Human Settlements Review - Parliamentary Monitoring Group

Human Settlements Review, Volume 1, Number 1, 2010
as the basic laws of physics ultimately
determined whether either building will stand
up or collapse (Oliver, 1987, p. 57).
5. Closing Remarks:
As was noted by Ezaguirre (1992, p. 19) and
also verified within the case studies, local
indigenous and technical knowledge within the
building practice should never be overlooked.
Local peoples’ knowledge about the specific
conditions in which they live and work may be
more exact than the knowledge of practicing
individuals in the building profession. This is
neither a failure within the building profession
nor the idealization of the low-resource
area, but recognition of the division of labour
between architectural research and the
empirical knowledge that local indigenous
people acquire in order to produce with
available resources.
As is revealed within the case studies,
an approach which focuses on the active
application of vernacular technologies (Fathy,
1973), forms and resources in a modern and
development contexts will not be without its
problems, challenges and setbacks, and will
have to address themes and issues that so far
have been largely disregarded in the field of
vernacular, indigenous and sustainable studies.
For instance, as it will have to engage with, or
indeed be part of, the so called ‘development
discourse’ (Grillo, 1997), there will be need for
critical discussions of the political and ethical
dimensions of key concepts like sustainability,
development, intervention and participation.
There already exists a long established,
though still somewhat marginalized discourse
that focuses on the ways in which indigenous
traditions and innovations may be integrated
into contemporary building practices, as was
summarised by Afshar and Norden (1997).
At present however, while concerns over
sustainability and cultural identity continue
to shed animosity over the processes of
modernization and globalization, an alternative,
innovative approach to development is
continuously being looked for. It seems more
opportune and urgent a time than ever to
fabricate the achievements of such research
into contemporary practice.
Unfortunately, as was noted by Payne (1977),
and confirmed within both case studies,
western models of planning and designs based
on commercial land markets are penetrating
most parts of our country. Perhaps rural
areas less so as was shown by the Centani
Greenshops Financial Services Centre, but
finding ways in which vernacular knowledge
and expertise may be integrated into urban
contemporary building design and practice
continues to be one of the main challenges
one faces in the twenty-first century.
What is needed is the disposal of the stigmas
of underdevelopment, poverty and the past
that currently cling to the concept of indigenous
vernacular architecture. Such research and
education should focus on issues of process
rather than product, identifying general
principles and concepts rather than basic facts
and figures. More importantly, it should be
critical and actively engaged in realities of the
present, rather than remaining focussed on the
past. These ideals were further emphasised
by Rapport (2006), however, in order for
the sustainable, innovative, indigenous and
171