Architectural Anthropology

The building change among the Upper Amazonian Secoya reveals the limits of expectations that are commonly held regarding sustainable building in traditional environments. This paper gives these expectations the name "the architecturally noble savage," supporting the argument that this is a myth, in the sense of a narrative that is often repeated in architecture writing and practice. The paper contests six particular propositions of this myth: immutability, naturalness, productiveness, infallibility, nostalgia and absoluteness. It ends with an appeal to go beyond the polarized construction between natural (sustainable) and industrial (unsustainable). If an inherently unsustainable solution such as a tin roofing corrugated sheet can have a sustainable side as the Secoya case shows, then traditional sustainable buildings are not after all special objects, because any building could in the end be sustainable given the right circumstances.

The subject of this thesis is the definition of boundary-spaces as spaces situated at the intersection between architecture and anthropology. These spaces develop around different functions, extending and blurring the boundaries between the function and the public space. They are intermediate spaces which exceed their mediating character (not being characterized by a clear position or a firm contour) and which assume new roles, highly important in the contemporary society.

Architectural anthropology considers the inseparable relationships between people, culture and the built environment. Drawing on social and cultural anthropology and environment-behaviour studies in architecture, Architectural anthropology not only seeks to produce theoretical outcomes but also applied research findings to assist people evolve, adapt and change (or resist change) in their environments. In this Chapter, we argue that a transactional focus in architectural anthropology provides a developing methodological framework for addressing Indigenous wellbeing.

Prin această teză se urmăreşte definirea spațiilor-limită drept spații aflate la intersecţia dintre arhitectură şi antropologie. Aceste spaţii se dezvoltă în jurul unor funcțiuni diverse, extinzând și estompând limitele dintre funcțiune și spațiul public. Sunt spaţii intermediare ce își depășeșc caracterul mediator, precum și poziția clară sau conturul ferm, preluând o serie de noi roluri de o importanță crescută în societatea contemporană.

This paper will trace initial anthropological engagement with architectural forms, noting how debates within the 1980s changed the way later studies would study the relationship between architecture, society and culture. It will then trace the development in the field of vernacular architecture studies within the context of Southeast Asia noting how they have positioned cultural traditions as potentially passive and static entities. Finally, referring to work done in recent years as a result of an increasing interweaving of interest between architect-researchers and anthropologists on vernacular architecture in Southeast Asia, this paper will conclude by suggesting a possible way to extend contemporary discourse on the processual and adaptive character of cultural traditions.

Located in Rabat, the archaeological site of Shālla (Chellah) is most renowned for housing the funerary complex of the Marīnid dynasty (1269–1465), which served as the sultans’ burial ground until 1351. Alongside its architectural programme, Shālla in its heyday witnessed ceremonial funerals, royal visitations, and other popular rituals. The significance of the Marīnid funerary complex also derives from the fact that it was the earliest of its kind in the Islamic West, while contemporary and later dynasties subsequently built several analogous ensembles. Therefore, Shālla is worthy of a detailed assessment in terms of both its Marīnid patronage and its role in the architectural history of Morocco. The present thesis offers a novel approach to the subject, revisiting scholarly debates and posing a line of hitherto unaddressed questions.

My research stems from the premise that the current discourses on Shālla ought to be reoriented, thereby leaving behind notions inherited from the colonial era. Each of the five core chapters will address a specific aspect of the site: its medieval historiography, the chronology of its complex, its social functions, the origin of its concept, and the later tradition of royal funerary architecture. These aspects require to apply distinct methodological and theoretical frameworks, as well as to discuss various periods in the history of Morocco. The arguments will be constructed on two bases: one is a corpus of little-studied sources in Arabic, the other is the fieldwork carried out in Shālla and other relevant sites. As a result, the overarching narrative culminating in the Epilogue will position Shālla as the source of a tradition of royal funerary architecture, stretching from the fourteenth century until the present day.

This paper first examines the relationship between space and memory, exploring the spatiality of memory and the potential contradictions as interviewees attempt to recount their memories in relation to space. It then explores movement and mobility as a method of documentation that may harness the spatiality of memory aiding interviewees to recall their memories, while accounting for the inherent contradictions as interviewees recount and recalibrate their memories in relation to space. The paper further suggests augmenting existing methods of oral history interviews and 3D preservation by incorporating the dimension of space through movement and mobility to aid the digital reconstruction of lost architecture and its social context.

Dalam tulisan ini dibahas mengenai pengaruh suara terhadap kondisi batin pengguna ruang yang menjadi dasar bagi perilaku yang dilakukan oleh seseorang. Selain itu dibahas pula suara dalam konteks keruangan, faktor-faktor penyebab polusi suara dan syarat-syarat untuk mencapai lantunan kualitas suara yang baik.

In the evolution of animal architecture from the  protozoa right up to that of the chimpanzee, architecture has not been a threat to earth's ecosphere or the existence of life.  Contemporary architecture in the Anthropocene age has evolved to threaten the existence of all life.  Clearly we must rethink the foundation of human architecture in the near future, and to this end, we would benefit from a better understanding of how our ancestors, including animals,  managed to make habitat that was sustainable and in harmony with nature.  The author, an architect, shares a portfolio of 3-D virtual reality architecture models, culled from his 30-year production of more that 300 computer models sourced from archaeological surveys of indigenous and ancient architecture from six continents.

This chapter builds upon research conducted during my doctoral and post-doctoral research  (1998-2005) working with architects and landscape architects at Snøhetta’s office in Oslo (1998), and then continuing this dialogue with two of Snøhetta  partners, Craig Dykers and  Jenny B. Osuldsen (2002-2003) through a series of workshops carried out in various sites in Scotland. Integral to this research, I foregrounded the skills of architectural and landscape design practices and their relation to physical landscapes, and the transformations that ensue while involving computer aided design technology within such practices. At the same time, I offered a dynamic approach to understanding the relation between movement and gesture, ways of knowing, and forms of inscription and description and the relations between creative movements and forms they generate. Addressing the idea that construction of meaning within an environment exists within dialogic contexts of intra-action: engaging with an ongoing activity or dialogue among skilled practitioners, the question is at what point are you aware of this intra-action? For skilled practitioners, such as Craig Dykers, Kjetil Thorsen, Jenny B. Osuldsen and Elaine Molinar from Snøhetta, then designing is not so much about imposing as relating to, or engaging with the constituents of the landscape in a particular way. Taking as a starting point Leroi Gourhan’s (1993) notion that intelligence lies in human gesture itself, as a synergy of human being, tool and raw material, it becomes apparent that the interrelationships between perception, creativity and skill are fundamental while studying how a person undergoes growth and development within an environment.  How an individual perceives the environment and how this perception informs a way of being in the world raises the question: What does it mean to perceive an individual as moving and actively engaging within an environment that is continually changing?

From the beginning, architectural theory has shown difficulties to deal with the sphere of knowledge that is occupied, both in method and content, by so-called architectural anthropology. In my view, the emergence of architectural anthropology itself can be understood as an outcome of a conceptual omission in architectural theory — this is the central thesis of this paper. To support this thesis, I will, in a first step, recall the historiographical self-understanding of architectural theory; in a second step, I will sketch the early field of architectural anthropological research in order to name forms of differentiation of this field. Finally, I will explain what can be described as the real achievement of architectural anthropology: Beyond its occupation with the material culture of popular architecture, it is a field-research practice through which empirical methods have entered into architectural research.

The intention of this thesis paper is to investigate issues of modern and contemporary architecture, through the field of architectural anthropology, which combines the social science methods and approaches of anthropology with the subject matter long of interest to architectural historians and theorists: the relationship between humans and their constructed environments.  This paper presents four aspects of architecture: vernacular architecture, traditional architecture, symbolic architecture, and universal architecture.  The introduction of these four aspects is intended to enable further study and analysis of contemporary architecture within the fields of architectural anthropology and architectural theory.

Given the rapid urbanization of Shanghai in the past three decades, how might we attempt to understand the changing meanings, usages, and values of urban space and the built environment, as occupied, lived, and experienced by its residents? In this dissertation, I use ethnography to explore the complex processes of urbanization and globalization in Shanghai – China’s largest and most urbanized city – examining the myriad ways that space orients and even determines the actions, commitments, and everyday sociocultural practices of the various agents and stakeholders involved in this transformation. By investigating how residents, planners, and local officials variously conceive of historic preservation and urban renewal programs, and by eschewing the artificially coherent image of the city promoted by state planners, I paint a more nuanced picture of the specific challenges faced by the populace and their creative methods of negotiation, adaptation, and appropriation in the face of a ...

In this paper, I emphasize the need for a more tangible urban anthropology. Buildings are not the stage for everyday life, but essentially constituting it. From a perspective of material culture, buildings (like roads, public squares or parks) are objects constructed by various actors like architects, engineers, workers and residents. Including the built environment in anthropological research on topics like status differentiation, social segregation or place-making enriches findings in and on urban life. Drawing on my own research, I outline how microclimates in urban apartments in the metropolis Chongqing (China), are the result of a constant negotiation of architectural possibilities, ecological concerns, socio-technical skills, personal comfort and aspirations of modernity. I ethnographically explore human engagements with materialities and technologies in creating comfortable living spaces. By considering both the architectural structure and the social practices attached to the house, I inquire in what ways discursive references to the “right” climate interfere with the actual physical adaptations and socio-material uses of apartments in high-rise buildings.

The practice of regulation of indoor climates has spread globally with the rise of modern architecture and has cemented the idea of an air-conditioned indoors as opposed to a non-controllable outdoors. Ethnographic data discussed here from the metropolis of Chongqing (southwest China) presents a more nuanced picture and encourages scrutiny of the notion of “hyper-conditioned environments”. Local thermal practices are not clear-cut along lines of indoors and outdoors; rather, everyday life takes place in a range of adjoined microclimates. Building upon the centrality of the body for perceiving thermal differences, this paper analyses the interaction of climate, landscape and architecture in an era where hyper-conditioned environments are taken for granted. The paper develops an argument for more place-based studies on how conditioning is conceived in specific contexts. In a highly urbanized setting such as Chongqing, it is not only local climatic characteristics (e.g. little wind or high humidity) that affect architecture. Further, the national political economy that promulgates poorly insulated houses or residential customs such as ventilation interfere in the warming or cooling of bodies. This paper aims to sensitize architects to conceptualizing buildings not as detached and controllable entities, but as part of urban climatic landscapes.

Submission to Special Issue “N°6 Architectures of hyper-conditioned environments”, edited by Daniel Siret and Ignacio Requena for Les Cahiers de la Recherche Architecturale, Urbaine et Paysagère

https://journals.openedition.org/craup/2880

When we 'document' heritage, we tend to ignore the cultural and societal factors as the stakeholders. This isolated study of architecture often paints half a picture of what a place was or could have been. Man and his culture and his living environments are always correlated. Kevin Lynch suggests that 'identity, structure and meaning' are the three main components to analyse an environment (Lynch, 1960, p. 8). In reality, they are inseparable. Narrative mapping is a graphical, pictorial, analytical tool to observe, understand and document people and places. The cultural elements drive the people's way of life and ultimately influence their choices in relation to the buildings which they inhabit. When the process of measured drawing is supplemented with a narrative mapping exercise, it tends to bring out a better understanding of the human element. This kind of exercise will help appreciate the true 'spirit of the place'. Culture is an evolutionary process. It is a continuous process of progress and refinement. As a study of heritage architecture it helps map the lifestyle and therefore evolution in architecture. Architecture is a multidisciplinary field and narrative mapping adds the most important aspect-anthropology. Architectural measured drawing + analysis of complex human interactions is the essence of narrative mapping. The paper deals with the process of narrative mapping and how it can be useful as a tool for teaching and learning architecture. It helps in developing a close relationship with the surroundings especially while dealing with culturally sensitive sites. It also helps develop a spirit of nostalgia which can easily translate to passion for architecture in an era where the economy is the boss. Bauhausian methods (used to this day in architectural education) served the purpose of enhancing a student's capabilities in creativity, functionalism and skill development, the social needs of human relationships and their spatial manifestation in structuring the living environment remained unaddressed. The paper also deals with the fact that it has become more important to deal with not just the physical aspect but also with the aspect of human interactions and lifestyles as architects.

Lisa Landrum's paper "Modus Operandi of an Architectus Doli: Architectural Cunning in the Comic Plays of Plautus"  appears as Chapter 15.  Also in the book are essays by Karsten Harries, Marco Frascari, David Leatherbarrow, Kenneth Frampton, Juhani Pallasmaa, Steven Holl, and other colleages and former students of Alberto Perez-Gomez including: Ricardo L. Castro, Tracey Eve Winton, Robert Kirkbride, Paul Emmons, Indra Kagis McEwen, Santiago de Orduña, Caroline Dionne, Lily Chi, Louise Pelletier, Lawrence Bird, Lian Chikako Chang, Natalija Subotincic, Stephen Parcell, Graham Livesey, Juan Manuel Heredia, Anne Bordeleau, Peter Olshavsky, and David Theodore.

Paper summary/excerpts: "At least five of Plautus’ twenty extant comedies involve what classicists call an architectus doli, an “architect of trickery.” … Plautus’ elaboration of the cunning slave character has long been considered one of his most original contributions to Latin drama; but the “architect” terms associated with these slaves (and with Jupiter) were likely transposed from the now largely lost Greek comedies that Plautus adapted and translated into Latin. These five imported “architects” were generally ignored in early studies of Plautine inventiveness. They eventually gained attention, however, in an important 1952 study on The Nature of Roman Comedy. Since then, Plautus’ architectus figure has been interpreted in a variety of ways within classical scholarship: as a euphemism for the play’s lowly agent of intrigue; as a proxy for the scheming playwright; and as a media-reflexive figure associated with other craft imagery used throughout Plautus’ plays to qualify and vivify not only acts of scheming and plot construction, but also moral edification. Yet, there are further interpretations to be made and important questions to be asked…This essay cannot answer these questions in full, but it will initiate an interpretation of Plautus’ architectus doli with such questions in mind. By lifting this Roman dramatist up out of the footnotes of architectural scholarship (where he is sometimes merely credited with providing the earliest extant use of the Latin term architectus), the following study prepares the grounds for discovering how the cunning agents and agencies of Plautus’ comedies meaningfully illuminate the modus operandi of architects..."

The essays collected here draw on diverse archival source materials and provide a variety of methodological approaches, ranging from microhistories, sonic archaeologies, spatial mapping, Geertzian thick descriptions, and sensory histories, to deepen understandings of the aural experiences and acoustemologies of preindustrial Europe. The co-constitutive and entangled architectonics of sound and space and the evental politics of urban musical performances are key elements in this collection. The volume invites us to better distinguish between registers of early modern urban sound, such as music, speech, and human/nonhuman noise, and to further explore distinctions between practices of hearing and listening. It does powerfully demonstrates that any consideration of early modern musical cultures must also include the performative spaces and social practices related to or shaped by sound, as well as the experiences of those who listened to or heard those sounds.

The historic centres of cities in India form an important nucleus of the 'future' cities to develop around. They are an important bedrock for the flourishing cultural landscapes of the place. The cultural landscape is an ever-changing phenomenon due to evolution and developments of the city. The functions change and accordingly the spaces adapt. The recording of a historic city in this regard is an important step towards capturing the civilizational changes and developments. The culture of a place has a very strong influence on architectural developments. It can be interpreted as 'trained and refined' state of understanding manners and taste prevalent at a time or place. The idea of culture itself talks of evolution and change. The study of this characteristic is an important tool towards recording history. Indian cities have a rich cultural heritage and yet a comprehensive study of our city centres and their influence locally as well as globally still needs a lot of in-depth analysis and understanding. The paper will examine this understanding of the cultural heritage of Jodhpur as recorded and understood by the students and its importance in the overall study.

Given the rapid urbanization of Shanghai in the past three decades, how might we attempt to understand the changing meanings, usages, and values of urban space and the built environment, as occupied, lived, and experienced by its residents? In this dissertation, I use ethnography to explore the complex processes of urbanization and globalization in Shanghai – China’s largest and most urbanized city – examining the myriad ways that space orients and even determines the actions, commitments, and everyday sociocultural practices of the various agents and stakeholders involved in this transformation. By investigating how residents, planners, and local officials variously conceive of historic preservation and urban renewal programs, and by eschewing the artificially coherent image of the city promoted by state planners, I paint a more nuanced picture of the specific challenges faced by the populace and their creative methods of negotiation, adaptation, and appropriation in the face of a rapidly changing landscape. My primary case study is the Shanghai’s traditional alleyway neighborhoods (known locally as the lilong: 里弄) through which I investigate issues arising from their restoration and preservation: state discourse and law enforcement, globalization and local heritage, place-making, and aesthetics. What my research demonstrates is how knowledge of the global not only informs but encourages pragmatic residents to "foresee" a different future and voluntarily get involved in the process of urban renewal to enhance their interests. In this dissertation, I develop new concepts such as "gentrification from within," to explain this unique process of demographic change involving capital investment and cultural reproduction, in which the original residents themselves are agents. Also developed in this dissertation are the concepts of "traditionalism as a way of life," and "emancipatory masculinity," which explain the undergirding tension between the traditional belief of homeownership and the economic reality of modern life resulting in unprecedented patterns of social reproduction and familial formation.

Desde la teoría de los afectos, del nuevo materialismo y de la antropología simétrica, se propone una historia de las emociones de y desde la arquitectura racionalista (modernista), en términos de una historia de la experiencia subjetiva espacial imaginada por tribus de arquitectos, en cuanto tribus de modernos. Para ello se han seleccionado los relatos con dimensión histórica de los sociólogos Richard Sennet y Nigel Thrift, de la historiadora Barbara H. Rosenwein y de la antropóloga Albena Yaneva. Se plantea en términos metodológicos la liberación de una lógica binaria (cuerpo/mente, humano/no-humano, natural/social) en la interpretación afectivo-emocional del espacio y espacialidad arquitectónica, y se reflexiona sobre los conceptos  «representación» y «más-allá de la representación» en modelos construccionistas que asocian arquitectura, emociones y espacio. Se introducen las categorías «híbridos» y «emotiotopias» y se reflexiona brevemente sobre los retos metodológicos que conlleva la necesidad de liberar a categorías como cuerpo, espacio y edificio, de ontologías antropológicas y sociológicas asimétricas que son comunes, cuando de espacialidad arquitectónica se trata, en las actuales historia de las emociones (y/o perspectiva histórico-afectiva). Por tal motivo, se propone una historia de las emociones desde la arquitectura contemporánea —en términos de una aproximación histórico-antropológica de creencias y prácticas del mundo arquitectónico— como una historia de/sobre híbridos y emotiotopias.

Palabras clave: Historia de las emociones e Historia de la experiencia; Arquitectura; Historia del espacio y de la espacialidad; Antropología simétrica; Híbridos; Emotiotopia; Metodología.

Abstract
Inspired in some aspects of theory of affects, new materialism and symmetric anthropology,  the following paper proposes a history of emotions as a  cultural history of subjective spatial experience imagined by modernist tribes (in Latourian terms) of architects. For it, the paper reflects upon the historical approach of sociologists Richard Sennet and Nigel Thrift, historian Barbara H. Rosenwein and anthropologist Albena Yaneva. In methodological terms, the paper proposes the liberation of a binary logic (body/mind, human/non-human, natural/social) in the affective-emotional interpretation of architectural space and spatiality. As well, it reflects upon the concepts “ representation” and “more-than-representation” in constructionist logics that associate architecture, emotion and space.
Categories such as “hybrids” and “emotiotopies” are introduced briefly, as methodological challenges that need to free categories such as body, space, and building, from asymmetric anthropological and sociological ontologies that are common, when architectural spatiality concerns current history of emotions. The paper proposes a history of emotions from contemporary architecture –in terms of a historical anthropological approach to beliefs and practices around the architectural modernist antropos— as a history of/about hybrids and emotiotopies.

Keywords: History of Emotions and History of Experience; Architecture; History of Space and Spatiality; Symmetric Anthropology; Hybrids; Emotiotopia; Methodology.

Nold Egenter is an Ethnologist and Architectural Anthropologist. He is the author of 'Architectural Anthropology: The Present Relevance of the Primitive in Architecture' (Structura Mundi Editions, Lausanne 1992).

In conversation with Architect H. Masud Taj: Egenter explains the 'evolution' of mankind and architecture.

The interview took place at the International Airport in Bombay on December 6, 1992.

This paper examines the case of the Baweanese ponthuk, demonstrating how the Baweanese adapted an unfamiliar built environment in a foreign land to revive practices of their daily life from their desa back in Pulau Bawean. The built environment, as I will show, does not foreground but is an active part of in crafting social life. It is through this principle that the Baweanese made sense and made do with their urban surroundings developing unique dwelling practices shaped by social and cultural structures. To show this process, this article will expound on the narratives shared by Uwah Husna, a former resident of the Ponthuk Tampilung, from the 1960s and contextualize them to how the Bawanese adapted their surroundings based on mental templates they adopted from their daily life in the Bawaen desa. In doing so, I aim to highlight the relationships between experiences and routinised behaviour and how they are manifested in the spatial organisation and practices.

Considered a multi-aspect and complex issue, a house is a social institution that has major effects on the lives of its dwellers. Today, turbulence and interference of people’s daily activities and their effects on intra-family and extra-family social relations, and lack of appropriate relations between patterns of personal relations and allocated spaces to houses have led to dwellers’ dissatisfaction. The main goal of this study is to investigate those semantic changes, pertaining to patterns of daily activities and social relations. In this research, historical and ethnographic methods are employed to study traditional and contemporary houses respectively. Results show there have been changes in people’s activity pattern, entertainment programs, doing and dividing works, time management, health care system, domestic food production and intra-family and extra-family social relationships.
These changes have occurred along with spatial changes; therefore, the socio-spatial meaning of the part related to social relationships and activities has been integrated into contemporary houses; in a way so that in some spaces the socio-spatial meaning is totally changed, in some spaces the new meaning, in line with the past meaning, has gained a new form and in some others the same past meaning is retained. Among socio-spatial meanings which survive in new forms, one can point to the role of father in the family and its socio-spatial effects. Among the totally changed meanings, we can mention the role of woman at home and its socio-spatial impacts. On the other hand, these changes have affected, with varying degrees, different things from the patterns of activities to physical features of houses. Issues like object-orientation significance vs. space-orientation, weakened role of spatial form and geometry, tendency for closed spaces vs. open ones and individuality are instances of these changes.
House as one of the noble human heritage has always been considered from various angles and as a social institution has a great effect on the lives of its inhabitants. And alongside human life, which has many challenges and complexities, the house is also a complex subject with different semantic layers. Considering the fact that the house as a social institution has a high status in society, therefore, social meaning among other meanings of the house is of particular importance. Therefore, in this research, how this meaning is defined in the spaces of the house is dealt with.
The turmoil and interference between the activities of people who are today most likely to be seen in homes indicates the inappropriateness and proper relationship between the pattern of activities of individuals and the home spaces. On the other hand, the lack of proper understanding of the pattern of current activities of individuals led to the design of spatial disparities with the pattern of activities in most homes, which led to residents’ dissatisfaction. Because social cultural categories are always created in a long time, it seems that what we see today is created in a historical context. In fact, in order to better understand the current situation, this relationship should be measured in traditional homes so that we can correct the defects by comparing what we are seeing today. In this way, the relationship between the pattern of activities and the spaces of traditional and contemporary houses and the socio-spatial meaning of the subject followed up by the study is measured in a selection of traditional and contemporary houses in Arak.
In this research, a historical method has been used to study traditional houses and ethnographic methods for contemporary houses. Historically, data collection has been used through interviews with the old residents of these houses and the observation of the building (field method) as well as the documents of the Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization, and also ethnographic studies and historical sociology. The data of contemporary houses in Arak are also gathered through ethnographic method and participatory observation.
Changes in homes are investigated in four factors: activities, social relationships, time, and spatial-physical characteristics in homes. Then, by comparing these four factors and data tables, socio-spatial changes in these homes were obtained.
The comparative comparison of traditional and contemporary houses in Arak shows that a change has occurred in the socio-spatial sense of the house. It is important to note that the transformation of meaning in all the spaces and activities is not the same, so that in some spaces the social-spatial meaning has completely changed. In some spaces, along with the meaning of the past, a new meaning has been found, and in others, the same meaning in the past is spilled in space.