Why the old traditional techniques? What about modern technologies? Why such boorish and unrefined structures? Why such simple structures? What about maintenance? These are some of the few questions which come in our mind when we think about vernacular architecture. Vernacular to most of us means old school and traditional and laid back. We are so much indulged into the lavishness and sumptuousness of the modern world and its technologies that we have forgotten
about the beauty and importance of vernacular architecture. Architecture should be in such a way that it must not feel alien to that particular place where it is built. Rather, it should give an impression as it has emerged out of the ground itself. Buildings, structures and spaces impact human psychology as it plays an important role in shaping the mind of an individual. Every structure every space should affect a person in a way it is meant to be rather than giving an opposite or negative impact. How and what we build impacts our society psychologically, spiritually and mentally. City and towns are nowadays transforming into concrete jungles, every action every movement feels so mechanical and monotonous. With the increase in modern technologies we are growing apart from nature, we are becoming more robotic and this is hampering our mental stability. We need to go back to nature and find the natural way to live, we should focus more on simplicity rather than intricacy. Simplicity is a fine line between exquisiteness and plainness. Architects play an important role in shaping the society because we understand human needs and necessities. Modern buildings are sophisticated and built in such a way that it consumes a heavy amount of energy and materials used are mostly non-recyclable
and ends up harming the environment. In-country like India where the population is the main problem it is very much difficult to build structures which are time and space consuming. We need structures which are built just in a blink of an eye, more stable with less area consuming materials because of lack of space like RCC. But there is a solution to every problem we just need to find them, and one of the synonyms of an architect is ‘problem solver’ among the many. Vernacular architecture differs from region to region, it depends upon the locally available building materials, climate, need and other factors. Vernacular architecture should be sustainable and should cover the basic needs of a human being. Architects should embrace regionalism and cultural building traditions because the vernacular structure is sustainable and also proven to be energy efficient. Architects should maximise the capability of creating to minimise the negative impact. A most important aspect of these types of structures is that they are low cost, using low tech methods and perfectly adapts to its locale. These structures evolved over time and reflect the environmental, cultural and historical context in which it exists. It is not possible to use a vernacular approach in every structure but we can apply vernacular strategies to modern architecture. We need to build sustainable structures and sustainable architectural design depends on the principle of vernacular architecture. One of the most important questions that arise in our mind is why do we need to give importance to vernacular architecture? Problems related to environment and other factors can be solved using modern architecture, so why vernacular architecture? This may be summarised as:
Modern architecture does not use locally available materials and the cost of transportation is quite high. Whereas vernacular architecture uses locally available materials so the cost of transportation is reduced.
For applying any new technology we need a skilled workforce, and we need to train them before the work starts and this is very much time consuming as well as costly. Techniques used in vernacular architecture are traditional and are passed down from generation to generation, and these people are very much skilled in the traditional techniques which helps in cutting the expenses for training and saves time.
Then comes the climatic factor, which is the most important as it is the main concern in this type of architecture. To get the maximum advantages of the renewable energy climatically compatible design is needed. This type of design lessens the impact on the environment of construction and helps in
coordination with sustainability.
Vernacular architecture has of any region evolves over time and has a history of its own. Different region has different history and tradition and somewhere these traditions, cultures and histories are being left behind as we move ahead in our life. The cultures and the traditions are somewhere fading away, and need to revisit these histories and incorporate the traditional techniques in our modern architecture to keep its essence alive. These were the technical and practical justification for why vernacular architecture is important and why we should apply it. If we talk about it in a deeper sense, why should we do something which is not necessary? As Ar. Laurie Baker said in one of his interviews, “You ask the question of each item, however small, ‘is it necessary?’, if it is not necessary then don’t do it.” Architecture is not about building a masterpiece, spending lots of money on structures. Specifically in a country like India where there are thousands of people who do not have a roof upon their head we need to think about building something which is cost-effective and sustainable. Laurie Baker once said that we can build structures even without cement and he has already built structures which are devoid of cement and built by locally available materials like
mud bricks and wood. It is easy to build structures in a large site with unlimited resources and money but it is a challenge to build something in a small area with only a limited amount of resources. This looks impossible but it is possible, with a limited amount of resource and money we can build structures of any scale, but we need one of the most important tools for this myth to turn into reality, i.e. passion. If we have the passion we can achieve anything. Some people think that the vernacular approach is only for residential buildings but Ar. Laurie Baker proved this wrong by building Centre for Development Studies- Thiruvananthapuram. I am always awestruck by the works of Laurie Baker, as he never used to follow the standard architecture, he showed us how beautiful buildings can be built in a very simple way. Not just beautiful he’s works are also very durable. He was never partial and for him, a wall was a wall be it a poor man’s house or a rich man’s. Spending lavishly is foolishness when we have the option to reduce the cost and build structures of the same strength as that of RCC, or maybe stronger than that. It is seen that bamboo can withstand earthquakes as it has high tensile strength. We can see places which are earthquake-prone use bamboo and timber structure. The
temples in japan which are centuries-old features indigenous techniques that reflect the knowledge of generation past. These temples are very tall and made entirely of wood, these temples had faced numerous calamities but are still standing firmly. There are numerous bamboo structures now built-in Indonesia which is much stronger than the contemporary cement concrete structures. Vernacular architecture is a vast subject, and as told earlier it evolved with time and will keep evolving. The current situation of the environment encourages us to look towards vernacular designs. Prominent Indian architects like Chitra Vishwanath, Rewati Kamath and Sanjay Prakesh are practising the sustainable is vernacular architecture to make the future buildings. We human beings are greedy, we only know how to take but we never give anything in return. It’s now time for us as a human being to give back to Mother Nature and also it is our duty as an architect to make our buildings as sustainable and green as possible for the betterment of future generations.
“We should put all our efforts into a lot of small things, rather, than in all of us wanting to build one or two masterpieces. We have got to stop thinking big and go back to the idea that small is beautiful.....” -Lawrence Wilfred Baker
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