What is Vernacular Architecture? It's a big word, but its meaning is simple. We take a look at this approach to architecture and lessons we can learn from it.
Completed in 2014 in Ngwesaung, Myanmar. Images by Julia Raff. The new high school project was developed in cooperation with the German NGO Projekt Burma. It is financed by donations and all participants involved...
The architecture of this villa is a beautiful testament to the poetic presence of the Iranian arch, harmoniously blending with its natural surroundings. The design embraces semi-circular arches, which not only lend elegance and grace to the structure but also serve as windows framing captivating vistas.
What is Vernacular Architecture? According to its etymology, “verna” means native and “architecture” is to design buildings, thus vernacular architecture is an architecture style that is built to meet the present needs, keeping in mind the local climate, culture, and materials.....
Completed in 2015 in Sinthian, Senegal. Images by Iwan Baan. The rural village of Sinthian in south-eastern Senegal will be the setting for an exciting new cultural centre, conceived and funded by the Josef and...
Explore the architecture, design and finishes of this residential yoga structure that was inspired by the movement of flora.
Browse through the remarkable, inspiring works of Porky Hefer. From his latest Endangered Animals Series, to Nests, Animals, Public Installations, etc.
The Sumbanese traditional Houses refers to the traditional vernacular Houses of the Sumba people from the island of Sumba in Indonesia.
Image 18 of 18 from gallery of How a Return to Vernacular Architecture Can Benefit the People of Mali's Dogon Region. Photograph by LEVS Architecten
Today is Wednesday. Wonderful Wednesday. A Wednesday full of wonder... as I promised my kids I would be more consistent in blogging now that I am back in Cairo (and have no more trips home planned until December), I wondered what part of my daily life friends and family would be interested in. It turned out that I had the opportunity to go with some friends who have family in town to one of my favorite places today...Wissa Wassef Art Center. I also made my first trip to Fagnoon Art Center! (Notice I said my FIRST trip-I will go back!) Let me begin with the trip to Wissa Wassef. This began as an experiment in weaving tapestry to encourage the creativity of village children by a man named Ramses Wissa Wassef. These were children without a formal education and no art training. SInce 1952 two generations of weaver have created beautiful tapestries that are collected by galleries and museums around the world. One would not expect to find such a treasure as Wissa Wassef off of a narrow paved road that runs along side a trash lined irrigation canal. You have to maneuver past men with donkey carts loaded with the day’s produce, past the man who sells baked sweet potatoes, and the villagers grouped on the side of the road waiting for a mini bus. We turn down a short dirt road and along a rock wall before coming to a gate where the gate keeper signals Ikram Nosshi that guests have arrived. Ikram is a friendly, welcoming host, son-in-law of Ramses Wissa Wassef, who speaks very good English and who was delightful to listen to as he told us the story and history of Wissa Wassef. We toured the museum housing the progressive works of the first students. Each tapestry tells a story, sometimes the life of the weaver, her hurts and her joys woven into the warp and weft of each piece. Village life, flora and fauna are typical themes depicting in some cases, original farming and fishing practices which are from a bygone era. The wool comes from local Egyptian sheep; their wool does not contain the oils sheep produce in cooler climes. The dyes are grown and harvested on site-a rainbow of hues produced in nature and perfectly paired with the local wool to produce gorgeous colorfast yarns. Cotton thread is also used to create very detailed tapestries. The cotton is of course, Egyptian and the colors are organic and natural as well! While we were watching the artists work, two ladies came out of a studio with tapestries under their arms. They had just finished their work and were coming out to display it for all the artists to see. At Wissa Wassef they all celebrate when an artist's work is completed with a small ceremony. At our request, they unrolled their work and laid it on the ground for us to see. As we gasped that they would lay such a treasure in the DIRT, Ikram explained that to them, it was only the earth, not dirt, so not to worry~! Turkey Coop in the foreground Domed Museum in the background The site consists of a home; an information center where newer works are displayed and for sale; workshops in a structure created to resemble a small village with narrow passage ways, a city square and community meeting places; fields for growing their dyes; a museum converted from old domed adobe chicken coups, and a gift shop. It is located conveniently on the Sakkara Road. Tapestries on Display The weaving is done on one of two types of looms, either a simple or a complex loom. Most of the wool weavings are done on the upright simple looms and the cotton ones are done on the complex loom. In both cases the artists weave tapestries that hang either horizontally or vertically. When weaving a tapestry that hangs vertically, the artist is actually weaving the theme sideways, because regardless of the way it hangs, it is woven on the horizontal. We are talking about thinking in several dimensions! It is amazing~! Wissa Wassef is truly a diamond in the rough. You have only to enter the gates to be amazed and inspired and welcomed as friends.
Palace of Taq-i Kisra aka Arch of Ctesiphon, 540 AD Al-Mada’in . Via 1 (Photo by Fotosearch/Getty Images ca 1916) 2 Note: "It is said this ancient palace has still the world’s largest single span...
Image 11 of 50 from gallery of Intermediate House / Equipo de Arquitectura. Photograph by Federico Cairoli
“In architectural criticism, the concepts of past, present, and future are used capriciously, and the present is extended to mean the whole modern epoch. To avoid being arbitrary, we must establish some standards of reference that involve the concept of contemporaneity. The word “contemporary” is defined as meaning “existing, living, occurring at the same time […]
In our article in February, "11 Vernacular Building Techniques That Are Disappearing," we discussed vernacular techniques that, through the...
D661_036 07/07/2012 : Arles, magasin électrique : Learning from vernacular (Pierre Frey / EPFL) : tata tamberma, Warengo, Togo
Hassan Fathy, born in 1900 in Alexandria, Egypt, was an Egyptian architect, artist and poet who had a lifelong commitment to architecture in the Muslim world. He was a cosmopolitan intellectual, with knowledge of Western and Eastern literature and philosophy, absorbing the influences of very different traditions. He used his knowledge of mathematics and music investing them in simple domestic constructions with the dignity of harmonic proportions.
Through a series of projects in the arid environment of Western Australia, predominantly built for Aboriginal communities, Kaunitz and Yeung Architecture has proposed a different approach to working with the beautiful, yet harsh, desert environment. Designing with, not for, remote Aboriginal communities, Kaunitz and Yeung are changing the narrative of remote regional architecture – creating a new vernacular for Australian desert architecture.
Modern Moroccan architecture is reinterpreting history and vernacular tradition.
Contemporary and Vernacular. While one word defines a type of architecture that’s highly progressive, modern, high tech....
Image 6 of 33 from gallery of Jojutla Central Gardens / MMX. Photograph by Dane Alonso
The architecture of this villa is a beautiful testament to the poetic presence of the Iranian arch, harmoniously blending with its natural surroundings. The design embraces semi-circular arches, which not only lend elegance and grace to the structure but also serve as windows framing captivating vistas.
