Vernacular Architecture

Index:
Titles

Pages

Assignment Brief

Definition of Vernacular Architecture

Climate Regions

Libya

Zimbabwe

Canada

Comparing the Vernacular Architecture

References

Definition of Vernacular Architecture

According to Heath (2009), the term vernacular comes from the Latin word 'vernaculus'. It is
referred to the "native language or dialect" of that particular place, which can only be
understood by the people within the society. This philosophy is also concerned to vernacular
structures and to the environment. These vernacular buildings and landscapes are "regionally
distinctive and regionally understood". These indigenous buildings are influenced by the
surrounding culture and religion, by the climate in the region and by the materials and
knowledge available to the society. External influence such as migration can shape and alter
the main characteristics of a vernacular structure (Heath, 2009, p. 6).
Heath (2009) further states that "over time, these elements become part of a predictable
pattern of use and expression within a region or sub region" (p. 6). He additional affirms that
when the communities share the same knowledge, they communally relate another approach.
This is when the uniqueness of the "Place" comes into sight. Therefore the people within the
community modify their buildings within the spaces they own in relationship with their
current and future possible opportunities, restriction, threats and emotional response. All kind
of vernacular buildings are constructed to achieve the required needs and reflect on the
cultural traditions of the community (Heath, 2009, p. 6).
Climate Regions
With the study of vernacular buildings one comes to a conclusion of what the characteristics
of these types of constructions are. In order to understand the characteristics of the different
types of vernacular architecture, three different climate regions were chosen for this paper
which includes Desert, Sub-Tropical and Sub-Arctic climatic regions. Desert type of weather
is defined by aridity or absence of moisture while Sub-Arctic climatic regions are defined by
the extreme weather conditions. Sub-Tropical climatic regions are those places which have
humid warm coastal climates because they are warm but outside the tropics (Oliver, 1997, pp.
127-139).
Libya and Zimbabwe were the places chosen from the African continent to review the Desert
and it's Sub-Tropical climatic conditions respectively whereas, Canada was the place chosen
from the American continent to review the places which have Sub-Arctic climatic condition.
One may note that most people living in Libya and Zimbabwe have lived in very poor
environmental conditions but still they have managed to build homes that provided
commodity and protection against their wild and harsh environment they live in. It is
fascinating to note that although these people never had any academic knowledge of how is
the proper way to build, their cultural experiences was passed on to each and every son in the
family in order to continue building houses that meet the basic needs. Over time their houses
became stronger as when new knowledge on how to built was acquired. Therefore, new
alterations were done. Their building are so adequate to the harsh environment that even if
the people became rich and would afford to build a bigger and richer house most probably
they would still use the same principles from the vernacular buildings on their new structures.
Like the African people, the Canadian indigenous people lived in the vernacular houses they
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built but as they improved economically they abounded their vernacular houses and moved to
better houses that accommodate their needs but also accommodated their luxurious wants.
The American continent compared to the African Continent contains more developed
countries and has much more better status then African places have. Their vernacular
architecture was compared to show that although Africa is relatively economically poor but
rich in resources, they have still applied the properties of the materials that were at hand, to
protect themselves against the harsh environment.
The difference in climate conditions of the African content, lead all the tribes to adopt
different constructions methods in their dwelling. The typical environment varies from forest
areas to grassland to complete desert. Another factor that caused the tribe to adopt different
construction methods is that the resources of construction materials varied from each place.
The materials available in rural areas were grasses, wood and clay. According to Hess &
Oliver (2011), where the area is covered by a thin crop layer, people living there are more
often than usual nomadic. For shelter they used to use animal skins and their hair to protect
themselves from the hot weather. Trees were scars, whereas grasses were used as a building
material and a cover for the roof. On the other hand, in forests areas, hard wood was used as a
building material such as raffia palm and bamboo.
Libya
Libya is located in the northern part of the
African continent and it makes contact with
the Mediterranean Sea, thus, in its coastal
area it has a Mediterranean climate. In Libya
one can find two deserts, the Libyan Desert
and the Sahara Desert. The regions of the
Sahara Desert and the Libyan Desert
contributed to this area to have a Desert
climatic condition. All these different
climatic environments contributed to
different types of vernacular architecture to
be constructed.
According to Hess and Oliver (2011), rural and urban housing were planned round a
courtyard. The dwelling was one or multiple story high. In the Mediterranean climate region,
the dwellings of the Libyan people sometimes included a courtyard. In this courtyard they
build a pond so that the air passing by will be cooled by the evaporation of the pond, giving
the building a cooler natural breeze. This was possible because, the form and how the house
was designed allowed so. The materials that are used are wood, clay and stone. Contrary in
the Desert, the dwelling had to have a higher thermal mass. This means that the building was
kept cool during hot days and warm during cold days. Due to the high temperatures in these
areas, clay is mostly used. The construction method of the Libyan vernacular buildings in the
warmer regions is practically the same. Oliver (1997) states that for the construction of the
walls, they used sun dried clay bricks and then they plaster it with clay. The roofing of the
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structure is made out of packed clay and then reinforced wood. To improve the thermal
system of the building, they plaster it with clay to maximize the effect.
In Awagil, a Berber society in Libya one can find four native patriclans with a population
amounting up to 3633 citizens and 608 families. The average size of a family was six. All
these four patriclans lived in Al Bilad an oasis settlement. Each clan was divided by wall
which served as fortifications and at sunset the gates of all the four patriclans was closed. In
each tribe, wealth was not in buildings but in the numbers of wives, goats or camels the men
owned. Due to this reason there was no design in their houses and extended the number of
rooms according to the needs at the current situation. A classically dwelling incorporated an
"entrance hall, reception room, open courtyard, family sitting room bedroom, store for cloths,
food store, cooking place, latrine and cleaning place, and a courtyard for domestic animals"
(Oliver, 1997, pp. 2101-2102). In their construction they used local materials such as
"limestone, mud with spring for reinforcement, date palm trunks, branches and camel tendons
for binding" (Oliver, 1997, pp. 2101-2102). The walls were made out of bricks or from mud
plaster with pieces of limestone. They used as well mud and limestone blocks for Domes.
They cut limestone into slices to reinforce the arches and corners of the house. They used
whole palm trunks to serve as planks for the door and also incorporated them in the ceiling as
beams. The roof was covered with Palm fronds and were tied together to cover the roof and
then mud was placed on the top. The floors were made out of sand and had to be changed at a
point in time. Once all these steps were done, it was time to strengthen the structure. They
used fabric of plaster to attain a compact dwelling. This technique was done generally by an
old man, the most experienced of his clan. In order for this technique to be trespassed to
younger generations, he was assisted by his relatives. He soaked mud into water and worked
by foot. Generally a new house was build in summer in summer since the structure need ten
days in order to dry and when there is excessive rain, repairs had to been since mud get
damaged (Oliver, 1997, pp. 2101-2102).

Courtyard inside the house

Narrow corridors to increase draft

Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe is cited in the southern part of the African
Continent. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica,
(2011) Zimbabwe is entirely contained by the tropic region
but it is a sub-topical country because of its "high average
elevation." The seasons in Zimbabwe are irregular. In
summer although the temperature is very high it rains a lot
and in winter although the temperature is low it doesnt
rain at all. In fact it only rains few in the southern regions
of Zimbabwe.
Shona is a tribe from Zimbabwe, who grows crops and farm animals (Oliver, 1997, pp.
2147). The vernacular architecture of Zimbabwe relates a lot with nature as they cultivate
their land and their buildings are more likely to be farmhouses.
These are designed according to the culture of that particular
tribe. In fact they have the main house where they sleep and at
times, they build huts to serve different function such as a kitchen
and storage. They also build huts to hold their pigs or goats, and
chickens. Whereas, the outside space is left for food preparation,
washing, crafts and processing of crops, during the day, the
animals are left to roam freely. The outside space serves also as
the men's meeting place. Away from the village they build their
grass-walled washrooms and bathrooms without ceiling. Since
Zimbabwe has a very warm climate, the materials that are used in the constructions tend to be
lighter. Oliver(1997) states that, the form of the building is round and their construction is
done by men. They built all the huts for sleeping and kitchens without windows. The material
they use is timber found locally, grass and bark string. He further state that in order to
construct a hut for maximum 2 person, it must has a diameter of 2.5 meter and "200 straight,
closely-spaced, wall poles set into holes in the ground 40 cm deep." All the huts consist of
one wooden door and their roofs are in the shape of a cone, 1.65 meters high. 20 or more roof
beams are covered in numerous sheets of long, rough grass attached in with collars of
saplings. Grass is finally used to finish the ceiling.
When the hut is finished the women uses different type of clay
such as "anthill clay, river silt, cow dung and ashes" for
decoration. Between the wall and the roof they leave an aperture
so that air can flow easily in the structure. In some of the
vernacular buildings there is no difference between the ceiling and
the wall. In parts of Zimbabwe, were it is more likely to rain, the
roofs are clothed with tiles of fired clay. These are then attached
to a wooden skeleton to make the roof stronger so that it can
support the rainfall during summer (Oliver, 1997, pp. 2147-2148).
A women decorating and strengthening the hut

Canada
Canada is located in the
North of the American
continent and was chosen as
it has different forms of
vernacular architecture from
that of the African Continent
because the materials, culture
and climate are very different
from each other (Worldmark
Encyclopedia of the Nations,
2007). Oliver (1997) states
that, Canada has a Sub-Arctic
climate region and are
surrounded "from the North
by the Arctic, from the west
by the North West coast and
from the South by the
plateau" (pp. 1789). Due to its large area of landscape, its physical environmental conditions
vary from place to place. The climate conditions varies from moderate temperatures to high
precipitation in Western Cordillera, and in the other places in the Sub-Arctic they have cold
winters, short, hot summers and low rainfall. The precipitation falls more often than not in the
type of snow. Snow hides the land for five to seven months of the year because of the "cold,
darkness, and permafrost" (Oliver, 1997, p. 1789).
In the Sub-Arctic one can find different types of vernacular houses. For example as stated by
Oliver (1997), Northern Athapaskans constructed "plank houses or semi-subterranean log,
earth and moss dwellings, or skin-covered dome shaped houses, or skin- or bark-covered
conical structures" (p. 1791). "Northern Algonquians built conical or oblong tipis" (Oliver,
1997, p.1791). These types of buildings where built as temporary refuge to protect
themselves for a night or two from the harsh environment. They dig under their house in a
platform type to serve as a storage place for their food and materials.
Gwich'in is a tribe also known as Kutchin is the
most northern tribe of all subs arctic Indians.
They moved in groups from east of the lower
Mackenzie river to below the junction of the
Yukon and Porcupine rivers in the west. Each
Kutchin band varied its dwelling from group to
group. They built their lodges according to the 4
seasons. Their winter lodge structure which they
lived in from January to April was made out of
"10-12 bent spruce poles, in the form of a 2 meter high ellipse ranging 2-5 m on its axis."
First they remove the snow and then they plant the curved poles in the snow bank. Then they
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tight them to each other with "two central vertical supporting poles and horizontal
crosspieces." Following the construction they cover it with caribou skin. They leave its hair
so that they sew it with another caribou skin to form two large rolls. In order to form the
cover of the lodge they need 12 caribou skins so that they will sew them together to form the
single cover. They sewed them together in such a way that the hair covers both the outside
and inside of the house. Three holes were made, one for the smoke to exit the dwelling, one
for the entrance and one opposite the entrance to help improve the draft of the heated area
inside the lodge. The entrance was then covered again and the ground was also covered with
spruce boughs and skins. This was a typically type of vernacular house of this particular tribe.
From May until October, they lived in domed lodges but the vertical "poles were likely to be
alder or willow" and also the cover
of the house was skinless. All these
made the lodge lighter for
transportation and made the inside
cooler which also provides
protection against mosquitoes
(Oliver, 1997, pp. 1794-1795).
Comparing the Vernacular Architecture
In the subarctic region, the Canadian indigenous people used skins or furs in the construction
to serve as radiant protection and as an insulating cover against heat environment within the
house. The first priority when building a house was to control the wind entering the house so
that the warm inside won't escape (Oliver, 1997, pp. 130-131) On the other hand in the desert
climate region, vernacular structures had incorporated shuttered openings, courtyards and
narrow corridors to increase wind flow. They used heavy materials such as stone to delay the
extensive thermal fluctuation. They built domed roofs since their larger exposed surface,
reradiated heat much better than horizontal roofs (Oliver, 1997, pp. 132-133). In the
Subtropical climate region, due to the short period of winter, their vernacular architecture
allowed full enclosed space so that the heating of the burned fuels won't escape. They
designed their huts to allow the draft inside during the warm periods of the year. Buildings
were well spaced from one another with fields around them. A reason for this was for privacy
so that they were able to leave doors open to increase ventilation. They also used light
materials to reduce thermal flux (Oliver, 1997, p. 138).
All the three countries described show different methods of building which satisfy their
survival needs as their structures are environmental sustainable. One may also note that their
knowledge and culture together with religion varies between one another. Another point that
one should note is that although the countries spoken about from the African continent are
primitive in their technique and materials than the Canadian, they still have managed to
create a safe environment within their houses without the need to use modern technologies.
On the other hand, with evolution, the Canadian people have improved their building
techniques to control more efficiently their environment by incorporating technological
elements to improve their standard of living.

References:
Heath, K. HM., (2009). Vernacular Architecture and Regional Design. Cultural Process and
Environmental Response (p. 6).
Hess, J. B. and Oliver, P. (2011). African Architecture. Retrieved from
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/756980/African-architecture
Oliver, P. (Ed.). (1997). Encyclopedia of vernacular Architecture of the world. (Vols. 1-4). United
Kingdom: University Press, Cambridge
Zimbabwe. (2012). In Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved from
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/657149/Zimbabwe