Transitional change in proto-buildings: a quantitative study of thermal behaviour and its relationship with social functionality

The almost universal transition from ‘brushwood’ huts to ‘pithouses’ to above-ground rectilinear huts constitutes an example of architectural convergence, having occurred in numerous culturally unrelated regions around the world. This transition was accompanied by a pattern of change in the way these proto-buildings performed thermally. A quantitative study using engineering-analysis, outlined here, shows that the thermal microclimatic range and potential for selective thermal control (the building's thermal capacity) gradually increased throughout the proto-building phase. This means that the range of thermally dependent functions that the occupants were capable of performing would have correspondingly increased throughout the phase. This pattern, of increasing thermal capacity and the potential for social functionality that is present throughout the proto-building phase, is also present throughout the vastly longer term trajectory of change evident in the built environment generally. Over time, change in the built environment has tended towards the prevalence of classes of buildings that possess selectively adjustable thermal systems, systems that can accommodate diverse and changing social options.