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ABSTRACT
The architecture of houses ever built can broadly be divided into two main divisions: one, polite or modern architecture and another, vernacular architecture. The former type is built by textually trained architects and the later type is built by the inhabitants themselves through learning the craftmanship from their own experiences. Researches on architecture have been initiated and mostly done by architects and architectural historians. But these researches mainly focussed on the polite architecture. Anthropologists, to some extent, have researched on vernacular architecture but not as much as they have given importance to the study of kinship, religion, society, and culture of particular group of people. Reflecting on the existing literature, this paper attempts to illuminate on the nature of architectural research so far conducted by anthropologists and also opportunities for further research.
INTRODUCTION
This paper focuses on the scope for anthropologists to research on architecture. Architecture reflects the ways houses or buildings are made. It thus includes designs, materiality, technology, labour force, art, and economy in connection with constructions of houses or buildings. Architecture can broadly be divided into two types - Polite or modern architecture and Vernacular architecture (Rapoport, 1969; Vellinga, 2011). Polite Architecture means those constructions which are made by textually trained architects. It thus includes all the modern and post-modern buildings, monuments, houses, and so on. The term 'vernacular' defined in general sense as folk, indigenous, regionalist, and primitive styles. It is not commonly seen as high architecture sense. Vernacular architecture, in simplest sense, refers to those constructions which are made by those architects who are not textually trained and therefore refers to houses of rural and remote areas. It is also synonymous to folk or indigenous architecture and mostly refers to mud houses (Vellinga, 2011). Such houses are built using locally available resources, and craftsmanship for constructing these houses is learned through direct experiences (Rudofsky, 1964). These houses are also made keeping in mind the cultural traditions and ritual beliefs of particular society/ies. The vernacular architecture thus reflects the environment, culture, and historical context in which it exists.
Researches on architecture have been mostly done by historians, architects, and scholars of other related disciplines which mostly focussed on polite or modern architecture but rarely on the vernacular architecture. Though,...