ABSTRACT
Vernacular architecture has long been understood as simple and sustainable architecture: buildings built by local people, often as a community, using local materials. People who built vernacular architecture didn’t know about ‘sustainability’, but nonetheless developed many sustainable technologies to improve their comfort on little means – something that is needed in modern buildings today. Views on vernacular architecture vary widely across the globe. The desire for modernity, wealth and status in developing countries means that people often choose to live in modern buildings unsuitable for their climate or culture. Contemporary vernacular does not use vernacular architecture for aesthetic inspiration only, as this would create a pastiche – an eerie effect like that of a computer-generated architectural render. As you will read, Contemporary Vernacular Design is not just about the house, it is mostly about the place.
