A review of the House, Form and Culture by Amos Rapoport

HOUSE FORM AND CULTURE
AMOS RAPOPORT
PRASAD THANTHRATEY BA13ARC049
SAURABH DEOTALE BA13ARC043
MOHIT YADAV BA13ARC031
ABHAY AGARWAL BA13ARC002

THE NATURE AND
DEFINITION OF THE FIELD

Why study ?
• One can learn from the past; the study of the past is of value philosophically as
well as in making us aware of the complexity and overlapping of things.
• It provides a great range of variables in different cultures and greater extremes-
hence a greater sense of the range of alternatives possible.
• Studying other methods helps us to discover the distinctiveness of our own.
Comparisons of this type also make us aware of the problem of constancy and
change.
• Modern cultures are more similar, thus providing an apt reason for examining
primitive and preindustrial cultures.
• Finally, because the physical constraints in primitive and preindustrial vernacular
buildings are very strong, and the situations tend to be extreme, we are able to
examine the influence of different variables on the form creation more clearly.
We are better able to judge the relative importance of physical and cultural forces
as form determinants.

What then do we mean by folk architecture and by the terms primitive
and vernacular as they apply to building forms?
• The Folk Tradition, is the direct and unselfconscious translation into
physical form of a culture, its needs and values — as well as the desires,
dreams, and passions of a people. It represents the bulk of the built
environment.
• Primitive building, refers to that produced by societies defined as primitive
by anthropologists. It refers largely to certain technological as well as
economic levels of development.
It also includes aspects of social organisation. They are built by people
using their intelligence, ability — no different from ours — and resources to
their fullest extent. The term primitive, therefore, does not refer to the
builders' intentions or abilities, but rather to the society in which they
build. It is of course a relative term.

Vernacular Architecture
C H A R A C T E R I S T I C S :
• lack of theoretical or aesthetic pretensions;
• working with the site and micro-climate;
• respect for other people and their houses and therefore the
environment- man made as well as natural;
• Working within an idiom with variations within a given order
• additive quality- unspecialized, open ended nature.
• greater importance and significance of relationships between
elements, and the manner in which these relationships are
achieved, rather than the individual nature of the elements.

• The construction is simple, clear, and easy to grasp, and since
everyone knows the rules, the craftsmen is called in only because he
has a more detailed knowledge of the rules.
• Size, layout, relation to site, and other variables are decided by
discussion. The aesthetic quality is traditional and is handed down
through the generations.

• Tradition has the force of a law honoured by everyone through collective
accent, which acts as a discipline.
This approach then works as an accepted settlement pattern.
• As long as the tradition is alive, this shared and accepted image operates;
tradition goes, the picture changes.
• Tradition as a regulator, has disappeared for a number of reasons:
 Greater number of buildings types, many of which are too complex to build in
traditional fashion.
 Loss of the common shared value system and image of the world, resulting in the
disappearance of that spirit of cooperation which makes people respect the rights of
adjoining people and their buildings, and ultimately the rights of the settlement as a
whole.
 The fact that our culture puts a premium on originality, often striving for it for its
own sake. As a result, traditional forms go out of league and the vernacular process
can’t work any longer.
.

• Due to this causes enumerated, greater complexity of problems, and
greater specializations- the design of buildings and settlements in
increasingly the concern of professional designers.
• Consequently, a double change comes in effect in the way built form
is produced:
Primitive: Few buildings types, a model with few individual variations built by all.
Preindustrial vernacular: A greater, though still limited, number of building types, more
individual variation of the model, built by tradesmen.
High style and modern: Many specialized building types, each of them being an original
creation, designed and built by teams of specialists.

• As spaces became more separated and differentiated, the number of types of spaces
increased.
(For example, from man & animals being housed under the same room, as in the Kabylie, we find them
under one roof but in separate spaces, as in Switzerland. The same applies to the differentiation of spaces
within the house for various uses.)
• This multiple use of spaces greatly affect the form of the house and settlement.
• Houses also provide the best way of relating the whole system of house, settlement,
landscape and monumental buildings to the way of life.
• The existence of an accepted model with few major innovations has resulted in very
strong persistence of form.
Grass huts like those known in the Neolithic age are still used in Fiji, New Guinea,
South America, and elsewhere. Courtyard houses generally seem to have changed
very little, and those used today resemble some of the earliest houses found in
Jericho, Catal Huyuk, or Ur.
• The traditional nature of such buildings implies lack of change as one of its principal
characteristics.

ALTERNATIVE THEORIES OF HOUSE FORM
(factors that directly affect form)
presents alternative hypotheses on the origin of the
house form, and questions them as the true origin.
Throughout this chapter, Rapoport sequentially
describes and questions the ideas of climate,
technological constraints, influence of place,
defense, economics and religion as the generators of
form.

Climate and the Need for Shelter
• An important consideration is why so many forms of
the house have been developed within the limited
number of climatic zones. Even the variation among
micro-climatic types is relatively smaller than the
number of house types frequently found in areas of
similar climate.
• While it’s impossible to deny the significance of
shelter as a human need, the basic necessity fior
shelter itself has been questioned.
• It has been suggested that house building is not a
natural and universal act since there are a number of
tribes in SE Asia, South America and Australia
without houses.
“We build houses to keep in a consistent climate, and to keep out predators. We grow, gather and eat food to keep
our metabolism on an even keel”. (L Bruce, Systematic Methods for Designers 1963)

• In parts of the South Seas, a number of activities in which protection
from the weather would seem to be particularly critical, like cooking,
child birth, and dying, take place in some areas either in the open or
in a lean-to.
• The principle that religious proscriptions and taboos introduce
discomfort and complications, and become more important than
climatic imperatives.
• People can give more importance to other buildings, such as: granary,
family shrine, kitchen, ancestor’s shrine before shelter.

• There are cases in which the way of life may lead to almost anti-
climatic solutions, with the dwelling form related to economic activity
rather than climate.
• The existence of fairly frequent anticlimactic solutions leads one to
question the more extreme climatic determinist view and suggests
that other forces must be at work, which may include ceremonial and
religious beliefs, prestige, status and so on.
• Anti-climatic solutions can be found in many parts of the world.
Below are some other anticlimactic solutions:

• Chams, regard shade cast by trees as unlucky, so that both the houses and
streets are exposed to terrible sun and so trees never planted.
• In Cambodia, a similar lack of shade of trees is brought about by the belief
that it is unlucky for roots to find their way under the house.
• In Japan, thatch is being replaced by sheet metal, which is less practical in
both heat and cold, drips condensation and rusts, yet is widely adopted
because it was new.
• Japanese prefer to alter the bamboo mat walling with brick for getting
more prestige in society, regardless danger of earthquake.
• Sumatran people prefer to alter the thatched to metal roofing regardless
the green house effect that it causes, because It is easy and cheap.

• In China, popular Feng-Shui and in India, popular Vastushashtra is more
determining than technical professional consideration.
Despite these examples, it is a characteristic of primitive and vernacular
buildings that they typically respond to climate very well. However, climate
can not appear as determining factors of house form.

Material, Construction & Technology
• Form develops as man learns to master more complex building
techniques, and all forms are part of a progressive development in a series
of inevitable steps.
• The cave- with no building- gives way to the windbreak, the circular hut,
and finally the rectangular hut in its various forms which are, in turn,
derived from the various materials and techniques available.
• There are also situations where social values take precedence over
technological advances.
• In some areas, after thatch has been replaced by more modern materials, it
becomes fashionable as an antique with status value.
As we have seen, even Galvanised Iron can become a success symbol !!!

• Material, Construction & Technology are best treated as modifying factors, rather
than form determinants, because they decide neither what is to be built nor its
form.
• They make possible the enclosure of a space organisation decided upon for other
reasons, and possibly modify that organisation.
• They facilitate and make possible or impossible certain decisions, but never decide
or determine form.
(The plans of the Eskimoo igloo and tent are same, although very different materials are
used.)
• Materials in themselves do not seem to determine form.
(In Japan, thatch takes on many forms, sizes and slopes.)
• Changes of materials doesn’t necessarily change the form of the house.
Frequently, the same material can result in very different forms.
(figures 2.3 and 2.6, page 23)

• There are also situations in which climatic needs to have led to
structurally non optimal forms, as in the Ashanti and Iranian huts with
heavy walls and roof on a slender frame.
• In other cases the reasons for irrational structure maybe religious or
social.
• In any event, structural techniques and materials by themselves do
not seem to fully explain the nature of the forms we find.

. Interrelation between technology, material and construction

Site
• It would be wrong to minimize the significance of site for primitive and
vernacular builders.
• The Hogaku system of orientation in Japan determines the location of
Japanese houses without regard to topography, while in India houses on
steep hillsides are so strictly oriented to the East that the doors face up the
slope.
• Site is often considered after economic importance of crops cultivation or
the availability of living sources (i.e. water, food, cattle food).
• Very similar sites often show very different forms.
(For example, on the coast one can aim for the view or turn away from it. Even sites as
forceful as deserts, mountains, jungles have produced great variations in house form)

• Site influences both the city and the house, but it does not determine
form.
• The effect of site is cultural rather than physical, since the ideal site
depends on the goals, ideals, and values of a period and choice of good
site depends upon the cultural definition.
• Within cities, preferred sites have varied in different ways.
Typical of Moslem cities, the location of “nobler” craft are immediately
around the mosque and baser ones further out, a pattern independent
of the nature of the physical site.
• Settlement pattern themselves, which tend to great complexity, seem
independent of site.

Defense
• Concept of defense in traditional society, is formulated in
consideration of society as a survival unit, with their survival
features.
{A} to protect food storage:
• The Sundanese gather granaries in higher places in groups each
belonging to each house, so that in case of fire in the village, it won’t
disturb the food storage.
• Balinese put Granaries along the village’s boulevard, raised with
gathering spaces below where youths usually would gather for
chatting and playing game, while guarding the granary above.

{B} against enemy or animals:
• the pile dwelling in most of Southeast Asian house has an obvious defensive
component against people, insects, animals and snakes.
• Lock and door designs are often equipped with hot water or oil shower to
hold enemies to enter the building.
{C} spiritual defense:
• hierarchical spatial zoning in Mandala, where putting center as the sacred
points, flanked by layers of concentric zones which is gradually profane as it
recede away the center.
• In, Java and Angkor the spiritual defense is actualized by mounting the
building to resemble meru, as power preservation, while in India is actualized
by void.

• In summary, many factors are neglected by accepting Defense as the
only determinant of form. Additionally, the element of choice of
which method of defense is to be used is of great significance.

Economics
• Economics has been widely used to explain settlement and building
form, and its importance is indeed great.
• In an economy of scarcity, the need to survive and to use resources
maximally is great that these forces maybe expected to wield
tremendous power. If, even under those conditions, economic forces
are not dominant, then the argument for economics as generally
determining form becomes rather suspect.
• The same forms of economy may lead to widely differing forms of
rural settlement, houses, and their spatial arrangement.
• They are all comprised of the same elements, but their requirements
are handled differently.

• All of these house complexes demonstrate a general aspect of the
economic need to store, especially in the rural house.
• If it is accepted that vernacular buildings is additive and adapts to
change more readily than the closed forms of high- style design, all
these variations then fall into one of two ways in which additions can
be made.
One is by Clustering(Fig.2.11), the other method is through inside sub
division, as in ancient Greek House or certain Swiss farms.( Fig.2.12)
• One factor which might be involved in all these variations is some
aspect of social organisation which differs among socities with
otherwise similar economic bases.

• Even nomads, for whom the economic base affects house form by
imposing the need for mobility, use widely varying forms
• The Yurt of Mongols, the hexagonal tent of the tibetians , the
wooden houses of the indians are all very different.
• Even in the case of modern American buildings, where the economic
aspects would seem to be dominant, it has been pointed out that the
rise of the skyscraper in 19th century Chicago had no economic
justification at the time, because of foundation problems and other
factors.
• The fact that every city wants a tall building is also a matter of
prestige and such aspects may still affect housing in many areas.

Religion
• Possibly as a reaction to the physical determinism so common in
writings on the subject, there is also an antiphysical determinism,
which neglects a whole set of important material factors and
attributes the form of house to religion.
• Many examples can be found of sacred function of the house. There
are areas like Cambodia where allowing strangers into the house
would be sacrilege.
• Religion affects the form, plan, spatial arrangements, and orientation
of the house, and maybe the influence which leads to the existence of
round and rectangular houses.
• Many other aspects of the house- whether it is on stilts or
underground, whether it needs special provisions for keeping out or
controlling evils spirits- can be attributed to religion.

• This oversimple, almost determinist, approach is the greatest
weakness of a view which provides insights which seem more
important than those of physical determinism.
• since there is a choice of symbols, religion as an explanation of house
form is more possibilist, and less determinist, than the physical
explanations of the form.

SOCIO-CULTURAL FACTORS AND HOUSE FORM
(factors that indirectly affect form. It affect socio-cultural aspects first and later architecture)

• Building a house is just a cultural phenomenon, its form and organisation
are greatly affected by the cultural milieu to which it belongs.
• The physical setting provides the possibilities among which choices are
made through the taboos, customs, and traditional ways of the culture.
• House form is not simply the result of physical forces or any single casual
factor, but is the consequence of a whole range of socio-cultural factors
seen in their broadest terms.
• The environment sought reflects many socio-cultural forces, including
religious beliefs, family and clan structure, social organisation, way of
gaining a livelihood, and social relations between individuals.
• At the same time, house forms are influenced and modified by climatic
forces, choice of site, and availability and choice of construction materials
and techinques.

Genre de vie
The term Genre de vie used by Max Sorre includes all cultural,
spiritual, material and social aspects which affect form. It
won’t be wrong to say that the houses are settlements are
the physical expressions of the Genre de vie, and this
constitutes their symbolic nature.
It is further suggested that the socio- cultural component of
the Genre de vie is the sum of the concepts of culture, ethos,
world view, and national character used by Redfield.
Max Sorre

SOCIO-CULTURAL FORCES AND FORM
• The socio-cultural forces refer to a fact that
societies share certain generally accepted goals
and life values.
• Ritual orientation of the house, found in many
cultures, is a function of cultural and religious
attitudes rather than material factors.
• Even at the more advanced level of peasant
societies, ceremonial is still of prime
importance, and all social relations are more
than utilitarian and always surrounded by
symbolism.
• With regard to dining, the medieval pattern,
involving hierarchic position along the table is
still found in Swiss peasant houses and in the
Oxford and Cambridge colleges.

• The influence of kinship and caste as the prime social influences can
be seen in Cochin, South India, and as a result the village has little
social unity. Caste distinction results in a low community spirit in
these villages.
• The houses of the Brahmins and Nayars are laid out according to the
religiously sanctioned rules for that caste.

CRITICALITY AND CHOICE
• The more forceful the physical constraints, and the more limited the
technology and command of means, the less are nonmaterial aspects
able to act.
• House form is the result of choice among existing possibilities-the
greater the number of possibilities, the greater the choice, depending
on the value system.
• Because physical criticality is low, socio-cultural factors can operate;
and because they can operate, purely physical forces cannot
determine form.
• Choices and criticality result in varying dominance of one or another
variables. It is for this reason that one must find the flavour of a
culture’s true meaning and beliefs before one can understand its
houses.

BASIC NEEDS
• A culture can stress utility as the principal component of its
world view, the way other cultures stress religion, and similar
distinctions can be made concerning the value of comfort and
other needs.
• If the physical criticality of a dwelling is low and fits to physical
requirements not very critical- as shown by the way people can
use old buildings and towns with minor changes maybe
questioned.
• The following are some of the more important aspects of the
genre de vie which affect built form:

Some Basic Needs:
Includes needs as basic as breathing air, thermal comfort, requirements for cooking
and eating habits, manner of gaining a livelihood,sitting, furniture, arrangements,
etc.. .
Family:
Although the family is basic, there are great differences in family structure, which
are significant in relation to house forms.
Position of Women:
The pre-eminence of women in the house may take different forms, from African
custom to the subtle distinction between man’s and woman’s domain in UK and
America.
The Need for Privacy:
Since it is partly affected by position of women, considerable variations are
expected in the definition of privacy, how is it achieved and its considerations.
Social Intercourse:
The meeting of people is also a basic need and it affects the form of the habitat
greatly.

• House, settlements and landscapes are products of the same culture
system and world view, and are therefore parts of a single system.
The house can not be seen in isolation from the settlement, but
must be viewed as part of a total social and spatial system

THE SITE AND ITS CHOICE
• There are 2 ways in which the effect of the site on
buildings can be considered. The first would deal with the
physical nature of the site and the second would consider
the symbiotic, religious, or cultural values of the site and
their consequences.
• The attitude towards nature and site would be an
important aspect of the creation of the house form, or its
modification by the site, and that the relation of man to
landscape is the first aspect which needs to be
considered..

• There are some classifications of attitudes that has been historically
performing various interrelation between site and
people, individually and collectively:
• Religious and cosmological- the environment is regarded as dominant
and man is less than nature
• Symbiotic – here man and nature are in a state of balance, and man
regards himself as a steward and custodian of nature
• Exploitative – here man is regarded the completer and modifier of
nature, then creator and finally destroyer of the environment.

• The unity of plan, site and materials in traditional villages generates an
enthusiastic response even in the most lay observer. Much of this
response is evoked by harmony with the landscape, as well as a feeling
to purpose, directness and forcefulness.
• The quality of these buildings is due as much as their being an
expression of group consciousness as to the blending of building and
land into the whole.
• The new pattern makes the individual feel unimportant. Group unity is
destroyed, and there is no clear relation of man to his surroundings
through elements of increasing spatial scale and demarcation of
domains in harmony with the land around.

CONSTANCY AND CHANGE
• As soon as a given culture or way of life has changed, its form would
become insignificant. Yet we know that many artefacts retain validity
when the culture which created them disappeared long back, and
that settlement and housing form are still usable, even though the
meaning attached to the forms may have changed very greatly.
• Acceptance of old form may also be due to the prestige value of old
things rather than any real continued validity or utility of the forms.
• There are certain constant factors which don’t change, and which
may have high criticality, but that the specific forms these needs take
are culturally linked and changeable- and of lower criticality.

• The distinction between constant and changeable aspects may have
profound consequences on the house and the city.
• The compound in India, put the threshold further forward than the
Western house does, and the fence of the English house puts it
further forward than the open lawn of the American suburb.
• In each case, however, the threshold separating the two domains is
present.

• Courtyard houses, and separation of domains in general are used in
cultures which are both crowded and hierarchic, and the prevalence of
such houses in all their manifestations, from the simple house in Jericho,
to very complex Jen house of China, with its many courts may be due to a
similar need.
• The need is to get away while still in the familiar territory of the family or
clan group- and the separation of domains achieves that.
• An awareness of all these factors- the constancy of the need, the
territorial instinct and the relation of house to the settlement- helps our
understanding of buit form.

• Along time architecture in any scale would undergo changes,
transformation and alteration.
• It also refer to habit that in general architect always assume the
architecture would not change.
How much do architects could respond on the consideration of
constancy and changes?

A review of the House, Form and Culture by Amos Rapoport

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A review of the House, Form and Culture by Amos Rapoport