UC Santa Barbara Library

Cultures and ancient civilizations have developed the art of construction by creating simple but effective cliff dwellings to grand structures like pagodas and Byzantine domes to work alongside the environment around them. The term for this is Vernacular Architecture, how cultures manifest traditions through buildings adapted to the environment with unique craftsmanship. However, modern architecture prioritizes minimizing cost per square foot as land prices rise, minimizing time spent to create new designs by using the same building plans, and modern trends and fads. Especially in developing countries where “globalization” often translates to “Westernization”, this causes trading out of local architectural practices and climate techniques for internationally used materials and high-tech designs. Think of the five-over-one type apartments that have popped up all over the place or the sprawling suburbs that have taken over since the 1930s. Although these new buildings meet the modern ideals of convenience and low effort/planning, “they have multiple consequences, including reduced thermal comfort, overdependence on electric controls, loss of traditions, increased urban heat, depletion of natural resources and increased emissions”. However, maybe we can bridge the gap between modern structures and ancient techniques to come to a happy, more sustainable medium. This article explores modern issues, ancient techniques, how they work, and ways to implement them into sustainable modern designs.