CONCEPTS AND APPROACHES IN

VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE

22AR401 – VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE OF INDIA

LECTURE-8

Presented by

Ar. R. Vijay Anand, Professor & Head, MSA

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Vernacular architecture or folk architecture is
building done outside any academic tradition,
and without professional guidance.

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It is not a particular architectural movement or
style, but rather a broad category,
encompassing a wide range and variety of
building types, with differing methods of
construction, from around the world

●
Vernacular architecture constitutes 95% of the
world's built environment, as estimated by Amos
Rapoport, as measured against the small
percentage of new buildings every year
designed by architects and built by engineers.

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Vernacular architecture usually serves
immediate, local needs, is constrained by the
materials available in its particular region, and
reflects local traditions and cultural practices
Concepts and approaches in vernacular
architecture
●
Over the last two to three centuries a
variety of interpretations of vernacular
architecture have emerged.
●
Architects, ethnologists, historians,
geographers, social anthropologists,
sociologists, psychologists, have different
interpretations of the concepts and
approaches of the vernacular architecture.
●
The diversity of vernacular architectural
studies can be classified into at least
several sections as follows:
●
as a biological phenomenon
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as a cultural-sociological reality
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as an anthropological phenomenon
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as the object of aesthetics
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as a material-physical substance
Vernacular Architecture As A Biological
Phenomenon
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The biological phenomenon is the subject
of “species” and “typological developments”.
●
In the late eighteenth and early
nineteenth centuries, many architectural
theorists tried to classify and categorise
vernacular architecture by type, species,
shape, usage, location, materials
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The study highlighted the difference
between species and models
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The species in the vernacular buildings
are specific to a particular time and region, but
the model refers to specific monuments
●
They studied in the same region ( same
species) how the typology (model)/ design
differs .
Vernacular Architecture As Cultural-
Sociological Reality
●
Vernacular architecture regarded as a
piece of sociological evidence in some
researches.
●
In this view, architecture is a cultural
idea that has the materiality needed to
shape and transform memory into a scheme
that can be seen by others .
●
From this perspective, paying attention
to cultural interests and the way the ancients
look at the world.
●
It is the social and cultural environment
which affect making any decision and form
of housing and depicted in the ultimate
form of settlements
●
The layout, the interior decorations, and the
way the house expanded in line with the
growth of the household, all belonged to a
social system that was embodied in the
 MASAI SETTLEMENTS IN KENYA
•A community held together by a value system rooted
deep in culture and traditions. The traditions are
reflected in the location, character and resources for
construction
•The Maasai are generally subdivided into clans
occupying specific areas. The clans settle on an
elevated parcel of land where a number of family based
homesteads are locally termed as eking
•Strategically located, protected by a tree cover and the
direct view. The proximity between two homesteads can
vary from a few meters to a couple of hundred metres
•he compound houses a couple of structures based on
ritualistic and cultural needs, ranging from temporary
kitchens to shrines used for sacrifices during specific
times of the year
•A number of independent dwellings are constructed
within the homestead for different members of the
family. Traditionally the living quarters were segregated
and positioned on the basis of gender, age and family
structure. The size, number and type of dwelling within
the homestead vary and are incremental to the growth
within the family
Vernacular Architecture As An
Anthropological Phenomenon
●
Anthropology is the scientific study of
humanity, concerned with human behaviour,
cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the
present and past.
●
Vernacular architecture, anthropology and
history are subjects that are indistinguishably
linked
●
As culture and the environment become
more interconnected, intertwined and
integrated with a space
●
Although the relationship between vernacular
architecture and culture is clear, the link
between vernacular architecture and
anthropology remains unstable
●
The history is not just events, but includes
the stable anthropological interactions that
exist between housing, settlements, and
landscapes
Vernacular Architecture as The Object of
Aesthetics
●
Although the early roots of vernacular studies
were related to the social sphere, studies of
vernacular architecture initially had a formal
approach to aesthetics.
●
Vernacular architecture did not conform to
formal and aesthetics of the polite architecture
but formed by their everyday life.
●
Despite the importance of cultural symbols
signs in their forms of decoration and
shape, the aesthetics of vernacular architecture
are also a consequence of climate
●
The shape of buildings, the orientation, the
grouping of individuals together, materials
and colours, the technology of construction all
come together to be depicted in aesthetics form
that has been in constant interaction and
harmony with nature.
Vernacular Architecture as a Material-Physical
Substance
●
In this view, vernacular architecture is
considered a kind of physical expression
●
The design and development of vernacular
buildings were based on one or more of its
physical factors, such as availability of
materials and topography and surrounding.
●
Vernacular architecture is a mental construct
that places its dynamism, fluidity, and multi-
dimensionality against the static, quiet, and
monotonous formal architecture.
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Vernacular architecture based itself on
native human being's understanding of
space, nature, and the forces within it.
●
Early approaches of vernacular architecture
could be assessed and recognized in its
external materiality.