Vernacular Architecture and the Environmental Awakening
Doctoral Research – Vasileios Chanis
UNIL-Fondation Sophie Afenduli
The project addresses a central topic in the theory of architecture-the relationship between the notions of “contemporary” and “traditional” in the aftermath of WWII. The period 1945-1972 is largely characterised by the dominion of the International Style as the main paradigm of professional architecture, but it also witnessed unprecedented scholastic research on the study of traditional buildings and settlements. The aforementioned led to the production of a significant corpus of literature that brought the subject of vernacular architecture to the foreground of the architectural discourse of the time. Although vernacular influences pre-existed in pre-war architecture, they were mostly bounded around an abstract myth of origins. In post-war years, research on vernacular architecture acquired a transdisciplinary character closely linked to the emerging notion of “environment”, long before its current associations with sustainability. These various interpretations of the vernacular aimed in providing responses to the increasing loss of meaning in the built environment; a loss caused by interconnected issues such as increasing pollution, accelerated modern development, the vanishing of the historic city, and the uncontrolled urban sprawl. The current thesis aims to discuss the intertwined formative years of vernacular studies and environmental design research, before their establishment as official fields of scholarship in architectural academia (late 60s-early 70s). In doing so, the work of carefully selected architects and architectural theorists will be critically approached. Finally, by drawing a direct comparison between the years of environmental awakening and the current emergencies of ecological transition, the doctoral project aspires to illustrate a roadmap for a qualitative shift in the present paradigm of architectural sustainability.