Vernacular architecture is building done outside any academic tradition, and without professional guidance. 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, both historical and extant and classical and modern. Vernacular architecture constitutes 95% of the world's built environment, as estimated in 1995 by Amos Rapoport, as measured against the small percentage of new buildings every year designed by architects and built by engineers.
Vernacular architecture usually serves immediate, local needs, is constrained by the materials available in its particular region, and reflects local traditions and cultural practices. The study of vernacular architecture does not examine formally schooled architects, but instead that of the design skills and tradition of local builders, who were rarely given any attribution for the work. More recently, vernacular architecture has been examined by designers and the building industry in an effort to be more energy conscious with contemporary design and construction—part of a broader interest in sustainable design.
As of 1986, even among scholars publishing in the field, the exact boundaries of "vernacular" have not been clear.
This issue of definition, apparently so simple, has proven to be one of the most serious problems for advocates of vernacular architecture and landscapes research. A straightforward, convincing, authoritative definition has not yet been offered. Vernacular architecture is a phenomenon that many understand intuitively but that few are able to define. The literature on the subject is thus filled with what might be called non-definitions. Vernacular architecture is non-high style building, it is those structures not designed by professionals; it is not monumental; it is un-sophisticated; it is mere building; it is, according to the distinguished historian Nikolaus Pevsner, not architecture.
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Explores the design and representation of various types of staircases in architectural construction, emphasizing safety regulations and floor plan representation.
Explores architectural transformation, preservation, and adaptation through historical and contemporary examples, emphasizing resilience and innovative reuse.
Ce cours questionne les matériaux durables et les ressources disponibles mobilisées en Suisse et dans le monde. Il aborde la matière dans une approche architecturale, anthropologique et expérimentale
The UE Argamassa Armada will develop prototypes of structural elements in textile reinforced concrete (TRC) for the context of social housing in Nicaragua, based on the knowledge of the TRC Prototype
Le but du cours est d'éclairer la complexité et l'originalité de cette culture vieille de près de 1400 ans, qui perdure encore et concerne un milliard et demi de femmes et d'hommes. Comprendre cette c
Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing buildings or other structures. The term comes ; ; . Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural symbols and as works of art. Historical civilizations are often identified with their surviving architectural achievements.
A log cabin is a small log house, especially a less finished or less architecturally sophisticated structure. Log cabins have an ancient history in Europe, and in America are often associated with first-generation home building by settlers. Construction with logs was described by Roman architect Vitruvius Pollio in his architectural treatise De Architectura. He noted that in Pontus (modern-day northeastern Turkey), dwellings were constructed by laying logs horizontally overtop of each other and filling in the gaps with "chips and mud".
Thatching is the craft of building a roof with dry vegetation such as straw, water reed, sedge (Cladium mariscus), rushes, heather, or palm branches, layering the vegetation so as to shed water away from the inner roof. Since the bulk of the vegetation stays dry and is densely packed—trapping air—thatching also functions as insulation. It is a very old roofing method and has been used in both tropical and temperate climates. Thatch is still employed by builders in developing countries, usually with low-cost local vegetation.
The purpose of the paper is to discuss "The Linz Café," a building that ceased to exist in 1980. This project was conceived and constructed by Christopher Alexander for the summer exposition "Forum Design" in Linz, Austria. Despite its short-lived existenc ...
Wooden shingles have long been used as a vernacular roofing technique in many well-wooded areas. Despite the fact that shingles, as local raw materials, are low in embodied energy, nowadays they are not much used in construction, as the specific craft know ...
Plus grand lac d’eau douce d’Asie du Sud-Est, le Tonlé Sap est une réserve de poissons vitale pour la population cambodgienne. Cependant, leur quantité diminue en raison des changements climatiques et de la construction massive de barrages le long du Mékon ...