ABSTRACT
In this chapter I will provide a brief overview of the work on vernacular architecture and sustainability that has been done so far, reflecting (rather negatively, I admit) on the shortcomings that it reveals. In line with what has become a common tendency in writings on vernacular architecture and sustainability, I will then (in a more positive vein) suggest two or three lessons that we can learn; not only from vernacular architecture itself, but also from the way in which we study and represent it. I will end the chapter by calling for a more holistic, integrated and, above all, critical approach to the study of vernacular sustainability that complements the study of materials, technologies and environmental performance with an examination of social, political and economic aspects.
