FARU - 2010

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

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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
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
Vernacular nautical architecture in transition: a case study of traditional Sri Lankan fishing craft
Devendra, S
This paper concerns the so-called "catamarans" often considered archetypal Sri Lankan craft. These are of great antiquity although their age can only be guessed. The vernacular form evolved from the available bio-resources and the nature of inshore waters. The craft were made only of wood with all fastenings being, by choice, of coconut coir rope ,Ai a common Indian Ocean till technology till comparatively recently. They were dual-element craft, comprising of dug-out hull connected to outrigger float by spars. The entire craft was "flexible" and thus could cope with surf-induced torque. The hull being a monoxylon, its tough, rounded bottom could withstand frequent abrasion from crossing sand spits and being hauled up the beach. It was essentially a "skimming" craft, without a displacement hull and, hence, completely different from the doubleoutrigger craft of south-east Asia and Madagascar and the east African coast. Its origin can, perhaps, be linked to those of Oceania. The Sri Lankan craft remained unchanged for what must have been millennia. In the last quarter of the last century, changes manifested themselves: the gradual use of iron nails; the increasing use of GRP and of nylon cordage; the use of outboard motors and the consequent morphological changes such as the substitution for the double-ended configuration of a fixed bow and stern and others. The reasons for change included deforestation, changing priorities in life, cost of manufacture, loss of skills etc. that are dealt with in the paper. An important aspect is that, even the use of new materials and techniques has not changed the basic dual-element form of the craft. This apparent contradiction raises a fundamental question: when, in the course of transition, does a vernacular form cease to be vernacular? This paper is the first attempt to record the process of the ongoing transition of these craft.
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
Trapped in impermenence: making architectural modifications to IDP camp shelters as a self-settlement strategy
Brisibe, W
The upheaval of forced displacement and the more arduous task of resettlement have been known to give rise to a whole spectrum of unprecedented problems and challenges, for all actors involved. Although forced displacements have constantly being on the increase due to the increase of factors such as conflicts, natural disasters and even massive development projects. Yet, each case regardless of its cause or location needs to be handled using strategies that are situation and culture-specific to enhance a resettlement scheme that is holistic. However, where a government initiated resettlement programme is not forthcoming, strategies for self-settlement are often adopted. The study is spurred from a ruling given by the International Court of Justice in 2003, in which the peninsula on the eastern border of Nigeria was ceded to Cameroon. This secession affected most of the fishing communities that had originally inhabited the region referred to as the Bakassi Peninsula, inciting many to forcefully relocate away from the region. The result of this action was the permanent displacement of an estimated 10,000 people, most of whom were migrant fishermen of the Ijaw ethnic origin. Although the resettlement of Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) is a direct responsibility of the government of Nigeria, the emergency management agency was ill-prepared to handle such situations of mass displacement. As such, the IDPs were placed in government built transit camps with poor, unhygienic conditions and lacking basic sanitary facilities as well as other infrastructure. The transit camp which later became referred to as the "Returnee camp" was originally intended for short stay until a more permanent solution, such as resettlement housing or cash compensation would be provided. Three years on, and what was intended as a temporary facility to shelter the displaced migrant fishermen, is fast becoming a permanent squatter settlement in the heart of the city, as families continually adapt the buildings to suit their needs. The proposed resettlement housing scheme has been abandoned and the option of compensation is locked in bureaucratic stalemate. With no foreseeable resettlement plan, the IDPs have developed several self-settlement strategies to create income and cope with the challenges of urban housing amidst growing families. One of such strategies involves making alterations to improve the livability of the environment and the impermanent shelters, which they find themselves now trapped in. This paper explores how architectural modifications have been made to the camp shelters and the immediate environment to improve livability, over a three year period. It also examines the influences of original vernacular built forms of the migrant fishermen on the architectural modifications made to these shelters in the IDP camp. The phrase "Trapped in impermanence" is^ borrowed from Goswani's (2006) thoughts on the state in which IDPs lived along the national highway 31, in Western Assam, India.
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
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
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
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
Time and space as process and product: an interpretation of vernacular and traditional architecture
Kashikar, V
What is vernacular and what is traditional? Although a lot of discussion revolves around defining and re-defining the vernacular; there is hardly any debate on the differences between vernacular and traditional in the field of architecture. As a result, these two terms are often interchangeably used, resulting in the lack of critical thinking in this area of study. This is perhaps one of the reasons why vernacular architecture is very often viewed in stylistic terms- like one of the "isms's" of architecture. This paper posits that vernacular architecture is a time specific response to the local context, whereas traditional building is a continually modified process that is place specific. This hypothesis is elaborated through a study of the craft skills of construction and a study of space use patterns of selected houses. This study is then cast in the dualities of space and time- where space is related to the architecture as a product frozen in time, and time is related to architecture as a process of constructing and using space that is place (culturally) specific. This paper does not intend to overthrow existing ideas of the vernacular or the traditional. However, by looking at the terms in a different way, it hopes to inform the debate on the role of vernacular architecture in the contemporary context. Thus, vernacular architecture can be seen not only as heritage that needs to be preserved but as a contemporary process that needs to be understood.
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
Small town, big trail houses of today, Rajkot District, India
Shah, BP
The earthquake of 26th January, 2001 in Gujarat had devastating results. The settlements in regions of Gujarat went through a very difficult time. The shock of this kind of a natural disaster and the prospect of a new start shook people. Under these circumstances help from government and foreign humanitarian aid played major role. The provision of necessary relief and rescue in terms of shelter became a reason of migration, detaching the living environment of people within the affected areas. This paper under the theme of resettlement and traditions, discusses various approaches followed by the villagers and the outsiders. In most traditional environment any start is always based on precedents. This could be a reflection of a tradition followed from centuries, which has become the genius loci of the place and people. Also, the wisdom to utilize available local resources and doing something innovative applies universally to any indigenous culture. Any disaster creates a sense of vacuum in the continuation of traditions and built-form. The villages in Halvad faced tremendous pressure against their very existence. The idea of a new shelter was to give immediate respite to the people. Resettling and that to a new location was completely alien and not acceptable to the locals. In these circumstances people started creating their own environment within the newly established conditions and the place started to transform. This paper is based on my field research in the region of Kalvad. After eight years of aftershocks the life in these villages seems settled and has a sense of belonging and meaning behind it. The framework of analysis is based on how people lived in their villages prior to the disaster in comparison with the post earthquake dwellings and discusses the new emergent environment created by local manifestations.
item: Conference-Abstract
Vernacular architecture and sustainability: the case of India
Kumar, A; Das, BK; Rajak, F
India is most populated country after China and where 70% of population is living in rural area which is primarily agrarian where housing affordability is problem for provision of adequate housing for all. Vernacular Rural Building is based on low investment and high maintenance where monetary transactions are minimal and high maintenance work creates regular employment for all. This is one of the important factors of economic sustainability of community. House-building in rural India is a culturally sensitive and highly ritualized process. It is a social event that involves many specialised castes, and which consolidates the ties & social relationship among neighbors. India is a huge country with so many climatic zones, with so many different people with different customs and lifestyle. Vernacular Indian housing is able to cope up with hot summer sun in Rajasthan to heavy rainfall and potential earthquakes and ground shaking in Assam to cold regions of Ladak. Modern constructions contribute to the environmental crisis through resource depletion, energy consumption, air pollution, climate change and creation of waste. Land, Water and Climate are three essential prerequisites for any agricultural production system. Modern construction methods have bad impact on agriculture product which is backbone of rural economy. In this context, the relevance of vernacular architecture is very much essential for developing countries like India. Vernacular architecture is not seen as a style, but as a system of knowledge. Due attention needs to be given by the present day planners, architects and designers so that the architecture is suitable for the climate, social and cultural aspects as well as sustainable development. Design and planning must consider sustainability (saving our mother earth) and social responsibility (saving the community) as inseparable.
item: Conference-Abstract
Re-thinking disaster-prone vernacular settlements: a comprehensive strategic planning towards disaster-adaptive settlements in Bangladesh
Parvin, A; Mostafa, A
Bangladesh is one of the most disaster prone countries in the world. Almost every year, natural disasters in one kind or another, cause huge loss of life and substantial damage to infrastructure, housing, agriculture and livelihoods. Casualty heightens due to the vulnerability of the vernacular settlement patterns and built environment to disasters. Climate change poses significant risks of more frequent natural disasters leading to more damage to the vernacular settlement in the disaster-prone regions of Bangladesh. Unsafe location, orientation and spatial arrangement of social, physical, environmental, and economic infrastructures make the settlements more exposed to the severity of cyclones or floods to this end, this paper aims to understand and present the vernacular settlements patterns with regards to their level of vulnerability to disasters. Based on these understanding, this study suggests some strategic planning options to improve adaptability of the disaster-prone rural settlements.
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
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
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
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
Vernacular architecture inner Baduy community in Cibeo village as representation of creativity and innovation responding to the nature
Loupias, HH
Baduy traditional community consists of two groups, namely Inner Baduy and Outer Baduy. Inner Baduy people live in the restricted villages Cibeo, Cikertawana and Cikeusik, Banten province, Indonesia. They have a mystical belief and strong tradition, including the concept of building house and settlement. They believe in supra natural power. One important rule is not allowed to build buildings using materials and tools of modern technology products. Their building stand on some wooden stilts. The stilts stand on stones as function to support the weight of the building and set the building floor flat. They also forbidden to change the building site conditions, such as by way of flattened or excavated of ground. Buildings should adjust to the conditions of its site. The building made from natural materials such as wood, bamboo, palm fiber and so on. They use wood and bamboo construction, using bamboo pegs and wooden and palm-fiber rope. Construction techniques that make buildings resistant earthquake because construction is not rigid, flexible and able to absorb the shocks of the earthquake. Bamboo pegs use when two woods or construction in wet condition, when they are dried the joins becomes stronger. Another important building is leuit that serves as a place to store rice. Leuit stand on some stilts but its size smaller than dwelling house. Leuit located separately from the location of the settlement. To prevent the rats entered the leuit, at the top of the pillars mounted horizontally circular board. In general, the techniques used by traditional Inner Baduy community showed their creativity and innovation, responding to the material and the nature.
item: Conference-Abstract
Rainwater harvesting strategies in urban buildings: a case of Sri Lanka
Gunasekara, JDEM; Karunasena, G
Scarcity of water for human needs i§ prevalent throughout the world today. Thus, many methods are being suggested to increase water supply; one alternative being rainwater harvesting. Rainwater harvesting is an ancient technique more popular worldwide because of its effectiveness. Sri Lanka has a long history associated with rainwater harvesting. The recorded history of hydraulic civilization dates back to 5th century BC. Large number of reservoirs, tanks, dilapidated irrigation structures and inscriptions stand testimony to a dynamic hydraulic civilization. To date, traditional techniques are implemented island wide, especially in rural areas with the new name of rainwater harvesting. However, to date there is very few rainwater harvesting systems implemented in urban buildings. There is a need to develop rainwater harvesting systems for urban buildings as a solution for water scarcity and high utility bills in urban buildings. Thus, this study aims to explore and identify rainwater harvesting systems in urban areas and identify factors that affect an effective rainwater harvesting system. Comprehensive literature review was conducted for data collection and professionals from both private and public sector involved with rainwater harvesting were interviewed for views on urban rainwater harvesting. The study revealed technical, economical, environmental and operational factors that influence design and implementation of an effective rainwater harvesting system. It enabled to explore the current status of urban rainwater harvesting, highlighting strengths and weakness of identified factors for successful implementation of an urban rainwater harvesting system in Sri Lanka.

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