ABSTRACT

This paper is a further pursuit of previous research program, the Genetic Coding System, a methodology research done on comparison of traditional Han houses in Taiwan and southeast China. A six levels of schema program demonstrating the spatial form and the constructional form of house types is developed in this study. This schema program shows the effectiveness of this methodology to determine the inter-relations of different house types. The methodology is demonstrated with the comparison of Vietnamese houses and Han houses and results in three conclusions as below:

Han culture appears less influential on the formation of Vietnamese houses. This shows that spatial schemas are not passed on easily between different ethnics.

Traditional Vietnamese houses maintain spatial schemas from the culture of the minorities.

Han culture is more influential on northern Vietnam house types, in terms of form tactics and structure framework.