Teaching architectural design with an environmental focus: an experience with an integrated architectural design and thermal comfort subject.

Abstract

This paper presents the results of the application of environmental comfort strategies in the teaching of architectural design in the subject atelier iv - integrated architecture, urban planning and thermal comfort, which is in the 4th stage of the architecture and urban planning major at Universidade Regional de Blumenau – FURB (Blemenau Regional University) in Blumenau, Santa Catarina, Brazil. The importance given to environmental values was identified to ensure indoor thermal comfort in the residential architectural designs developed by students after classroom activities such as theoretical explanations and presentations, case studies, field visits, examples of design strategies and collective and individual advice. The results indicate that some of the projects did not give due importance to some environmental values such as vegetation, control of excessive sunlight, natural ventilation, and misidentification of solar orientation on facades. The physical-environmental values of adjusting to topography and use of visual and natural landscape were the best architectural design response, although they were not the most important to guarantee balanced conditions in residential thermal comfort. As an exercise in the teaching of integrated architectural design, improvements in attention to environmental values (focusing on thermal comfort) in the design process were noticed when compared to isolated architectural design subjects.