Standard economic bioclimatic solar individual houses – four hypostases

In the present Romanian architectural practice for individual houses and/or residential areas, designing the architectural objects in order to function together with the nature seems to be neglected. This happens despite a great variety of bioclimatic solutions materialized in the traditional houses of all the Romanian geographical regions, in an old and rich history of traditional architecture. The approach starts with a historical overview, analyzing several examples of traditional houses in all the regions of Romania so as to identify the traditional bioclimatic solutions used to better adapt the architecture to the environment. This constitutes the source of inspiration for the four modern standard economic bioclimatic (solar) houses designed for the geographical and climatic parameters of Braşov, Romania, and destined for the middle class families. The concept is simple, based on modesty, involving minimum costs for building and using the houses, as well as for a comfortable life. The projects also offer all the premises for an efficient use of complementary systems for producing and storing energy from the environment (if opted for). The aim is to optimize the relation between the natural and the built environment in order to maximize the comfort, efficiency and economy in all the aspects of a family living in a bioclimatic house (form, function, building materials, equipments, living space, quality of life, etc.). In this respect, the architecture of the four standard economic bioclimatic (solar) individual houses presented represents a neutral and simple so-called "extruded box", as an interface between humans and environment, as a chance to better explore ourselves. (paper)