ABSTRACT
It might validly be asked why the primitive and vernacular design, and hence the origins of the built environment, should be studied. One important answer is that the ability to make correct analyses and decisions depends on having valid theory. To be valid, however, theories and concepts must be based on the broadest possible sample, yet most of what passes for theory in planning, design and even man-environment studies (MES) is based only on the high-design tradition, ignoring folk environments, although these constitute by far the majority of all built environments. Moreover, the high-style elements-the monumental plazas, buildings and complexes-that environmental history has usually studied can be fully and properly understood only in the context of the vernacular matrix which surrounded them, and to which they were related, at the time they were created (Rapoport, 1964-5; 1969a).
