photos and structural details from the architects.

#### *3.1. Safe Haven—How It Started*

Tasanee Keereepraneed is a local woman living in the heart of Thailand, in Ban Tha Song Yang, which is about a two-hour bus ride away from the Burmese border. Since 1987, she has been caring for orphans. Together with her brother, they now care for about 60 children who came from the surrounding areas of Thailand and Burma. They provide housing, full care, medical assistance and education to these children, supporting themselves with the help of volunteers and donors, as well as NGOs. Most of the children were orphaned by the Burmese political crisis and military dictatorship [13]. The age of the residents ranges from 0 to 20 years. Different age groups eat, study and play together, much like in a family environment. From an early age, they are also taught responsibility and housework appropriate to their abilities, in addition to elementary education. The primary goal is for children of typically Burmese descent to acquire Thai citizenship as adults. In addition, an important element of education is a loving, inclusive atmosphere [19], which is the key to a more peaceful future in the region. The orphanage has been built in several phases, depending on the actual needs and incoming offers. The founding siblings, who themselves had lost their parents early on, converted the inherited parental home for their protégés. Their future plans include the development of a drinking water supply system, dormitories with additional beds and the construction of a health center [13]. In recent years, however, two remarkable buildings have been built on the site. The Library and the Bathhouse were created through volunteer work, and they are important steps for the future of the home, despite their small size.

#### *3.2. Background of the Design*

In 2009, TYIN Tegnestue, a non-profit humanitarian organization, invited architects Sami Rintala and Hans Skotte, as well as 15 architecture students studying in Norway, to realize two buildings together, both made of traditional, local materials [20]. The small buildings create value beyond their functionality: they serve the physical and mental health of those living here. These projects represent an architectural approach that relies on local materials and building traditions and does not function as a kind of top-down 'design aid package', but rather lifts up a highly vulnerable group in the long run with real results.

In a tropical climate such as that of Thailand, the key to preventing epidemics is collective and personal hygiene, which is served by the bath. It was built next to a young teak plantation. The toilets are enclosed in two rooms covered with red and yellow plaster. In addition to the traditional one, there is also a flush toilet inside. Between the two is located the bathroom, opening up to the forest area, which is a culturally accepted solution in the area. Openness, however, is often used as a tool to promote children's safety and well-being in Western civilizations, too [21]. This "porch", covered with bamboo shading, combines different functions. On the site, there is no sewerage, but at the same time, it is often flooded by torrential rains Therefore wastewater treatment and keeping the surfaces clean was a great challenge. An important element of the project is the easy-towash and quickly drying, ventilated floor and the closed drainage of wastewater led into underground desiccators (Figure 2).

While the bath serves primary physical and infrastructural needs, the library is a place for children to develop mentally in order to break out of the spiral of poverty. It opens up opportunities for culture, education and self-education, while encouraging socialization and individual development as well. It serves as a library, playground, classroom and meeting point at the same time. Since internet access is only possible from here, it literally opens the door to the world. Under the roof are computers on one side and the actual library on the other. Among them is a gateway—a transition area—where the rocks of the terrain were included into the concept by the creators, serving as stairs. This is the point where students leave their slippers or shoes behind before entering the building, which is a local tradition. The concrete walls made on site embrace rows of bookshelves. Inspired by traditional construction methods, the natural appearances of the materials are preserved, if possible. At the corner, shelves take a turn and form a stairway to the airy, quiet attic. The wooden floor, with its level raised from the ground serves as a platform for the 'classroom', but also works as a seat during outdoor activities. It was made with a slightly tilted carpentry structure, shaded by bamboo slats, letting in soft light and fresh air.

**Figure 2.** Interior of Library. Photo of Safe Haven Library, photo: Pasi Aalto, architecture: TYIN Tegnestue (Andreas G. Gjertsen, Yashar Hanstad), Available online: http://www.tyinarchitects.com/ download/works/2009\_safehavenlibrary/01\_safehavenlibrary\_photos\_hires.zip (accessed on 13 July 2021).

#### *3.3. Analysis of Ergonomic Aspects*

From Pallasmaa's point of view, the fundamental task of architecture is to restore the human–nature relationship, in this way improving the mental well-being of the users [6]. To achieve this, the building does not draw a sharp line between its user and the environment, thus connecting the two instead of separating them. Still, it provides adequate protection for people. Due to permissive local regulations, the designers had excessive freedom during the design process, therefore, they could focus on the local traditions and climate

These design decisions influence the whole lives of the children growing up here now or in the future. For the right architectural solutions, the creators and builders had to get to know the community, its unique needs and difficulties. Knowledge of the local culture facilitates a mentoring system among children and helps them integrate into society. A lack of regulations made it possible to involve users—children and adults alike—in the design and construction. With this, the two buildings not only serve their needs better, but the building process has become part of the history of the community. This fundamentally determines their relationship to the buildings. Since the projects are located within the enclosed area of the orphanage, they could open up to their surroundings. Children use the area freely (according to a defined agenda, of course), so openness serves the function well and does not raise security issues.

#### 3.3.1. Anthropometry and Functionality

One of the primary aspects of ergonomics is anthropometric sizing, which serves as the basic usability and functional issues. Available anthropometric databases were examined for this analysis (Table 1) [22,23]. The database is a result of a survey from several countries around the world, with data from Japan, China and Sri Lanka from the Far East region. However, due to the nature of the examined projects (manual construction and usage of materials found on site), the dimensional accuracy of the implementation shows greater differences than the differences that can be discovered in the database between the individual ethnic groups. Furthermore, given that all ages are present in the children's group, there was no specific age range to size objects for. Thus, local characteristics are more relevant in adult sizing, for which data from the region were used.

**Table 1.** Example of anthropometrical data.

1 M—male, F—female. 2 Data given in cm.

For the above reasons, in the bathhouse (Figure 3a–c), only the toilets are indoors. The building provides enough cover for the urinals on the north side. Placed at three different heights (45, 55 and 65 cm), they are suitable for growing kids from the age of about 5. Smaller children or children in need of help can use the traditional toilets located indoors. The advantage of these is the floor-mounted design, as smaller children are able to use them alone or with minimal help, unlike the higher wall-mounted flush toilets. However, such an item was also established for children to get used to that design, too. The cabins have a size of 125 \* 140 cm, so there is enough space (approx. 60 \* 60 cm) for the caretaker during use. The shower and washing machine are also in a lockable unit—the latter had to be protected from tropical showers and connected to electricity. The shower cubicle is 70 \* 125 cm in size with a built-in design. This makes it easier for helpers to access, as there is no edge, no obstacle and no risk of accidents. The lamella cover provides safe limits for the space but does not close it. By learning to use Western-type toilets and showers, they can later easily adapt to the culture of either the city or other parts of the world. In addition, given the spacious area, it is possible to bathe more than one child at the same time, which is culturally accepted at the area.

**Figure 3.** (**a**) Cross-section of Bathhouse; (**b**) elevation of Bathhouse; (**c**) floor plan of Bathhouse. Figures: Own drawings of the author (Mizsei, A.) based on TYIN Tegnestue Architects (Andreas G. Gjertsen, Yashar Hanstad), Available online: http://www.tyinarchitects.com/ (accessed on 13 July 2021).

Daily bathing routine and washing hands takes place on a light-structured wooden deck between the two closed parts of the building, with three washbasins of different heights. These are actually garden taps for which the "well" was built of large diameter reinforced concrete channels, protected by a grid on top to prevent children falling in. These elements have different heights: a 25-cm-high lower bowl and two others with height of about 75 cm. Washbasins in the middle can be used for hand washing without any help needed, and with the different sizes, even smaller kids can start using them independently, without help. The space around them (275 \* 380 cm) is enough for the caregivers to organize the bathing either individually or in small groups of children. The washbasins are standing free, in the middle of the space, so there is still a 60-cm-wide lane for the access of cabins. A minimum of the same width is available in the covered, side-open traffic in front of the cabs. This way, the functions can be used simultaneously.

In the case of the library building (Figure 4.), the application of a 35-cm module size was used. It is ideal for storage, but has further features, as well. The shelves surround the space and at the end of the building form a stairway which children can climb on. They can access the attic from here or use the stairs as seats for the preschool and primary school age group. At the same time, the floor, raised 45 cm above the ground, adapts to the seat height of adults, making it suitable to sit on while observing and supervising outdoor play. Thus, the adult may be present, but stay in the background only for safety reasons or necessary intervention. The interior is comfy with a large carpet. A free area of about 2\*5m is enough for up to 30 children. In the other side, however, computer workstations were established with traditional desks and chairs. There is enough space behind the two workplaces for the instructor to supervise and help.

An important and special part of the construction is the attic, which is a great option for children to retreat to, whether being alone or in small groups—with a sibling or a good friend. Of course, it is also accessible and safe for adults: the height of 60–135 cm allows for younger children to play and read comfortably while sitting, but it also remains accessible for older kids or adults, which is essential from a safety point of view and also necessary for maintenance and cleaning.

#### 3.3.2. Physiological Characteristics

During the designing and building process, a number of aspects had to be taken into account, such as ecological considerations, financial possibilities and constraints, and the life expectancy, maintenance and repair of the two buildings. Important decisions had to be made for their whole lifespan in terms of safety and long-term accessibility and functioning. This includes not only the main functions, but also all future activities performed in, on or around them.

The floor of both buildings is made of local wood planks that are resistant to water if ventilated and dried out occasionally. Therefore, structures are lifted from the ground and the planks are built in with small gaps between them. It is a non-slipping, natural material, pleasant to touch and—similarly important—to smell, which was easy to assemble during a workshop organized with local volunteers and architecture students from all over the world. Later on, the planks can easily be replaced with simple tools by local workers. This is especially important for the bathing functions of the bathroom, where breakdown might happen faster. To avoid this and lengthen the lifespan of the structure, it opens up from the sides to ensure the flow of air. Meanwhile, partial shading creates a sense of protection and protects from the hot southern sunshine. Still, it allows enough sunlight to have a drying and disinfecting effect.

The buildings are located close to each other, near a traditional building, which functions as the kitchen and dining area. The examined buildings were also made using local materials, so the natural colors and textures of wood, bamboo and stone appear, thus ensuring cultural continuity and connection with the previous, traditional structures. These natural materials are environmentally friendly but also "human friendly": they are safe, they do not need toxic surface treatment or preservatives, they are easy to replace

and provide durable surfaces. Their touch and sight blend the houses in the surrounding natural landscape and built environment. Bamboo has been used on surfaces that are particularly exposed to weather because it is more durable and even more easy to replace. In addition, it is lightweight, which minimizes the risk of accidents and simplifies construction and maintenance processes. Locally available natural earth pigments were used to color the surfaces.

**Figure 4.** (**a**) Cross-section and (**b)** floor plan of the Library. Figures: Own drawings of the author (Mizsei, A.) based on TYIN Tegnestue Architects (Andreas G. Gjertsen, Yashar Hanstad), Available online: http://www.tyinarchitects.com/ (accessed on 13 July 2021).

3.3.3. Psychological and Cultural Aspects

The loss of their home and family is a serious trauma for every child who has to survive such things. Far away from their homes, one of the most important tasks of Safe Haven is to help them heal from those experiences. The spatial system, materials and colors of the examined buildings are suitable for creating objects and places to connect to [24], slowly taking over the role of the home in the lives of the children. Aspects of this are examined in this chapter (Figure 5).

**Figure 5.** Group of children playing in the Library building. Photo of Safe Haven Library, photo: Pasi Aalto, architecture: TYIN Tegnestue (Andreas G. Gjertsen, Yashar Hanstad), Avail-able online: http://www.tyinarchitects.com/download/works/2009\_safehavenlibrary/01 \_safehavenlibrary\_photos\_hires.zip (accessed on 13 July 2021).

The community of different age groups creates a special situation in the orphanage. In addition to being educated for their independent lives in the future, children learn to cooperate and help each other. This is why the projects analyzed here are in a special position. In addition to being inclusive for all ages and abilities, it is neither necessary, nor even desired to completely rule out the presence of a helping hand or caretaker in all cases. Older or more experienced children can share their knowledge with their younger peers, helping them until they can cope on their own. Its community-building and educational benefits are invaluable, not only for the recovery and development of traumatized children, but also for their later lives, when it comes to further education, workplaces or private life. Empathy is thus manifested in buildings on two levels: on one hand, their design responds sensitively to the users' problems, and on the other hand, they encourage desirable, empathic behaviors. Both the bathhouse and the library contribute greatly to these values.

Independence and the relationships between children and young people are of priority. However, adult management, supervision and attachment to caregivers are also important for the users. In the bathhouse, the little ones are helped to bathe by adults or their older "siblings". These are intimate moments when they receive the full, undivided attention of the caregiver. In addition, there are no tables or chairs in the library except for the two computer desks. The teacher and students sit in a circle on the floor or carpet, horizontally on the same level, forming a group. This horizontal system encourages personal connections and is being rediscovered nowadays in the Western world by democratic and alternative educational methodologies. In addition, the more flexible the space is, regarding its arrangement and usage, the less harm the constant sitting position makes on the posture of students [25]. Its significance is enormous when it comes to children who are cut off from the family environment. It gives children a family-like experience, strengthens the sense of belonging, encourage cooperation and acceptance of each other.

The use of local workers and building materials available in the area has resulted in architectural forms that are related to local archetypes. This makes them look "familiar" to the children, which will help to strengthen the children's identity and their sense of security. In addition to their physical and mental development, it provides cultural continuity. Given their past injuries, this is particularly important for this group.

Due to the open design of the small library, it connects to a much larger area than its actual size. It is a central point in a free area, where community life and games flow around it freely. Similarly, in local building traditions, outdoor and transitional spaces also have a great significance: most activities throughout the day take place outside the house. Moreover, the interior usually has a direct visual connection to the exterior, as traditional Thai buildings are not enclosed by walls, but only roofs and floors [16]. Arriving from the outdoor activities, the building welcomes children between the two wings of the building, where they can prepare for joining the quieter, organized, guided classes covered and protected by bamboo blinds. The function of the attic is to provide shading and ventilation, in addition to offering children a private playground and their own space. The significance of these nooks for them is huge in the long run: they are imprinted into their memories, and they improve their perception of space and their own place in it. For those who have lost a home, such spaces can restore their attachment to places.

When it comes to colors, the two buildings work together. Wood, bamboo and locally found stones remained untreated, with a natural, rustic appearance—another important feature of building traditions of the region [17]. The walls built from concrete blocks are plastered and given a slight coloring: yellow and red appear on the bathhouse, and a natural, cooler, blue-gray shade on the library. In addition to its playful sight, the reason behind the difference lays in function. The bright colors of the bathhouse not only refresh the body but also enliven the spirit and slightly increase the feeling of warmth. Blue appears as a calming contrast. In the library, the cool, soothing shades help kids to focus. Books, toys and fabrics are enough of bright colored spots in the library. The softness of wood, bamboo, textiles and paper also provides the small study room better acoustics, which helps to focus attention and transforms learning into a pleasant daily activity.

#### **4. Discussion**

In the two projects of the case study (Figure 6), the creators also step back to simple solutions: orientation, lighting and creating a good microclimate. Meanwhile, they create "pleasant" places for the community, as one of the essential elements of sustainability is that users love the building so they can and want to use it for as long as possible. Recognizing that the main problem is not energy supply—energy is available almost indefinitely from different sources—the real problem is waste generation. It responds to minimize this with a timeless design and proper material selection. With these fundamentals, he follows the ideas of Pallasmaa, who preferred the "living" materials of traditional cultures and the humanistic scale to the abstract and universalizing effects of modern technology [11].

**Figure 6.** (**a**) Design on site—sketches. (**b**) Community building.Sketches of the designers and photo of the building process TYIN Tegnestue Architects (Andreas G. Gjertsen, Yashar Han-stad), Available online: http://www.tyinarchitects.com/ downloads/ (accessed on 14 July 2021).

In addition to their theoretically grounded approach, the construction and realization played an important role in the design. Being from all over the world, the architects did not design the buildings in advance, but did so "in situ" after getting to know the culture and building traditions, as well as considering the available sources, local conditions and climate. The final design was chosen after a few days of workshops. This way, they could ensure cultural continuity through their "gentle" intervention. This chapter is to detail connections and similarities to local building practices and point out any differences.

#### *4.1. Orientation and Place*

Traditionally, Thai inhabitants settled in smaller farming communities, with buildings organized around a common space [16]. The orphanage follows this pattern with different buildings for different functions loosely inhabiting the field. The two buildings fit into this concept, with their individual pavilion-like appearance (Figure 7).

(**a**)

(**b**)

**Figure 7.** (**a**)Library floor plan sun path. (**b**) Library section, sun path. Sketches of san path, based on TYIN Tegnestue Architects (Andreas G. Gjertsen, Yashar Hanstad), Available online: http://www.tyinarchitects.com/ (accessed on 23 August 2021).

Mostly, regional Thai houses were oriented lengthwise in an east–west direction. This way, they could avoid excessive heating from the sun [16]. The library is oriented exactly this way. Large openings to the west provide enough light throughout the day and lets in the most direct sunlight in the evening, so they can use the building for as long as possible.

However, there are examples of traditional houses, especially in the north [16] where the climate is less hot and temperature fluctuates more daily, that are oriented south–north. However, the area of the orphanage lays in Central Thailand, with relatively hot and humid weather, and the main usage of the bathhouse takes place in the mornings and evenings. In addition, due to its function, structures are more prone to dampness and mold. Facing to the south, structures can easily be dried up by the strong solar radiation, working as a natural disinfectant (Figure 8).

**Figure 8.** Sun path diagrams at 13:00, 15:00 and 17:00 at the location. Sun path diagrams. SunCalc.org, Available online: https://www.suncalc.org/#/17.5661,97.912,18/2021.08.23/15:15/1/3 (accessed on 23 August 2021).

#### *4.2. Spatial Organization*

Both buildings follow some basic principles of traditional Thai architecture. Maybe the most important is that both have an open terrace in the centre and verandas under the roof. Such transitional spaces play an important role of daily life in Thai culture and therefore important in the socialization of these children.

The buildings also have large openings and visual connection to the exterior, which is also an important principle of regional architecture. Floor levels are lifted, standing on stilts, providing a seat: "In this pattern of local Thai culture, the act of sitting or lying down on wooden floorboards became a feature of the normal lifestyle. As explained, the steps between the platforms in the houses were used for eating, resting or sleeping in order to obtain the benefit of the natural cool breezes passing through the space underneath" [16]. Bamboo shadings protect the interior without enclosing it hermetically. Life can flow in and around the houses uninterrupted.

Usually, the ground floor is used for the main functions of regional buildings, with the attic serving only as a buffer zone or storage. In the case of these projects, only the library has an attic, which is for storage and serves as a zone for children to climb and play. The main library and educational functions remain downstairs.

Traditional Thai houses have around 40% of their floor area as terraces (open or semi-open transitional spaces) and up to 60% with the veranda areas added [3]. Those proportions, of course, are a bit different due to the functions and usage of the buildings: more for the bathhouse and a bit less for the library.

#### *4.3. Structures, Materials and Building Process*

Permanent structures in Thailand are usually made of wood. For semi-permanent or temporary ones, on the other hand, bamboo is used more commonly [3]. A basic feature is that all regional buildings have a lightweight structure and wooden plank walls where necessary. However, in the last 20 years, masonry blocks and concrete also have been used in an attempt to follow Western patterns, in spite of the fact that they cannot provide the advantages that traditional, ventilated structures do. However, according to [2], these houses "benefit from the massive construction in a region where night temperatures often drop below the comfort zone, and there is a larger diurnal temperature swing" [2].

Both buildings analysed here are kind of a hybrid structure, with solid walls enclosing parts of them or specific functions, such as toilets or bookshelves. This way, the designers and builders could balance between modern masonry structures and traditional appearance and technology. In fact, they managed to benefit from both by appropriately deciding the proportions and disposition of each. The massive blocks create the core of the structure with the wooden roof "floating" above it, using the traditional method of creating a gap between walls and roofs to let air and light in. Stilts are kept quite low, as children need easy access to the buildings; still, they benefit from the cooling effect of air under them.

One reason, that solid walls and structures slowly started to displace traditional structures are the costs. Both timber and the labor cost of professional vernacular carpenters are not affordable for low-income village people or—as in our example—for an orphanage financed from donations. These two buildings are good examples that needed no advanced craftsmanship and could be realized by volunteers from materials available around. Still, they do connect to traditional architecture of the region.

#### **5. Conclusions**

To sum up, this study gives an overview of the traditional and contemporary vernacular architecture of Thailand and the problems that the loss of traditional knowledge causes. It is also an attempt to reveal the ergonomic aspects of traditional architecture, pointing out the specific ergonomic requirements for the environment designed for children and their caregivers. The buildings chosen for the case study are good examples of today's socially sensitive architectural approach, based on local materials, community building, and an ergonomic and ecological approach that works harmoniously both with the natural

and the built environment. These two small-scale projects also demonstrate that a highly functional and ergonomic solution can emerge without strict regulations if created with the empathetic attitude of the creators and the involvement of end users.

In addition to their functionality, the aim of the buildings is to strengthen the users' identities and not estrange them from their own cultural heritage. This kind of approach is also beneficial for the participating architects and students, too, as they might also find a way to return to their own roots and seek local solutions in their practices later on. Projects and processes such as these therefore represent a great educational value in our overly technocratic world.

The most important outcome of this study is, therefore, that neither ergonomics nor sustainability should be examined without consideration of the local features of architecture and society. Contemporary design needs to acknowledge its characteristics: the only way to sustainability is following and organically evaluating traditional regional building technologies. This connection and the how incorporating more elements from traditional architecture and cultural attributes affect design methods, construction and community building might be a direction for future studies.

**Author Contributions:** Conceptualization, A.M. and P.G.H.; methodology, P.G.H.; writing—review and editing, A.M.; supervision, P.G.H. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

**Funding:** This research received no external funding.

**Data Availability Statement:** Data used for this study available in the following publicly accessible repository, created and used for educational and research purposes: Norris, B. Childata: The Handbook of Child Measurements and Capabilities: Data for Design Safety; Consumer Safety Unit, Department of Trade and Industry, University of Nottingham: Nottingham, UK, 1995. Peebles, L. Adultdata: The Handbook of Adult Anthropometric and Strength Measurements: Data for Design Safety; Consumer Safety Unit, Department of Trade and Industry, University of Nottingham: Nottingham, UK, 1998.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.

#### **References**

## *Article* **Spatial Distribution Characteristics and Influencing Factors of the World Architectural Heritage**

**Xuefei Wang 1, Jiazhen Zhang 2,\*, Jeremy Cenci 2 and Vincent Becue 2**

1 School of Architecture, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, China<EMAIL_ADDRESS>
<EMAIL_ADDRESS>(J.C<EMAIL_ADDRESS>(V.B.)

**\*** Correspondence<EMAIL_ADDRESS>
**Abstract:** This research focusing on the world architectural heritage sites registered in the World Heritage List established by UNESCO aimed to analyze its spatial distribution characteristics and influencing factors at the world and regional level to provide a scientific basis for further architectural heritage conservation. Firstly, this study explored the spatial distribution characteristics of the world architectural heritage sites using the ArcGIS spatial analysis method. Then, we used the space–time statistical method to analyze their spatial and temporal distribution characteristics. The main findings are as follows: (1) world architectural heritage sites are distributed in clusters with imbalanced patterns and a strong degree of concentration: in Western Europe, Eastern Asia, and Northwestern Latin America, with clear country distribution, especially in Italy, China, and Mexico; (2) the time of construction can be divided into four stages: the ancient historic sites stage, the uniform and stable stage, the stage of growth in Asia and Europe, and the stage of growth in Europe, America, and Africa; (3) different types of heritage sites are unevenly distributed, and the type distribution differs significantly between regions, with regional uniqueness. The authors also analyzed the influencing factors of the spatial distribution characteristics and highlighted the important influence of the geographical environment, historical evolution, economic strength and discourse power, international heritage protection situation, and registration policy. This study may provide basis for specific guidance and directions for heritage protection for various countries and regions.

**Keywords:** architectural heritage; spatial distribution characteristics; spatial layout; spatial structure; influencing factors; UNESCO heritage; heritage protection

#### **1. Introduction**

The protection of cultural and natural heritage is now a cultural trend affecting the world and a cultural hotspot concerning governments, people, and various international and regional organizations [1,2]. Architectural heritage, which is subordinate to cultural heritage, is an important part of cultural heritage protection. In addition to the universal value and significance of cultural heritage, architectural heritage is more important because it is directly and closely related to the human living environment.

Architectural heritage is the carrier of human historical activities, the memory of the city, an indispensable and important part of human civilization. The term "architectural heritage" comes from the Venice Charter, which means historic monuments and sites [3]. The systemic protection of architectural heritage began in the Renaissance. The changes in the concept of heritage protection are mainly reflected in the international conservation documents and charters published in different periods [4]. With the passage of time and the deepening of academic understanding of heritage management, more and more protection regulations have been promulgated [5–7]. The Athens Charter, the Venice Charter, the World Heritage Convention, the Florence Charter, etc. represent the stage achievements of the formation of the concept of protecting cultural and natural heritage, which reflect the new thoughts of heritage protection in various periods. In recent years, under the

**Citation:** Wang, X.; Zhang, J.; Cenci, J.; Becue, V. Spatial Distribution Characteristics and Influencing Factors of the World Architectural Heritage. *Heritage* **2021**, *4*, 2942–2959. https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage 4040164

Academic Editor: Éva Lovra

Received: 31 August 2021 Accepted: 28 September 2021 Published: 30 September 2021

**Publisher's Note:** MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

**Copyright:** © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/).

2 Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning, University of Mons, 7000 Mons, Belgium;

circumstances of globalization, informatization, and climate change, protection of the architectural heritage has become more comprehensive, complex, and urgent.

Architectural heritage includes not only single buildings of superior quality and their surroundings, but also all towns or villages with historical and cultural significance [8]. It is an important carrier of local cultural identity [9], and its spatial distribution to some extent reflect the historical context and evolution process of civilization development and its internal relations in different geographical locations. At present, academic research on architectural heritage from the perspective of space mainly involves micro and medium aspects, as well as macro-level research on specific types of architectural heritage, such as industrial heritage, religious architectural heritage, etc. [10–12]. Studies on the spatial distribution characteristics of architectural heritage sites on the global level are scarce.

Regarding understanding of architectural heritage value, the academic community has experienced a corresponding development process [13]. Older research on the spatial distribution of architectural heritage was mainly concentrated on the field of architecture and geography. Due to the interdisciplinary nature of the concept of architectural heritage, it often intersects with archaeology, art humanities, tourism, and other fields [14–17]. In terms of research objects, studies on the spatial distribution of architectural heritage often overlap with related studies on specific heritage types, such as world heritage [18], endangered world heritage [19], industrial heritage [20], agricultural cultural heritage [21], mining heritage [22], cultural landscape heritage [23], religious architectural heritage [24], and settlement heritage [25]. On the spatial scale, studies have been conducted on the hemispheric, zonal, intercontinental, national scales, etc. However, the statistics of all the sites have not been sorted out and the research has not been carried out at the global level.

Therefore, from the perspective of spatial distribution, this study used the ArcGIS software (Geographic Information System Company, Environmental Systems Research Institute, West Redlands, CA, USA) spatial analysis and the geographical model method to study the general spatial distribution characteristics of the world architectural heritage sites registered in the World Heritage List. The influencing factors were further studied to reveal the spatial distribution patterns and provide a scientific basis for the research on the system and the method of architectural heritage protection.

#### **2. Research Materials and Methods**

#### *2.1. The Source of the World Architecutral Heritage*

The architectural heritage in this article refers to the architectural heritage sites that were examined and approved according to the standards and procedures stipulated in the World Heritage Convention issued by UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) and then registered in the World Heritage List after being confirmed by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee.

At present, in this list, there are 1154 world heritage sites in the world, including 897 world cultural heritage sites, 218 world natural heritage sites, and 39 world cultural and natural heritage sites. The UNESCO 1972 World Heritage Convention defines architectural heritage as cultural heritage monuments, groups of buildings and sites with the outstanding universal value from the point of view of history, art, or science [26]. Based on this convention, an architectural heritage site can be interpreted as an "artifact", where its elements are witnesses of the cultures, actors, and events that occurred during the life of the building [27].

The world architectural heritage sites listed in this article are based on the 2021 statistics. Referring to the standard description of the World Heritage Convention and the Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention, the authors selected 877 architectural heritage sites as research objects distributed between five global politico-economic and cultural zones, 148 countries and regions, involving seven heritage types, including sites, monuments, group of buildings, cultural landscape, heritage towns and town centers, heritage canals, and heritage routes (Table 1) [28,29]. All the tables and figures in this article were elaborated by the authors.

**Table 1.** Architectural heritage types and definitions.

#### *2.2. World Architecture Heritage Coordinate Data*

With the help of the Google Earth Map Coordinate picker, the spatial coordinates of the sites in the list that conform to the architectural heritage criteria were calibrated [30]. The spatial distribution map of the world architectural heritage was generated (Figure 1).

**Figure 1.** Spatial distribution map of the world architectural heritage. Note: The Antarctic plate is not shown in the picture because it does not feature any sites from the World Heritage List.

#### *2.3. Analytical Methods*

With the help of the correlation operation model in the ArcGIS software, using the spatial analysis method of the nearest neighbor analysis and kernel density, as well as the traditional geographical model method of the spatial Gini coefficient and the imbalance index, this study analyzed the distribution characteristics of architectural heritage in the worldwide geographic space [31].

#### 2.3.1. Nearest Neighbor Analysis

On the macroscale, architectural heritage is distributed as points on the world map. The spatial distribution patterns of point elements can be summarized into three types: clustered type, random type, and dispersed type. The nearest neighbor index can be used for the analysis of the proximity degree of point elements in the geographic space. We calculated the nearest neighbor index as follows [32]:

$$R = \frac{d}{d\_E} = 2\sqrt{Dd} \tag{1}$$

where *d* represents the average of the distances between the nearest points, *dE* refers to the theoretical nearest neighbor distance, and *D* is the point density; *dE* in this formula can be calculated as follows [33]:

$$d\_E = \frac{1}{2} \sqrt{\frac{A}{n}} = \frac{1}{2\sqrt{D}}\tag{2}$$

where *A* refers to the total area of the administrative district with architectural heritage sites and *n* is the amount of world architectural heritage sites.

#### 2.3.2. Kernel Density Analysis

To further explore the aggregation areas of the world architectural heritage, the kernel density estimation model was used to evaluate the spatial aggregation degree of the architectural heritage. The kernel density estimate value was calculated as follows [34]:

$$f\_n(\mathbf{x}) = \frac{1}{nh} \sum\_{i=1}^n k\left(\frac{\mathbf{x} - X\_i}{h}\right) \tag{3}$$

where *n* represents the world architecture heritage amount, *k* is the kernel function, *x* − *Xi* refers to the distance from the estimate point *x* to the sample *Xi*, and *h* is the search radius.

#### 2.3.3. Imbalance Index

The spatial structure difference of the world architectural heritage is reflected in the difference in the number of architectural heritage sites in different regions. The imbalance index was used to reflect the equilibrium index of the distribution of the architectural heritage in different regions. The calculation formula was as follows:

$$S = \frac{\sum\_{i=1}^{n} Y\_i - \text{ 50 } (n+1)}{100n - \text{ 50 } (n+1)} \tag{4}$$

where *n* refers to the number of regions, *Yi* is the cumulative percentage of the number of architectural heritage sites to the total in the region *i*. If *S* = 0, the world architectural heritage sites are evenly distributed in each region. If *S* = 1, they are concentrated in a certain region. The closer the *S* value is to 1, the more unevenly the world architectural heritage sites are distributed.

#### 2.3.4. Gini Coefficient

The Gini coefficient was used to describe the distribution of spatial elements in discrete regions, and can be calculated as follows [35]:

$$G = \frac{-\sum\_{i=1}^{n} P\_i l\_n P\_i}{l\_n N} \tag{5}$$

$$\mathbb{C} = 1 - \mathbb{G} \tag{6}$$

where *N* is the number of regions, *Pi* refers to the percentage of the number of architectural heritage sites to the total in the region *i*, and *C* represents the uniformity of distribution. In theory, the Gini coefficient is between 0 and 1, and a higher Gini coefficient indicates a higher concentration.

#### **3. Analysis of the Spatial Structure Characteristics of the World Architectural Heritage**

#### *3.1. The Characteristics of Spatial Distribution*

#### 3.1.1. Type of Distribution Structure

We used ArcGIS10.5 to conduct the nearest neighbor analysis of 877 world architectural heritage sites. The results show that the average observation distance *d* is 180,428.4902 m, the expected average distance *dE* is 304,183.9475 m, and the nearest neighbor ratio is 0.59, less than 1, which shows that the world architectural heritage sites are clustered in space.

#### 3.1.2. Overall Distribution Pattern

The kernel density analysis in the ArcGIS10.5 spatial analysis tool was used to divide the spatial pattern of the world architectural heritage sites into four levels according to the density value, namely, core-density, high-density, medium-density, and low-density. Then, we generated the kernel density distribution map of the world architectural heritage (Figure 2).

**Figure 2.** Kernel density distribution map of the world architectural heritage. Note: The Antarctic plate is not shown in the picture because it does not feature any sites from the World Heritage List.

In Figure 2, we see that the world architectural heritage sites cluster and form a core-density zone in Western Europe and two high-density zones in Eastern Asia and Northwestern Latin America, which shows obvious agglomeration characteristics. The spatial agglomeration forms are mainly of two types: zonary and cluster distribution. They are banded in Northeast and South Asia, Western South America and Mexico in North America, and clustered in Midwestern Europe and the Eastern and Northern coastal areas of the Arab States.

#### 3.1.3. Distribution Differences between Various Regions

The world architectural heritage sites are divided into five global politico-economic and cultural zones by UNESCO [36]. According to Formula (4), after calculation and analysis of the data of heritage amounts, proportions, and cumulative proportions in each zone in Table 2, it can be concluded that the imbalance index *S* of the world architectural heritage is 0.53. It shows that the distribution of architectural heritage sites in the five zones of the world is imbalanced, and there are obvious differences in each region.

**Table 2.** Statistics on the distribution of the world architectural heritage in various regions.

1 There is one architectural heritage site shared by Europe and North America, Asia and the Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean.

The number of European and North American architectural heritage sites accounts for 51.99% of the global world architectural heritage, which is much higher than even distribution (20%). Asia and the Pacific account for 21.73%, and the other three regions are all below the even distribution. Antarctica has no architectural heritage listed in the World Heritage List (Table 2). With the results, we generated the world architectural heritage distribution map in Figure 3.

**Figure 3.** World architectural heritage distribution map. Note: The Antarctic plate is not shown in the picture because it does not feature any sites from the World Heritage List.

#### 3.1.4. Analyses of Aggregation Areas

We calculated the Gini coefficient of the number of the world architectural heritage sites distributed in the five geographical divisions of the world to judge the uniformity of their distribution. We used Formulas (5) and (6) to calculate the Gini coefficient G = 0.81 and the distribution uniformity C = 0.19. The result shows that the concentration degree of the world architectural heritage is strong and the distribution uniformity is low in the five regions.

The 877 architectural heritage sites are distributed between 148 countries and regions, accounting for 63.52% of the total number of 233 countries and regions of the world. The results for each country within each region show the characteristics of imbalanced distribution and strong concentration in Table 3.

**Table 3.** The imbalance index and the Gini coefficient of architectural heritage sites in each region.

The specific distribution is as follows:

#### *3.2. The Characteristics of Time and Type Distribution*

#### 3.2.1. Distribution of the Registration Time