Sustainable Ceramic Architecture: Through the Lens of History and Tradition
- Student
- Faith Primozic
- College(s)
- School of Architecture
- Faculty Advisor
- John Mellor
- Class Year
- 2022
Abstract
Ceramics as a building material have been present in architecture for tens of thousands of years, constantly evolving with nature and technology in nearly every part of the world. As a result, buildings incorporating ceramics are standing testaments to the properties that make the material durable and sustainable, from incredible natural insulating properties to the ability to be easily cleaned, replaced, and maintained over a building’s entire lifespan. At the beginning of the 20th century, structural ceramics all but disappeared from modern architecture as glass, steel, and concrete dominated the industry, all of which are known to have significant ecological impacts. As the building industry continues to be a major contributor to environmental damage and climate change, the world cannot rely on new technological advancements as the sole solution to addressing the effect of the built environment. Instead, architects must look to historical precedent as an example of building durable, lasting, and sustainable structures within different contexts and using that knowledge as a foundation for further development, an opportunity found in abundance within the rich and diverse history of ceramics in architecture. This report synthesizes information on traditional ceramic architecture both from existing studies and new research to present a case study on how ceramic timbrel vaulting and other ceramic materials can be effectively utilized to enhance the sustainable qualities of buildings. The goal of this research is ultimately to illustrate how traditional building materials and methods may be used as a precedent for architects and engineers in the United States and abroad as they consider sustainable alternatives to common building methods.
Introduction
We often view buildings as permanent things — unmoving, monolithic structures that do not seem to change as we go about our daily life around and within them — but this is not the case. Most buildings have a lifespan, a process of build, demolish, and repeat that perpetuates across the centuries. The notable exceptions are the landmark buildings that are meticulously renovated and restored, but most buildings do not receive that sort of treatment. Instead, they decay. They lose integrity. They become uninhabitable, undesirable, and unusable.
A major issue with modern construction is that this process is greatly accelerated in the buildings that are produced today. Glass and steel curtain wall construction has only half the life expectancy of a traditional masonry and wood building.1 That means that the materials that we are putting into most modern buildings are being used and discarded twice as fast as in previous centuries, an issue highlighted by the fact that steel, concrete, and glass contain more embodied carbon than most other materials that we use to build.2 More of these buildings go up every day, and yet we so rarely hear this aspect of architecture being spoken about when it comes to sustainability.
There is no simple solution to this problem. Instead, it is necessary to reevaluate what it means to build sustainably that includes an understanding of durability and efficiency, and part of this includes revisiting traditional building materials and methods of the past. The material that this report seeks to explore in this fashion is ceramics as a structural and aesthetic element in buildings. Ceramics can be found gracing the architecture of historic buildings around the world, and the fact that so many of them remain is a testament to the material’s integrity. In its performance, this material has established itself as being durable, insulative, and efficient. The clay sourced for its production is abundant, renewable, and recyclable. Ceramics have real potential as a sustainable building material, and this gives it great value in a world where nearly half of all energy usage and greenhouse gas emissions originates in the building sector. 3 Additionally, the green potential of ceramics continues to increase as innovations are made in its material properties, production methods, and structural forms that increase its efficiency, decrease its embodied energy, and adapt it to a multitude of applications.
In order to create lasting buildings that are truly sustainable, it is logical to create an innate connection between the materials of the building itself and the qualities that make it sustainable. Understanding the connection between traditional building materials and longevity, efficiency in usage, and overall environmental impact is vital to explore ways that utilize these materials to maximize efficacy, minimize environmental impact, and improve quality of life within our societies.
End Notes
1. Kyle Normandin and Susan Macdonald, “Report from Colloquium to Advance Practice of ... - Getty,” March 7, 2013, https://www.getty.edu/conservation/publications_resources/pdf_publications/pdf/colloquium_report.pdf.
2. Geoffrey Hammond and Craig Jones, Rep, Embodied Carbon - The Inventory of Carbon and Energy (ICE), Bracknell, Berkshire: BSRIA, 2011.
3. Margaret Robertson, Sustainability Principles and Practice, New York: Routledge, 2021.