How to design resilient residential buildings

This seminar is part of the CIB Early Career Network and Student Chapters programme of events during 2024.
The Design of Houses in Different Cultures and Climates - Professor Bob Giddings
Everybody thinks that they know about houses and their design, because they have engaged with them, all their lives. However, house design involves some of the most complex issues of any building type. As well as shelter, safety, security and comfort, it also involves aspects such as privacy, self-expression, status, and relationships between inside and outside. In addition, it can become lost in architectural movements and the house production industry. In particular, globalism and domination by first world countries have undermined specific responses to local cultures and climates. Microclimates are especially important, but over-densification is enlarging heat islands in hot climates, and generating floods in others. This presentation will investigate the fundamental principles of house design, and how it might reflect cultures and climates in different parts of the world.
Four key strategies for resilient housing design and retrofit - Professor Sofie Pelsmakers
This talk will unfold why sustainable housing design matters and why this cannot be achieved when focusing simply on the design of the individual dwelling or the housing block, but also depends on, connects to and is defined by the surrounding living environment (i.e. the nearby neighbourhood). Sofie Pelsmakers will unfold and exemplify the interconnections of the different scales and aspects of housing design that are needed for truly sustainable living environments, based on research findings from several recent research projects undertaken in the ASUTUT research group.