Indigenous Architecture for Expeditionary Installations

United States (U.S.) outpost building after World War II tended to neglect local design in favor of imported American style and at the expense of efficiency and local acceptance (Gillem, 2005: 70). The numerous expeditionary installations established throughout the Middle East in the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT) offer a clean slate for transition to a policy that favors sustainable design as well as host nation acceptance through the use of indigenous architecture. By investigating desert indigenous architecture, low-tech design elements could be rediscovered and combined with modern technology to build new, environmentally-responsible buildings that are identifiable by the local culture. The potential of indigenous architecture was investigated by comparing its energy performance, force protection and fire safety characteristics, and ease of procurement to the same criteria for a standard prefabricated metal building. The core of the research was a literature review of current Department of Defense (DoD) construction standards and an examination of past and present examples of desert architecture including the Middle East and the southwestern U.S. Architectural drawings for a typical administration facility were created to show how traditional building materials and methods could be employed to match or exceed current standards. Results indicated that indigenous design offers advantages in energy performance and force protection, but initial cost and procurement time are not favorable. Therefore, selection of the optimum building construction technique depends on decision-maker values.