Vernacular architecture: a model for sustainable housing design

Vernacular architecture has significant environmentally characteristic that respond to sustainability such as low-energy techniques for providing human comfort, approaches that are integral to the form, orientation, and local materials. According to the evidence, vernacular architecture has some noteworthy features of sustainability and this paper aims to investigate the possibility of applying vernacular strategies into recent housing design for creating sustainable human settlements.In line with this aim, two regions have been selected as the field study; Greenwich Millennium Village (GMV) as a sample of modern sustainable architecture and vernacular architecture of cold regions in Iran.This research is a qualitative research and data collection is based on 2 techniques; reviewing previous literature and observation.The first stage of this research is investigating environmental methods used in vernacular architecture of cold regions of Iran. Then, climatic strategies utilized in GMV as a sample of modern sustainable community have been evaluated to find out if vernacular methods applied in it and how. Finally, Effects of the applying vernacular strategies on sustainability of the project have been investigated. On the other hand, positive and negative aspects of applying vernacular techniques into recent housing design are discussed as well

Keywords:

vernacular architecture , housing , sustainability , environmental strategies