Editing Vernacular architecture (section)

==Influences on the vernacular==
[[File:Brgule 001.jpg|thumb|House in [[Brgule]], Serbia]]
Vernacular architecture is influenced by a great range of different aspects of human behaviour and environment, leading to differing building forms for almost every different context; even neighbouring villages may have subtly different approaches to the construction and use of their dwellings, even if they at first appear the same. Despite these variations, every building is subject to the same laws of physics, and hence will demonstrate significant similarities in [[structural engineering|structural forms]].

===Climate===
One of the most significant influences on vernacular architecture is the macro climate of the area in which the building is constructed. Buildings in cold climates invariably have high [[thermal mass]] or significant amounts of [[building insulation|insulation]]. They are usually sealed in order to prevent heat loss, and openings such as windows tend to be small or even absent altogether. Buildings in warm climates, by contrast, tend to be constructed of lighter materials and to allow significant [[cross ventilation]] through openings in the fabric of the building.

[[File:Múzeum kysuckej dediny-1.jpg|thumb|left|A [[log cabin]] in the region of [[Kysuce]], [[Slovakia]]—an example of vernacular architecture in a relatively cold mountain climate using local [[wood]]]]
Buildings for a continental climate must be able to cope with significant variations in temperature and may even be altered by their occupants according to the seasons. In hot arid and semi-arid regions, vernacular structures typically include a number of distinctive elements to provide for ventilation and temperature control. Across the middle east, these elements included such design features as courtyard gardens with water features, screen walls, reflected light, ''[[mashrabiya]]'' (the distinctive [[oriel window]] with timber latticework) and ''bad girs'' ([[Windcatcher|wind-catchers]]).<ref name=archinform>{{archINFORM|arch|10796}}</ref> 
[[File:Queenslander home, Australia.jpg|thumb|Queenslander, Australia]]
Buildings take different forms depending on precipitation levels in the region – leading to dwellings on stilts in many regions with frequent flooding or rainy monsoon seasons. For example, the [[Queenslander (architecture)|Queenslander]] is an elevated weatherboard house with a sloped, tin roof that evolved in the early 19th-century as a solution to the annual flooding caused by monsoonal rain in Australia's northern states.<ref name="LinOsb">{{cite web|last1=Osborne|first1=Lindy|title=Sublime design: the Queenslander|url=http://www.architectureanddesign.com.au/features/comment/sublime-design-the-queenslander|website=Architecture & Design|access-date=24 February 2018}}</ref> Flat roofs are rare in areas with high levels of precipitation. Similarly, areas with high winds will lead to specialised buildings able to cope with them, and buildings tend to present minimal surface area to prevailing winds and are often situated low on the landscape to minimise potential storm damage.

Climatic influences on vernacular architecture are substantial and can be extremely complex. Mediterranean vernacular, and that of much of the Middle East, often includes a courtyard with a fountain or pond; air cooled by water mist and evaporation is drawn through the building by the natural ventilation set up by the building form. Similarly, Northern African vernacular often has very high thermal mass and small windows to keep the occupants cool, and in many cases also includes chimneys, not for fires but to draw air through the internal spaces. Such specializations are not designed but learned by trial and error over generations of building construction, often existing long before the scientific theories which explain why they work. Vernacular architecture is also used for the purposes of local citizens.

===Culture===
The way of life of building occupants, and the way they use their shelters, is of great influence on building forms. The size of family units, who shares which spaces, how food is prepared and eaten, how people interact, and many other cultural considerations will affect the layout and size of dwellings.

For example, the family units of several East African ethnic communities live in family compounds, surrounded by marked boundaries, in which separate single-roomed dwellings are built to house different members of the family. In polygamous communities there may be separate dwellings for different wives, and more again for sons who are too old to share space with the women of the family. Social interaction within the family is governed by, and privacy is provided by, the separation between the structures in which family members live. By contrast, in Western Europe, such separation is accomplished inside one dwelling, by dividing the building into separate rooms.

Culture also has a great influence on the appearance of vernacular buildings, as occupants often decorate buildings in accordance with local customs and beliefs.

====Nomadic dwellings====
[[File:cempa stilthouses.jpg|thumb|Stilt houses in Cempa, located in the [[Lingga Islands]] of Indonesia]]
[[File:Yurt-construction-2.JPG|thumb|A [[Yurt]] or ger, a circular dwelling from [[Mongolia]], during erection]]

There are many cultures around the world which include some aspect of nomadic life, and they have all developed vernacular solutions for the need for shelter. These all include appropriate responses to climate and customs of their inhabitants, including practicalities of simple construction such as [[Hut (dwelling)|huts]], and if necessary, transport such as [[tent]]s.

The [[Inuit]] have a number of different forms of shelter appropriate to different seasons and geographical locations, including the [[igloo]] (for winter) and the [[tupiq]] (for summer). The [[Sami people|Sami]] of Northern Europe, who live in climates similar to those experienced by the Inuit, have developed different shelters appropriate to their culture<ref name="Oliver2003"/>{{rp|25}} including the [[lavvu]] and [[goahti]]. The development of different solutions in similar circumstances because of cultural influences is typical of vernacular architecture.

Many nomadic people use materials common in the local environment to construct temporary dwellings, such as the Punan of Sarawak who use palm fronds, or the Ituri Pygmies who use saplings and mongongo leaves to construct domed huts. Other cultures reuse materials, transporting them with them as they move. Examples of this are the tribes of Mongolia, who carry their [[yurt|gers]] (yurts) with them, or the black desert tents of the [[Qashgai]] in [[Iran]].<ref name="Oliver2003"/>{{rp|29}} Notable in each case is the significant impact of the availability of materials and the availability of pack animals or other forms of transport on the ultimate form of the shelters.

All the shelters are adapted to suit the local climate. The Mongolian gers (yurts), for example, are versatile enough to be cool in hot continental summers and warm in the sub-zero temperatures of Mongolian winters and include a close-able ventilation hole at the centre and a chimney for a stove. A ger is typically not often relocated, and is therefore sturdy and secure, including wooden front door and several layers of coverings. A traditional [[Berbers|Berber]] tent, by contrast, might be relocated daily, and is much lighter and quicker to erect and dismantle – and because of the climate it is used in, does not need to provide the same degree of protection from the elements.

<gallery>
File:igloo.jpg|An unfinished [[igloo]], an [[Inuit]] winter dwelling
Image:Tuareg 1907.jpg|Tuareg tent during colonial exhibition in 1907
Image:Nez-perce-couple-teepee-1900.jpg|A [[tipi]] of the [[Nez Perce tribe]], {{circa|1900}}
Image:Algerian_nomads.jpg|Arab Beduin tent from North Africa. Similar tents are also used by Arabs in the Middle East as well as by Persian and Tibetan nomads.
File:BerberTentZagora.jpg|A Berber tent near Zagora, Morocco
File:Fäbod i Oviksfjällen.JPG|In [[transhumance]] (the seasonal movement of people with their livestock to pasture) the herders stay in huts or tents.
File:Iraqi mudhif interior.jpg|Interior of a [[mudhif]]; a reed dwelling used by Iraqi people of the marshlands
</gallery>

====Permanent dwellings====
[[File:Lesotho Slide Show (294).JPG|thumb|A Southern African rondavel (or banda)]]

The type of structure and materials used for a dwelling vary depending on how permanent it is. Frequently moved nomadic structures will be lightweight and simple, more permanent ones will be less so. When people settle somewhere permanently, the architecture of their dwellings will change to reflect that.

Materials used will become heavier, more solid and more durable. They may also become more complicated and more expensive, as the capital and labour required to construct them is a one-time cost. Permanent dwellings often offer a greater degree of protection and shelter from the elements. In some cases, however, where dwellings are subjected to severe weather conditions such as frequent flooding or high winds, buildings may be deliberately "designed" to fail and be replaced, rather than requiring the uneconomical or even impossible structures needed to withstand them. The collapse of a relatively flimsy, lightweight structure is also less likely to cause serious injury than a heavy structure.

Over time, dwellings' architecture may come to reflect a very specific geographical locale.

===Environment, construction elements and materials===
The local environment and the construction materials it can provide, govern many aspects of vernacular architecture. Areas rich in trees will develop a wooden vernacular, while areas without much wood may use mud or stone. In early California [[Cupressaceae|redwood]] water towers supporting redwood tanks and enclosed by redwood siding ([[tankhouse]]s) were part of a self-contained wind-powered domestic water system. In the Far East it is common to use bamboo, as it is both plentiful and versatile. Vernacular, almost by definition, is sustainable, and will not exhaust the local resources. If it is not sustainable, it is not suitable for its local context, and cannot be vernacular.

Construction elements and materials frequently found in vernacular buildings include:
* [[Adobe]] – a type of mud brick, often covered with white-wash, commonly used in Spain and Spanish colonies
* [[Cob (material)|Cob]] – a type of plaster made from subsoil with the addition of fibrous material to give added strength
* [[Mashrabiya]] (also known as shanashol in Iraq) – a type of oriel window with timber lattice-work, designed to allow ventilation, commonly found in Iraq and Egypt in upper-class homes
* [[Mudbrick|Mud brick]]s – loam or sand mixed with water and vegetable matter such as straw
* [[Rammed earth]] often used in foundations
* [[Saddleback roof]]
* [[Thatching|Thatch]] – dry vegetation used as roofing material
* [[Windcatcher]] – a type of chimney used to provide natural ventilation without the use of air conditioning, commonly found in Iran, Iraq and other parts of the Middle-East
* [[Wychert]] – a blend of white earth and clay