Examination of concepts embodied in customs and beliefs of the traditional domestic architecture that resulted in a sustainable relationship between man & nature

Abstract

In ancient civilizations people depended totally on nature for their survival. They feared and respected nature and therefore nature was considered almost divine and came to be worshipped. They believed in super natural forces which were believed to bring them prosperity and adversity. People adhered to a set of beliefs based on their worldview in order to live in harmony with these cosmic forces. Each and every act carried out for their survival on earth was performed with rituals because nature was considered divine. Similarly, the construction of a house in a traditional form was linked up with a series of rituals that brought confidence and hope in the mind of the occupant on prosperity. "The tradition is the opinion or belief or custom handed down from ancestors to posterity. The tradition is not static; it is the functional demand adopted with the nature and environment, flavored with culture and belief. It was developed with certain value systems, anything that was not acceptable to the society was gradually rejected, only what was proved useful for people were retained and adopted. The outcome of confidence and the human satisfaction experienced by the ancestors, formulated and precipitated the tradition."1 The traditional house that has existed in Sri Lanka for more than two thousand years was an outcome of a strong philosophy of Buddhist life: - the simplicity and the impermanent nature of life. The house was part and parcel of nature; the materials were borrowed from the nature and returned to the nature. Ancient civilizations considered architecture not only as a building exercise but also as organizing their living environment and creating a sacred atmosphere for living. Many rituals, customs and beliefs have thus involved and it had been useful in creating a built environment in harmony with nature or in other words, it has acted as a tool for preservation of nature.Even though the traditional beliefs have been devalued today, these beliefs still exist in our society. Therefore a systematic study of the design concepts and construction techniques of traditional residential architecture would be of great importance to unravel the unseen depth and to see the possibility of applying the appropriate lessons of traditional domestic architecture to the architectural problems of our time.