Klaus Zwerger

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Vienna University of Technology, Vienna, Austria

Email: zwerger@gestaltungslehre.tuwien.ac.at

ABSTRACT  A selective review of the literature demonstrates the difficulty in defining ‘vernacular architecture’. Recent studies have presented an overly narrow, single-sided, or even unacceptable image of the topic in comparison with many earlier definitions and discussions. However, those earlier analyses also had various shortfalls. The interdependence of vernacular architecture, economic interests, and emerging awareness of buildings’ interaction with the environment demand a rethinking of vernacular architecture, which the present study understands as signifying housing offered for most of the world’s population.

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KEYWORDS  vernacular architecture, interdependence, resource scarcity, changed expectations

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Received  February 26, 2019; accepted December 17, 2019.

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