Dissertation: 4.0 Alternative to be Truth to Material- A Conscious of Admiring Local Raw Material

Diving to the bottom of the subject, the intention of introducing the concept is to criticize the innovating Eco-friendly finishing product do not help the environment, but become another marketing method for those finishing product.  This chapter will be introducing an alternative of the concept – truth to material. Previous chapter have shown the advantages and the beauty of applying truth to material’s concept in architecture, an idea to go beyond this concept is not merely appreciating the origin beauty of the construction material but appreciating the local raw material too. Therefore, the selling point of the alternative is using local raw material while applying truth to material concept in architecture field. This alternative not only helps the environment, it bring out the architecture regionalism too.

4.1 How this Alternative Help on Environmental Problems.
Compare to worshiping the imported raw material, using local raw material for architecture construction can reduce the transportation cost and energy wasted. In most of the localities, natural world has given us with some materials to build with, and these material require little processing or transportation. No doubt, transportation plays a major role in the environmental issue.

“In general, the biggest contributors to the carbon footprints of individuals in industrialized nations are transportation and household electricity use.” (Nodvin, 2010)
Emissions of green house gases cause global warming; and CO2 is the major gas. Transport is one of the main contributors of the CO2 gases. Reducing or avoiding the uses of imported raw material in architecture field can reduce a big amount of transportation used.

4.2 Case Study of Architecture Staying True to Local Material
Buildings constructed with local material can reflect the regionalism of the architecture is not a new topic. It can be shown from most of the vernacular architecture.

The best representative of vernacular architecture constructed with local material nothing else is worthy except traditional Malay Houses, which are the timber house designed to suit the tropical climate. For an example, Long Roofed House (Fig. 18) located in Perlis, Malaysia, so-called Rumah Perlis in Malay is mostly constructed with local wood, such as Chengal wood and Damar Laut wood. ( K.I Pengurusan Holdings Sdn Bhd, 2011) Chengal is referring to Neobalanocarus Heimii and Damar Laut is referring to Shorea Maxwelliana, both are the wood endemic to Malay Peninsula. (Rimbun Dahan , 2010)

Figure 18

Red Brick is considered as one of the local material in China. A development of a prototype courtyard house (Fig.19) in China by Atelier Zhanglei creatively makes use of the local material (Fig. 20) and the local workers during construction. Based on the information from HomeDesignHome.com, due to this building using local material and local worker, it has also reduced the budget of the project a lot.

Figure 19

Figure 20

4.3 Suggestion of How to Make This Alternative Outstanding
Promoting using local material merely for the sake of staying true material can save the environment, will  not impressed the public to appreciate this concept in this new era. Based on the Appendix IV, Pie Chart vi, 36% responders put the main consideration on form and shape of the building, and 25% of responders emphasize on the discovery new material or technology of the building. Thus, instead of focusing on the origin beauty of the characteristic of wood and the natural jointing, architect and designer can break through the conventional wooden building with conceptualize form and shape of the building.

McBride Charles Ryan’s work in Melbourne, Letter Box House (Fig. 21) shows the creativity of how the architect breaks through the conservative wooden building. Contrasting to the raked timber wall that stretches from the letterbox to become the westerly verandah, the remainder of the house appears as a simple modernist expression akin to many of the houses in the region. (Ryan, 2011) Using merely wood, without any finishing, yet, Letter Box House still showing the dynamic with its cut edges and the play of the wood panel arrangement and the grains. (Fig. 22)

Figure 21

Figure 22