The idea for it came from the classroom. A
Architecture is such a diverse topic. Around the world architecture varies and is very unique. For the topic of this book to come from a classroom is quite ironic in the sense that you have to explore your corner of the globe to understand architecture.
Material culture
By taking a biological anthropology class last year, material culture is always relevant in the many societies that were discussed. It is one of the only ways we have developed to see into the past and how humans lived.
The teacher’s space is to the front, facing out toward the students who sit in neat rows of chairs/desks, all bolted to the floor. Everyone has his (Dr her own desk— his or her own space—-reflecting the American value of individuality.
Carter and Cromley, The Invitation to Vernacular Architecture,pp.95.
I find interesting how we recently discussed this concept in class. There always appears to be a set balance of space between the student and the teacher. Since ancient Greek and Roman eras that introduced a auditorium like class setting, to present day with our smaller yet similar classrooms, there's always some form of balance created from the architectural layout of the classroom.
If culture determines behavior, and we can see such behavior in the things people make, it is logical that we can also move in the opposite direction, working back from the object in an attempt to explain the ideas, values, and beliefs— the culture— that caused that object to com e into being.1
We tend to express ourselves through our creations and much can be understood about our culture by exploring them contextually.
Culture is unseen and immaterial, consisting of the ideas, values, and beliefs of a particular social group or society
Culture is intangible
Unlike other mammals, humans cannot simply live in nature; rather, we must devise ways of finding and making shelter, clothing and feeding ourselves, and producing the tools needed for survival.
Contrast between mammals and humans
Material culture m aybe defined, following Deetz, as “that segment of [the human] physical environment which is purposely shaped . . . according to culturally dictated plans.
Definition of Material Culture
vernacular architecture
What is "vernacular architecture"?
“historic architecture is one aspect of the past that we can still see, touch, experience . . . and part of what attracts us to old buildings is their insistence on communicating, in some outmoded dialect we do not entirely understand, the energy and purpose, the achievements and hopes, the disappointments and hardships of those who made and used them.”1" I
These building are able to communicate through more than the stories or journals told about the events taken place inside, but also in the way they were built and still stand in relation to what we know about other buildings from that time. Can be tied in with "Unpredictable, High Risk, High Cost: Planning for the worst is the worst" by noting that natural disaster and all of the emotions that lie within that disaster can be tied to the progression of housing in a certain area and how it affected the people there
As you move further back in time, however, and the testimonies or actions of users are missing, a well-trained eye for what was built, used, remodeled, or even torn down may be all you have. R
In "Unpredictable, High Risk, High Cost: Planning for the worst is the worst" it states that Native Americans, African Americans, and ethnic enclaves have centuries of old ties to land, making them the hardest to advocate displacement. This exemplifies this concept of Vernacular Architecture, showing that certain groups of people make ties to a certain area through culture and experience and in that, it becomes who they are and hard to let go or progress from.
Unlike other mammals, humans cannot simply live in nature; rather, we must devise ways of finding and making shelter, clothing and feeding ourselves, and producing the tools needed for survival.
I find this somewhat odd that the author would speak about human lifestyles as if we are not animals. Just like us, some other mammals have to create shelters or use tools to survive.
In Small Things Forgotten:
First annotation.