FARU - 2010

Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://192.248.9.226/handle/123/14707

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item: Conference-Abstract
Analysing the morphological changes in vernacular domestic architecture of Kerala, India since 1947
Bhooshan, BS; Kim, MK
This paper discusses morphological changes in the vernacular domestic architecture in Kerala since 1947 (Independence of India from colonial rule) and identify the changes and analyses the reasons behind these changes. The study focuses on the gradual and vernacular architectural developments happened within the study region owing to several factors like social and political reforms and related, government initiated land reforms, migration to other parts of India and to foreign countries in search of better jobs and income, related economic factors, colonization, change in technology and work expertise, change in materials, change in lifestyle, global exposure through channels and other communication system, climatological factors etc. The vernacular domestic architecture has undergone tremendous transformation owing to these factors and can be identified with specific typologies emerging. The major questions posed here are, 1. Can visual memory of Vernacular transferred to the contemporary architecture be considered vernacular or even designed vernacular? 2. What is the essence of Vernacular? Can we decipher the Diacritical mass that makes something remain vernacular and something cross the borderline? 3. Vernacular is ever evolving. Is there a stop point for a continuing vernacular construction practice? How do we define the tipping point, if any?
item: Conference-Abstract
Architectural design & labour policy-making: reinterpreting vernacular as a strategy for capacity building in the urbanizing South
Pathiraja, M
Over the last 30 years, many countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America have experienced a strong expansion of their urban economy, irreversible changes to their rural economy, an increase in urban land values, internal migration, and the urbanization of the poor. Today, in many large cities of the region, these factors have facilitated and intensified the fragmentation of construction activity into almost separate spheres of production, with little or no reciprocal connections in training, know-how, and career-development paths, and consequent limitations in cross-system application of technology transfer. In such context, the discursive references of vernacular to create technically and culturally exclusive niche markets for architectural production could only reinforce the crossmarket compartmentalization of building knowledge, and the subsequent inability of architecture to engage in social building production activities. Instead, this paper looks at the vernacular from a labour policy-making point of view, that is to integrate its 'on-the-job' training conceptions within a design and technological vocabulary that envisages real building projects as training grounds, thereby projecting the latter as a vehicle through which labour development opportunities are created and linked.
item: Conference-Abstract
Architectural heritage & urban identity between nostalgia & reality the case of Bahrain
El-Masri, S
The rich architectural heritage of Bahrain has been subject to dilapidation and destruction as a result of rapid urbanisation and its complex physical, social and economic dimensions. The two major cities of Muharraq & Manama have been undergoing profound changes facing serious challenges and problems that are threatening whatever left of the fine organic traditional urban areas. Large scale developments, high-rise buildings, shopping centres and infrastructure expansions; coupled with political and economic changes; manifest these intricate processes of urban transformations. Remarkably enough, all these come at a time when globalization has dominated all aspects of life with its cliches, challenges and possible potentials. In such a complex situation, an important question could be asked of how urban identity could be sustained in fast-transforming cities? The paper focuses on sustaining the urban identity of Manama and Muharraq that goes beyond the mere nostalgic romanticism to realistic futurism by employing a combination of observation and participation qualitative research methods. It aims to provide a holistic approach integrating between the various scenarios of restoration, new functional rehabilitation, in-fill and new development. Hence it examines not only the physical aspects but expands the discussion to a wide range of issues and their interrelations including appropriate land-use systems and building regulations, financial resources and incentives, Education and heritage, urban and architectural practices, and stakeholders' involvement and institutional developments. The paper acknowledges that the approach should filter between short-term solutions and far-sighted strategies, between private interests and public good, between market efficiency and social welfare, between bottom up approaches and top down ones, between physical development and heritage protection and between large scale and small-scale developments. Based on this discussion, comprehensive policy measures are to be addressed focusing on the possibilities of turning the "wicked" challenges into "potential" opportunities
item: Conference-Abstract
Beyond form: emulating vernacular in resettlement housing
Silva, KD
Emulating formal and spatial attributes of extant local building types in the construction. of new habitats is a ubiquitous feature in resettlement housing programs. Merging with the local place and culture as well as providing a familiar environment for the displaced that facilitates the start of their new phase of life with some continuity of the life before the displacement are aspects of the rationale for this approach. While this may be of some worth, adaptation of formal features of vernacular buildings for resettlement housing is inherently a dead-end path bound to bring failure both in the design of the settlement as well as in the resettlement objectives. It also shows the limited understanding of the vernacular building process, the complexities of the resettlement process, and the intricately intertwined nature of the two processes. This presentation will argue that it is this understanding that is critical for the success in resettlement housing than mere emulation of vernacular architectural forms and languages. Furthermore it is this understanding that will facilitate the vernacular building traditions a future ' continuity. The presentation will (a) articulate the central themes in vernacular building process and resettlement process; (b) frame a housing provision strategy that is based on the connections between the above processes; and (c) illustrate this premise based on several case studies of resettlement housing around the world
item: Conference-Abstract
Bordering of vernacular - the tradition of the Oriyur shrine
LakshmiThilagam, N; Balasubramanian, V
The vernacular of a place is encoded in the architecture of the built form and enriched by the cultural practices of the people. This study explores the history and tradition of the Britto cult centered at the Shrine of St John de Britto at Oriyur in the Pasumpon Muthuramalinga Devar district of Tamilnadu, South India. The religio-cultural context of the shrine and festival originating from the martyrdom in 1969 of John de Brittto, today has cut across religious affiliations and is more of a vernacular tradition connecting the local castes and communities. It is this mystic aspect of the Oriyur shrine, built and supported by traditional practices that this study intends to explore.
item: Conference-Abstract
Brasilia: 50 years
Porto, CE
Brasilia, Brazil's capital was officially inaugurated on April 21, 1960. Past fifty years of the event, this article seeks to rescue key moments in the history of the city, the Master Plan1 contest won by urban planner Lucio Costa in 1957 until the establishment of the great metropolis, today. Presented as a great historical overview, the text also shows some possible relations between the colonial experience of Brazil and that of India and Sri Lanka.
item: Conference-Abstract
Brunei Kampong Ayer: an analysis of the structure and the conditions of evolution of a Borneo Malay urbanism
Leblanc, R
For the past 15 years Kampong Ayer, Brunei's famous water villages and former empire's capital has been left to decay slowly. Debates about its future are held far from its inhabitants and away from Brunei's population that all have their roots in it. This paper attempts to show that this static phase of the village history, with centralized external forces holding its development and planning its redevelopment, has not occurred during 1300 years of history. This does not follow the traditional pattern of urban development of the Vernacular Southeast Asian Coastal Cities [VSEACC], thus any decision made with this new process will dramatically change the face of Kampong Ayer. I argue that Kampong Ayer is an example of a unique type of city that existed during the historical period from the 7th century to the end of the 20th century. The raison d'etre of these cities were to be polities and trading centres, connected with outside world, points of exchange between people, goods, ideas, between seas, rivers and land. There is no research in the urban discipline about the structure of the VSEACC, I propose to use the anthropological model of urban definition developed by 0'Connor(1983) as framework of analysis of its structure and evolution. As he postulates, in Southeast Asia, urban fabrication is a corollary of social structures. To describe the urban form it is then necessary to understand these structures and spatialise them. This will set the background for a brief sketch of the history of Brunei Kampong Ayer.
item: Conference-Abstract
Carpathian mountain lodges: reusing the technology and design of vernacular buildings
Krysiak, M
Natural heritage of the heart of Europe - landscapes and rich wildlife of Carpathian Mountains - finds itself in the background of numerous monuments of vernacular architecture. These include churches, dwellings and farm buildings - many of them in ruin, others abandoned, some having changed their function. Regardless to the state in which they are, the treasures of indigenous architecture are cherished by ones who explore the Carpathians - their history, culture and environment. As the mountains became "wild frontiers" of the growing in prosperity Central European nations, a specific approach to this region has emerged. Large parts of Carpathians are reverse of developing cities and commercializing tourist destinations - they became a "sanctuary" for nature watchers, trekkers, artists and others, who search for an unchanging world. In this situation, mountain lodges often reuse either the techniques of vernacular architecture or the entire buildings.The Carpathians stretch throughout the territories of Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Ukraine, Romania and Serbia. This paper studies the reemergence of vernacular design and technology within mountain lodges on the case of Poland and Ukraine. The analysis is carried out to find methods, how new functions are naturally fit in vernacular forms, sustaining the landscape. An examination of Carpathian traditional architecture is followed by an overview of the development of mountain lodges and their reference to the local styles. The objective to provide a basic outline of a design approach based on reusing vernacular knowledge, tradition and construction technology
item: Conference-Abstract
Community participation towards vernacular future's re-settlement for Orang Seletar at Kampung Bakar Batu, Johor Bahru, Malaysia
Ku, YK
"Orang Seletar" is a diminishing maritime indigenous people or known as "Orang Laut Asli" who lived for centuries along the coast of Straits of Johore in between Malaysia and Singapore. There are currently less than two thousand remaining people and they are not wary of their own declining population, unaware of the modern world and caught in hardcore poverty problems. The current settlement which was built for them in Kampung Bakar Batu was once an estuary with rich sea lives which sustain the existence of these sea people. Unfortunately the settlement is now badly populated and has been targeted for major urban development area in the future Iskandar Region development. "Orang Seletar" settlement (built by Natives and indigenous people concern department) consists of small singular single storey stone houses were built in the middle of the land, away from the sea, disregarding the importance of sea to their existing maritime lifestyle, believes, culture and heritage. The paper aims to understand the existing Orang Seletar socio-culture as a basis for their future resettlement at Kampung Bakar Batu. This paper will capture the research and design process carried out with a group of 32 students and three lecturers on failure of existing government initiated housing. Community Participation has been used as a method to rectify and understand these people needs. Data from questionnaires and interview were analyzed to form a master plan and design concept that mainly targeted at reviving the socio culture and improving socio-economy of these people. The team will explore design alternatives from modern to traditional vernacular in approach. The options will be presented to Orang Seletar community and these people's priority is to not about preserving their culture and tradition, but to survive further to adapt to the modern world. Design of resettlements must put into account their self-sufficient ways to modernized and be competitive in the future worlds. Thus, this directly impacts their vernacular resettlement futures in their architecture.
item: Conference-Abstract
Creating new vernacular: re-enacting culture and making place in the winter camps of Bahrain
Dyaratne, R
Vernacular in many parts of the world, particularly those that are rapidly developing under the forces of globalization have been undergoing dramatic change. From total abandonment to superficial reconstructions, vernacular in such societies survive often on the edge of perceptual, social and physical space, unsure of their place in the world and unable to compete with the ever-modernizing social space. However, the desire to return to, and to immerse even momentarily in the traditional and vernacular have resurfaced in many a ways from ubiquitous designed villages and renovated historic centers to modern shopping malls in almost every modern community. In Bahrain, such desires manifest more clearly and determinately during every winter period, when the rich urban dwellers choose to reconstruct what is perceived to be a reproduced version of the Bedouin tents in the cold deserts of its hinterland. The traditional Bedouin tents in the Arabian deserts had indeed provided for all activities of life in the deserts in the past although now, they have been abandoned in preference to the individual villas, the compounds and the housing condominiums. Despite having been provided with the modern amenities such as electricity, satellite televisions, microwaves and barbecue settings, the winter tents seem to re-enact some of the unique cultural practices of the past Bedouin culture. This paper takes a closer look at the winter camps of Bahrain which have become a modern vernacular practice that borrows from and temporarily reconstructs a by-gone practice of every day living that had existed among nomadic Arabs. It examines the history of the traditional tents and Bedouin camps and the ways in which they relate to the contemporary vernacular of the winter camps. It takes the position that the future of the vernacular lies not only in the continuation of the old but the inventions of the new that builds upon those cherishable from the past.
item: Conference-Abstract
Designing the vernacular: an inquiry in the processes of making in Kutch, India
Soni, S
As understood popularly, vernacular is not just a simplistic interaction between the climate, culture and craft, but rather a composite body of knowledge processes developed over generations of experience through trial and error in response to the needs of people occupying them and to the requirements of the changing physical environment around them. With the hegemonic advent of present global monoculture, the evocation of sentimental vernacular seems quite a natural response in places with strong cultural traditions and their unique craft expressions. I am referring to that nostalgia for the vernacular which is being conceived as an overdue return to the ethos of popular culture. Rather than the critical perception of reality and creative synthesis, it rather evokes the sublimation of a desire for direct experience through imagery and rhetorical information. Its tactical aim is to attain, as economically as possible, a preconceived level of instant gratification in behavioristic terms. The aim of this paper is to explore the issue of validating the vernacular and inherent contradictions within it through two recent projects in the Kutch region of Gujarat in India. First project, Khamir Crafts Park, is a nongovernmental institution working for the development of craft traditions of Kutch region while the second one, Sham-e-Sarhad is an eco-resort built and run by local residents of Hodka village in the desert of Kutch. As the building craft and artisanal traditions of this region are intrinsic to making of both these projects, this paper will examine the process of interpretation and reinterpretation and the nature of the resultant architectural synthesis
item: Conference-Abstract
Egypt's vernacular architecture, from rural settlement to exotic resorts
Sakr, MM
For millennia, the Nubians of Upper Egypt faced harsh climatic conditions and scarcity of building materials. Yet they succeeded in building their shelters by using mud bricks to build thick walls, arches, domes and vaults. Nubian vernacular architecture, with its aesthetics and functionality was not discovered and appreciated until the late Egyptian Architect Hassan Fathy had started to study their settlements, architectural elements and building techniques in 1946. Since then Fathy has incorporated the traditional mud brick vaults and domes in his designs. His work is considered to be a revival in Traditional Architecture, and he became known for his theory of "Construction for the poor". Unfortunately most of his theories were neglected, and what attracted a number of architects was the use of traditional architectural elements. This led to the emergence of what can be called "Hassan Fathy Style", a style that has been applied tremendously in the past three decades to create luxurious resorts on the Red Sea shores. Such appropriation was encouraged by investors and developers to create an attractive and exotic built environment, one that fulfills the dreams of tourists who come to the region to enjoy the sea, sun plus an extra piece of cultural heritage. The aim of this paper is to trace the evolution and revival of a type of Egyptian Vernacular architecture, and how it is transplanted in a new environmental, cultural and social context. The failure or success of this trend needs to be assessed, as it can either be a step on creating Neo vernacular architecture or just an abuse of Egypt's cultural and architectural heritage
item: Conference-Abstract
Embodied energy in vernacular houses: case study of Gorai settlement, Mumbai; India
Yadav, M
The paper is based on overview of vernacular architecture of Greater Mumbai. There are numerous vernacular settlements in Greater Mumbai. Their territory can be distinguished in different parts according to the peculiar socio-cultural and economical elements acquired during the centuries and to the natural aspects that make each place unique. Nowadays the old settlements are mostly abandoned and new houses are not responsive to local conditions leading to destruction of ecological balance and affecting the environment of the place. The aim of the paper is to analyze the main characters of the vernacular architecture in the old settlement named Gorai pointing out both the typological and the technological aspects (local material! and construction processes), focusing on their environmental sustainability. Energy density of vernacular house and contemporary house is compared. Due to the complexity of the size, structure and construction of various houses, comparison of the main components of each building, instead of taking the house as a whole is preferred. Data and conclusions are the result of quantitative analysis. A house is composed of three main components: roof, wall, and floor. This analysis gives the general understanding of the embodied energy and ecological value of our vernacular architectural heritage and need to search for a more sustainable method of development. Through re-assessing our traditional dwellings under an ecological perspective, we appreciate the wisdom embodied in the vernacular architecture in its relation to nature and its distinct advantage in low energy architecture.
item: Conference-Abstract
Enhancing the quality of life by maintaining the cultural values and vernacular functional spatial features of Malay vernacular residences
Hoseini, AG; Baharuddin, MN; Ibrahim, R; Dahlan, ND
The quality of contemporary residential functional spaces has been mostly based on style and modernity rather than the tradition of particular regional context. This has led to new buildings which are not based, on the tradition of their own regional context. In view of the rapid modernization of Malaysia, the kampong house as a Malay vernacular architecture has been replaced by modern architecture. We are motivated to conduct this study because we observed the increasing loss of functional spatial features of kampong houses and their cultural values that support Malay local quality of life. The functional spatial features include spatial characteristics of functions and spaces that are based on local needs while the cultural values represent the local way of life. We posit that the loss of functional spatial features and cultural values is key to the diminishing quality of life for people living in contemporary houses. In this research, the vernacular architectural features of kampong houses representing Malay vernacular houses are studied using archival search. We use text analysis for analyzing the cultural meanings of vernacular functional spaces and their functional spatial features. The vernacular functional spatial features are the socio-cultural or environmental characteristics of a local region in a functional space. On the other hand, the cultural meaning of functional spaces is the value that represents the resident's local way of life in a functional space. The analysis determines the vernacular functional spatial features and cultural meanings of the functional spaces of Malay houses which represent the local needs. This study theorizes that the vernacular functional spatial features and the cultural meanings of functional spaces within Malay houses are influential in enhancing the quality of life. Correspondingly, the research found that the vernacular functional spatial features and their cultural values could support the quality of life while integrated successfully into contemporary functional spaces. Consequently, these features when utilized in designing contemporary functional spaces could exude the Malay local quality of life. In conclusion, the cultural values and functional spatial features of Malay vernacular functional spaces can be considered in contemporary residential design for enhancing the Malay quality of life in urban area.
item: Conference-Abstract
Exploring local wisdom in approaching the nature and environment of space according to the local order and image
Tulistyantoro, L
The local nature and the environment of a place are important factors in creating a work of architecture that matches the functions and image of its users. These factors are related to their context and become a separate issue, faced by all societies. Different natures and environments will express different works in accordance with their uses and image, relevant to their respective context. There is no work that can create itself, every architectural work is created according to the order and the image of society. The Indonesian society in general, specifically the traditional society of madura is a society living with a unique local nature and environment. The dry and barren soil and Limestone Mountains, with very little rainfall is a reality that must be faced and resolved by the people. They have been able to create a work of architecture that is in accordance with their society's local order and image in the tanean lanjang, the traditional house of the Madura people. Tanean lanjang is an architectural work that has been tested for a very long period of time and has become a part of the society's life. The wisdom to adapt and adopt the local nature and environment is reflected in the composition and zoning of space, in the dimensions and shape of the building, and the construction and use of materials on the tanean lanjang. The Madura society has been able to prove that the work of their ancestors is a great heritage that is full of local wisdom in accordance with the order and the image of the local nature and environment that is reflected not only on the physical aspects but also on the non-physical aspects. The society's cosmology is the non-physical aspect, a local wisdom that believes in achieving harmony with the local nature and the environment This is reflected through the sample studied ir this paper on the research of the physical anc non physical aspects of the tanean lanjang
item: Conference-Abstract
Frugality: considering an intimate modern
Tayyibji, R
This paper is an attempt to examine one of the strands of Indian modernity that does not subscribe to the industrial presupposition as the basis of its discourse. Rather this is a modernity situated in a paradigm that is "agricultural" with far reaching implications both culturally and environmentally. The Paper is comparative, building up contrasts between concepts that underlie a modernity that is "Industrial" and one that is "agricultural". It explores their respective attitudes and modes of "reduction". The first, "Minimizing" and its aesthetic equivalent, Minimalism is located in the industrial and particularly in the processes of mass production. The second, "frugality" is its equivalent in an agricultural paradigm, and is rooted in relationships and concepts whose aesthetic and therefore architectural potentials have not been adequately elaborated. This paper aims to study the architectural implications of "Frugality" with its emphasis on the rural-agricultural rather than the urban- industrial, bodily relationship to space rather than visual and mental constructions of space, and an intimacy with the material, the tactile, and a world that is "Full". Historically speaking this paper explores the aesthetic and architectural implications of a "Gandhian" Modernity as being distinct from the ubiquitous modernity that is our "Nehruvian" legacy. Architecturally the paper develops, in contrast to the idea of "transparency", that ubiquitous spatial need of all modern and minimal architecture, the idea of "Porosity", an attitude of material continuity that does not distinguish between differing forms of matter. Where as the first requires a spatial continuity, the latter is based on a continuity of material. Through the description and analysis of Gandhiji's residence, Hruday Kunj at his Ashram on the Sabarmati in Ahmedabad, this paper elaborates on the experiences of such architecture
item: Conference-Abstract
Informal structures: vernacular spatial responses to the industrial corridor in Indonesian main rice producer regency, Karawang West Java
Kurniawan, KR
Karawang Regency in West Java is one of Indonesian main rice producer regions whose economic activities growth rapidly. However, the concern of many people is that the development failed to anticipate the gap between traditional vernacular communities who conduct agricultural activities and the new industrial corridor that is formed along the southern part of Cikampek Toll-road that creates environmental and social problems in recent years. The southern industrial sites where national and international manufactured brandings are produced, imported, and distributed are more developed than the northern area. This unequal development creates a disparity inside the regency. Not only industrial estates threaten agricultural land-uses, but also flooding is now a regular disaster in Karawang and endangers the historic settlements and production of paddy-fields. Vast areas lack proper planning and human resources development. These factors race in parallel with social issues like migration and unbalance opportunities between native and newcomers from outside. Also the impact of modern lifestyle and mechanization are additional threats. The intention of this paper is to raise peoples' concern about the sustainatoility of the vernacular settlement in Karawang which Is encroached step by step by industrial estate and modern capitalist developments, 'Informal structures' is a title given to the Karawang Native spatial responses which are created from Native informal economic activities like small eateries, simple boarding houses for laborers, and motorcycles used for public transport. To investigate the phenomena of informal structures in Karawang, this paper will look at from aspects of vernacular communities, urban-architectural structures, authoritarian systems and industrial capitalism through the fourfold intersection of people, place, power and money. The absence of local community involvement in the mainstream development has denied the importance of local initiative and knowledge capacity. Vernacularity, in this case, is transformed into an informal social system that is developed through resistance of kampongs culture against urban capitalist development.
item: Conference-Abstract
Managing the threat to the Los' vernacularity in Java, Indonesia
Saraswati, T
The tobacco plantation in the area of Klaten Regency (Central Java) and Jember Regency (East Java) has many huge barns which dominate the surrounding landscape since the year of 1850s, named Los. Los is for drying tobacco. The Los(es) can be found in remote area in the villages; such as in Bendo Gantungan village within Gayamprit tobacco plantation in Klaten Regency; and in Ajong village within Ajong Gayasan tobacco plantation in Jember Regency. Both areas of tobacco plantations are under the management of PTPN X enterprise (government's enterprise). It was confirmed from previous research of Los in Klaten Regency that the Los has high vernacular values, not only from its organization of space, but also from its form, its local materials, and its local techniques. But the vernacular quality of Los is threatened by the nowadays situation we never expect before. For instance, the global change of the climate makes the wind blows more severe. This has been damaging many Loses in Jember Regency due to the light materials the Loses have which could not be saved from the harm of harsh wind. The light materials apply to the main structure of the Loses are from bamboo materials. Moreover, there were also some Loses which accidentally burnt out because of their vulnerable materials to the fire. In which its main structure now was changed from bamboo piles to reinforced concrete columns, and so forth. It is unavoidably expected that in the future the vernacular quality of Los will be ruined. This paper will explore the possible ways to reconstruct the Los in the future with very little destruction to its vernacular quality. This means that the vernacular traditions of the Los should be continued as much as possible.
item: Conference-Abstract
New machine vernacular: remote building technologies, cultural accommodation, and architecture's renewed humanitarian agenda
Shaffer, M
Contemporary advancements in mobile technologies and computer-aided fabrication systems have signaled the plausibility of remote construction devices in our near future. Semi-autonomous building-making machines capable of quickly (and continuously) erecting housing, architecturally dependent micro economies, and emergency urbanisms, represent our enormous technological potential to better the lives of an estimated 33 million people currently living in I.D.P. status around the world. In addition to homes and livelihoods, Tectonic Machines, as digital-mechanical extensions of our human sensibilities with regards to building, might also address the cultural and communal alienation of camp-bound I.D.P.s through extreme accommodation in producing vernacular forms and building types. In fact, the success of these humanitarian-centric machines will not be measured through an accounting of their industrial efficiency, but by their variable capabilities towards recreating aesthetically relevant replacement communities to carry functioning cultural systems and temporary economies, rather than mere logistics-based holding camps. These new machine's sensing, "informed", communicative, and freed from subjugation to the assembly line, must be devised to communally design and deliver a great variety of architectural forms that are environmentally fit, culturally accommodating, and spontaneously familiar (not necessarily new), in their appropriateness. In this scenario of techno-environmental mediation, a whole range of future vernaculars might evolve and develop as a comingling of old traditions and state-of-the- art machineries, local materials and global technologies, community-generated instinct and experienced formal practices. In addition to these topics, this paper will report on the development of a specific Tectonic Machine currently being designed for use in humanitarian relief situations and of the essential role vernacular accommodation plays in that development. This project has evolved from a digitally controlled casting system into something with the character and capabilities of a robotic collaborator or construction probe that learns, informs, and evolves design and construction in dialogue/partnership' with architects and displaced communities.
item: Conference-Abstract
Notes on the ethics of studying vernacular architecture
Chandavarkar, P
Scholarship on vernacular architecture typically constructs the identity of the vernacular subject in terms of a stable and holistic culture, rooted in place and community. On the other hand, the scholar of vernacular architecture is modern, claiming the attendant freedom to individually aspire regarding profession, lifestyle, culture and location. This paradox, although pervasive, is rarely explicitly recognized. This failure results in ethical conflicts that occur even with the best intentions of the scholar. The paper focuses on this ethical dilemma, and argues that if it is not acknowledged it pushes us towards the unacceptable situation of an "either/or" choice: either suppress the modernist aspirations of the vernacular subject, or accept that culture and built heritage have an unstable relationship that reduces heritage to the superficiality of a visual setting, within a hierarchy of power that pushes vernacular culture to the margins. The paper argues that the notions of "modernity" and "vernacular" have to be integrated into a framework that binds the scholar and vernacular subject into a common territory, without which it becomes difficult to ethically validate scholarly study of the vernacular. An outline of this framework is proposed.

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