HOUSE FORM AND CULTURE

Amos Rapoport

Presented by:

Ar. Shraddha Patel

 Amos Rapoport authored the book
House, Form and Culture in 1969.
The Polish-American architect had a
keen interest in Environment
Behavioral Studies

“House, Form and Culture essentially said that we cannot just look at what architects do,
we must look, for instance, at vernacular design, spontaneous settlements and so on.”

— Amos Rapoport
 First book to ask
• Ways humans occupy and use land.

• History needs to be traced and

interpreted at various time and place.

• It is authors interpretation of way

people organize and use dwelling
space.

• Primitive and vernacular

buildings/settlements need to be
ABOUT HOUSE FORM? understood by socio-cultural factors
first and then emphasize on physical
factors that defines house form.
Amos Rapoport’s Hypothesis: House form is not simply the result of physical forces or
any single causal factor, but is the consequence of a whole range of socio-cultural
factors seen in their broadest terms.

Defense

Site Economics

Construction
technique and Religion
materials

Factors
Climate impacting Culture
house forms
We need to look whole environment in total to understand.

History is neglected in terms of art, architecture, music, culture, social, hierarchy

religious aspects.

One must study history of built form which is related to culture.

The decision as to what form the house shall take is made on socio-cultural grounds -
way of life, shared group values, and "ideal" environment sought." (Rapoport, 1969)

Importance of Vernacular architecture is elaborated stating local practices and

materials should be encouraged.

The design of the habitat/settlement should blend in with surroundings is considered

to be acceptable widely.

Vernacular architecture is losing its essence.

1. Primitive housing – society defined due to need

2. Vernacular housing – involvement of tradesmen

-the owner is designer for his own house
-collaboration of knowledge between designer and owner is shared to finalize a model.
-Lack of aesthetics.
-Working with context and climate.
-Respect for people and built environment.
-Culturally accepted model.

TRADITION DISAPPEARS:

1. Complexity – more building types

2. Loss of common shared values – loss of cooperation amongst people (introduction of zones,
building codes and regulation)
3. Originality – society becomes dissatisfied with traditional forms, and the vernacular process
can no longer work.

PRODUCTION OF BUILT FORM CHANGES:

1. Primitive – very few building types, model with few variations, built by all
2. Preindustrial vernacular – greater number of building types, more individual variation, built by
tradesmen
3. High-style/modern – many specialized building types, each an original creation, designed and
built by teams of specialists.
 Differentiation of spaces & use

Primitive and societies lack in differentiation in

the use of space. There is no separation among
man's life, work, and religion. Religion is so
closely linked as to be inseparable from social life
and needs.

Carl Jung (Swiss psychoanalyst) - lack of sharp

boundaries between man and animals In the
primitive world.

Siegfried Gideon ( Historian & critic) - stressing

the general lack of differentiation between man
and nature, man becoming more important than
animals.

Kabylie : animal and man under one roof but in

separate spaces

Switzerland : separated but close

French farmhouse: widely separated but close

Urban scenario: Own use of spaces and

separation of work and living.
 Buildings as the result of the interaction of:

- First is understanding of
behaviour patterns like:

desires, Man - his nature, aspirations, social

motivations, organization, world view, way of life, social
and feelings, and psychological needs, individual and
since built form is the group needs, economic resources,
physical embodiment of attitudes to nature, personality, fashions,
these patterns his physical needs.

- Second, in the built form

Affect behaviour and the Nature - physical aspects, such as climate,

way of life. site, materials, structural laws, visual, such
as the landscape.

Each of these two aspects forms a vast topic in itself.

CLIMATE AND THE NEED FOR SHELTER

Houses were built for survival which is protection from

animals and survive under harsh climate conditions

In a way climatology has contributed to the variation in

house form which can be best understood by igloos in the
North Pole, morocco tents in the dunes, wooden huts in
the tropical forests, etc

differences in urban pattern and house types within one

area, such as Old and New Delhi.

The typical open house used in the jungle area Iquitos,

Peru identical frame and construction, the addition of solid
walls being the only major change which reflects need of
privacy.

Human desires and culture belief nullifies climatic

requirements
MATERIALS, CONSTRUCTION
AND TECHNOLOGY

Various materials and framework

are interlinked to create a dwelling.

Southwest Pomo Indians prefer

temporary brush houses or the
tepee style structure for their
residential use, whereas more
permanent and sophisticated kind of
walls and roofs are constructed for
other ceremonial purposes.

In Northern African village where,

introduction of piped water lines
caused dissatisfaction among
Muslim housewives. For them, the
village well acted as the meeting
place and gossip corner, the only
chance of experiencing the outside
world.

Social & Religious values over rides

technology
SITE

Choice of a good site will depend on a cultural defination.

Economic importance is given first i.e. water and food.

Attachment to the land is more of a spiritual nature, noble belief in sentiments and values
associated with it.

Different types of topography or terrain have yielded similar building forms in many
instances. Amazon dwellings that are constructed on swampy or marshy lands have pillars
or raised platforms from the ground to the plinth level.

In Latin America, a gradual shift from "Indian houses" to "Courtyard houses" appeared to
be related to the Spanish cultural influence. Both flat and hilly grounds produced courtyard
houses, with minor modifications and adjustments in construction. Form will not change
though the topography has.
DEFENSE

Defence certainly plays a role in deciding house form, and use of stockades, palisades, and
fences has defensive implications as well as religious ones

Defense is meant as society living together as survival unit.

Protect food

In Sudan they gather food at high ground level in groups beehive huts so in case of fire in
village the food supply isn't disturbed.
Protection from animals and
enemies

The pile dwelling in most of

southeast Asian house has
defensive component against
people, insects, animals and
snakes

City of Yawnghwe in the Inle Lake, Myanmar

Spiritual defence

Pueblo fortress exists to symbolically protect the sacred room (kiva).

 ECONOMICS

Economic development has

been a vital in the creation of
built form.

Scarcity of resources is
determining factor in house
form but socio-cultural do
matter during collaboration of
built form

People or societies with

similar level of economies
may have different levels of
moral values and world views.

In the North of Italy, almost the same elements produce a plan very different from the French farmhouse
(figs. 2.8, 2.9), while

Swiss farmhouses show many arrangements of the economically required elements-house, stable, and
threshing floor (Fig. 2.10)
 There is economic need to store but
that will be done in number of
variables.

Southeast villages have market

gathering ideology where once a
week people of 5 villages could gather
in one village for shopping.

All people of similar economic activity, their differing house forms reflect the different
ways in which they visualize the setting for life. Figures 2.13-2.20
compare semi nomadic dwellings and settlements. (The settlement patterns
are not drawn to scale, and they are based mostly on verbal descriptions.)
Societies with similar economic activities and resources reflect different ways of visualizing
the setting for life.
RELIGION

Set of believes which rules society.

Religion affect the form, plan, spatial

arrangements and orientation of house.

In some cultures a man

Exiled from his house was separated
from his religion, and for many
Peoples-in ancient rome, new caledonia,
cambodia, annam, and
China-the house was the only temple.

The vastu purusha mandala : It’s a

collection of rules which attempt to
facilitate concepts into architectural
form. This law of proportions and
rhythmic ordering of elements not only
found full expression in temples, but
extended to residential and urban
planning as well.
General Criticism of the Physical
Determinist View

More than the physical environment, it is

our symbols and rituals that give form to
that environment.

New guinea the kana tribe, stone age and

very primitive, has such a complex religious
and ritual life that special villages needed
for the ritual dances are built according to a
specific plan ( fig. 2.21).

Ceremonial avenues in the villages, these

houses built for major rituals are very large
and elaborate, with different roof forms
and details and elaborate entry porches
(fig. 2.22). Inside there may be two sides
accommodating two intermarrying groups
Vernacular domestic habitations often seek meaning by presenting a wide spectrum of
rites, totems, superstitions and religious practices.

These gain expression through two or three dimensional symbols, signs and even in the
creation of hierarchy of spaces centering upon the building, village or settlement

house form is not simply the result of physical forces or any single causal factor, but is the
consequence of a whole range of socio-cultural factors seen in their broadest terms.

Socio cultural factors :

•Religion
•Family
•Culture-the total equipment of ideas and institutions and conventionalized
activities of a people.
•Ethos-the organized conception of the Ought.
•World View-the way people characteristically look out upon the world.
•National Character-the personality type of a people, the kind of human being
which, generally, occurs in this society.
Rene Dubos ( environmentalist, humanist) : defines in his book, "Man Adapting, 1965, p. 7," that
a house is a human fact, and even with the most severe physical constraints and limited
technology man has built the house in ways so diverse that they should be explained by cultural
values.

In discussing the reasons for the forms of houses and settlements, Rapoport considers the house
as a physical mechanism which reflects and helps create the world view, ethos, and so on, of a
people.

Rapoport says that house form is the result of choice among existing possibilities, and he induces
the concept of criticality to understand the possibilities of the degree of choice and freedom
with regard to the house.

RELIGION – Symbolic place in

house
The rear house was a dormitory for
all the people(5-6 families), while
the others were a house for
meals(taboo to women) and a
kitchen (Fig. 3.1). In this case taboo
determined the need for the
differentiation of space.

The Samoan house exhibits the

minimum need for shelter which
the climate suggests, and the
religious influence is less dominant.
The house is round, possibly for
symbolic reasons, and consists of a
circle of columns and a conical roof.
(Fig. 3.2). Several families live in
such a house, which is merely a
differentiation of space from the
outside
Role of climate as guiding factor to provide comfort is well known, but
the presence of elements like courtyard and semi covered verandah in
traditional houses throughout India irrespective of climate type
indicates that there is some other guiding force behind.
Rapoport suggests some important
aspects which affect built form as
follows:

1) Some basic needs

2) Family

3) Position of women

4) Privacy

5) Social intercourse
1) SOME BASIC NEEDS
These basic needs can be expressed more
specific terms such as breathing, visual
tasks, eating and cooking habits, purity and
cleanliness requirements, sitting and
sleeping.

Eating pattern will vary in all cultures which

directly affects house form

2. FAMILY

There are great differences in family structures

which are significant in relation to house forms
which differ equally as well. Rapoport shows
how house form differs between areas with
polygamy, monogamy, and exogamy

Monogamy – husband still separated from wife

and children.

Polygamy – man has no real house and visits

his wives, each of whom has her own house.
3) POSITION OF WOMEN -
extreme need for privacy for women leads to form of the house. The windows and roofs of
the court houses are designed to prevent anyone from intruding into the intimacy of the
house by the blank walls, small openings, and other physical devices, but also by custom.

4) THE NEED FOR PRIVACY –

Different attitudes to sex and shame, personal worth, territoriality, and the place of the
individual may affect the house form. For example, where there are extreme need for
privacy like India, each house is surrounded by a low wall or a blank wall facing the street.

5) SOCIAL INTERCOURSE -
The meeting of people is also a basic need since man has been defined as a social animal.
The place and time people meet affect the form of the habitat.
 RELATION OF HOUSE AND SETTLEMENT

Disperse and concentrated settlements

Two traditions of concentrated settlements:

The dwelling is more private e.g.- Latin Mediterranean village, vernacular.

The dwelling is total setting for life and settle is the connective tissue and secondary in
nature. E.g. – Anglo American city, high style
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In addition, we must consider the movement from the house, through the various
transitions to the street, and then to the other parts of the settlement.
 THE SITE AND ITS CHOICE

Choice of site is mainly based on water supply and cultivable land then comes other factors
like access to food, trade, transportation etc.

Classifications:

1. Religious and cosmological – environment is regarded as dominant and man is less than
nature

2. Symbiotic – man and nature are in state of balance.

3. Exploitative – man is regarded the completer and modifier of nature, creator and
destroyer of environment as well.

The Maya pray when they clear the forest, and the maize field is sacred; the Pygmies feel
that if they upset the balance of nature they have to restore it, and perform ceremonies
when they kill an animal or fell a tree.
 CONSTANCY AND CHANGE

Acceptance of old form is due to it prestigious value.

There are certain constant factors which don’t change as they are culturally linked.

The distinction between constant and changeable aspects may have profound
consequences on house and city.

The compound in India, put threshold further than western house does. Fence of English
house puts it further forward.

In each case however the threshold separating the two domain is present.
Courtyard houses, and separation
of domains in general, are used in
cultures which are both :

crowded and
hierarchic,

the prevalence of such houses in

all their manifestations, from the
simple house of Jericho, through
those of Greece, Rome, Islam,
India, and Latin America, to the
very complex Jen house of China,
with its many courts, may be due
to a similar need (Fig. 3.16)
E. B. White wrote (author):
I am pessimistic about the human race because it is too clever for its own
good. Our approach to nature is to beat it into submission. We would stand a
better chance for survival if we accommodated ourselves to this planet and
viewed it appreciatively instead of skeptically and dictatorially.

Amos Rapoport (1969) acknowledges that climate is a modifying aspect with respect
to form generation.

Rapoport carries out an extensive study across various geographies to analyse and
understand architectural responses to these variables manifested through vernacular
shelters.

The skill of primitive and peasant builders in dealing with climatic problems and their
ability to use minimum resources for maximum comfort is appreciated by the author
 METHOD OF STUDY

He recalls the role of climatology as

the reason behind the form of a
typology of houses. The micro-
climatic factors were an important
reason for human beings to
construct shelter for themselves.

There are several methods of

approaching the study of the
influence of climate on house form.
One could look at the various
climatic types
Hot arid, (dry)
Hot humid, (tropical)
Continental
Temperate,
Arctic (polar)

discuss the solutions typical of each

in terms of requirements, forms, and
materials.
Components of climatic influence –

1. TEMPERATURE : is classified into 3 categories

• Heat dry (hot and dry) – high daytime temperatures and uncomfortably low night time
temperatures.
• Heat humid (hot and humid) – heavy rainfall, high humidity, relatively moderate
temperatures with little daily or seasonal variation, and intense radiation.
• Cold – There are different degrees of cold, and variations of intensity and duration.

2. HUMIDITY – low and high

3. WIND – desirable and non desirable.

4. RAIN - keep out rain while retaining ventilation.

5. RADIATION & LIGHT – desirable and non desirable.

 TEMPERATURE

Heat dry (hot and dry)

Delaying the entry of heat in interior.
Absorbing heat during the day and reradiating it during the night.
Use of high heat capacity materials : mud & stone
Solutions:

1. Separating cooking, often done

2. Outside the house.

3. Reducing the number and size of

windows
mutual crowding : provides shading, and reduces the areas
exposed to the sun
4. Painting the house white or some
other light colour to reflect heat

5. Underground construction

6. Thick walls
deliberate use of shading can be found; for example, the Yokuts of
Southern California shaded the whole settlement 7. Courtyard with water
body/greenary
Every room is under a layer of earth at least 30 feet thick, the house is cooler than
anything which could be built on the surface
Thatch roof sheds water and protects the mud in the rainy season

Thatch shades the mud roof from the direct sun, reducing heat build-up and
hence the heating up of the house.

The airspace provides additional insulation during the hot days, while the heat
capacity of the mud keeps down the day temperatures.
 Hot and Humid (humid heat)
Heavy rainfall, high humidity, relatively
moderate temperatures with little daily or
seasonal variation, and intense radiation.

maximum shade and minimum heat capacity

(no heat storage)

Maximum cross ventilation, and hence long narrow

geometry And widely separated forms.
Solutions :

1. Maximum cross ventilation

2. Avoid direct sunlight through orientation of building.

3. Projections are protection Against both sun and rain, and also allow ventilation during rain.

4. The floor is often raised : exposure to breezes, flood protection, and protection from
insects and animals

5. Jali : provide shade and privacy for women while allowing effective cross ventilation.
House floor is 3’ above the ground, palmetto thatch roof ( layering of palm
leaves), and open sides.

Cold temperature
Different degrees of cold, and variations
Of intensity and duration, but the principle
is to keep warm.
Timber frame construction, covered with wood and
then a heavy layer of sod.
Solutions
1. Involving large heating element in
center of the house.
2. Orient the house more to the south
for maximum winter sun
penetration into the building
openings.
3. Air-tight construction will prevent
hot air from escaping from house
and cold air from entering it.
4. Minimum surface area exposed to
the outside. And use of common
wall.
5. Use of insulating materials to avoid
heat loss.
6. To capture solar radiation dark
colours is used.
UMIDITY –high and low (related to temperature)
High humidity : proper ventilation and Low humidity : water and vegetation can be
orienting house as per wind direction used to increase it, as well as humidifying
devices can be used
Vegetations can help cool the air
which enters a building process of
removing heat
from a surface due
to the evaporation
of water

Preferably direct air movement

towards human for cooling effect
IND – desirable (encouraged) and non desirable (discouraged). It is also related to temperature
When wind is cold & very dry it is undesirable, but when it is hot and humid, wind is essential.

Eskimos and the Mongols live in areas of extreme

The most primitive device for controlling wind is winds, particularly during the winter, and both the Igloo and the
the windbreak. Semang in Malaya. Yurt represent extremely successful solutions.

Entry to the Igloo is through a tunnel which is curved to

keep out wind. One main entrance is used for a group of
dwellings linked by interior passages, thus enabling more
effective buffering against the wind. The tunnel is provided
with transitional spaces where the air is tempered, and the Igloos facing the beach (the sea being the main source
raised floor also helps avoid the wind. of food)
The north wall is one story high and is
either blank/very few openings, while
the wall facing south is two storeys
high and has many windows protected
by shutters.

Special wind poles, which stood in

front of the house and broke the force
of the wind
RAIN - keep out rain while retaining ventilation, especially in hot, humid areas.

In hot & humid areas :

wide eaves or verandahs
windows to be left open for ventilation
while it rains.

Some tribes in Natal, South Africa, builds

houses of a light frame which is sheathed
in woven mats. The weave contracts in dry
weather, permitting the movement of air
through the interstices, but the fibers
expand in wet weather, converting them
into nearly waterproof and windproof
membranes.
 Thermal insulation

ventilation with fresh

air from the water
storage

The water is kept fresh

through integration of
harvesting

In the Trulli of Italy these cisterns are accessible

directly from the house and may have a cooling
effect on the house and help to humidify it.

The cistern not only represented a precious supply

of rainwater , but also a precious fresh reserve in
summer capable of cooling the air that touched the
water and thus lowering the temperature inside the
trullo
RADIATION AND LIGHT : desirable or undesirable, and hence whether it should be
Encouraged or discouraged.

Undesirable : radiation and light are generally

undesirable in hot areas, and various devices
are used to a void them.

Desirable: in cold areas, particularly in the

winter, light and radiation are desirable, and
although large openings may create problems
of cold and heat loss.
Deciduous trees are planted; as they lose their leaves
in winter they admit the sun, which is excluded by the
foliage in the summer.

Overhangs can be designed to allow the

low winter sun to enter while excluding
the higher summer sun.
Malayan houses low eaves and wide verandahs offer protection from
sky glare as well as from sun and rain, while allowing cross ventilation,
and white ceilings give good distribution to the light
Elaborates on importance of various materials and framework that makes up a building. The
lack of proper construction technology can lead to the failure of design.

Iranian houses, have slender wooden

columns carry a roof which supports
3’ of earth covered with grass or tiles
to protect it from the rain.

Since the heavy mud walls are also

not required structurally, climatic
control is clearly the object, and
structural efficiency is low.

Structurally, the roof should be as light as possible and the dead weight of the structure kept
to a minimum.
Since the objective of construction is the
enclosing of space, essential in the making of
usable places, the problem is basically one of
spanning space while limiting the mass of the
building in plan and section.
He gives few examples on problems and their
various solutions:
•The process of construction
•Materials-basis for choice
•Portability
•Prefabrication
•Lateral forces
•Weathering
•Gravity : the major problem and various
solutions to it-pure tensile, frame, compression,
vertical load-carrying elements.
The process of construction
Example : the fon of dahomey (africa), have
a cooperative work group, all males of the
village aids 3 tasks performed by:
1. Group labour-making a farm.
2. Building a wall, and roofing a house.
3. While the host normally provides food for
the group, those who are sick, old, or poor.
Their society assures them of a minimum for
survival. Such building tasks as
prefabrication of a roof, which is then
transported to the house and hoisted in
place, obviously need cooperative effort.
Everyone participates in building, and
specialized work, while it exists, is
unusual.
Materials-Basis for Choice Portability
Portability is, of course, affected by the
means of transport.
The nature of local materials determines
form. While, that the same materials may
produce very different forms.

Choice of materials is determined

By the tendency to use permanent solid
materials, such as stone, for cult
Buildings and tombs, while houses are
built of more perishable materials.

Use of materials is decided by fashion,

tradition and religion.

Religious prescriptions may also affect the

use of materials.
Brick and tile were prohibited for houses in
some areas of India, whereas for temples
wood was forbidden, except for the door.
Mongol yurt : optimum use of wood and felt is
portable on horseback. walls made up of wooden
pantographs at height of a man. These are very light
and compact when closed, but open up into sizeable
panels. A circle is erected, the plan form of which
gives some stability against lateral forces
Prefabrication
Most portable structures involve
prefabrication.
For example:
Circular and rectangular roofs in
Africa, Melanesia, and the Nicobar Islands are
built on the ground and hoisted into place by
cooperative effort.
Since the roof is structurally
independent of the walls, it exerts no lateral
thrust on them, which adds a structural
advantage to the ease of working on the ground.
Lateral Forces
Resistance to lateral forces, such as wind or
earthquakes, generally requires either rigidity
or bracing.
For example :
In Fiji islands some areas have roofs that
are very simple and supported by central poles as
well as peripheral columns. Since these poles are
buried deep in the ground, the building acts as a rigid
frame
In other parts of the islands roofs consist
of trusses made by tying the members together. The
roof, being braced, usually remains in one piece on
the ground and provides shelter from the heavy rains
which accompany the storms.
Weathering

The forces of climate, aspect, site, height of
building, and severity of exposure as have
weathering effect on house, and that modem
builders need to consider these forces carefully
since they lack intimate knowledge
of local conditions.
Use in the Congo of a layer of leaves to protect
the main layer from drying out and cracking in
the sun. The thatched roof is carefully
constructed of leaves which act much like
shingles or tiles, and which, in their shape and
pattern, resemble the scales of an animal called
a pangolin

The Kikuyu dwelling in Africa has mud walls,

Protection from rain is given by a wide veranda.

Use of double walls and roofs of leaves

And thatch in Africa and India to protect mud
construction from the rain, as well as for climatic
reasons.
Gravity

In order to handle the problem of gravity, any
structure needs 2 components –
1. Horizontally spanning element which
collects the forces.
Pure tensile structures : - Any member
which is to span space needs tensile
strength

2. Vertical component which carries them to

the ground, where they can be resisted.

It explained in 3 parts:
- tensile structures,
-the frame,
- vertical load bearing elements
Arab tents : slender poles stuck in the ground,
the vertical elements, form a demountable
(able to dismantle) framework and are joined
by a light, tensile membrane of felt, goatskin,
or calf skin which is both structure and
enclosure
The frame : Round huts are easier to roof than
rectangular huts. The problem concerning the
frame in terms of construction is the span.

For small spans, rectangular and circular

shapes hold equal difficulty; in the simplest
case, hoops can be used for both types

But when span increases the new

spanning members needs to be
introduced thus increasing complexity in
rectangular planning
Round dwelling : simple dwelling with a
structure of a series of hoops thatched with
leaves. In some cases the ribs may be tied at
the top rather than forming hoops, but they
also form a skeleton covered by thatch
Rectangular dwelling : hoops are also used,
but arranged in line to produce a rectangular
plan.

Reeds are the only materials available in marsh arabs

and everything is built of them-the ribs, the
sheathing, and the scaffolding used during
construction.

The size of such large buildings, consisting of a

series of hoops covered with light materials as
mats, bamboo, leaves, reeds, or thatch, is
limited by the height of the ribs since they
cannot take much lateral pressure. Heavier
timber for wall and roof members
Vertical load carrying elements :

Collects the forces from the

spanning members and transfer
them to the ground.

The decision as to whether columns

or frames are to be used seems to
depend on tradition, the materials
chosen (largely those strong in
compression- stone, adobe, and
timber), climate, and so on.

Columns and bearing walls are

relatively simple in concept, and
their use is limited largely by their
tendency to buckle, which restricts
the height for any given thickness.

Types of column failure

In last chapter author summarises

The greater institutionalization and specialization of modern life has resulted in loss of dominant
characters of primitive and vernacular building forms.

He highlights the loss of clear hierarchy in settlements and within the society.

Strong appeal of aesthetics of buildings.

He claims the present era is one with excessive choice, the difficulty of selecting or finding constraints.

This is an alarming note and leads to the growing need of understanding of socio-cultural factors.

This book tries to propose a framework for looking at the great variety of house types and forms and the
forces which affect them.

It attempts to bring some order to this complex field and thus create better understanding of the form
determinants of dwellings. It overlaps from many disciplines like architecture , cultural geography ,
history , cross-cultural studies and even the behavioural sciences. This is an appreciable attempt at
dealing with house forms and their origins.