Socio-Economic Sustainability in Vernacular Architecture (original) (raw)

Vernacular architecture is a wide area of study that comprises all dwellings and buildings, either private or community-owned, which were built using traditional technologies (Oliver, 1997). This can reveal how vernacular architecture is an unlimited source of conceptual solutions, through which sustainability can be rediscovered. In vernacular architecture today, there are still examples that can be observed where there is a balance between energy saving, tradition, the environment, and the social parameter. This is particularly observed in rural and isolated areas. It is not the case in urban areas, where the pressure of fast growth, both of the population and of its habitat, undermines any possibility of a balanced approach. When addressing the revision of literature regarding sustainability and its impact on vernacular architecture, it is observed how there is a persistent tendency to privilege the study of environment issues, in detriment of the social, cultural and economic parameters. This is reasonable regarding a first observation of vernacular architecture, since environmental issues tend to be physically evident, and therefore easily observed. Thus, Vellinga (2015) underlines the fact that restricting the focus to environmental issues will not only show a partial picture of the challenges faced by vernacular architecture, but also offer a partial understanding of the lessons that can emerge from its study. It is therefore essential to approach socio-economic sustainability as a broad area of study with different dimensions. In this article, the dimensions under analysis will relate to the identification of socio-economic principles; to the economy: its needs and values; to collective values being economical values; to the efficient management of local resources; to a self-management economy; to the impact of the economic factor on local development; to assessing the economic value of vernacular architecture; to the impact of conservation in economic terms; to the conservation of traditional architecture; and other relevant reflexions.