Design and the Vernacular

Design and the Vernacular explores the intersection between vernacular architecture, local cultures, and modernity and globalisation, focusing on the vast and diverse global region of Australasia and Oceania. The relevance and role of vernacular architecture in contemporary urban planning and architectural design are examined in the context of rapid political, economic, technological, social, and environmental changes, including globalisation, exchanges of people, finance, material culture, and digital technologies.

Sixteen chapters by architects, designers, and theorists, including Indigenous writers, explore key questions about the agency of vernacular architecture in shaping contemporary building and design practices. These questions include: How have Indigenous building traditions shaped modern building practices? What can the study of vernacular architecture contribute to debates about sustainable development? And how has vernacular architecture been used to argue for postcolonial modernisation and nation-building, and what has been the effect on heritage and conservation?

Such questions provide valuable case studies and lessons for architecture in other global regions, challenging assumptions about vernacular architecture being anachronistic and static. Instead, they demonstrate how it can shape contemporary architecture, nation-building, and cultural identities.