The Inventiveness of Tradition: Vernacular Architecture and the Future

Author(s): Marcel Vellinga

Source: Perspectives in Vernacular Architecture, Vol. 13, No. 2, Special 25th Anniversary Issue
(2006/2007), pp. 115-128
Published by: Vernacular Architecture Forum
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The Inventiveness of Tradition: Vernacular Architecture and the Future

Marcel Vellinga

[of a sumo champion

l?s, theinstallation wrestlerat theimpe the context of a discussion on the possible futureof the field
rialMeiji shrine]as such onlydates to 1911?the inventionof a of vernacular architecture studies. At the beginning of the
tradition?butwhence comes itsmeaning and itsparticularity? new millennium (a in
One period of reflectionand looking ahead
may as trulyspeak of theinventiveness Modern sumo is
of tradition. a
many fields and disciplines), tendency towithdraw into the
clearlya permutationof older
forms and relationships,
made appropriate intuitivelyidentified,spiritedlydefended, yet in fact extremely
to novel situations.1 diverse and thereforedifficulttodefine category of vernacular
architecture is still common among many vernacular schol
The vernacular and the past
ars?regardless of their disciplinary backgrounds or where
theywork in theworld. And, simultaneously, itmay be said
"There's cosy about vernacular architec
something

ture," Paul Oliver wrote in his 1984 essay entitled "Round that thecategory of thevernacular iscommonly stilldefined in
theHouses"; "It's a sheltered retreat formany who fondle the terms of references to or tradition, or
history, pre-modernity;
adze-marks, feel thefitof the ashlar ormarvel at the assembly in other words, in reference to the past.

of post, and tie-beam. Somehow," he continued,

wall-plate
For as a scan of the literature reveals,
example, quick
"there's not the craftsmanship anymore; all that honest work
much of thework in thefield of European vernacular archi
with tools and muscle?it's
manship simple gone."2
tecture isconcerned with thedetailed description, dating, and
More than after Oliver wrote these words classification of vernacular building forms, plans, materials
twenty years
as somewhat of an aside in an article thatmainly dealt with and technologies. The majority of these studies, ifnot all of
the academic neglect of British suburban architecture, their them,are historical, dating back to the seventeenth,eighteenth
reference to the vernacular's associations with honesty, simplic or nineteenth century (fig. 1).More recent or contemporary
ity,craftsmanship, and, crucially, thepast, stillseems timely in buildings receive only limited attention, even if they have

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

(2006 Photograph,
Author)

Marcel Vellinga, of Tradition

The Inventiveness 115

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been built by the owners themselves or have been made for involved in similar activities and are indeed (and fortunately
"common," "ordinary" people. This situation is somewhat I should add) growing in number. For, as has been noted by
different inNorth America, where the category of vernacular Dell Upton, the supposition that the honest craftsmanship of
architecture has generally been defined in broader terms, com the vernacular
period is gone or is in the
process of
disappear

prising historical farmhouses and mills as well as more recent ing is not restricted to those involved in the academic study
bungalows, Sears Roebuck & Co. house kits, and tenement of
European and American vernacular architecture, but is

blocks. Here, much attention is paid to the cultural context of common and scholars in the
equally strong among working
architecture and to theway inwhich buildings have developed non-western world.7 Indeed, it is also the view of the general

over time, concomitant with social much as well as of many academics who are not active in the
change. Nevertheless, public,
of theNorth American discourse is stillfocused on theAnglo field themselves includingmany, ifnot most architects.
American past, at historical processes of change rather
looking
And, of course, the assumption is largely justified, as
than
present-day developments.
many unique vernacular traditions have
building disappeared
In many cases, the interest of scholars of the in recent and a vast number is currently in the process
European history,
and Anglo-American vernacular in a
particular material, plan, of being lost. In China, for example, a countrywith a richly

form, or
technology,
seems
inspired by respect and often a diverse array of vernacular traditions (including such building

nostalgic for a time gone era in as ordered or

longing by?a pre-modern types hierarchically siheyuan courtyard houses,

which, as Oliver notes, is supposed to have ruled massive circular earth mobile nomadic and
craftsmanship fortresses, yurts,

underground cave dwellings), vernacular buildings are being

in which an with the natural world
sovereign, "engagement"
and other people was stillpresent, and inwhich buildingswere, obliterated at an
alarming
rate to make way for new
housing
as a result, more humane, and durable. In such cases, and office centers. Often
simple, blocks, shopping malls, regarded
the vernacular becomes a that is used as as too outdated or the vernacular
prelapsarian category ordinary, dysfunctional,
a means to evade and to criticize architectural is as in the way of progress and
contemporary perceived standing develop

practice, with all its associations (to some people, anyway) ment. In
large parts of the country, as Ronald
Knapp notes,
of individualism, commerce, monotony, and
ecologically modern designs and materials have "ruptured linkswith lo
unsustainable technology.Henry Glassie has argued that this cal stylesand building conventions, bringing about a striking

response to the vernacular is an essential feature of the modern of housing in a country once known for the
homogenisation

movement, famously shared by architects such as PhilipWebb diversity of local traditions." Sadly, the situation inChina is
and Le Corbsusier. "Different traditions," he notes, no means and similar of modernization
"permeate by unique, processes
into ideal types.One is individualistic, scientific,progressive thatbring about thedestruction of architectural heritage and
and modern?ours. The other is a matter of harmonious or the loss of vernacular skills and are in
knowledge taking place

desperate ecological adaptation; it is communal, many other of the world, Ireland,

spiritual, parts including Indonesia,
stable and anachronistic?theirs." and Romania (fig.2).

Another strong motivation for the romantic to To a extent, the attention to the docu
tendency large therefore,
focus on "simple" historical or traditionalbuildings seems tobe mentation and preservation of historical
buildings is under

the fact that many of the farmhouses, barns, mills, byres, and standable and justified.Yet, the downside of this almost ex
cabins that are somehow seen to
represent the feeling of clusive focus on the past, on documentation and
log preservation,

community and traditional craftsmanship thatwe inEurope and of the

predominance of narratives of decline and loss

and North America now regard as having been lost,are rapidly that substantiate it (andwhich, in combination, often result in

disappearing while new buildings that correspond to the old emphatic attempts to safeguard thebuildings frommodernity
ones are no
longer,
or
only rarely, being made. As a result, and preserve them, ifpossible, in their original state), is that

many of those involved in thefield of European and American in

doing so, vernacular architecture, and in effect its study, is

vernacular studies have worked and hard to document to the past. the category of the vernacular
long relegated By making
historical examples of unique building types,or are involved consist of buildings that are historical or, in the case of non
in important
projects
to conserve or preserve such
buildings
western buildings, traditional (bywhich, generally speaking,
for posterity. many others elsewhere in the world are are meant those buildings that are or have evolved out
Today, directly

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 ?m

Fig. 2. Traditionalhouses,abandonedand dilapidated;SungaiPenuh,Kerinci,Indonesia. (1996

Photograph, Author)

of indigenous building traditions thatexisted in theperiod just hamper the recognition of the vernacular as an architectural

before or during theEuropean colonial encounter), the impli category worthy of fullacademic and professional attention.
cation is that there is no real future for vernacular architecture. It effectivelyrelegates vernacular traditions to thepast by em
Because with the unstoppable advance of modernization and phasizing either theirhistorical or traditional (tomany people,
globalization those buildings are evermore likely to change outdated) status,rather than helping them endure and develop
by pointing out theirdynamic and adaptive character.
or the vernacular itself becomes a lost world?and
disappear,
with it, itsfield of study becomes the exclusive domain of
What I want to call for in thispaper, therefore,reflect
historians. At the same time,by emphasizing (because of the
ing on the theme of the future of vernacular architecture
concerns over their vulnerability) the documentation and
studies, is a more dynamic approach that explicidy focuses
preservation of historical buildings,many studies in thefield of on building traditions rather than buildings. Of course, such
vernacular architecture include representations that are frozen
an approach is nothing new in itself and has already been
in time and incomplete. They look at the historical meaning,
successfully employed for a long time by many scholars in
use, and construction of buildings,while ignoring theiractive
thefield.Nevertheless, as noted above, most attention in this
re-use, or in the present.
re-interpretation, adaptation
respect has been paid to historical patterns of change and
Similar observations have of course been made before development. What Iwant to call formore specifically here,
by scholars likeJanet Abu-Lughod and Dell Upton.9 Taking however, is an approach that acknowledges the dynamic
into account their arguments, I believe that the tendency to and dialectic nature of vernacular traditionsby explicidy at
focus on a limited category of historical or traditional build tempting to understand how such traditions, through human
ings,and to ferventiytryand safeguard these buildings from agency, change and adapt
to the cultural and environmental

modern change and decline by studyingor preserving them in circumstances and challenges of not just the past, but of the
theirhistorical state,has restrictedthe scope and development present and the future.Such an approach, which removes the
of thefield of vernacular architecture studies and continues to vernacular from its sheltered retreatby looking at old as well

Marcel Velunga, The Inventiveness

ofTradition 117

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as new building traditions and, crucially, at theway inwhich Indonesia or theMaori inNew Zealand thatpersist and are
and so as to create a remarkable process of Similarly,
they meet, interact, amalgamate present undergoing resurgence.10
vernacular should not the current there are vernacular traditions that persist in a less conspicu
day architecture, replace
historical discourse but ought to take a place alongside it. It ous or spectacular way, exemplified by converted Cotswold

will, I believe, enable us to evade the current predicament

barns used as second homes (some of the barns have, in fact,
and historical entrapment of the vernacular and, in so do been newly constructed), Lakota sweat lodges frequented by

ing,
will allow us to foresee a future for the vernacular, and, Native Americans and whites, "short" Borneo longhouses

by implication, its study. used as ceremonial meeting halls, or Mongolian yurts that
are occasionally used as touristaccommodation. All of these
A DYNAMIC vernacular: the Minangkabau house
have in meaning or cultural context
incorporated changes
As noted, many unique vernacular traditions have while retaining theirown distinctive character (fig.3).11And
undoubtedly disappeared throughout history and, sadly, too there are also buildings, such as the many beer-can houses,

earthbag-papercrete houses, or converted flatbed trucks in

are under threat or a similar fate.
many currendy undergoing
Yet I believe it is important to recognize that as real, wide theUnited States, that seem new or without precedent but
spread* and disconcerting as thisdecline and lossmay be, it draw their inspiration
from vernacular forms, plans,
and

does not necessarily make up thewhole story;fornext to the

technologies.
unmistakable tales of woe documenting the destructive im
Of course, itcan be and often isargued that such build
of modernization and there are also tales
pacts globalization,
are not, or at least no Rather
ings longer are, truly vernacular.
of vernacular and Thus, next to the rural
persistence vibrancy.
than the "real thing," they are at best regarded as deriva
Irish farmhouses that are being rapidly replaced bymodern
tives, or imitations of the true vernacular. At worst,
replicas
bungalows or the inner-cityChinese courtyard houses that
have tomake way for skyscrapers and shopping malls, there they are seen as simulacra or downright fakes, deliberately
manufactured to exploit their associations of tradition and
are vernacular traditions like those of the Sa'dan Toraja in
authenticity forpolitical and economic reasons. After all, the

Fig. 3. Cotswold barn, dating back to the eighteenth century, now converted into a museum and
UK. (2006 Photograph,
shop;Filkins,Gloucestershire, Author)

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true vernacular is commonly said to consist of the architecture Yet inmany cases these buildings are undoubtedly part
of the people, having been built by the owners or inhabitants of a vernacular tradition, combining traditional elements

themselves,using localmaterials and traditional technologies (forms,ormaterials, or space use) with new ones (technologies,
that have been handed down through the generations, in conveniences, materials). Let me try and argue this point by

keeping with local cultural values and needs, and in response looking
at an
example, the "new" vernacular houses built by
can
to local climatic circumstances. Many of thenew buildings, theMinangkabau people inWest Sumatra, Indonesia. It
such as themodernized Sa'dan Toraja origin houses, thegen be argued in this case that, even though the materials, tech

trifiedCotswold barns, or the adapted Mongolian yurts do nologies

and functions have undergone changes, the houses

not meet these conditions, but have been made by

contractors (through theirplan, design, meaning and use) stillform part
or professional builders, using modern materials (sometimes of a distinctive, culturally-shared and localized tradition.
in combination with traditional ones) that are not necessarily Traditionally, vernacular Minangkabau houses have been
suited to the local climate, and incorporating contemporary constructed of timber, which was used to make the posts,

conveniences such as
electricity, central heating, bathrooms, the roof structure,and often the floor and thewalls (includ

refrigerators,
and television sets. Their vernacular authenticity ing their occasional colorful decorations). Other materials
is thereforeat best seen tobe questionable. Typologically situ included rattan and bamboo tomake floors and walls, and
ated somewhere between the "real," traditional, or historical palm fiber to thatch the characteristic upwardly sweeping
vernacular and the modern, such buildings
are
frequendy roofs (fig.4). The interiorof the traditional houses isgenerally
identified as "new vernacular" or, in reference to non-western characterised by an open hall at the front (occupying two

traditions, as "neo-" or
"post-traditional."14
thirdsof the total space), which serves as a communal living

and
Minangkabau house,builtoftimber
Fig. 4. Traditional
bamboo, with the characteristic upward sweeping roof, here clad
with corrugated iron; Balai Talang, Sumatera Barat, Indonesia.
Author)
(2006 Photograph,

Marcel Vellinga, of Tradition

The Inventiveness 119

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 for the members of the matrilineal descent that like their traditional are no
longer made
space groups predecessors they of

own the houses. During ceremonies this hall is also used to natural materials like timber and thatch,but are mostly built
receive and entertain At the rear of the houses are to in concrete or brick, with iron or zinc roofs, even
guests. corrugated
be found small compartments that serve as sleeping for inmany cases timber have been onto the
places though panels glued
thewomen belonging to thehouse (fig.5). The distribution of concrete to create the impression that the house has been made

these follows a that of wood. In some cases roofs have still been thatched
compartments specific circulating pattern (fig. 6).
is taken to represent the life cycles of the women concerned
from these in materials, the social and
Apart changes
and, the continuity of the descent groups that
consequently, context
ritual of house construction has In the past,
changed.
own the houses.15
the construction of a vernacular house was a communal affair,

Though many of these traditional houses remain thewhole familyworking together under the guidance of a

throughout large parts of West Sumatra, they have since the master builder, while the building process was regulated by
late 1960s been a
accompanied by large number of so-called the performance of specific rituals and social festivities that

"new vernacular houses." Built were meant to enhance

by professionals using modern the vitality and fortune of the house.

materials and construction technologies, these new houses Though this is stillthe case in some isolated areas, many of the
resemble traditional Minangkabau houses in their design traditional ceremonies and rituals are now no
longer deemed

and are built on are a new

spatial layout. Hence they piles, provided necessary when house is constructed, and old notions

with a distinctive roof that is characterized by upwardly rising of communal help and duties have generally been replaced
and in many instances are decorated with the work of modern,
spires, colorfully by specialized academically-educated
on the gables and facades. are architects and contractors. At the same time, the use and
woodcarvings Internally, they
divided into a large open hall at the frontand a back area that meaning of the houses have changed. Usually financed and
isdivided into enclosed compartments.Despite thistraditional owned by successful migrant entrepreneurs living
in Indone

design and layout, however, most of the new houses sian cities or abroad, the of new vernacular houses
spatial majority
have been built using modern resources and technologies. Un no longer serve as traditional dwellings but stand empty for

5. Interior of a vernacular Minangkabau house, with small private rooms at the back and an
Fig. open, communal
hall at the
front;Ab ai Sangir,SumateraBarat, Indonesia. (DrawingbyGaudenzD omenig)

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 FT^TI

Fig. 6. New vernacular Minangkabau house, showing traditional design and layout, but built using concrete and modern
Balai Talang, SumateraBarat, Indonesia. (1993 Photograph,
technologies; Author)

most of the year, being only occasionally used for ceremonies to that formerly reserved formembers of theMinangkabau
that mark important social events, celebrations, or crises in the nobility and that the distinctive elements of this design (es
livesof the families thatown them. In thepast, the traditional pecially the roof spires and woodcarvings) often tend to be
vernacular house was the social focus of the family, the place emphasised, ifnot exaggerated. It also explains the symbolic
where lifeunfolded and most social interaction took place. efficacy of the houses. Because a new vernacular house com

Now, one
might say, the new vernacular house has become a bines prestigious modern elements (modern building materi

symbol, an expression of theprestige and unity of the family als, the involvementof architects, and new technologies) with
whose members live dispersed in smaller modern houses or, prestigious traditional ones (a design formerly reserved for
increasingly, elsewhere in Indonesia or abroad. the nobility, elaborate woodcarvings), it forms a very potent

indeed, that has been shown to an

use symbol?one, play impor
The changes
in construction and indicate the con
tantpart in localized processes of socio-political competition
tinuing symbolic importance of the new houses. Because it is
and displacement (fig.7).17
to build, a new, modernized vernacular house
expensive (like
its traditional predecessors) serves as an objectification of the In those cases where houses have been built to actively
wealth of its owners. At the same time, in the current era of claim status and power, their traditional character has been

globalization, tourism,and increased ethnic contact and (sadly, explicitly stressed in theirdesign and plan, so as tomake them
in the case of Indonesia) conflict, it serves as an ethnic symbol, resemble thepopular image ofwhat an "authentic" traditional

indicating to thosewho see itthat itsowners areMinangkabau Minangkabau house should look like. In some cases this com

people who are proud of their ethnic background and care pliance has been extreme, almost turning the houses into a

for the survival of their vernacular building tradition.The parody of thevernacular. An example isprovided by a house
interrelationof thiseconomic and ethnic symbolism explains thatwas built in the village of Balai Talang in the district of
the fact that thedesign of thenew houses tends to correspond 50 Kota during the early 1980s (fig.6). Commissioned by a

Marcel Velunga, ofTradition

The Inventiveness 121

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 Datar). Exemplifying the close linkbetween the new houses
and socio-political contestations, the owners (claiming to be
descendants of the lastMinangkabau ruler,who was deposed
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 (fig.8).

The modernized character of the new houses, the ex

aggeration of theirdesign, and their economic and political

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

buildings that (havingbeen built by professional builders using

modern materials, and by being emphatically used to claim
are no a true part of the vernacular tradition,
status) longer
but are at best "neo-" or are, as the
"post-traditional." They

argument goes, houses that are deliberately manufactured

to exploit their associations with tradition for political and

economic goals, but have (orperhaps, have therefore)lost their

local, "original" meaning. Like the newly built "converted"

or the contemporary
Cotswold barns Sonoran style suburban
houses inArizona, the new Minangkabau houses have been
said to constitute yet another of the manufactured
example
or "invented" cultural traditions.

A question Iwould like to raise here, however, iswhether

this is a fairverdict? Does the fact that the houses are made
with differentmaterials and for ostensibly differentpurposes
make them less vernacular or authentic than their traditional

house. Elaborate
predecessors? Are they indeed mere imitations of traditional
Fig. 7.New vernacular Minangkabau decorations
and exaggerated roof spires are used to emphasise its traditional
houses or, worse, fakes because assume traditional forms
they
SulitAir,SumateraBarat, Indonesia. (1996 Photograph,
character;
but are made use modern materials such as
by architects who
Author)
concrete and who tryto hide this factbehind timber panels?
Or do they in fact represent a new phase in the evolution of

wealthy diplomat of local origin, it is situated along themajor a distinctivebuilding tradition thathas adapted itself to a new
road that runs through thevillage fromPayakumbuh to Suliki cultural and ecological context? Iwould argue the latter.The

and, like most new houses, ismade of concrete covered with new vernacular houses inWest Sumatra, like the newly built
decorated wooden panels. Topped by an impressive thatched "converted" Cotswold barns and Sonoran style suburban

roof featuringfour sweeping spires, it shows such resemblance houses inArizona, should not be dismissed as inauthentic
to thepopular image of traditionalMinangkabau architecture replicas
or
post-traditional
travesties. Instead, the new West

that it is featured as an example of authentic (jdias)

Minang Sumatra houses should be regarded as the late twentiethcen
western
tury successors
kabau architecture on the cover of A.A. Navis's influential to what scholars and Minangkabau

study,Alam Terkambangjadi Guru}% Another good example is alike see as theMinangkabau vernacular. After all, ifwe look
an elaborately designed and decorated house built during the at the traditional houses thathave been built earlier on in the

early 1990s in the village of Pagar Ruyung (districtof Tanah twentieth century (i.e. the houses that generally serve as the

122 Perspectives InVernacular Architecture

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 r**J

Fig. 8. New vernacular house, claimed by its owners to be the "real33 palace of the
former ruler of
Minangkabau; Pagar
Ruyung,SumateraBarat, Indonesia. (1996 Photograph,
Author)

point of reference for the authenticity of the new ones), it that are used only
on ceremonial occasions, and including elec

becomes clear that the instrumental use of houses isnothing triclights,

modern kitchens,bathrooms, and garages?they do
new. Historic research has shown that
quite a few of the old comply with contemporary, "modern" Minangkabau cultural

houses were in fact builtwith similar purposes inmind as the values, wishes, and requirements (fig.9). Similarly, though the
new ones: to claim status and power within the context of modern materials may not all be climatically suitable, theyare
localized socio-political contests and struggles.20 what
people nowadays
want and can afford, and are, partially
at least, chosen in response to the deforestation of
The differences between the so-called trulytraditional large parts
of Sumatra and the fact that suitable timber is thereforesimply
and modernized houses, are materials and the
technologies,
no available.
function that the houses perform, and the social context of longer

construction. Timber and thatch in the past, concrete and So, we, as scholars of the vernacular or
although

corrugated iron now; residential and ceremonial unit in the Minangkabau culture, may view the new houses as fakes or

past, symbol and ceremonial center now; master builder and imitations, the acculturation, or even the destruc
embodying
communal help in the past; architects and contractors now. tion and loss of the authentic timber, bamboo, and thatch
Of course, these differences all relate to elements that are building tradition, it is in fact equally valid to see them as the
seen to define the vernacular as a distinct of a new in the or evolu
commonly category. representatives phase development
After all, theuse of localmaterials and communal construction tion of that distinctive vernacular tradition. Indeed, this is

bymembers of the community are central tomany definitions how many (though admittedly not all)Minangkabau people
of thevernacular. Yet, Iwould argue, thedynamic and flexible themselves see them. Tradition, as a process of active regen

adaptation to local cultural and ecological circumstances is eration and transformation of know-how and practices within
an equally important element of vernacular tradition.And a contemporary local context, is dynamic and
continuously
whatever else can be said about the character of the new
changing.A vernacular whether
building tradition, it is thatof
houses?being made of modern materials, serving
as
symbols theMinangkabau in Indonesia, theZulu in South Africa, the

Marcel Velunga, The Inventiveness

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 *
I J>*'*$hI
I i \ -^?^?SF^aI

Minangkabau house;Anding,SumateraBarat, Indonesia. (1996 Photograph,

Fig. 9.New vernacular Author)

no different;
Nage in India, or theLakota in South Dakota is theCotswolds, and a modernized Minangkabau house only
it is an ever changing continuous interplayof precedent and inWest Sumatra. Rather than breaking with tradition, they
innovation that dialectically responds to changes in society, represent its inventiveness.

culture, and the natural environment.

Besides, I would argue, though theyare differentfrom
The Vernacular and the Future theirpredecessors in termsof the kind ofmaterials, technolo
or in terms
gies or forms that have been used tomake them,
Returning to the theme of thepossible futureof thefield
of the kind or class of people that associate themselveswith
of vernacular architecture studies, I believe that thisdynamic
and dialectic nature of vernacular traditions needs to be more them, thosemodernized vernacular buildings (orperhaps we
should call them "vernacularized" modern buildings) are still
explicidy acknowledged in our research and teaching. The
newMinangkabau houses and other new buildings that I have genuine cultural expressions in themselves. Consequently, I
believe that theydeserve as much academic and professional
briefly referred to are indeed, inmany cases, and in varying
attention as their traditional predecessors, as each and every
degrees, differentfrom theirpre-industrial predecessors. Yet,
one of themprovides insight into themanifold ways inwhich
Iwould argue, can still be seen as vernacular, in the sense
they
architecture is fundamentally involved in the constitution of
that they are distinctive cultural expressions of people who
cultural identities?and because each and every one may teach
live in or feel attached to a particular place or locality,and
us how, intime, and interdependently linked to such cultural
as such they form part of, or indeed help to constitute the
local and shared architectural dialect. And the same, Iwould identities, traditionsbecome established, change, adapt, and
ultimately endure or disappear.
argue, goes for those historical buildings inWest Sumatra
and forbuildings elsewhere in theworld thathave undergone We may not like them, and we may criticize and

significant changes
in construction, use, and meaning. disapprove of them because maybe we feel that the honest
Combining modern and traditional elements, evolving from craftsmanship that (in our minds at least) characterized their
the amalgamation of existing vernacular and modern tradi is no or because the new materials
predecessors longer present;

tions, theyare buildings that, though perhaps modern or new are not as well suited to the local climate as the old ones; or,

perhaps, because by incorporatingmodern building elements

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

place. A gentrifiedCotswold barn can stillonly be found in theyremind us toomuch of thenew,mass-produced buildings

124 Perspectives InVernacular Architecture

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 thatwe see all around us and that some of us have to inhabit as kitsch or cheap derivatives, fakes, or imitations of the real
in our own contemporary societies. But we should not
ignore vernacular, but as part of dynamic building traditions that,
them.After all, itarguably is these kinds of buildings, repre like all traditions,will become established, evolve, combine,

senting the amalgamation of the traditional and themodern, adapt, endure, or disappear. For although they are different
that make up the contemporary and future vernacular. Study from thebuildings thatpreceded them, combining traditional

ing themwill teach usmuch about how building traditionsare and modern elements, they
are nonetheless distinctive cultural

transmitted,developed, and changed, and will also give us a artifacts that are
uniquely related to the
particular social

better insightinto the contemporary perception, appreciation, context inwhich they are found. In that sense they are, like
and of vernacular architecture. their predecessors, not "neo-," "new" or
representation truly (and "post-")

vernacular; that is, they are rooted in a and

particular place
Rather than lookingdown our noses at them, I therefore
are common sense of "shared" as well as
tradition, (in the
think thatwe, as scholars of the vernacular, should begin to
"widespread" or "prevalent") built forms in the cultures or
pay serious attention to such buildings as convertedCumbrian
concerned and are used in some cases
as regions generally (and
barns, Dutch windmills used restaurants,
regenerated
built, using locally available materials) by communities as part
Mongolian yurtswith concrete foundations and electric lights,
of theireveryday life.
and Bornean longhouses simultaneously used as homes and

backpackers' hostels. We should also look more closely at Incorporating these buildings into the vernacular dis
themillions of vernacularized suburban houses in Dubai, course, alongside the historical and traditional buildings that
London, Jakarta, Tucson, and scores of other towns and cit we already are studying,will open up a wide field of research:
ies all around theworld (fig. 10 and fig. 11), as well as at con a contemporary, varied, and exciting field inwhich new and

temporary architectural phenomena like ethnically-themed enduring building traditions continue to come together in
retirementhomes, cultural villages, vernacularized shopping creative and new ways. Of course, studying theway inwhich
malls and even (as a modern variant of the Sears Roebuck traditionsdevelop, combine, and amalgamate has long been
& Co. house kits) IKEA flatpack houses; treating them not common in the field. But, as noted, much of thiswork has

so as torelatetolocalhistoricalbuildings(compare
Fig. 10.New suburbanhouse,vernacularized Fig. 1);Pembridge,
UK. (2006 Photograph,
Herefordshire, Author)

Marcel Velunga, ofTradition

The Inventiveness 125

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 .ilili lilii|^

Fig. 11.New house,incorporating

distinctive nearBisbee,Arizona. (2005 Photograph,
Sonorandesignelements; Author)

dealt with thepast.What needs tobe done now is to broaden that theworld is currendy experiencing rapid environmental
the scope of vernacular architecture studies by looking at changes, as exemplified by a rapid loss of natural resources
present-day
as well as historical
examples of change, adap and species, high levelsof energy consumption, and increasing
tation and amalgamation. Such a broadening of the scope amounts of waste and pollution. This environmental change

will, I believe, increase the recognition of the vernacular as goes together with, and is to a large
extent caused, or at least

a field of academic and professional interest,expunging the accelerated, by global cultural developments and transforma
latentprimitivism that (especially in relation to non-western tions includingmass consumption, continued urbanization,

traditions) characterizes some of the discourse, and evading and the increasing internationalization of capital, business
itscurrentpredicament and historical entrapment.Requiring and power. As a
major
consumer of energy and a
prominent

(as in the case of the buildings thatwe are already studying) cultural category, architecture is inextricablybound up with

focused, accurate, and detailed analyses of theways inwhich these developments. Consequendy, therehas been a growing
the present-day buildings relate to historical or traditional interest among architects, planners, and engineers
in the de

places, people, buildings, landscapes, and cultures, itwill allow sign of architecture that can address the many environmental,
us to envision a future for the vernacular and its study and economic, and social in a sustainable way.
problems

will, as Dell has noted, enable a more

Upton comprehensive the common to rel
Though and persistent tendency
and better architectural to
history emerge.23 to the past would seem to suggest
egate vernacular architecture

importantiy,perhaps, a focus on the transmission,

Most otherwise, I believe (at therisk,perhaps, of being what Henry
development, and amalgamation of building traditionswill Glassie calls a "consumption" student of thevernacular) that
enable the development of an approach to architecture that the vernacular may have much to offer to the successful de

acknowledges the existence of change, butwhich, rather than velopment of such sustainable architecture. As a source of

lamenting and tryingto stop it, tries to understand how and traditional knowledge, skills,and ideas, comprising practices,

why it takes place and attempts to ensure, through critical as technologies, resources, and forms that often have developed
sessment and engagement, that the changes that are effected as part of a continuous process of trialand error, itmay offer
are sensible, and, most of all, sustainable. many valuable to the scholars and
appropriate, Though precedents professionals
critical voices can stillbe heard, it is increasingly recognized involved in the development of buildings that can address

126 Perspectives InVernacular Architecture

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 localized environmental challenges in a culturally appropri Vernacular Architecture V (Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press,

ate way. Indeed, as Paul Oliver has noted, seeing that the vast 1995);CarterL. Hudgins and ElizabethCollinsCromley eds.,Shaping
Communities: Perspectives in Vernacular Architecture VI (Knoxville: Univer
majority of people in theworld currently live in vernacular
sity of Tennessee and and Annmarie
buildings and are likely to continue doing so throughout the
Press, 1997); Sally McMurry

the vernacular will have to a seri Adams, eds., People, Power, Places: Perspectives in Vernacular Architecture
twenty-first century, play
VIII (Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 2000).
ous role in this respect. In order for such an of
integration 5
Oliver, "Round the Houses," 17; Henry Glassie, Vernacular
vernacular into modern architectural to
knowledge practice
Architecture (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2000), 49.
take place, however, the point that all vernacular traditions 6
Henry Glassie, "Aesthetic," in Encyclopedia of Vernacular
constitute and creative processes that result from
dynamic Architecture of theWorld, ed. Paul Oliver (Cambridge: Cambridge
cultural encounters, and conjunctions and that,
borrowings, University Press, 1997), 5.
as such, should be allowed to change and develop needs to be 7
Dell Upton, "The Tradition of Change," Traditional Dwellings

accepted. Most of all, itwill be necessary for scholars of the and SettlementsReview 5, no. 1 (1993).
8
vernacular to look ahead as well as behind, and to Ronald G. Knapp, China's Old Dwellings
actively (Honolulu: University
in research that will teach us how what we learn from of Hawaii Press, 2000), 326.
engage
9
the past can be put to use in the future. Upton, "The Tradition of Change"; Janet Abu-Lughod,
good
"Disappearing Dichotomies: First World?Third World; Tradi
"It's happening," wrote Paul Oliver in 1984; "New
tional?Modern," Traditional Dwellings and Settlements Review 3, no.
are uttered in the vernacular as far as
messages being but, 2 (1992).
I'm no one is devoting much attention to out 10
aware, finding Reimar Schefold, "Hearthless House and Painted Concrete:

what theymean."271 thinkthatnow, at thebeginning of a new Aspects of Ethnicity Among the Sa'dan Toraja and Toba Batak (In
faced as we are with a multitude of new cultural inReligion andDevelopment: Towards an IntegratedApproach, eds.
millennium, donesia),"
and ecological challenges, it is time thatwe students of the Philip Quarles
van Ufford and Matthew Schoffeleers (Amsterdam:

vernacular come out of our and make a start Free University Press, 1988), 231-246; Lynne Hancock, "Maori:
retreat, trying
we Marae," in Encyclopedia of Vernacular Architecture of theWorld, ed. Paul
to find out what these new vernacular messages are, what

to earlier
Oliver (Cambridge:CambridgeUniversityPress, 1997), 1216-1217;
may learn from them, how they relate vernacular
Deidre Brown, "Maori: Morehu," inEncyclopedia of Vernacular Architec
messages, and how we can make them work in order that a
tureof theWorld, ed. Paul Oliver Cambridge University
(Cambridge:
sustainable future built environment may be cr-eated.
Press, 1997), 1217.
11
Acknowledgements Michael Hill and Sally Birch, Cotswold StoneHomes: History,

Conservation, Care (Stroud: Alan Sutton, 1994); R.A. Bucko, TheLakota

Iwould like to acknowledge thefinancial support of the
Ritual of theSweat Lodge: History and Contemporary Practice (Lincoln and
Arts and Humanities Research Council and theBritishAcad
London: University of Nebraska Press, 1998); Antonio J. Guerreiro,
emy, which made itpossible for me to present an earlier version
"The Bornean Longhouse in Historical Perspective, 1850-1990:
of thispaper at theVAF conference inTucson, Arizona. Social Processes and Adaptation to Changes," in Indonesian Houses:

Tradition and Transformation in Vernacular Architecture, eds. Reimar Sche

Endnotes
1 fold, Gaudenz Domenig, and Peter Nas (Leiden: KITLV Press, 2003),
Marshall Sahlins, "Two or Three That I Know
Things
285-331; C. Evans and C. Humphrey, "After-lives of theMongolian
no. 3
About Culture," Journal of theRoyal Anthropological Institute 5,
Yurt: The of a Chinese Tourist
(1999): 408-409. Archaeology' Camp," Journal of
2 Material Culture 1, no. 2 (2002).
Paul Oliver, "Round the Houses," in British Architecture, ed.
12
A. Papadakis Architectural Lloyd Kahn, Home Work: Handbuilt Shelter (Bolinas: Shelter
(London: Design, 1984).
3 Publications, 2004).
See, for example, I.R. Pattison, D.S. Pattison, and N.W.
13
Paul Oliver, "Introduction," in Encyclopedia of Vernacular
Alcock, eds., A Bibliography of Vernacular Architecture, Volume III: 1977

1989 (Aberystwyth: Vernacular Architecture Group, 1992). See also

of the
Architecture World, ed. Paul Oliver (Cambridge: Cambridge
the contributions to the journal Vernacular Architecture, published University Press, 1997), xxi-xxviii.
by 14
See Vicky Richardson, New Vernacular Architecture (London:
the Vernacular Architecture Group in Britain.
4 Laurence The was coined
Thomas Carter and Elizabeth Collins Invitation to King, 2001). phrase "post-traditional"
Cromley,
at the December 2004 Conference in Dubai of the International
Vernacular Architecture (Knoxville: The University of Tennessee Press,
Association for the Study of Traditional Environments and already
2005), 17. See also the contributions in Elizabeth Collins Cromley
seems to have gained wide acceptance; See Nezar "Editor's
and Carter and Shelter: Perspectives in Alsayyad,
L. Hudgins, eds., Gender, Class

Marcel Vellinga, The Inventiveness

ofTradition 127

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All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 21
Note," Traditional Dwellings and SettlementsReview 16, no. 2 (2005), 6. Anthony King, The Bungalow: The Production of a Global Culture
15
Marcel Vellinga, Constituting Unity and Difference: Vernacular (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 1995); Paul Oliver,
Architecture in aMinangkabau KITLV Press, 2004), Ian Davis, and Ian Bentley, Dunroamin: The Suburban Semi and Its Enemies
Village (Leiden:
100-118. (London: Barrie and Jenkins, 1981).
16 22
"Two or Three Things that I Know About Cul
Vellinga, Constituting Unity and Difference; Marcel Vellinga, Sahlins,

"A Family Affair: The Construction of Vernacular Minangkabau ture."

23
Indonesia and the World 32, no. 92 Dell Upton, "Outside theAcademy: A Century of Vernacu
Houses," Malay (2004).
17 in The Architectural Historian
lar Architecture
Vellinga, Constituting Unity and Difference', Marcel Vellinga, Studies, 1890-1990,"

"The Use of Houses in a Competition for Status: The Case of Abai inAmerica, ed. E.B. MacDougall (Washington: National Gallery of

Sangir (Minangkabau)," in Indonesian Houses: Tradition and Transforma Art, 1990), 211.
24
tion in Vernacular Architecture, eds. Reimar Schefold, Gaudenz See for example: Terry Williamson, Antony Radford, and
Domenig,
and Peter Nas (Leiden: KITLV Press, 2003). Helen Bennetts, Understanding Sustainable Architecture (London: Spon
18 A. Moore, Sustainable
A. A. Navis, Alam Terkembang Jadi Guru (Jakarta: Grafiti Press, 2003); Simon Guy and Steven eds.,

Press, 1984), cover.

Architectures: Cultures andNatures inEurope andNorth America (New York:
19
Marcel "The Attraction of the House: Architec Spon Press, 2005).
Vellinga,
25
ture, Status and Ethnicity inWest-Sumatra," in Framing Indonesian Glassie, "Aesthetic," 4.
26
Paul Oliver, "Vernacular Architecture in the 21st Century,"
Realities: Essays inSymbolic Anthropology inHonour ofReimar Schefold, eds.
and R. Jaff (Leiden: KITLV Lecture at the Prince ofWales Institute in London.
PJ.M. Nas, G. Persoon, Press, 2004). Hepworth
20 27
"Round the 17.
Vellinga, Constituting Unity and Difference. Oliver, Houses,"

128 Perspectives InVernacular Architecture

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