Renata Jadresin Milic

This paper analyses Aleksandar Deroko's research on the preservation of vernacular architecture in the territory of the former Yugoslavia, using his work as a foundation for understanding vernacular building practices. The paper aims to: 1) present the theoretical perspectives of Professor Deroko in the field of research and protection of vernacular architecture; 2) examine the significance of his role in the study and protection of vernacular architecture; and 3) situate his approach within contemporary principles of protection and valorisation. The discussion includes current approaches to safeguarding vernacular heritage (including vernacular architecture), illustrated through the preservation of Gostusa village on Stara Planina as a case of good practice.

Based on field studies, this study contributes the new physical data of winter indoor thermal conditions of the indoor spaces with four different dust mite allergen levels in New Zealand houses. This study provides a new method to identify the relationships between indoor thermal conditions and indoor dust mite allergen levels. This study found that the indoor mean relative humidity (RH) close to the floor must be controlled below 70%, and there must be less than 30% of time in winter when indoor RH close to the floor is higher than or equal to 75% to maintain indoor dust mite allergens at an undetectable level; and the indoor mean RH close to the floor must be controlled below 75%, and there must be less than 50% of time in winter when indoor RH close to the floor is higher than or equal to 75% to maintain indoor dust mite allergens at a low (acceptable) level. This study also identified the relationship between indoor thermal conditions for dust mites to thrive and for mould spores to germinate. This study provides a strategy or guideline for preventing indoor allergies related to dust mites and mould under the temperate climate zone; the winter is mild and humid.

This paper aims to analyse the methods used in the existing literature on architectural history that introduce the characteristics of Chinese architecture. The investigation sought to address the research question: How might the characteristics of Chinese architecture be methodically classified and systematically organised to encourage creativity and innovation for architecture students?Following a preliminary discussion, three seminal architectural history books formed the core foundation of this study. One significant finding from the review is that no single method of categorisation can comprehensively illustrate the entire history of Chinese architecture. All systems of classification present a process and effort to balance the need for in-depth knowledge and the demand for a holistic overview. The paper proposes an ‘integrated system’ to systematise and present the subject to architecture students as a possible answer to the question posed in this study. This paper hopes to contribute to the current and ongoing local and international debate on the pedagogy of architectural history.

The Asylum architecture–design–research journal remains committed to publishing high-quality, blind peer-reviewed academic work that reflects our sustained critical interest in the contemporary issues of our profession, and the challenges they pose to individuals and society in a global context. In partnership with Unitec’s digital publishing platform, ePress, we ensure immediate open access to our content. Together, we make Asylum available to read and download for free, fostering a global exchange of knowledge, supporting emerging and established scholars, and providing a valuable avenue for scholarly dissemination.

The Asylum journal continues to be committed to publishing peer-reviewed, quality-assured academic work and to presenting examples of a vibrant and active research culture that characterises Unitec’s School of Architecture. In close collaboration with our not-for-profit online publisher ePress, immediate open access to our content is provided, to support a greater global exchange of knowledge, nurture emerging scholars, and offer an alternative channel for scholarly dissemination. The peer-reviewed section of Asylum 2023 comprises six academic papers, with scholarly research that is both practice based and theoretical. The papers investigate architectural and urban design, landscape architecture, architectural history, technology, professional practice and teaching innovations, and deal with fundamental questions critical for Aotearoa today.

When it comes to an urban environment, the first things that often come to mind are the buildings, structures and spaces that surround us and have meaning for us. In Aotearoa New Zealand, we also have explicitly significant buildings and structures that we consider part of our heritage, despite being relatively young compared to many other nations. The country’s cultural heritage sites, buildings and objects are treasures of distinctive value. They can be roughly divided into four overlapping categories: archaeological sites, historic buildings and structures, places of significance to Māori, and cultural landscapes.2 All ethnic groups residing in Aotearoa New Zealand have contributed to the country’s cultural heritage, and “the result is an evolving mix of Polynesian, European, and also Asian, ways of seeing and doing, making each new generation of New Zealanders slightly different from the previous one and yet intimately linked to it.”3 These heritage sites and buildings are part of our urban and rural environment, and are assets with distinctive value and meaning to both Māori and Pākehā.

Previous studies show that moderate thermal mass in school building elements can positively impact the winter indoor thermal environment in a temperate climate with mild, humid winters. Based on a field study, this research contributes new physical data of the summer indoor thermal environment of Auckland school buildings with different designs of moderate thermal mass in their building elements to add to the previous winter field-study data and demonstrates that a school building with moderate thermal mass is adequate in a temperate climate with mild, humid winters and warm, dry summers. This field study compared and evaluated the summer indoor thermal environment of classrooms with different moderate thermal mass in their building elements during the summer school term and the summer school holidays. This study found that a classroom with thermal mass in its building elements has 19% to 21% more time in summer than a classroom without any thermal mass in its building elements when indoor air temperatures are within the thermal comfort zone, which was solely impacted by the building’s thermal performance. This study established a suitable research method to analyse the field-study data and identify the differences in the indoor thermal environments of the school buildings with different designs of moderate thermal mass in their building elements.

Late in 2019 a small group of Pākehā staff at Unitec School of Architecture organised an initiative to review the course structure after relocating to a different building on campus. Gifted a name, Tau-utuutu, by Kaihautū Kimoro Taiepa, they facilitated a series of staff engagement workshops, and from this extensive staff feedback developed a draft Living Vision document that identified the interconnected issues of the climate emergency and colonisation. However, it became evident that the process to that point had lacked genuine partnership with tangata whenua. Subsequent, kōrero with Ngā Ia Vai, the Māori and Pacific caucus within the school, resulted in a collaborative presentation to the Unitec Research Symposium in December 2021. This paper records the process of getting to this presentation phase and suggests that a deeper understanding of the responses might be gained through the twin languages of drawing and kōrero. The paper acknowledges the significance of Te Noho Kotahitanga, an existing partnership document at Unitec, and calls for action to implement the ideals and values of te Tiriti o Waitangi in order to decarbonise and decolonise the Unitec Architecture programme.

The peer-reviewed section of Asylum 2022 comprises five papers on architectural and urban research, built project investigations and pedagogical innovation, and collaboration with communities and industry. The papers are grouped both thematically and based on their research category, stated on the first page of each paper as: Original Research Article, Short Communication – Preliminary Original Research Article, or Commentary/Critique/Polemical Article.