House Form & Culture

Amos Rapoport

FOUNDATIONS OF CULTURAL GEOGRAPHY

SERIES
1969

NANDINI DUTTA
16D/SEMESTER 7
FOA, MANIPAL
 Planning
 A kind of platform called otla is developed in front of the houses where people do not have such a strong
notion of privacy. The house starts to open up as one move inward. The privacy of the house in terms of
the strangers passing by the streets shall be improved by inclining the stone jali work of the jharokas
down at an angle of 45 degrees.
 The first court or male section in Rajasthan comprises baithak  (literally place to sit),mahal (or sheesh
mahal) and rang mahal. The baithak could be a regular room or a tibari with an overlooking balcony
above. It functioned as a status symbol of the household and was generally a lavishly
decorated area. Male members used the tibari in the outer court as a sitting space.
 The mahal (literally, palace) or mol, was the most ornate space in the havelī usually located on
the first floor over looking the street. The lavish baithak on the ground floor and mol on the first floor
are adorned with gold plated ceiling as at the Patwa Haveli in Jaisalmer. 

 The chambers at ground

level were designed to store
things, so that the
transportation of material is
easy.
 First floor and above were
meant for residential
purposes of the family
members so that there is LIVING ROOM
privacy.
 The courtyard is small and
enclosed by high walls with
spaces such as kitchen,
chula , pooja room around it
for day to day activities of
women.
 Overview:
This book deals with identifying the
determining factors in what form, or
physical arrangement, human
dwellings take, in the context of
popular or “vernacular architecture.”
This is can be a good design tool on
the scale of a house or an urban
settlement.
It examines the physical determinist
theory (Chapter 2), taking the
argument that “man was a symbol-
making animal before he was a tool-
making animal.” [p.42, #5]
Examples from history are used to
support these arguments.
It then identifies a number of influences
(Chapter 3) under classifications of
“determining factors” and “modifying
factors,” while explaining that no single
cause can take credit for the form
developed but that socio-cultural forces
primarily act behind our choices.
Such socio-cultural forces are explained,
and the relationship of dwelling to
settlement.
Chapters 4-5 (not reviewed here) deal
with the physical structure of houses in
response to climate, material and
building techniques.
 It concludes with the determinants of
the (then) present-day scenario, which
is still largely appropriate.
Chapter 2: Physical
Determinism
Climate and the Need for Shelter:

The author argues the question of

“why so many forms of the house
have been developed within the
limited number of climatic zones.”
[p.19 # 7]

Differences in urban patterns and

house types within one area “show
them to be much more related to
culture than climate.”

Sometimes, the way of life leads to

almost anti-climatic solutions, due to:

 Economic activity

 Status, social organization

 Imported attitudes towards

privacy, usage of spaces and their
sequence, etc.

 Religious prescriptions
Chapter 2: contd.
Materials, Construction &
Technology:

In societies with limited

technology, the materials that
can be used constrain the forms.
With more complex building
techniques, more forms can be
developed. But,

“knowledge of technology does

not mean it will be used.”

[p.25, #1]

The same materials can result in

many different forms.

The author argues that these

factors modify the form, rather
than determine it, and that they
do not decide what is to be built.
Chapter 2: contd.
Site:

The author suggests that “the site

influences both the city and the house
but does not determine its form.”

In choosing the site, its effect is

cultural rather than only physical
because the site represents the goals
and values defined by a particular
culture or group of people.

Tradition may cause people to

preserve a site which is unsuitable in
many other ways.

Religion:

Saying that religion is the one cause

for a given form is oversimplifying the
case; it offers the choice of symbols
and, therefore, possibilities.

“everything, including the house, can

assume symbolic significance.”

[p.41, #4]
Chapter 2: contd.
Defense:

The value system and the focus of the

defense varies from culture to culture.
Defense may often be symbolic as well.

The author argues that defense, when it

plays a part, is never alone in
determining form.

“Many factors are neglected by accepting

defense as the only determinant.”

[p.33, #3]

Economics:

Things that make good economic sense

are not always the choice taken, due to
tradition, prestige or lifestyle.

Similar forms of economy still lead to

different arrangements of rural
settlements because of social
organization.

There is a variety of ways that needs are

met, “comprised of the same elements”
but handling the requirements
differently.
Chapter 3:
“The physical choices are
numerous, the actual
choices may be severely
limited by the cultural
matrix”

[p. 47, #1]

Physical factors like climate,

technology and materials, or site
are “modifying factors” while
certain non-physical forces,
referred to as “socio-cultural,” are
the primary deciding factors.

The dominance of any of these

variables is a result of criticality.

When physical criticality is low;

choices are possible and decided
primarily by socio-cultural factors.
 Basic needs:

Basic needs are defined differently

by different cultures: “how a thing
is done may be more important
than what is done.” [p.60, #4]
Chapter 3: contd.
Sociocultural factors affecting form and
spatial arrangement include:
 Family structure, kinship
 Social organization, like the setup of
herder or agrarian societies
 Attitude: The need for religious
sanctions and contempt for manual
labor (lack of specialization) for
example
 Position of women
 Need for privacy
 Religion - Ritual orientation of
buildings or streets is an example of
this.

Need for security and for social

stimulation, visual complexity and
religious and ceremonial impulse.

The customs, attitudes and the different

man-woman relations; social meetings
places, nondomestic areas and
monumental elements.

The transition from dwelling to street and

beyond, defining thresholds and
separating domains.
Chapter 3: contd.
Relation of House and Settlement:

“the living pattern always extends beyond

the house to some degree”

[p.69, #3]

2 types, with various degrees between

them:
 The settlement is the setting for life,
the dwelling is a more private,
enclosed, sheltered part of the living
realm.
 The dwelling is essentially the whole
setting for life, the settlement, as
connective tissue, is secondary in
nature, leftover.

Climate, technology and materials, forces

of tradition and economic surplus are of
the past.

“Today’s constraints are different but no

less severe.”

Density, population growth,

institutionalization of controls (codes,
zoning, banks, insurance and planning
bodies, etc.)
 Chapter 6: The Present
With “the greater institutionalization and
specialization of modern life” how applicable are
these arguments today?
[p.126, #1]
In developing countries there tends to be:
 Breakdown of folk arts ,which lose their
symbolic value in the maelstrom of choices
 Application of Western concepts without
truly considering the choices
available/appropriate
In the Western world:
 The issue of inclusiveness in society, like new
typologies to fit new behaviors and attitudes
(for example the single person’s apartment)
 The idea that house form can be in the
domain of fashion
The author proposes that:
“Forms still reflect old concerns.” [p.127, #3]
People no longer build their own houses, in the
tradition of popular or vernacular architecture.
However, the houses people buy still reflect
popular aspirations and values and today, “the
problem seems to be one of excessive choice.”
[p.128, #3]
How to make those choices?
Socially and culturally valid
Economical and affordable
Maintenance of the health of the inhabitants
Minimum upkeep over the desired lifespan.
Vernacular buildings provided a framework
within which people’s socio-cultural choices
characterized the building and settlement.
There is a lesson in that.