Architectural Integration

Architectural Integration (part 1)

By: Adulsak "Otto" Chanyakorn

            Integrating vernacular architecture into modern architecture design is not a new idea for sustainable design or improving architectural design because many architects around the world have studied vernacular architectures and draw inspiration from them. They include vernacular design factors into their design principles; meanwhile, they take advantage of modern technologies and industrial materials to create architecture that is suitable in their region. For example, Glenn Murcutt was a pioneer for the Australian continent who employs industrial materials integrated with vernacular design strategies.

Retrieved from http://www.smh.com.au/national/sydney-stifled-by-culture-of-mediocrity-20091003-gh87.html

Sri Lankan architect Geoffrey Bawa is considered to be a master of vernacular architecture in South Asia who blends the aesthetic of Asian landscapes into architecture, and incorporates it into modern living.

Retrieved from http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~lkawgw/gbawa.htm

Egyptian architect, Hassan Fathy devoted his life to discovering a new architectural language for the Middle East region by using local materials to accommodate architecture with the climate in his region.

Retrieved from http://www.hassanfathy.webs.com

Samuel Mockbee is an American architect who emphasizes the value of vernacular architecture by teaching his students to master American vernacular architecture. He also established the Rural Studio, the Auburn University Rural Studio in western Alabama within the university’s School of Architecture.

  Retrieved from http://txstateu.wordpress.com/2011/02/03/around-campus-citizen-architect

 Even the master of Modern architecture, Frank Lloyd Wright, stated that vernacular architecture was “for us better worth [it] to study than all the highly self-conscious academic attempts at the beauty throughout Europe”(Maudlin, 2010).

However, in some regions of Asia and the Middle East, there is an economic factor that compels architects to search for an alternative design principle, which can be accommodated into their country’s conditions. There are no rules or fixed formulas for architects to employ for creating sustainable architecture by integrating great wisdoms from vernacular architecture and the advantages from modern architecture. Because each region has different conditions and factors to consider in the initial designing process, there are a few suggestions that architects can keep in mind while they are designing architecture. (To be continued in Part II).

        

References:

Maudlin, D. (2010). Crossing Boundaries: Revisiting the Thresholds of Vernacular Architecture.   

     Vernacular Architecture, 41(1), 10-14. doi:10.1179/17496210X1283871653682