PLEA 2003 - The 20th Conference on Passive and Low Energy Architecture, Santiago – CHILE, 9 - 12 November 2003

VERANDAHS and SELF-BUILT HOUSES: the Case of

Campinas, Brazil

Doris C.C.K. Kowaltowski, Vanessa Watrin, Danielle Skubs and

Silvia A. Mikami G. Pina

Department of Architecture and Building, School of Civil Engineering, Universidade Estadual de Campinas,
UNICAMP, Caixa Postal 6021, 13083-970 Campinas, SP, Brazil, phone: +55 019 37882390,
Email: doris@fec.unicamp.br

ABSTRACT: This paper presents the results of an investigation on verandahs and self-built
houses. The investigation is part of a continuing investigation on the self-built housing
phenomenon in the region of Campinas, Brazil. In this study the verandah is singled out as a
significant building element to attain environmental comfort. A field study, in five outlying areas of
the city of Campinas, applied 76 questionnaires to families of self-built houses. A second study
analyzed 64 floor plans of self-built houses, drawn from a previous investigation. Results show
that the front verandah is less and less popular, but the back porch is still an important element for
clothes washing and drying activities. The population recognizes the verandah’s importance as a
shading element, but self-builders today seldom incorporate this knowledge into the design of
house.

Conference Topic: Traditional Architecture

Keywords: Verandahs, Environmental Comfort, Self-built House

1. INTRODUCTION diminished. The importance given to the traditional

transition space is thus an objective of study and two
This paper1 presents the results of an distinct investigations were undertaken.
investigation on verandahs and self-built houses.
The investigation is part of a continuing investigation 2. A BACKGROUND ON THE VERANDAH
on the self-built housing phenomenon in the region
of Campinas, Brazil. The verandah can be called a house
extension to the outdoors. Verandahs or porches are
In this study the verandah is singled out as a
useful accommodation spaces in overheated
significant building element to attain environmental
climates. In the history of architecture they appear in
comfort. The verandah can be shown to be a fairly
descriptions of indigenous buildings discovered by
constant element in the historical development of
Columbus [1], but must have been part of vernacular
the Brazilian house. Verandahs provide transition
architecture in many parts of the world.
from public to private spaces and shield the house
from sun and rain. Thus the terrace or verandah The loggia of Italian renaissance palaces is
improves thermal comfort of the house in hot and an important form of indoor-outdoor articulation,
humid climates, predom inant in Brazil. The through an open colonnade [2]. In the traditional
verandah also provides shaded, useful space for a Japanes e house the verandah or engawa is an
number of domestic activities. Verandahs integrate important outdoor-indoor transition space, marked
the house with its garden and can allow shielded by the wooden flooring in contrast to the mats of the
observation of the street without ostensive indoor rooms [3]. The relation to the garden is an
involvement. important feature of the Japanese verandah,
highlighted by stone steps leading up to the terrace
Recently the verandah has been more and
or verandah.
more incorporated into the indoor space of
dwellings and its use for family activities has In more recent western architecture the porch
becomes prominent in the eighteenth century,
1 especially as an English military addition to houses
Este projeto está relacionado com projetos de
located in India and the Caribbean [4]. The designed
pesquisa com apoi FINEP
PLEA 2003 - The 20th Conference on Passive and Low Energy Architecture, Santiago – CHILE, 9 - 12 November 2003

outdoor domestic space appears in the nineteenth verandah also served as an extension of indoor
century in the North American house and is space for many domestic activities, integrated to the
identified as an application of openness and a factor new urban side garden
of comfort. Insect screening of the porch becomes a
In the twentieth century the middle class
popular feature of the house in southern parts of the
house of the 30th and 40th values the verandah as a
United States. This detail is important in hot and
family and leisure activity space. Houses may have
humid climates especially for evening use or even
several verandahs in various forms, balconies,
for outdoor sleeping. In most parts of the world,
terraces or front and back porches. The simple
however, the verandah is not screened and probably
house also may have a front verandah to observe
only used in favorable conditions [1].
city life and a back porch for service activities, drying
In Brazil the verandah appears early in wash and cooking in an outdoor wood fueled oven.
colonial times, as part of the rural house (fig. 1). The Brazilian residential architecture continues to be
origin of the Brazilian colonial urban house is the influences by European stylistic developments.
medieval Portuguese urban house, which did not These influences reach the design of the
have generous verandahs. The Brazilian urban modernistic house in Brazil. The terrace no longer
counterpart may have a narrow terrace on the has a lower roof line but its roof is an extension of
second floor to observe the street. This terrace may the main roof slab, thus not providing needed sun
feature “muxarabis”, the wooden privacy screens protection for the outdoor space. The terrace is more
imported through the Iberian Peninsula from Arabic of an aesthetic feature than a utilitarian or comfort
architecture. A utilitarian verandah, as an extension detail of the house. In the fifties architects, like Lucio
to the kitchen, is common in the back of the house. Costa, revive the functions of the colonial verandah.
In many simple houses the kitchen itself is a roof The verandah is once more designed to provide
extension or porch, since cooking activities used to shaded outdoor space linked to the social activities
be dirty and hot. In the rural manor house the social of the house. Trellises appear to lower the roof line
rooms were elevated and the front entrance was and increase control of sun penetration. In the
often preceded by a wide verandah. This space sixties and seventies, air conditioning and family
served as observation post and extension of the activities around the television reduce the
formal living room, although it was not necessarily importance of the verandah in the typical Brazilian
directly physically linked to the receiving room, but to home [5].
the central corridor (fig. 2).

Figure 1: Example of a Brazilian colonial rural house

with a front verandah
Figure 3: Verandah as circulation space

w.c. Cozinha

Sala de Quarto Quarto Sala

Jantar

Corredor sem cobertura S

Figure 4: Floor plan of a Brazilian urban nineteenth

century house on typical long and narrow lot.
In the last twenty years greater importance
Figure 2: Rural verandah as observation space has been given to natural conditioning of spaces
through the concept of bioclimatic architecture.
As urban lots became wider in the nineteenth
Greater attention is shown to the verandah. The
century, the side terrace appeared and was the main
verandah is no longer only seen as a functional
circulation space of the house (fig. 3 and fig. 4). The
PLEA 2003 - The 20th Conference on Passive and Low Energy Architecture, Santiago – CHILE, 9 - 12 November 2003

element in design. The porch is recognized as an relation to the presence of verandahs, their
important transition indoor-outdoor space and a localization, orientation and dimension. Furniture
place for social contact and contemplation of nature. and other objects found on the verandah were
The porch is also an important extension of the registered. The family was asked to identify the most
house, protecting walls and openings from the sun frequent use of the verandah and the reason why a
and rain. The verandah can provide a shaded air verandah was built or not. Intentions on the
cushion for the most exposed façades of a house. incorporation of the verandah into the indoor space
Indoor heat gain is reduced through the shading of of the house were assessed. Knowledge of the
outer walls. Window glass is shaded, avoiding the value of verandahs in relation to thermal comfort
hot-house effect. Windows, protected by the long was investigated.
overhand of a verandah, may be kept open during
A second study analyzed 64 floor plans of
rainstorms, so that the indoor rooms may profit from
self-built houses, drawn from a previous
the cooling effect of rain.
investigation [9]. Dimensions of verandahs are
The verandah appears in the literature on the measured, the location of covered spaces was
humanization of architecture [6] and [7]. analyzed in relation to indoor spaces and solar
Architecture’s relation to nature is stressed. Indoor orientation was observed.
spaces must be turned toward the outside, not
merely by breaking open walls or cladding the 4. RESULTS
structure with glass. The edge of a building must be
treated as a place, giving walls depth, adding Results show that most of the families
colonnades, porches and verandahs for people to interviewed have lived in their self-built house for a
sit, lean and walk. Outdoor rooms must be created time of up to five years. Most subjects interviewed
at the perimeter of buildings to look out on life or a were female and housewives or stated domestic
quiet garden. These spaces have to have sufficient help as their profession. 7% of subjects were
dimensions to embrace domestic activities. Thus a engage in a building construction profession. Most
minimum two-meter depth is recommended for the families were native to the region and only 10%
domestic verandah. came from the poorer northeast of Brazil.
The recommendations above come into The former house had a verandah in 41% of
question when low-income housing is discussed cases. Today, half of the houses have a verandah, of
and questions of minimum costs arise. In Brazil which 37% are in the front of the house and 4% are
60% of houses are self-built by poor families [8] on to one side of the house. Examples of self-built
the outskirts of large cities. For these families the houses with verandah spaces are shown in figure 5.
verandah was once a regular feature of the house. 4% of the houses had a second verandah. The
Lately however the porch has been eliminated from functional relation of the porch to the rooms of the
the essential program of space. In typical housing house is with the living room in front, towards the
estates, built by government agencies, the verandah street and with the kitchen at the back of the house.
may be part of the design, but is soon incorporated Only 9% of verandahs open towards other type of
into the indoor space by occupants [9]. To rooms, such as bedrooms. In most cases the
investigate this phenomenon a study was verandah in self-built houses is a very simple
undertaken among self-builders of the city of extension of the roof and the position of the porch is
Campinas in the State of São Paulo. thus very much related to the form of the roof. Only
27% of verandahs have potted plants and another
3. METHODOLGY 24% have simple benches for sitting and chatting.
6% of porches had hammocks hanging for
A field study was conducted in five outlying relaxation.
areas of the city of Campinas: Jardim São José;
Most subjects declared that they do not intend
Jardim São Luís; Jardim Aruanã; Jardim Conceição
to incorporate their verandah into the indoor space,
and Jardim Anchieta. The sample was defined as
since the porch is mainly used for drying clothes on
5% of the total number of building lots in these
rainy days. 25% of subjects declared that the
suburbs, where urbanized lots of 150m 2 in area
verandah is an important place to gather family
were distributed to low-income families during the
members and to relax. 15% of people use the
last 7 years. 76 questionnaires were applied to the
verandah to observe life on the street.
families living in their self-built houses on these lots.
The fieldwork took place in November of the year The population (79%) recognizes the
2002, climatically considered a warm summer verandah’s importance as an indoor temperature
month. control element and as a shading device (92%) and
believes that the porch increases ventilation of the
The questions included personal data on the
house. 10% of subject however also mentioned that
family and it’s the origin. Observations were made in
the verandah reduces indoor air speed. The
PLEA 2003 - The 20th Conference on Passive and Low Energy Architecture, Santiago – CHILE, 9 - 12 November 2003

population did not relate the verandah to variations

in relative humidity, but the rain protection property of
a verandah is recognized by 87% of subjects
questioned.
The analysis of the 64 house plans of a
previous study [9] showed that only 20% of houses
have verandahs that open off the living room. Half of
these houses had a back porch as well, connected
to the kitchen as a laundry area.
Half of the verandahs are on the west side of
the house and thus protect against hot afternoon
sun. However the orientation of porches is not
standard. The position of the verandah is random in
relation to solar orientation. The dimensions of
these verandahs vary from only a 0,60m width to a
1,80m width. Most verandahs are thus narrow strips
of roof extensions. None of these verandahs act as a
true outdoor space for family gatherings and
relaxation activities according to design
recommendations. When analyzing the length of the
verandahs the dimensions vary from small 1m
porches to 5m long terraces. The length is primarily
related to the design of the house and the position of
the verandah.

Figure 5: Examples of self-built houses in the

Jardim São José with porches

Figure 6: Typical floor plans of self-built houses with

porch spaces

5. CONCLUSIONS

The study, conducted to investigate details of

the verandah in self-built houses in the city of
Campinas, Brazil, showed that the front verandah is
less and less popular, but the back porch is still an
important element for clothes washing and drying
activities. The population recognizes the verandah’s
PLEA 2003 - The 20th Conference on Passive and Low Energy Architecture, Santiago – CHILE, 9 - 12 November 2003

importance as a shading element, but self-builders

today seldom incorporate this knowledge into the
house design. Porches occupy random location in
relation to sun orientation.
The verandah, as a transition space and as a
climate-mitigating element in a region with hot and
humid summers, should be part of the local house
design grammar. This information should be
transmitted to self-builders through technical aid
programs. Local government housing agencies
should be encouraged to incorporate the verandah
in their design programs. By providing low-income
families with good examples of bioclimatically
designed homes it is hoped to improve the quality of
self-built homes, since families build by available
examples.
This study also showed that further
investigations should be made, especially with
technical measurements, on the influence of
verandahs on lighting and thermal conditions of
typical self-built houses in the urban climate of
Campinas. This data should be used to reinforce
the value of verandahs. Recommendations should
be issued for porches to be built, especially on
western façades and thus provide poor families with
an inexpensive comfortable extension of their
function space.
PLEA 2003 - The 20th Conference on Passive and Low Energy Architecture, Santiago – CHILE, 9 - 12 November 2003

REFERENCES

[1] CROWLEY, J. E., The Invention of Comfort, The

John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore,
2001.

[2] KOSTOF, S., A History of Architecture: Settings

and Rituals, Oxford University Press, New York,
1995.

[3] TAUT, B.; Houses and People of Japan,

Sanseido C o. Ltd., Tokyo, 1937.
[4] COOK, J., Cool American Comfort from
Presidents Jefferson & Washington: on
domestic porches and piazzas at Mount
Vernon and Monticello, in Proc. of the 19th
International Conference on Passive and Low
Energy Architecture, PLEA 2002, Toulouse, pp.
355-360, july, 2002.
[5] VERÍSSIMO, F.S. and BITTAR, W.S.M., 500 anos
da casa no Brasil, Rio de Janeiro, Ediouro,
1999.
[6] KOWALTOWSKI, Doris C. C. K., Arquitetura e
Humanização. Revista Projeto nº126, São
Paulo, outubro 1989, pp. 129-132.
[7][ ALEXANDER, C.; ISHIKAWA, S. and SILVERTEIN,
M., A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings,
Constructions. New York, Oxford University
Press, 1977.
[8] LABAKI, L. C. and KOWALTOWSKI, D. C. C. K.,
Bioclimatic and Vernacular design in Urban
Settlements of Brazil. Building and
Environment, Pergamon Press, UK, Vol. 33,
nº1, janeiro 1998, pp. 63-77.
[9] KOWALTOWSKI, D. C. C. K., PINA, S. A. M. G. and
RUSCHEL, R. C., Relatório Científico:
Elementos Sociais e Culturais da Casa
Popular, Campinas-SP. (a), Faculdade de
Engenharia Civil, UNICAMP, Campinas, SP,
Agosto 1995.