The Inventiveness of Tradition: Vernacular Architecture and the Future Author(s): Marcel Vellinga Reviewed work(s): Source: Perspectives

in Vernacular Architecture, Vol. 13, No. 2, Special 25th Anniversary Issue (2006/2007), pp. 115-128 Published by: Vernacular Architecture Forum Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20355388 . Accessed: 23/02/2013 12:07
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The

Inventiveness of Tradition: Vernacular

Architecture and the Future

Marcel Vellinga
at theimpe wrestler l?s, theinstallation [of a sumo champion rial of a Meiji shrine]as such onlydates to 1911?the invention tradition?butwhence comes itsmeaning and itsparticularity? One Modern sumo is may as truly of tradition. speak of theinventiveness a permutation made appropriate forms and relationships, clearly of older
to novel situations.1 The vernacular "There's and the past about vernacular architec

the context of a discussion on the possible futureof the field of vernacular architecture studies. At the beginning of the new millennium (a in period of reflectionand looking ahead a many fields and disciplines), tendency towithdraw into the defended, yet in fact extremely intuitivelyidentified,spiritedly diverse and therefore difficulttodefine category of vernacular
architecture is still common among many vernacular schol

something

cosy

ture," Paul Oliver wrote in his 1984 essay entitled "Round the Houses"; "It's a sheltered retreat for many who fondle the adze-marks, feel thefitof the ashlar ormarvel at the assembly
of post, "there's manship wall-plate not with and tie-beam. Somehow," he continued, work the craftsmanship simple than tools anymore; and muscle?it's after Oliver all that honest gone."2 wrote these words

ars?regardless of their disciplinary backgrounds or where work in theworld. And, simultaneously, it may be said they defined in that thecategory of thevernacular iscommonly still
terms of references in other words, For to history, or tradition, to the past. scan of the literature reveals, or pre-modernity; in reference as a

example,

quick

much of thework in thefield of European vernacular archi tecture isconcerned with thedetailed description, dating, and classification of vernacular building forms, plans, materials and technologies. The majority of these studies, ifnot all of them,are historical, dating back to the seventeenth,eighteenth or nineteenth century (fig. 1). More recent or contemporary buildings receive only limited attention, even if they have

More

twenty years

as somewhat of an aside in an article that mainly dealt with the academic neglect of British suburban architecture, their
reference to the vernacular's associations with honesty, simplic

ity, craftsmanship, and, crucially, thepast, stillseems timely in

Fig.

1. The Ley, a late sixteenth-century half-timbered house showing original color patterns; Weobley, Herefordshire,

UK.

(2006 Photograph, Author) Marcel Vellinga, The Inventiveness of Tradition 115

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been

built

by

the owners "ordinary"

themselves people. where been This

or have situation

been

made

for

"common," different architecture

is somewhat of vernacular terms, com

inNorth has

America, generally

the category in broader

involved in similar activities and are indeed (and fortunately I should add) growing in number. For, as has been noted by Dell Upton, the supposition that the honest craftsmanship of
the vernacular period is gone or is in the process of disappear

defined

prising historical farmhouses and mills as well as more recent bungalows, Sears Roebuck & Co. house kits, and tenement
blocks. Here, much attention is paid to the cultural context of

ing is not restricted to those involved in the academic

of European and American and strong Indeed, vernacular among it is also architecture, scholars the view who working of common

study
but is in the

equally

architecture and to the which buildings have developed way in

over time, concomitant with social change. Nevertheless, much

non-western public, as well

world.7

the general in the

as of many

academics

are not active

of the North American discourse is stillfocused on the Anglo

American than past, looking at historical processes of change rather

field themselves includingmany, ifnot most architects. And, of course, the assumption is largely justified, as
many unique vernacular and building a vast number traditions have disappeared in the process in recent history, is currently

present-day In many

developments. cases, the interest vernacular seems time of scholars in a inspired gone particular by of the European material, and plan, often era a in

and Anglo-American form, nostalgic which, or technology, longing as Oliver

respect

of being lost. In China, for example, a countrywith a richly diverse array of vernacular traditions (including such building
types massive as hierarchically circular earth ordered fortresses, siheyuan mobile or courtyard houses, yurts, and nomadic

for a notes, an

by?a

pre-modern to have

craftsmanship "engagement"

is supposed with

ruled world

sovereign,

in which

the natural

and other people was still which buildingswere, present, and in

as a result, more the vernacular a means humane, becomes and a simple, and durable. category In such cases, as that is used architectural

underground cave dwellings), vernacular buildings are being

obliterated blocks, as is too at an shopping ordinary, as alarming malls, outdated standing of rate and or to make way for new Often housing regarded office centers.

prelapsarian

dysfunctional, of progress as Ronald

the vernacular and Knapp develop notes,

to evade

to criticize

contemporary

perceived In

in the way the country,

practice, with all its associations

of individualism, commerce,

(to some people, anyway)

and ecologically

ment.

large parts

monotony,

unsustainable technology.Henry Glassie has argued that this

response to the vernacular is an essential feature of the modern

modern designs and materials have "ruptured links with lo cal stylesand building conventions, bringing about a striking
homogenisation of housing in a country once known for the

movement, famously shared by architects such as PhilipWebb

and Le Corbsusier. "Different traditions," he notes, "permeate

diversity of local traditions." Sadly, the situation inChina

by no means unique, and similar processes of modernization

is

into ideal types.One

and modern?ours. desperate stable and ecological

is individualistic, scientific,progressive
The other is a matter of harmonious or adaptation; it is communal, spiritual,

thatbring about thedestruction of architectural heritage and

the loss of vernacular many other parts of skills and the world, knowledge including are taking place Indonesia, in Ireland,

anachronistic?theirs." strong motivation for the romantic to

and Romania
tendency To mentation a

(fig.2).
extent, preservation therefore, the attention buildings to the docu is under

Another

large and

focus on "simple" historical or traditionalbuildings seems tobe

the fact that many log cabins that are of the farmhouses, somehow seen to barns, mills, byres, and of the feeling

of historical

standable and justified.Yet, the downside of this almost ex

clusive and of focus the on the past, on documentation of narratives and preservation, and loss of decline

represent

we inEurope community and traditional craftsmanship that and North America now regard as having been lost,are rapidly disappearing while new buildings that correspond to the old
ones are no longer, or only rarely, being made. As a result,

predominance

that substantiate it (andwhich, in combination, often result in emphatic attempts to safeguard thebuildings from modernity and preserve them, ifpossible, in their original state), is that
in doing so, vernacular to the past. architecture, By making and in effect its study, is the category of the vernacular

many of those involved in thefield of European and American

vernacular studies have worked long and hard to document

relegated

historical examples of unique building types,or are involved

in important for posterity. projects Today, to conserve many others or preserve elsewhere such buildings are in the world

consist of buildings that are historical or, in the case of non western buildings, traditional (by which, generally speaking,
are meant those buildings that are or have directly evolved out

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?m

abandoned and dilapidated; Kerinci,Indonesia. (1996 Fig. 2. Traditionalhouses, SungaiPenuh, Author) Photograph,

of indigenous building traditions thatexisted in theperiod just before or during theEuropean colonial encounter), the impli
cation Because is that there with is no real future for vernacular architecture. and the unstoppable advance of modernization

hamper

the recognition

of

the vernacular

as an architectural

globalization those buildings are evermore likely to change

or disappear, the vernacular itself becomes a lost world?and

category worthy of fullacademic and professional attention. It effectively relegates vernacular traditions to thepast by em many people, phasizing either theirhistorical or traditional (to outdated) status,rather than helping them endure and develop by pointing out theirdynamic and adaptive character. What I want to call for in thispaper, therefore,reflect on the theme of the future of vernacular architecture ing studies, is a more dynamic approach that explicidy focuses on building traditions rather than buildings. Of course, such an approach is nothing new in itself and has already been successfully employed for a long time by many scholars in thefield.Nevertheless, as noted above, most attention in this respect has been paid to historical patterns of change and more specifically here, development. What Iwant to call for however, is an approach that acknowledges the dynamic and dialectic nature of vernacular traditionsby explicidy at tempting to understand how such traditions, through human
agency, change and adapt to the cultural and environmental

with it, itsfield of study becomes the exclusive domain of historians. At the same time,by emphasizing (because of the concerns over their vulnerability) the documentation and preservation of historical buildings,many studies in thefield of
vernacular architecture include representations that are frozen

in time and incomplete. They look at the historical meaning, use, and construction of buildings,while ignoring theiractive
re-use, re-interpretation, or adaptation in the present.

Similar observations have of course been made before by scholars like Janet Abu-Lughod
into account their arguments,

and Dell Upton.9 Taking

that the tendency to

I believe

focus on a limited category of historical or traditional build ings,and to ferventiytryand safeguard these buildings from modern change and decline by studyingor preserving them in theirhistorical state,has restrictedthe scope and development of thefield of vernacular architecture studies and continues to

circumstances and challenges of not just the past, but of the present and the future.Such an approach, which removes the vernacular from its sheltered retreatby looking at old as well

Marcel

Velunga,

The Inventiveness ofTradition

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as new building traditions and, crucially, at theway inwhich

they meet, day interact, and amalgamate should so as not to create present vernacular architecture, replace the current

Maori Indonesia or the

undergoing a remarkable there are vernacular

inNew Zealand
process of

thatpersist and are

Similarly, in a less conspicu

resurgence.10

traditions

that persist

historical discourse but ought to take a place alongside it. It

will, and ing, I believe, historical will allow enable us to evade of the current predicament and, in so do and, entrapment us to foresee the vernacular

ous or spectacular way, exemplified by converted Cotswold barns used as second homes (some of the barns have, in fact, been newly constructed), Lakota sweat lodges frequented by Native Americans and whites, "short" Borneo longhouses used as ceremonial meeting halls, or Mongolian yurts that are occasionally used as touristaccommodation. All of these
have incorporated changes in meaning or cultural context

a future

for the vernacular,

by implication, its study.

A DYNAMIC As vernacular: noted, many the Minangkabau vernacular house traditions have

unique

undoubtedly disappeared
many are currendy under

throughout history and, sadly, too

threat or undergoing a similar fate.

while retaining theirown distinctive character (fig.3).11And

there are also buildings, such as the many beer-can houses,

Yet I believe it is important to recognize that as real, wide spread* and disconcerting as thisdecline and lossmay be, it does not necessarily make up thewhole story;fornext to the unmistakable tales of woe documenting the destructive im
pacts of modernization persistence and and globalization, vibrancy. Thus, there are also next tales of vernacular to the rural

earthbag-papercrete houses, or converted flatbed trucks in theUnited States, that seem new or without precedent but
draw their inspiration from vernacular forms, plans, and

technologies.

Of course, itcan be and often isargued that such build

are not, or at least no ings longer are, truly vernacular. Rather

Irish farmhouses that are being rapidly replaced bymodern Chinese courtyard houses that bungalows or the inner-city have tomake way for skyscrapers and shopping malls, there are vernacular traditions like those of the Sa'dan Toraja in

than the "real thing," they are at best regarded as deriva

tives, replicas or imitations of the true vernacular. At worst,

they are seen as simulacra or downright fakes, deliberately manufactured to exploit their associations of tradition and authenticity forpolitical and economic reasons. After all, the

Fig.

3. Cotswold

UK. (2006 Photograph, Filkins,Gloucestershire, Author) shop;

barn, dating back to the eighteenth century, now converted into a museum

and

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true vernacular

is commonly

said

to consist

of the architecture

of the people, having been built by the owners or inhabitants themselves,using localmaterials and traditional technologies that have been handed down through the generations, in keeping with local cultural values and needs, and in response to local climatic circumstances. Many of thenew buildings, such as the modernized Sa'dan Toraja origin houses, thegen trified Cotswold barns, or the adapted Mongolian
not meet these conditions, but have been made by

Yet in many cases these buildings are undoubtedly part of a vernacular tradition, combining traditional elements ormaterials, or space use) with new ones (technologies, (forms,
conveniences, looking at an materials). example, Let me the "new" try and argue this point built by by vernacular houses

the Minangkabau
be argued and

West Sumatra, Indonesia. It can people in

that, even have though the materials, changes, tech undergone the houses

in this case functions

yurts do

nologies

contractors

or professional builders, using modern materials (sometimes in combination with traditional ones) that are not necessarily suited to the local climate, and incorporating contemporary
conveniences refrigerators, such and as electricity, central heating, bathrooms, authenticity television sets. Their vernacular

(through theirplan, design, meaning and use) stillform part of a distinctive, culturally-shared and localized tradition. Traditionally, vernacular Minangkabau
constructed of timber, which was used

houses have been

to make the posts,

the roof structure,and often the floor and thewalls (includ ing their occasional colorful decorations). Other materials included rattan and bamboo tomake floors and walls, and palm fiber to thatch the characteristic upwardly sweeping roofs (fig. 4). The interiorof the traditional houses isgenerally characterised by an open hall at the front (occupying two thirdsof the total space), which serves as a communal living

is thereforeat best seen tobe questionable. Typologically situ ated somewhere between the "real," traditional, or historical
vernacular identified traditions, and as "new the modern, vernacular" or such buildings are frequendy or, in reference to non-western

as "neo-"

"post-traditional."14

and Minangkabau house,builtoftimber Fig. 4. Traditional

bamboo, with with corrugated iron; Balai

the characteristic upward sweeping roof, here clad Talang, Sumatera Barat, Indonesia.

Author) (2006 Photograph,

Marcel

Vellinga,

The Inventiveness of Tradition

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space own receive

for the members the houses. and During

of

the matrilineal ceremonies

descent this hall

groups is also used

that to to for

like their traditional

predecessors

they

are no

longer made

of

natural materials like timber and thatch,but are mostly built

in concrete though concrete of wood. or brick, with cases corrugated panels iron or zinc have been roofs, onto even the inmany to create In some from timber glued

entertain

guests.

At

the rear of

the houses

are

be found

small

compartments

that serve as sleeping

places

thewomen belonging to thehouse (fig. 5). The distribution of

these compartments to represent follows a specific of of circulating the women the descent pattern that is taken and, own the life cycles the continuity concerned groups that

the impression cases these

that the house still been in materials, has

has been made thatched the (fig. 6). and

roofs have changes construction

Apart ritual context

social

consequently, the houses.15 Though many

of house

changed.

In the past, affair,

the construction of these traditional Sumatra, by Built a houses they have of remain since the

of a vernacular

house

was

a communal

throughout late "new 1960s

large parts been

of West

thewhole familyworking together under the guidance of a master builder, while the building process was regulated by
the performance were meant of specific rituals and and social fortune festivities of the house. that to enhance the vitality

accompanied houses." construction

large number

so-called

vernacular and

by professionals

using modern new houses

materials

technologies,

these

Though this is stillthe case in some isolated areas, many of the

traditional necessary ceremonies when a new and house rituals are now no longer and old deemed notions is constructed,

resemble traditional Minangkabau

and spatial layout. Hence they

houses in their design

on piles, are provided

are built

with a distinctive roof that is characterized by upwardly rising

spires, and in many on instances the gables are and colorfully decorated with they are woodcarvings facades. Internally,

of communal help and duties have generally been replaced

by the specialized and work contractors. of modern, At the academically-educated same time, the use and architects

divided into a large open hall at the frontand a back area that isdivided into enclosed compartments.Despite thistraditional
design have and been spatial layout, however, most and of the new houses Un built using modern resources technologies.

meaning of the houses have changed. Usually financed and

owned sian by successful cities or abroad, migrant the entrepreneurs of new living vernacular in Indone houses majority

no longer serve as traditional dwellings but stand empty for

Fig.

hall at the Ab ai Sangir,Sumatera GaudenzD omenig) Barat, Indonesia. (Drawingby front;

5. Interior of a vernacular Minangkabau

house, with small private

rooms at the back and an open, communal

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FT^TI

Fig.

6. New

Balai Talang, Sumatera Barat, Indonesia. (1993 Photograph, Author) technologies;

vernacular Minangkabau

house, showing traditional design and layout, but built using concrete and modern

most

of

the year, being important

only

occasionally events,

used

for ceremonies or crises in the

that mark

social

celebrations,

to that formerly reserved for members of the Minangkabau distinctive elements of this design (es nobility and that the pecially the roof spires and woodcarvings) often tend to be emphasised, ifnot exaggerated. It also explains the symbolic
efficacy of the houses. Because a new vernacular house com

livesof the families thatown them. In thepast, the traditional

vernacular house was the social focus of the family, the place

where lifeunfolded and most social interaction took place.

Now, one might say, the new vernacular house has become a

symbol, an expression of theprestige and unity of the family

whose members live dispersed in smaller modern houses or, increasingly, The elsewhere in Indonesia or abroad. and use indicate the con

bines prestigious modern elements (modern building materi als, the involvementof architects, and new technologies) with prestigious traditional ones (a design formerly reserved for the nobility, elaborate woodcarvings), it forms a very potent
symbol?one, indeed, that has been shown to play an impor

changes

in construction

tinuing symbolic importance of the new houses. Because

expensive to build, a new, modernized vernacular house

it is
(like

tantpart in localized processes of socio-political competition and displacement (fig.7).17 In those cases where houses have been built to actively claim status and power, their traditional character has been make them explicitly stressed in theirdesign and plan, so as to resemble thepopular image ofwhat an "authentic" traditional
Minangkabau pliance has house been should look almost like. In some turning cases this com into a extreme, the houses

its traditional predecessors) serves as an objectification of the

wealth of its owners. At the same time, in the current era of

globalization, tourism,and increased ethnic contact and (sadly,

in the case of Indonesia) conflict, it serves as an ethnic symbol,

indicating to thosewho see itthat itsowners areMinangkabau people who are proud of their ethnic background and care for the survival of their vernacular building tradition.The interrelationof thiseconomic and ethnic symbolism explains the fact that thedesign of thenew houses tends to correspond

parody of thevernacular. An example isprovided by a house thatwas built in the village of Balai Talang in the district of 50 Kota during the early 1980s (fig.6). Commissioned by a

Marcel

Velunga,

The Inventiveness ofTradition

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Datar). Exemplifying the close linkbetween the new houses and socio-political contestations, the owners (claiming to be who was deposed descendants of the last Minangkabau ruler, in the 1830s) are keen to emphasize that this house, rather than the "official" government-funded building located a few hundred yards up the road, is the "real" palace
The modernized character of the new

8). (fig.
the ex

houses,

aggeration of theirdesign, and their economic and political have, however, raised questions (and continue instrumentality to do so) about their authenticity.Though complying with
traditional garded older by "truly forms some and plans, the new "replicas," The houses have been of seen re the as as "fakes," or "imitations" new houses are

traditional"

houses.

buildings that (havingbeen built by professional builders using modern materials, and by being emphatically used to claim
status) but are are no longer "neo-" houses a true part or of the vernacular They tradition, are, as the at best goes, "post-traditional." that are deliberately

argument

manufactured

to exploit their associations with tradition for political and lost their economic goals, but have (orperhaps, have therefore) built "converted" Like the local, "original" meaning. newly
Cotswold barns or the contemporary Sonoran style suburban

houses inArizona, the new Minangkabau

said to constitute yet another example of or "invented" cultural traditions.

houses have been

the manufactured

whether A question Iwould like to raise here, however, is this is a fairverdict? Does the fact that the houses are made materials and for ostensibly different with different purposes
make Fig. and exaggerated roof spires are used to emphasise 7.New vernacular Minangkabau house. Elaborate decorations them less vernacular or authentic than their traditional

its traditional

predecessors? Are they indeed mere imitations of traditional

houses or, worse, fakes because who they assume traditional materials forms such as but are made by architects use modern

SulitAir,Sumatera Barat, Indonesia. (1996 Photograph, character; Author)

concrete and who tryto hide this factbehind timber panels? Or do they in fact represent a new phase in the evolution of a distinctivebuilding tradition thathas adapted itself to a new The cultural and ecological context? Iwould argue the latter.
"converted" Cotswold barns and Sonoran style suburban

major wealthy diplomat of local origin, it is situated along the road that runs through thevillage fromPayakumbuh to Suliki
and, like most new houses, ismade of concrete covered with

new vernacular houses in West Sumatra, like the newly built houses inArizona,
replicas or

decorated wooden panels. Topped by an impressive thatched roof featuringfour sweeping spires, it shows such resemblance to thepopular image of traditional Minangkabau architecture that it is featured as an example of authentic (jdias) Minang
kabau architecture on the cover of A.A. Navis's influential

should not be dismissed as inauthentic

travesties. Instead, the new West

post-traditional

Sumatra houses should be regarded as the late twentiethcen

tury successors to what western scholars and Minangkabau

Alam Terkambangjadi Guru}% Another good example is study, an elaborately designed and decorated house built during the of Tanah early 1990s in the village of Pagar Ruyung (district

we look alike see as the Minangkabau vernacular. After all, if at the traditional houses thathave been built earlier on in the twentieth century (i.e. the houses that generally serve as the

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r**J

Fig.

8. New

Barat, Indonesia. (1996 Photograph, Ruyung,Sumatera Author)

vernacular house, claimed by its owners to be the "real33 palace

of the former

ruler of Minangkabau;

Pagar

point of reference for the authenticity of the new ones), it becomes clear that the instrumental use of houses isnothing new. Historic research has shown that quite a few of the old houses were in fact builtwith similar purposes in mind as the
new ones: to claim status and power within the context of

that are used

only

on ceremonial

occasions,

and

including

elec

triclights, modern kitchens,bathrooms, and garages?they do

comply with contemporary, "modern" Minangkabau cultural

localized socio-political contests and struggles.20 The differences between the so-called trulytraditional
and modernized houses, are materials and technologies, the

values, wishes, and requirements (fig. 9). Similarly, though the modern materials may not all be climatically suitable, theyare
what people nowadays want and can afford, and are, partially of large parts at least, chosen in response to the deforestation

of Sumatra and the fact that suitable timber is thereforesimply

no longer So, Minangkabau imitations, available. we, as scholars view of the vernacular as fakes or or

function that the houses perform, and the social context of

construction. Timber and thatch in the past, concrete and

although

corrugated iron now; residential and ceremonial unit in the

past, symbol and help these seen ceremonial in the past; differences center now; master and builder and now. that are category. communal Of course, architects all relate contractors

culture, embodying

may

the new

houses or even

the acculturation,

the destruc

to elements as a distinct

tion and loss of the authentic timber, bamboo, and thatch building tradition, it is in fact equally valid to see them as the
representatives of a new phase in the development or evolu

commonly

to define

the vernacular

After all, theuse of localmaterials and communal construction bymembers of the community are central to many definitions of thevernacular. Yet, Iwould argue, thedynamic and flexible adaptation to local cultural and ecological circumstances is an equally important element of vernacular tradition.And
whatever houses?being else can made be said about the character materials, serving of as the new symbols of modern

tion of that distinctive vernacular tradition. Indeed, this is how many (though admittedly not all)Minangkabau people
themselves eration and see them. Tradition, as a process and of active practices regen within transformation of know-how

a contemporary local context, is dynamic and continuously A vernacular whether it is thatof changing. building tradition, the Minangkabau in Indonesia, theZulu in South Africa, the

Marcel

Velunga,

The Inventiveness ofTradition

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\ -^?^?SF^aI

* I J>*'*$hI

Barat, Indonesia. (1996 Photograph, Author) Anding,Sumatera Minangkabau house; Fig. 9.New vernacular

no different; Nage in India, or theLakota in South Dakota is it is an ever changing continuous interplayof precedent and innovation that dialectically responds to changes in society,
culture, and the natural environment.

theCotswolds, and a modernized Minangkabau house only in West Sumatra. Rather than breaking with tradition, they
represent its inventiveness.

The Vernacular

and the Future

Returning to the theme of thepossible futureof thefield of vernacular architecture studies, I believe that thisdynamic
and dialectic nature of vernacular traditions needs to be more

or in terms gies or forms that have been used tomake them, of the kind or class of people that associate themselveswith

Besides, I would argue, though theyare differentfrom theirpredecessors in termsof the kind ofmaterials, technolo

explicidy acknowledged in our research and teaching. The newMinangkabau houses and other new buildings that I have briefly referred to are indeed, inmany cases, and in varying degrees, differentfrom theirpre-industrial predecessors. Yet,
Iwould argue, they can still be seen as vernacular, in the sense

them, thosemodernized vernacular buildings (orperhaps we should call them "vernacularized" modern buildings) are still

genuine cultural expressions in themselves. Consequently, I believe that theydeserve as much academic and professional attention as their traditional predecessors, as each and every one of themprovides insight into the manifold ways inwhich architecture is fundamentally involved in the constitution of
cultural identities?and because each and every one may teach

that they are distinctive cultural expressions of people who live in or feel attached to a particular place or locality,and as such they form part of, or indeed help to constitute the local and shared architectural dialect. And the same, Iwould West Sumatra argue, goes for those historical buildings in world thathave undergone and forbuildings elsewhere in the
significant changes in construction, use, and meaning.

us how, intime, and interdependently linked to such cultural identities, traditionsbecome established, change, adapt, and ultimately endure or disappear. We may not like them, and we may criticize and disapprove of them because maybe we feel that the honest craftsmanship that (in our minds at least) characterized their
predecessors is no longer present; or because the new materials

Combining modern and traditional elements, evolving from

the amalgamation of existing vernacular and modern tradi

tions, theyare buildings that, though perhaps modern or new

in a very real sense, are nonetheless rooted in tradition and

are not as well suited to the local climate as the old ones; or, perhaps, because by incorporatingmodern building elements theyremind us toomuch of thenew,mass-produced buildings

place. A gentrifiedCotswold barn can stillonly be found in

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we see all around us and that some of us have to inhabit that

in our own contemporary societies. But we should not ignore

as kitsch or cheap derivatives, fakes, or imitations of the real vernacular, but as part of dynamic building traditions that, will become established, evolve, combine, like all traditions, adapt, endure, or disappear. For although they are different from thebuildings thatpreceded them, combining traditional
and modern artifacts that elements, are they are nonetheless related to the distinctive particular cultural social uniquely

them.After all, itarguably is these kinds of buildings, repre modern, senting the amalgamation of the traditional and the
that make up the contemporary and future vernacular. Study

ing themwill teach usmuch about how building traditionsare transmitted,developed, and changed, and will also give us a better insightinto the contemporary perception, appreciation,
and representation of vernacular architecture.

context inwhich they are found. In that sense they are, like
their predecessors, vernacular; tradition, that are truly is, they (and are not rooted sense "neo-," in a of "new" particular "shared" or "post-") and as place as well

Rather than lookingdown our noses at them, I therefore think thatwe, as scholars of the vernacular, should begin to pay serious attention to such buildings as convertedCumbrian
barns, regenerated Dutch windmills used as restaurants,

common

(in the

"widespread" or "prevalent") built forms in the cultures or

regions concerned and are generally used (and in some cases

with concrete foundations and electric lights, Mongolian yurts and Bornean longhouses simultaneously used as homes and backpackers' hostels. We should also look more closely at themillions of vernacularized
London, Jakarta, Tucson, and

built, using locally available materials) by communities as part of theireveryday life. Incorporating these buildings into the vernacular dis course, alongside the historical and traditional buildings that we already are studying, will open up a wide field of research: a contemporary, varied, and exciting field inwhich new and enduring building traditions continue to come together in creative and new ways. Of course, studying theway inwhich traditionsdevelop, combine, and amalgamate has long been common in the field. But, as noted, much of thiswork has

suburban houses in Dubai,

scores of other towns and cit

ies all around theworld (fig. 10 and fig. 11), as well as at con temporary architectural phenomena like ethnically-themed retirementhomes, cultural villages, vernacularized shopping malls and even (as a modern variant of the Sears Roebuck & Co. house kits) IKEA flatpack houses; treating them not

so as torelate tolocalhistorical New suburban house,vernacularized Fig. 1);Pembridge, buildings (compare Fig. 10. UK. (2006 Photograph, Author) Herefordshire,

Marcel

Velunga,

The Inventiveness ofTradition

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lili lili .i i|^

near distinctive Sonorandesignelements; New house,incorporating Bisbee,Arizona. (2005 Photograph, Author) Fig. 11.

dealt with thepast.What needs tobe done now is to broaden the scope of vernacular architecture studies by looking at
present-day as well as historical examples of change, adap

that theworld is currendy experiencing rapid environmental changes, as exemplified by a rapid loss of natural resources and species, high levelsof energy consumption, and increasing amounts of waste and pollution. This environmental change
goes together with, and is to a large extent caused, or at least

tation and amalgamation. Such a broadening of the scope will, I believe, increase the recognition of the vernacular as a field of academic and professional interest,expunging the latentprimitivism that (especially in relation to non-western traditions) characterizes some of the discourse, and evading itscurrentpredicament and historical entrapment.Requiring (as in the case of the buildings thatwe are already studying) which focused, accurate, and detailed analyses of theways in the present-day buildings relate to historical or traditional will allow places, people, buildings, landscapes, and cultures, it
us will, and to envision as Dell better a future has for the vernacular noted, history enable to a more and its study and Upton comprehensive

accelerated, by global cultural developments and transforma tions includingmass consumption, continued urbanization, and the increasing internationalization of capital, business
and power. As a major consumer of energy and a prominent

cultural category, architecture is inextricablybound up with these developments. Consequendy, therehas been a growing
interest among architects, planners, and engineers in the de sign of architecture economic, and social that can address problems and the many environmental, way. tendency seem to rel to suggest

in a sustainable

architectural

Though egate vernacular

the common architecture

persistent

emerge.23

to the past would

perhaps, a focus on the transmission, importantiy, development, and amalgamation of building traditionswill Most enable the development of an approach to architecture that acknowledges the existence of change, butwhich, rather than lamenting and tryingto stop it, tries to understand how and why it takes place and attempts to ensure, through critical as
sessment are and engagement, appropriate, that the changes and, most that are effected Though sensible, of all, sustainable.

otherwise, I believe (at therisk,perhaps, of being what Henry Glassie calls a "consumption" student of thevernacular) that
the vernacular velopment of may such have much to offer architecture. to the successful As a source de of sustainable

traditional knowledge, skills,and ideas, comprising practices, technologies, resources, and forms that often have developed as part of a continuous process of trialand error, it may offer
many valuable precedents to the scholars and professionals

critical voices can stillbe heard, it is increasingly recognized Perspectives InVernacular Architecture

involved in the development of buildings that can address

126

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localized environmental challenges in a culturally appropri

ate way. Indeed, as Paul Oliver has noted, seeing that the vast

Vernacular Architecture V

(Knoxville:

University

of Tennessee

Press,

CarterL. Hudgins and ElizabethCollinsCromley eds.,Shaping 1995);

Communities: Perspectives in Vernacular Architecture VI (Knoxville: sity of Tennessee Adams, VIII Press, 1997); and Sally McMurry Univer and Annmarie

majority of people in theworld currently live in vernacular buildings and are likely to continue doing so throughout the
twenty-first ous role century, the vernacular In order into modern the point and creative will have an to play a seri of to in this respect. knowledge however, dynamic encounters, for such

eds., People, Power, Places: University "Round

Perspectives in Vernacular Architecture Press, 17; Henry 2000). Glassie, 2000), Vernacular 49.

integration practice

vernacular take place, constitute cultural

architectural

(Knoxville: 5 Oliver,

of Tennessee the Houses," Indiana

that all vernacular processes and that

traditions result and from that,

Architecture (Bloomington: 6 Glassie, Henry Architecture of the World,

University

Press,

"Aesthetic," ed. Paul Oliver

in Encyclopedia (Cambridge:

of Vernacular Cambridge

borrowings,

conjunctions

as such, should be allowed to change and develop needs to be will be necessary for scholars of the accepted. Most of all, it
vernacular engage the past to look in research can be put ahead that will to good as well teach use as behind, us how what in the future. and we to actively from learn

Press, 1997), 5. University 7 "The Tradition Dell Upton, and SettlementsReview 8 Ronald of Hawaii 9 Upton, 5, no. 1 (1993).

of Change,"

Traditional Dwellings

G. Knapp, 2000), "The

China's Old Dwellings 326.

(Honolulu:

University

Press,

Tradition

of Change"; First World?Third

Janet Abu-Lughod, World; Tradi 3, no.

"It's happening," wrote Paul Oliver

messages I'm aware, are no being one uttered is devoting in the vernacular much attention

in 1984; "New
but, to as far as out

"Disappearing tional?Modern,"

Dichotomies:

Traditional Dwellings

and Settlements Review

2 (1992).
Aspects donesia),"

finding

10 Reimar

Schefold,

"Hearthless the Sa'dan

House Toraja

and Painted and Toba

Concrete: Batak (In

what they mean."271 thinkthatnow, at thebeginning of a new

millennium, faced as we are with a multitude of new cultural

of Ethnicity Among

inReligion andDevelopment: Towards an IntegratedApproach, eds. van Ufford Press, and Matthew 231-246; Schoffeleers Lynne (Amsterdam: "Maori: ed. Paul

and ecological challenges, it is time thatwe students of the

vernacular come out of our retreat, and make messages to earlier a start trying we to find out what may learn from and these new them, we built how vernacular are, what

Philip Quarles Free University Marae,"

1988),

Hancock,

in Encyclopedia

World, of Vernacular Architecture of the

they relate

vernacular that a

Oliver (Cambridge: Press, 1997), 1216-1217; CambridgeUniversity

Deidre Brown, "Maori: Morehu," inEncyclopedia (Cambridge: of Vernacular Architec University tureof the World, ed. Paul Oliver Cambridge

messages, sustainable

how

can make environment

them work may be

in order cr-eated.

future

Press, 1997), 1217.

11 Michael Hill and Sally Birch, Cotswold StoneHomes: History, Sutton, 1994); R.A. Bucko, TheLakota and Conservation, Care (Stroud: Alan Ritual London: "The Social of theSweat Lodge: History University Bornean Processes of Nebraska

Acknowledgements

Iwould like to acknowledge thefinancial support of the Arts and Humanities Research Council and theBritishAcad
emy, which made itpossible for me to present an earlier version

and Contemporary Practice (Lincoln Press, 1998); Antonio Perspective,

J. Guerreiro, 1850-1990:

of thispaper at theVAF conference inTucson, Arizona.

Endnotes 1 Marshall About Culture," Sahlins, Journal "Two or Three Things That I Know 3

Longhouse

in Historical

and Adaptation

to Changes,"

in Indonesian Houses: Sche

Tradition and Transformation in Vernacular Architecture, eds. Reimar fold, Gaudenz 285-331; Yurt: Material The Domenig, and Peter Nas (Leiden: KITLV

Press, 2003),

no. of theRoyal Anthropological Institute 5,

C. Evans

and C. Humphrey, of a Chinese

"After-lives of theMongolian Tourist Camp," Journal of

(1999): 408-409.
A. Papadakis 3 See, Alcock, 1989

Archaeology'

2 Paul Oliver, (London:

"Round

the Houses," Design,

in British Architecture, ed. 1984). Pattison, and N.W. 1977

Architectural I.R.

Culture 1, no. 2 (2002). 12 Lloyd Kahn, Home Work: Handbuilt

Shelter (Bolinas:

Shelter

for example,

Pattison,

D.S.

eds., A Bibliography

of Vernacular Architecture, Volume III: Architecture Group,

Publications, 2004). 13 Paul Oliver,

"Introduction,"

in Encyclopedia

of Vernacular

(Aberystwyth: Vernacular to the journal

1992). See also by

Architecture World, ed. Paul Oliver (Cambridge: Cambridge of the

Press, 1997), xxi-xxviii. University 14 See Vicky Richardson, New Laurence King, 2001). 2004 The phrase Vernacular Architecture (London: "post-traditional" in Dubai was coined

the contributions the Vernacular 4 Thomas

Vernacular Architecture, published in Britain. Collins Cromley,

Architecture Carter

Group

and Elizabeth

Invitation to Press,

Vernacular Architecture (Knoxville: 2005), 17. See also

The University in Elizabeth

of Tennessee Collins

at the December Association

Conference

of the International and already "Editor's

the contributions

Cromley

for the Study of Traditional acceptance;

Environments See Nezar

and Carter

L. Hudgins,

eds., Gender, Class

and Shelter: Perspectives in

seems to have gained wide

Alsayyad,

Marcel

Vellinga,

The Inventiveness ofTradition

127

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Note,"

Traditional Dwellings 15 Marcel Vellinga,

and SettlementsReview

16, no. 2 (2005),

6.

21 Anthony (Oxford and New Ian Davis,

King,

The Bungalow: The Production of a Global Culture University Press, 1995); Paul Oliver,

Constituting Unity and Difference: Vernacular Village (Leiden: KITLV Press, 2004),

York: Oxford

Architecture in aMinangkabau 100-118. 16 Vellinga, "A Family Houses,"

and Ian Bentley, Dunroamin: The Suburban Semi and Its Enemies

Constituting Unity and Difference; Marcel Construction World of Vernacular 32, no. 92

Vellinga,

1981). (London: Barrie and Jenkins, 22 "Two or Three Things Sahlins, ture." 23 Dell Upton, lar Architecture inAmerica, "Outside theAcademy:

that I Know

About

Cul

Affair: The

Minangkabau (2004). Vellinga, of Abai

17 Vellinga,

Indonesia and the Malay

A Century

of Vernacu

Constituting Unity and Difference', Marcel in a Competition for Status: The Case

Studies,

1890-1990,"

in The Architectural Historian National Gallery of

"The Use Sangir

of Houses

ed. E.B. MacDougall

(Washington:

(Minangkabau),"

in Indonesian Houses:

Tradition and Transforma Domenig,

Art, 1990), 211.

24 See for example: Terry Williamson, Antony Radford, and Spon Helen Bennetts, 2003); Understanding Sustainable Architecture (London: Guy and Steven A. Moore, eds.,

tion in Vernacular Architecture, eds. Reimar and Peter Nas

Schefold, Gaudenz

Press, 2003). (Leiden: KITLV 18 A. A. Navis, Alam Terkembang Jadi

Guru

(Jakarta: Grafiti

Press,

Simon

Sustainable (New York:

Press,

1984), cover. 19 Marcel Vellinga, and Ethnicity

Architectures: Cultures andNatures "The Attraction inWest-Sumatra," of the House: Architec Spon

inEurope andNorth America

ture, Status

in Framing Indonesian ofReimar Schefold, eds. Press, 2004).

Realities: Essays

Honour inSymbolic Anthropology in

Press, 2005). 25 "Aesthetic," 4. Glassie, 26 "Vernacular Paul Oliver,

Architecture

in the 21st Century," in London.

and R. Jaff (Leiden: KITLV PJ.M. Nas, G. Persoon, 20 Constituting Unity and Difference. Vellinga,

at the Prince ofWales Institute Lecture Hepworth 27 17. "Round the Houses," Oliver,

128

Perspectives

InVernacular

Architecture

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