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Vernacular architecture is a term used to categorize methods of construction which use locally available resources to address local needs. Vernacular architecture tends to evolve over time to reflect the environmental, cultural and historical context in which it exists. It has often been dismissed as crude and unrefined, but also has proponents who highlight its importance in current design.^[1]

A "Plantation Cottage" style of building on the island of Kauai, Hawaii. This is a vernacular architecture style developed in Hawaii in the epoch of sugar cane plantations.

Stone and clay houses in rural Nepal

In contrast to planned architecture by architects, the building knowledge in vernacular architecture is often transported by local traditions and is thus more - but not only - based on knowledge achieved by trial and error and often handed down through the generations rather than calculated on knowledge of geometry and physics. This of course does not exclude architects from using vernacular architecture in their designs or being firmly based in their regional vernacular architecture. For the similarities to "traditional architecture" see below.

The term vernacular is derived from the Latin vernaculus - a slave quarter at the back of the master's garden - In terms of language, vernacular refers to language use particular to a time, place or group. In architecture it refers to that type of architecture which is indigenous to a specific time or place (not imported or copied from elsewhere). It is most often used to apply to residential buildings.^[2]

The term is not to be confused with so-called "traditional" architecture, though there are links between the two. Vernacular architecture may, through time, be adopted and refined into culturally accepted solutions, but only through repetition may it become "traditional." Traditional architecture can also include temples and palaces, for example, which would not be included usually in the rubric of "vernacular." In Japan, for example, not all pre-modern architecture is "vernacular," which would usually refer only to rural buildings and structures. In the US, vernacular architecture might refer to a so-called craftsman bungalow, fashionable in the nineteenth century, even though the bungalow as an architectural form did not originate in the US. "Vernacular" might even refer to a building like the 1848 Duncan House in Cooksville, Wisconsin. All in all, the use of the term "vernacular" can be quite ambiguous.

A typical log cabin in Bariloche (Patagonia), Argentina. Very strict local regulations instill that every single piece of log cut down from the property has to be accounted for in the building of the cabin and related infrastructure, and the same amount of trees cut down must be replanted in the vicinity.

An early work in the defense of vernacular was Bernard Rudofsky's 1964 book Architecture Without Architects: a short introduction to non-pedigreed architecture, based on his MoMA exhibition. The book was a reminder of the legitimacy and "hard-won knowledge" inherent in vernacular buildings, from Polish salt-caves to gigantic Syrian water wheels to Moroccan desert fortresses, and was considered iconoclastic at the time. Rudofsky was, however, very much a Romantic who viewed native populations in a historical bubble of contentment. Rudofsky's book was also based largely on photographs and not on on-site study.

A more serious work is the Encyclopedia of Vernacular Architecture of the World published in 1997 by Paul Oliver of the Oxford Institute for Sustainable Development. Oliver has argued that vernacular architecture, given the insights it gives into issue of environmental adaptation, will be necessary in the future to "ensure sustainability in both cultural and economic terms beyond the short term." Christopher Alexander, in his book A Pattern Language, attempted to identify adaptive features of traditional architecture that apply across cultures. Howard Davis's book The Culture of Building details the culture that enabled several vernacular traditions.

Some extend the term vernacular to include any architecture outside the academic mainstream. The term "commercial vernacular," popularized in the late 1960s by the publication of Robert Venturi's "Learning from Las Vegas," refers to 20th century American suburban tract and commercial architecture. There is also the concept of an "industrial vernacular" with its emphasis on the aesthetics of shops, garages and factories. Some have linked vernacular with "off-the-shelf" aesthetics. In any respect, those who study these types of vernaculars hold that the low-end characteristics of this aesthetic define a useful and fundamental approach to architectural design.

Among those who study vernacular architecture are those who are interested in the question of everyday life and those lean toward questions of sociology. In this, many were influenced by The Practice of Everyday Life (1974) by Michel de Certeau.

An architect whose work that exemplifies the modern take on vernacular architecture would be Samuel Mockbee, whose pioneering work with Rural Studio is well-regarded and widely discussed amongst practicing architects and academics alike. Christopher Alexander and Paolo Soleri have a body of work which

An appreciation of vernacular architecture is increasingly seen as vital in the immediate response to disasters and the following construction of transitional shelter if it is needed. The work Transitional Settlement: Displaced Populations, produced by Shelter Centre covers the use of vernacular in humanitarian response and argues its importance.

The value of housing displaced people in shelters which are in some way familiar is seen to provide reassurance and comfort following often very traumatic times. As the needs change from saving lives to providing medium to long term shelter the construction of locally appropriate and accepted housing can be very important.^[3]

A street of British Victorian/Edwardian terraced homes.	Igloo	Replica log cabin at Valley Forge, USA	Stilt houses in Cempa, located in the Lingga Islands of Indonesia.
A typical jungle hut in Brazilian Amazonia, made of straw and supported by stilts. It is used by rubber tree collectors.	Payerhütte in the Ortler Alps, Italy	Moscow Villa Hut, Victorian Alps, Australia	Yurt at the Naadym festival at Tos-Bulak
Hundertwasserhaus Waldspirale in Darmstadt	Toda hut, Indian vernacular architecture	Outhouse in Gays, Illinois	Quonset huts in front of Laguna Peak, Point Mugu, California, USA in 1946.

1. ^ Holm, Ivar (2006). Ideas and Beliefs in Architecture and Industrial design: How attitudes, orientations, and underlying assumptions shape the built environment. Oslo School of Architecture and Design. ISBN 8254701741.
2. ^ Dictionary definitions: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/vernacular, http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=88049&dict=CALD, http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/vernacular
3. ^ "NGOs criticise tsunami shelters" BBC News - 22 December 2006

• For 10 years Carl Pruscha, Austrian architect and United Nations-UNESCO adviser to the government of Nepal, lived and worked in the Himalayas (1964-74). He continued his acitivities as head of the design studio "Habitat, Environment and Conservation" at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna. In 2004, he published: "Himalayan Vernacular" (Vienna: Schlebrügge.Editor)
• R.W. Brunskill, Traditional Buildings of Britain: An Introduction to Vernacular Architecture
• R.W. Brunskill, Illustrated Handbook of Vernacular Architecture, 1970.
• Bernard Rudofsky, Architecture Without Architects: A Short Introduction to Non-Pedigreed Architecture
• Bernard Rudofsky, Streets for People: A Primer for Americans

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