Regional and vernacular built

environments in India
-Mohan Sibisudhan
2020701021
 ▪ Vernacular architecture is an architectural style that
is designed based on. local needs, availability of
construction materials and reflecting
local. traditions. At least originally, vernacular
architecture did not use formally schooled architects,
but relied on the design skills and tradition of local
What is builders

Vernacular
Architecture?
Vernacular Houses
 Chettinad Houses |
Houses of Tamil Nadu

▪ The first vernacular house that comes to

mind when we say vernacular in Tamil
Nadu is the Chettinad house, these are
ancestral houses of the merchants of that
time. The house primarily uses wood, that
is also incidentally what the merchants
traded with the then Myanmar. Presently,
these houses are prevalent in some
villages in Tamil Nadu. These houses are
usually for the upper-class society.
Potter’s House | Houses of Tamil Nadu

▪ These houses can usually be found near river-banks,

amicably for the soil used to make the pots. They are
usually for the poor sections of the society, hence
made of mud and have a thatched roofing system.

▪ The above four houses have something in common,

except for being located in the same state, all these
houses have the same layout. They all vary, based on
the economic capabilities, the houses are smaller or
bigger and in materials. As for the layout, the houses
all begin with the thinnai, these are the sitting areas
outside in the frontage of the house. They open up
into the muttam,or the open courtyard which is
surrounded by the other rooms of the house.
Coastal Andhra Houses | Houses of Tamil Nadu

▪ The Vishakapatnam Chuttuillu, a

roundhouse with thatched roofing arranged
in a circular form, clustering to avoid the
stormy winds. These houses are usually for
the fishermen community. The walls are
built using the cob method, earth mixed
with water, placed in a row developing to
form a wall. A special feature of the roof is
that they are angles at 45 degrees if it’s any
less, which would cause water to fall
through the palm thatch leaves.
Bhawanti Houses

▪ The weaver’s houses from Telangana follow

a chitrasala, layout with three sections in the front and the
rooms at the back, housing a courtyard at the center. Usually
built of bamboo, palmyra as beams, and roof tiles in a semi-
circular shape. According to economic conditions the house
might have an enclosed garden area.

▪ While vernacular houses usually only refer to climatic

conditions, the houses in the south depend largely on the
economic factors of the families. The use of local materials
and labor must have made things cheaper and more
feasible. Their livelihood and jobs are very visible from the
architecture. The house shapes the people and is shaped by
the people.

▪
Gurunsi, Burkina Faso
▪ In Gurunsi, the art of rock painting is still very much alive—it
has just been transferred from caves to buildings. The mud
huts are constructed, then covered in mud, cow dung, soil,
pulverized rock, clay, and chalk to produce elaborate
geometric patterns on the façades of the houses. Gurunsi
women redecorate the buildings every four to five years with
these murals, which often consist of motifs associated with
specific meanings, such as cultivated fields, rolled grass, or
the pattern of a man’s woven shirt. Each building is different,
reflecting the personal taste of the inhabitants and resulting
in a village that is rich with a variety of artistic and cultural
expression.

▪
 ▪ A typical Bhunga house consists of a single cylindrical-
shaped room topped with a conical thatch roof supported
by a wooden post and rafter. The walls are made up of mud
bricks and generally have only 3 openings: one for the
door and two for windows that are set at a lower level to
draw a cooling breeze.

BhungaFrom ▪ The circular form of these houses helps to provide

insulation against the external environment by resisting
Kutch District of high-velocity desert winds and reducing exposure to heat;
it also resists lateral forces of an earthquake, thus, making
Gujarat the structure earthquake resistant.
▪ Since the traditional Bhunga dwelling requires regular
maintenance i.e. a regular application of lime plaster to the
walls and floor and replacing dried grass on the roof more
and more houses nowadays are shifting towards Mangalore
tiles as an alternative to the thatched roof.
BhungaFromKutch
District of Gujarat