Adaptation of the Farnsworth House Porto NacionalACIONAL'S (Brasil) climate

As part of a research project in the Máster en Innovación Tecnológica en Edificación (UPM), an adaption of a simple building to a new location was carried out, coherently using advanced passive systems. The case study was the Farnsworth House, designed by L. Mies van der Rohe and built between 1945 and 1951. The building is a volume of pure forms, with a steel structure closed with a glass façade, without natural ventilation except for the main door. Despite being an icon of the international movement, the Farnsworth House is a problematic building in what comes to its relationship with climate. The location proposed is a plot 234 meters above sea level, in the municipality of Porto Nacional, Tocantins, Brazil. The type of climate in this area is Tropical Dry, according to the Köppen classification. [1] [2] The site is relatively flat; It is located east of the Tocantins River, with an important plant mass on its west side. This condition generates high levels of humidity despite being a theoretically ^dry site. All these conditions, as well as the annual climatic data, are decisive for the design and adaptation to the new location. Once the climate was studied it could be noted that ventilation allowed counteracting both the high temperatures and the humidity of the area, providing a greater integral feeling of well-being. In addition, a strategy to guarantee that high external temperatures did not reach the interior of the building seemed necessary, requiring shadow elements to avoid thermal gains -but still provide indirect natural lighting. At the same time, it seemed important to use materials with high thermal inertia and to modify the roofs, since the site is one with a large rainy season Simulations with the Star CCM+ software were performed to evaluate the building, both in its current state and under the proposed design. A drastic improvement in air movement could be verified, proving the suitability of the strategies implemented for adequate natural ventilation. In addition, the solar path was simulated, verifying the operation of the designed eaves and the direct incidence of sunlight inside the building. This research shows that architecture must adapt to a specific latitude and to a particular site, with its topography, vegetation and water masses, its materials and its surroundings. Simple designs are not easily adaptable to any environment, so architects must take into account all the aspects around them. Several digital tools exist nowadays that allow verifying the adequacy of every environmental adaptation, making it possible to determine, before construction, if the proposed constructive solution really solves the identified problem