ABSTRACT
It is by no means unusual to discuss the issues of culture and space in the built environment with reference to a particular society in an identifiable environmental context. This framework helps us to understand the nature of the customs and mores of the people concerned and how these bear upon building form and living space, while relating them to such conditioning factors as climate, terrain or settlement pattern. Such an approach is appropriate in any study of a vernacular architecture tradition and makes more relevant the familiar description of types, materials, structure, technology, plan, section, elevations and detail by which many vernacular studies follow conventional architectural practice. There are problems in this of course, arising in part from the difficulties inherent in any cultural analysis and depiction, and partly from the complexity of what constitutes ‘culture’.
