A platform for research: civil engineering, architecture and urbanism
A platform for research: civil engineering, architecture and urbanism
Contested Legacies: Vernacular Architecture Between Sustainability and the Exotic
Abstract This chapter questions the interpretations of vernacular architecture through architectural conservation projects. It shows examples from China, Egypt and Greece and how in a framework of valuing the legacy of these buildings, the public are offered an opportunity to marvel in the workmanship, quality of natural material provision and indoor environments created. However, these buildings, contrary to the common belief, were not architecture for the poor, but they were for the rich echelons of their respective societies at their time. Their renovation as spaces and places for the exotic experience is with a view on their position in history and the affordance needed to maintain living in these buildings. A market-driven reality underpins an appreciation of why these constructs are only afforded as tourist and revenue generating buildings. While vernacular architecture is predominantly presented in the literature as architecture for the poor, sustainable with its local material and self-build initiatives, the examples shown in this chapter question this common belief. Although appreciating the lessons to be learnt and their subscription to the three pillars of sustainability, in their construction, design philosophies materiality and energy demand, and respect of cultural and religious beliefs, the legacy of the rich remains so.
Contested Legacies: Vernacular Architecture Between Sustainability and the Exotic
Abstract This chapter questions the interpretations of vernacular architecture through architectural conservation projects. It shows examples from China, Egypt and Greece and how in a framework of valuing the legacy of these buildings, the public are offered an opportunity to marvel in the workmanship, quality of natural material provision and indoor environments created. However, these buildings, contrary to the common belief, were not architecture for the poor, but they were for the rich echelons of their respective societies at their time. Their renovation as spaces and places for the exotic experience is with a view on their position in history and the affordance needed to maintain living in these buildings. A market-driven reality underpins an appreciation of why these constructs are only afforded as tourist and revenue generating buildings. While vernacular architecture is predominantly presented in the literature as architecture for the poor, sustainable with its local material and self-build initiatives, the examples shown in this chapter question this common belief. Although appreciating the lessons to be learnt and their subscription to the three pillars of sustainability, in their construction, design philosophies materiality and energy demand, and respect of cultural and religious beliefs, the legacy of the rich remains so.
Contested Legacies: Vernacular Architecture Between Sustainability and the Exotic
Hamza, Neveen (author)
2019-01-01
15 pages
Article/Chapter (Book)
Electronic Resource
English
Modern architecture and the Mediterranean : vernacular dialogues and contested identities
| UB Braunschweig | 2010
Modern Architecture and the Mediterranean: Vernacular Dialogues and Contested Identities
| Online Contents | 2012
Guest editorial: Vernacular architecture: sustainability and risks
| Emerald Group Publishing | 2022