UNIVERSITY OF DETROIT MERCY

SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE
AR 389: Vernacular Architecture
Professor Joseph Odoerfer
Term I, 1996-97

VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE

DESCRIPTION:
This course is intended to be a survey of world vernacular architecture, focusing on the indigenous
structures of the Americas, Africa, Eurasia and Oceania.

OBJECTIVES:
A. To develop the student’s understanding of the relationship between structure and environment,
concentrating on the relationship between building and climate.
B. To develop the student’s understanding of the relationship between built form and the human body.
C. To develop the student’s understanding of the relationship between technology and architectural form.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
A. Attendance is mandatory! A poor attendance record results in the instructor losing sympathy for the
student when problems develop.
B. Students are responsible for all reading assignments listed in the attached course schedule. This
material will appear on examinations.
C. Three examinations will be given during the term. Each examination will account for one-third of your
final course grade. Make-up examinations will be given only if the instructor is notified prior the the
examination.

GRADING SCALE:
A = 100-93; A- = 92-90; B+ = 89-87; B = 86-83; B- = 82-80; C+ = 79-77; C = 76-73; C- = 72-70; D+ = 69-
67; D = 66-60, F = 59-0. The final course grade will be an average of your three exam scores.

OFFICE HOURS:
Monday and Wednesday from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon, Tuesday and Thursday from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00
p.m. or by appointment. Office phone: (313) 993-1511. Office location: Architecture 105.

TEXTBOOKS:
You will not be required to purchase a textbook. Readings will be taken from the following books which
will be placed on reserve at the main circulation desk of the library:
A. TEXT 1: Natural Energy and Vernacular Architecture, by Hassan Fathy.
B. TEXT 2: North African Villages, by Norman Carver..
C. TEXT 3: The Houses of Mankind, by Colin Duly.
D. TEXT 4: China’s Vernacular Architecture, by Ronald Knapp.
E. TEXT 5: Japanese Folkhouses, by Norman Carver..
F. TEXT 6: Silent Cities, Mexico and the Maya, by Norman Carver..
G. TEXT 7: Mediterranean Vernacular, by V.I. Atroshenko and Milton Grundy..
H. TEXT 8: Italian Hilltowns, by Norman Carver.
I. TEXT 9: Native American Architecture, by Peter Nabokov and Robert Easton.
J. TEXT 10: American Shelter, by Lester Walker.
UNIVERSITY OF DETROIT MERCY
SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE
AR 389: Vernacular Architecture
Professor Joseph Odoerfer
Term II, 1996-97

OUTLINE #1: INTRODUCTION TO VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE

I. TERMINOLOGY

A. Indigenous: produced or living naturally in a locality.

B. Anonymous: belonging to or used by a particular people, or characteristic of a locality.

II. CHARACTERISTICS OF VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE

A. Functional motivation: both physical & psychological.

B. Precise adaptation to climate.
C. Exploitation of the site & its variations.
D. Close relationship to & minimal impact on the environment (compact settlement).
E. Reliance on local technology, skills & materials.
F. Production by the whole community from a common tradition.
G. Wide variation in detail, but little variation in type.
H. Transcendence of the general pattern over the individual (repetitive & elemental building units).
I. Growth by slow stages & open-ended conposition.
J. Limited size & a consitent human scale:
1. Allows contact with the natural world.
2. Preservation of comprehensible scale.
3. Building, streets & squares sized for human use (exception: temple).

III. DETERMINANTS OF VERNACULAR FORM

A. Physical Forces:

1. Climate.
2. Site: topography, vegetation & gravity.
3. Materials.
4. Technology.

B. Socio-cultural Forces:

1. Tradition.
2. Functional relationships.

C. Psychological Needs:

1.Security.
2. Sense of well-being.

IV. VERNACULAR METHODOLOGY

A. Tradition based: forms develop over a long period of time.

B. Concrete: forms are an outgrowth of real needs tempered by the building process, by the
environment & by the possible.
C. Holistic: design principles serve the whole person.
 D. Feedback between builder and user (often the same person).

V. VALUE IN STUDYING VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE

A. Provides architects with clear examples of the interaction between architectural form and the natural
environement.

B. Provides insight into the response of form to fundamental human needs and conditions:

1. Vernacular images are often carriers of psychological values independent of the buildings in which
they were originally established.
2. Vernacular forms provide a connection to human history.
3. Human scale.

C. Increase arachitect’s sensitivity to materials and the process of construction.

LECTURE SOURCES:

A. Norman F. Carver, Italian Hilltowns, pp. 6-30.

B. Herb Greene, Mind & Image: and Essay on Art & Architecture, pp. 93-98.
C. Bernard Rudofsky, Architecture Without Architects,.
D. Mete Turan, “Vernacular Design and Environmental Wisdom,” Vernacular Architecture, pp. 3-19.