This thesis has inquired as to the social and economic factors which are necessary for an industrialization process. The study has concentrated on defining industrialization and building systems; the chronological development of earthen-shelters; and the energy, contractor, and financing issues which are prevalent in the existing earthen-sheltered housing market. In addition, the thesis addresses issues such as the social perception of earthen-sheltered space, comparative cost analysis to conventional housing, and land development ethics. / Department of Landscape Architecture

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

The purpose of this thesis is to explore the concepts of privacy and to propose design patterns for providing privacy for individuals and families in the context of Montreal row houses. / The study examines and explores the notion of privacy through a multidisciplinary literature review and links this notion to the row houses. The morphogenesis of row houses, the role of occupants and the built environment in the evolution of privacy issues in this housing type is investigated through a broad historical review and site surveys. The research leads to a series of proposed design patterns which can be used as tools for provision and maintenance of privacy in row houses. Specific consideration is given to present and future housing requirements.

The principal research for this study is into the invention and use of Solomit, a compressed straw building plate, which became available when a fibre bale building method also sought to ease the European post-Great War housing shortage. Both methods were patented in France in the early 1920s. Solomit patents registered by Serge Tchayeff in France, Australia, and Britain, and patents for bale building by Emile Feuillette registered in France and the US, are analysed. The vernacular precedents of both are argued. The South Australian patents connected to Solomit and registered during the later 1930s are discussed. This study broadly establishes the history of the initial South Australian venture (1935-1937) to manufacture Solomit under licence from Germany and to establish widespread Solomit construction; it notes Solomit's admission (in principle) to the Building Act 1940 (SA); and identifies examples of government building tenders won by the company. Although certain evidence establishes the naivety of the South Australian enterprise about German socio-political realities of 1933-1937, I consider the possibility that Australian Solomit manufacture may have held political promise for the NSDAP (German Nazi Party) in Australia, and follow an assumption that in South America, strongly influenced by NSDAP Germany, the aggressor exploited Solomit for import-export advantages tenuously connected to building projects. / The study suggests that a likely model for Australian Solomit demonstration building was the artisans' housing proposed in the early 1920s by the Swiss-French architect Le Corbusier (1887-1965); and it brings forward Tchayeff and Le Corbusier's collaboration in use of Solomit, particularly in building the Pavillon de L'Esprit Nouveau (1924-1925), thereby emphasising an aspect of this exhibition prototype house previously inadequately exposed. Solomit was manufactured at Berlin from 1929 and was used for urban dwelling extensions and improved thermal insulation. The much wider use of Solomit during the inter-war years, and particularly with the onset of the Great Depression, for German city-peripheral settlements, and in the Weimar Republic and later NSDAP governments' push for Eastlands settlement, is explored. It is probable that in Germany Solomit was overtaken by concurrent and energetically improved efficiencies in building materials and that by the late 1930s little purpose was seen for a material then viewed as regressive. The fate of the South Australian Solomit company showed certain parallels. The relationship of German austerity building of the 1920s to the existing vernacular building methods which were encouraged by government as economical substitutes is explored. These vernacular methods, encouraged by the Republic immediately before Solomit's first production in Germany, are related to Solomit's adoption. Surviving South Australian Solomit houses (built from 1938 to 1961) and other local Solomit constructions (some demolished) are identified. Contrary to some original Australian perceptions, existing Solomit buildings - the walls of which several owners describe as 'hollow' - have generally proved durable. This study maps the extent of South Australian Solomit building; and the penultimate chapter gives to it a pictorial overview. Non-constructional thermal and acoustic Solomit sheeting is currently manufactured in Victoria. Recent Canadian interest in Australian Solomit for its use in fibre bale building suggests a possibly wider future use of Solomit. This study rediscovers Solomit's invention and aspects of its European and Australian use and assessments, and provides a part of the history of a largely forgotten building material. / Thesis (PhDArchitectureandDesign)--University of South Australia, 1998.

This project investigates the performance of brick-veneer cold-formed steel-framed domestic structures when subjected to earthquake-induced loads. It focuses on the effects of the so-called non-structural components, namely, plasterboard lining and brick veneer cladding. An extensive testing program was conducted on a full scale one-room-house measuring 2.3m x 2.4m x 2.4m high. This house was tested at various stages of construction to assess the contribution of the various components. Different types of loading, including non-destructive swept sine wave, destructive pseudo-static cyclic racking and simulated earthquakes were employed to obtain the various characteristics of the structure. The testing program on the test house was complemented by further tests on critical components such as brick ties and plasterboard connections. Detailed analytical models were developed and verified against the experimental results. These models were then used to conduct a sensitivity analysis to study other configurations, identify critical parameters and develop design guidelines. The experimental and analytical results have shown that the plasterboard wall lining can provide lateral bracing to domestic wall frames since they effectively act as shear walls. The performance of wall lining is greatly enhanced when set corner joints, ceiling cornices and skirting boards are considered. The capacity is increased by more than three times when these extra components are taken into account. Plasterboard also exhibits high damping and energy absorption capacity which are beneficial under earthquake loading. Furthermore, the strength and stiffness contributions of plasterboard lining and strap cross braces are additive.

Thesis (B. Arch.)--Roger Williams University, 2007. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references. Online version available via Digital Commons @ RWU.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Murdoch University, 2007. / Thesis submitted to the Division of Science and Engineering. Bibliography: leaves 189-196.

Thesis (doctoral)--Universität Breslau, 1912. / Includes bibliographical references (p. [7-8]).