Vernacular Architecture

 Vernacular architecture is a category of architecture based on localized needs

and construction materials, and reflecting local traditions.

The Encyclopedia of Vernacular Architecture of the World defines vernacular

architecture as:

...comprising the dwellings and all other buildings of the people. Related to their
environmental contexts and available resources they are customarily owner- or
community-built, utilizing traditional technologies. All forms of vernacular architecture
are built to meet specific needs, accommodating the values, economies and ways of life
of the cultures that produce them.

Frank Lloyd Wright described vernacular architecture as

"Folk building growing in response to actual needs, fitted into environment by people
who knew no better than to fit them with native feeling". suggesting that it is a primitive
form of design, lacking intelligent thought, but he also stated that it was "for us better
worth study than all the highly self-conscious academic attempts at the beautiful
throughout Europe".

Defining Vernacular Architecture

 Informal building of structures through traditional building methods by local

builders.
 Based on localized needs and construction materials, and reflecting local
traditions
 It can be contrasted against polite architecture which is characterised by-
stylistic elements of design intentionally incorporated for aesthetic purposes
which go beyond a building's functional requirements.

It is most often applied to residential buildings

 It has often been dismissed as crude and unrefined, but also has proponents
who highlight its importance in current design.

Factors influencing Vernacular Architecture-

Vernacular architecture is influenced by a great range of different aspects of

human behaviour and environment, leading to differing building forms for almost
every different context; even neighbouring villages may have subtly different
approaches to the construction and use of their dwellings, even if they at first
appear the same.

 
 

1. Climate- Macro Climate of the area-

(a) Cold Climate
Buildings in cold climates invariably have high thermal mass or significant
amounts of insulation.
They are usually sealed in order to prevent heat loss, and openings such as
windows tend to be small or non-existent.

(b) Warm Climate-

Buildings in warm climates, by contrast, tend to be constructed of lighter

materials and to allow significant cross-ventilation through openings in the
fabric of the building.

(c) Flooded Area-

Buildings take different forms depending on precipitation levels in the

region – leading to dwellings on stilts in many regions with frequent
flooding or rainy monsoon seasons. Flat roofs are rare in areas with high
levels of precipitation.

(d) Area with high wind pressure

Areas with high winds will lead to specialised buildings able to cope with
them, and buildings will be oriented to present minimal area to the
direction of prevailing winds.

2. Culture-
 The way of life of building occupants, and the way they use their shelters, is
of great influence on building forms.
 The size of family units, who shares the spaces,
 How food is prepared and eaten,
 How people interact and
 Many other cultural considerations will affect the layout and size of dwellings
 Culture also has a great influence on the appearance of vernacular buildings,
as occupants often decorate buildings in accordance with local customs and
beliefs.

3. Enviornment and Materials Available

 The local environment and the construction materials it can provide governs
many aspect of vernacular architecture.

 
 

 Areas rich in trees will develop a wooden vernacular, while areas without
much wood may use mud or stone.
 In early California redwood water towers supporting redwood tanks and
enclosed by redwood siding (tankhouses) were part of a self-contained wind-
powered domestic water system.
 In the Far East it is common to use bamboo, as it is both plentiful and
versatile
 Vernacular, almost by definition, is sustainable, and will not exhaust the local
resources. If it is not sustainable, it is not suitable for its local context, and
cannot be vernacular.

Egyptian Architecture-
The Egyptian pyramids are ancient pyramid-shaped masonry structures located in
Egypt.

Most were built as tombs for the country's Pharaohs and their consorts during the Old
and Middle Kingdom periods

Egypt has only two seasons:

1. a mild winter from November to April

2. a hot summer from May to October.

The only differences between the seasons are variations in daytime temperatures and
changes in prevailing winds.

Rainfall

• Egypt receives less than 80 mm (3.15 in) of precipitation annually in most areas,
although in the coastal areas it reaches 200 mm.

• It hardly ever rains during the summer.

Different regions in Egypt

In the coastal regions,

Temperatures range between an average minimum of 14 C in winter and an average

maximum of 30 C in summer.

In desert regions,

• The temperature varies greatly, especially in summer;

 
 

• it may range from 7 °C at night, to 40 °C during the day.

• While the winter temperature in deserts does not fluctuate as wildly, it can be as
low as 0 °C at night, and as high as 18 °C during the day.

Egyptian Culture

• Close connection between the religion and architecture.

• The earthly dwelling house was regarded as the temporary lodging and the
tombs as the permanent abode.

• Strong belief in life after death

o Kings were learned, powerful, with unlimited authority

• Worship of animals as personification of Gods

Social Structure in Egypt

• Egyptian society was highly stratified, and social status was expressly displayed.

• Farmers made up the bulk of the population, but agricultural produce was owned
directly by the state, temple, or noble family that owned the land.

• Farmers were also subject to a labor tax and were required to work on irrigation
or construction projects in a corvée system.(Corvée is unfree labour, often
unpaid, that is required of people of lower social standing and imposed on them
by the state or by a superior )

• Artists and craftsmen were of higher status than farmers, but they were also
under state control, working in the shops attached to the temples and paid
directly from the state treasury.

• Scribes and officials formed the upper class in ancient Egypt, the so-called "white
kilt class" in reference to the bleached linen garments that served as a mark of
their rank. The upper class prominently displayed their social status in art and
literature.

• Artists and craftsmen were of higher status than farmers, but they were also
under state control, working in the shops attached to the temples and paid
directly from the state treasury.

• Scribes and officials formed the upper class in ancient Egypt, the so-called "white
kilt class" in reference to the bleached linen garments that served as a mark of

 
 

th
heir rank. The
T upper class prom
minently dissplayed the
eir social sttatus in artt and
litterature.

Dwellings in Egyp
pt

• Since
S 3800 BCE rectan
ngular hous
ses of abou
ut 100 to 12
25 m² have
e been builtt with
sun dried bricks.

• Mud,
M dredgeed from thee bottom of the Nile an
nd chaff werre well mixe
ed, shaped
d with
wooden
w form
ms and the soft bricks were dried d in the sun
n becomingg nearly as hard
as rock. In the hot, alm
most rainless climate o
of Egypt adoobe housess were the most
energy and labour efficcient buildin
ngs.

• The
T mansions of the powerful
p weere palatial , even if th
hey were bu
uilt of the ssame
materials
m as
s the dwellin
ngs of the commoners
c s.

• Shelters
S and
d huts from reeds and rushes.

o Initially reeds, pa
apyrus, palm-branch rribs, plasterred over witth clay.

Bundles of stems placed verticcally side byy side and tied to bund
dles placed
d
horizonta
ally near the
e top to ma
ake walls orr
fences.

o Altern
natively palm leaf ribss were pla nted
in thhe ground at short intervals with
others laced in a diagonal network accross
them and sec cured with a horizo ontal
memb ber at the to
op, the who
ole being fin
nally
finished with mu ud.

Founda
ations-

 Foundations
F s were geneerally non existent.
e
 Virgin
V soil ab
bove grounndwater leveel was bakeed rock harrd by the suun and need ded
ju
ust some levelling.
 In
n order to build
b on top of collapse
ed dwellingss, the clay rubble wass well waterred
and let to se
et and hardeen.

Walls and Beams 

     

 
 

 The
T wall wid dth was abo out 40 cm foor one storeey and up tto 1.25m foor multi-storrey
buildings.
 Beams
B weree let into the
e walls to re
einforce the
em.
 Ground
G storey walls we ere sometimmes built off stone, lime
estone if there were
quarries neaar-by, granite or anything else, if tthere were decaying ttemples or
other buildin
ngs in the neighbourho ood that cou
uld be dismmantled. 

Plan of a Typical House-

H

1) courty
yard,

(2) room
ms,

(3) WC

d,
(4) shed

Plan off a Typicall Egyptian House
nd the courtyard) 
(aroun

 The
T roomss were arra anged arou und an innner courtyaard or on e either side of a
corridor.
 The
T wall fac cing the streeet often ha
ad only onee opening, the door, though wind dows
might
m be let into the up
pper storey walls.
 Windows
W weere small and
a covered d with shuttters or matts in order to keep ouut the
flies, dust, and heat.
 Gateways
G were
w generaally made of stone, eveen in poore
er households.
 The
T wooden n doors and d leaves of double
d doo
ors could bee barred froom the insid
de .

 
 

 Thhe Front Room, w which

acted as an entrancce to the house
from the street and
d where gu uests
could waiit.

 Th he Living Room, w where

they ha ad a shrrine for their
household d god/godd
dess and w where
they condducted their daily relig
gious
rituals.

 Th
he All-purppose
Living/Eaating/Sleep ping R
Room
with a sta
aircase thatt would lea
ad up
to the roo
of of the hou
use.

 A Roofless K Kitchen, w
where
the wom men of the e house w would
make me eals from sccratch and with
a staircasse that wo
ould lead to
o an
undergrou und cellarr where they
would sto
ore food andd beer.

Plan of a  Typical Eggyptian Ho
ouse
(Corridorr arrangemment) 

Floors and
a draina
age

 The
T floors in n houses we ere made ofo packed e earth, which
h would not do for a
bathroom.
 There,
T a slab of stone wasw placed d in a corneer.
 Often
O the ad dobe walls near-by
n we
ere coated wwith stone aas well.
 The
T water co ould run offf into a bow
wl which wa as either em
mptied by ha
and, or had
d
holes at its bottom,
b thus draining slowly
s into tthe ground.

 
 

 Copper
C pipe
e drains have been fo
ound in an OOld Kingdo
om temple , but neverr in a
private housse. In onee mortuary temple att Abusir co opper outle
ets and a lead
sttopper were
e found.
 The
T technoology may y have ex xisted, buut was to oo
expensive foor the commmon peoplle and the others ma ay
not have perceived d the needn to apply it.

Water
W was drawn
d from
m wells, eith
her private or public a
at
le
east since the New Kin
ngdom.

Enviorn
nment and Materials-- Mud Brick
ks

• Sun-dried
S mud-bricks
m

o Madee of alluvial soil mixed pped straw and sand, sun-dried, very
d with chop
long lasting
l

o Large
e brick size – 14”x7”x4
4”

o Battered wall forr stability

Stone

• Stone
S not much
m employed before beginning of 3rd dyna
asty except as rubble o
or as
sttiffener or as
a foundatio
on to solid mud
m walls

• Later it beca
ame the prim
mary building materiall for religiou
us buildingss

• Abundant
A la
abour was available
a fo
or transporttation of stone blockss from quarrry to
building site

Timber

• Once
O abunndant beccome scarrce by th he
dynastic tim
mes but nev
ver went totally out oof
use

• Date
D palm used mainly for roofing ( in
Mesopotami
M ia also)

• Im
mported ce edar wood for
f building
g, coffin, an
nd
ship-building
g though papyrus
p wa
as the loccal
material
m

 
 

• Timber
T and matting lining was use
ed in grave constructio
on

Labour and Skills Ceda

ar Wood
d Coffin
• Simple
S dry stone tech hniques to a limited
extent, but buildings
b were predom
minantly in
mud
m bricks.

• One
O can still see the fin nger – groo
oves put in
th
he brick faces by the master
builders(mua allims) fifty
y centuriess ago in
order to incrrease the friction
f and adhesion
between the em.

hitectural forms
Arch f in An
ncient Egy
ypt

• Egyptian
E arc
chitecture began
b with mud brickss, wood, ree
eds.

• Im
mhotep use
ed cut stone
e masonry

• Style
S was siimilar to les
ss enduring g material- columns a
are always engaged ra
ather
th
han free-sta
anding- justt like bundle
es of reedss

• Tapering
T fluted column
ns were des
signed for h
harmony an
nd elegance
e.

Egyptia
an architec
cture is bas
sed mainly
y on

 religious monumentts,

 massive structures characterized by thicck, sloping walls with

h few openings,
possibly echoing a method ofo construcction used to obtain sstability in mud
walls.

 
 

Th
he Estate of Noble
e man *

*Don’t concentrate on this esta

ate. This is just for you
ur reference
e to show h
how rich peo
ople
used to live but the
e other two plans
p should be referrred for typic
cal houses a
and local
architecture.