Vernacular architecture

Vernacular architecture

Vernacular architecture is a term used to categorize methods of construction which use locally available resources to address local needs. Vernacular architecture tends to evolve over time to reflect the environmental, cultural and historical context in which it exists. It has often been dismissed as crude and unrefined, but also has proponents who highlight its importance in current design.[1]

In contrast to planned architecture by architects, the building knowledge in vernacular architecture is often transported by local traditions and is thus more - but not only - based on knowledge achieved by trial and error and often handed down through the generations rather than calculated on knowledge of geometry and physics. This of course does not exclude architects from using vernacular architecture in their designs or being firmly based in their regional vernacular architecture. For the similarities to "traditional architecture" see below.

Derivation and Definition

The term vernacular is derived from the Latin vernaculus - a slave quarter at the back of the master's garden - In terms of language, vernacular refers to language use particular to a time, place or group. In architecture it refers to that type of architecture which is indigenous to a specific time or place (not imported or copied from elsewhere). It is most often used to apply to residential buildings.[2]

The term is not to be confused with so-called "traditional" architecture, though there are links between the two. Vernacular architecture may, through time, be adopted and refined into culturally accepted solutions, but only through repetition may it become "traditional." Traditional architecture can also include temples and palaces, for example, which would not be included usually in the rubric of "vernacular." In Japan, for example, not all pre-modern architecture is "vernacular," which would usually refer only to rural buildings and structures. In the US, vernacular architecture might refer to a so-called craftsman bungalow, fashionable in the nineteenth century, even though the bungalow as an architectural form did not originate in the US. "Vernacular" might even refer to a building like the 1848 Duncan House in Cooksville, Wisconsin. All in all, the use of the term "vernacular" can be quite ambiguous.

Humanitarian Response

An appreciation of vernacular architecture is increasingly seen as vital in the immediate response to disasters and the following construction of transitional shelter if it is needed. The work Transitional Settlement: Displaced Populations, produced by Shelter Centre covers the use of vernacular in humanitarian response and argues its importance.

The value of housing displaced people in shelters which are in some way familiar is seen to provide reassurance and comfort following often very traumatic times. As the needs change from saving lives to providing medium to long term shelter the construction of locally appropriate and accepted housing can be very important.[3]


External links

Vernacular Architecture Forum

Vernacular Architecture Examples at GreatBuildings

VAG, Vernacular Architecture Group

Built environment

Built environment

The phrase built environment refers to the man-made surroundings that provide the setting for human activity, ranging from the large-scale civic surroundings to the personal places.

In architecture and environmental psychology, the phrase is a useful acknowledgement that a small fraction of buildings constructed annually, even in the industrialized world, are designed by architects, and that users of the built environment encounter issues that cross the traditional professional boundaries between urban planners, traffic engineers, zoning authorities, architects, interior designers, industrial designers, etc. Historically, much of the built environment has taken the form of vernacular architecture, and this is still the case in large parts of the world. In the industrialized world, many buildings are produced by large scale development remote from its eventual users.

In landscape architecture, the built environment is identified as opposed to the natural environment, with the recognition that places like Central Park may have the look, feel, and nourishing quality of natural surroundings while being completely artificial and "built", thus blurring the line between the two.

In urban planning, the phrase connotes the idea that a large percentage of the human environment is manmade, and these artificial surroundings are so extensive and cohesive that they function as organisms in the consumption of resources, disposal of wastes, and facilitation of productive enterprise within its bounds.Recently there has also been considerable dialogue and research into the impact of the built environment's impact on population health (see www.activelivingbydesign.org).


See also

Urbanism

City planning

Architecture

Vernacular architecture

Sustainable vernacular architecture

Landscape

Landscape architecture

Interior architecture

Construction

Environmental Design Research Association

International_Association_of_People-Environment_Studies

Cultural landscape

Environmental psychology