Objectives, Phases and Applications of Research
in Vernacular Architecture
2004

To place my creative/research project in perspective, it may be helpful to view it as one element in a body of work that demonstrates continuity, past accomplishments and future plans.

1. Research Objectives
The principal objectives of my research in vernacular architecture have been:

1) To permanently record significant quality examples of vernacular architecture and planning which have not been broadly studied or published and which may be significantly threatened by change as a result of 20th and 21st century demands.

2) To study environments from a viewpoint which will yield exhibit materials (example: Jean-Louis Bourgeois’ “Spectacular Vernacular” of 1983) and publications (example: Norman F. Carver, Jr.’s Italian Hilltowns of 1979) in which demonstrated fundamental principles of architecture and/or planning are apparent, thus allowing vernacular architecture to serve as a design exemplar.


3) To examine, then announce, the contribution of vernacular architecture studied in relationship to its place in architectural and urban planning theory worldwide.


4) To gather research information sufficient to complete a comprehensive study of worldwide vernacular architecture and manuscript materials for a book on the subject.


2. Original Field Research

My focus on what I came to recognize as vernacular architecture began as anthropological field research among the Zinacanteco Indians of Chiapas, Mexico with the Harvard Field Studies Program in 1963. I have since continued field research yearly for forty years (See Travel Chronology).

3. Scholarly Exchange through International Conferences and Publications

I have regularly participated in the presentation of scholarly papers at international conferences. The venues of these presentations include World Congresses of the Union of International Architects (UIA), Mexico City 1978, Cairo 1985, Beijing 1999; the International Association for the Study of Traditional Environments (IASTE), Tunis 1994, Cairo 1998; The International
Association for the Study of People and Their Physical Surroundings (IAPS/CEBE), Barcelona 1982, Ankara 1990, Istanbul 1991, and Amasya, Turkey 2001; international conferences on Place and Place Making (PAPER), Wellington, New Zealand 1983, Melbourne, Australia 1984; international conferences on urban planning, housing and design in Singapore 1989, Kuala Lumpur 1994, and Istanbul 2003. My written works on vernacular architecture have been published by Harvard University Press, Cambridge University Press, Instituto Nacional Indigenista (INI, Mexico), University of Hawaii Press, as well as by the counter culture press “Shelter Publications” and the Chinese design journals Time + Architecture and Anjia.

4. Interpretation and Development of Research Materials as Tools in Education
As a teacher and educator, I have often had the opportunity to shape and develop courses relating to my interests in vernacular architecture. In the design studio, I have developed a specialty addressing projects of international scope and teaching architectural design for foreign contexts (1979-2003). The first international studio in this series was based upon my field research in Peru as a Fulbright Fellow in 1979. Subsequent studios have designed projects in China, Mexico, Bolivia, Scotland, Turkey, Eastern Europe, and at a variety of UNESCO World Heritage sites. In the seminar setting, I developed a graduate-level design theory course “Form Determinants in Vernacular Architecture” which, with complementary courses taught by geographer John Jakle and landscape architect Robert Riley, placed the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign among the pedagogic leaders in the USA addressing issues of vernacular architecture and cultural landscapes (1975-1983). In 1977-78, my work in vernacular architecture and experience in anthropology led me to join with UIUC archeologist David C. Grove to develop the first architecture/anthropology travel/study field trip to Mexico. In 1988, I led the first Tongji/Illinois Summer Program in China, a program which last year celebrated its fifteen anniversary. Finally, my work in vernacular architecture has offered me the opportunity over time to develop solid relationships with a number of university faculties worldwide. I have most recently lectured and conducted workshops at Xi’an University of Technology and Architecture in China and the Mackintosh School of Architecture in Glasgow, Scotland. In 2002 I served as senior tutor in the Atelier Amaysa and as a visiting professor at Istanbul Technical University.

5. Popular Dissemination of Vernacular Architecture Themes to Colleagues, Students, Design Professionals and Other Interested Public

My own personal interest in vernacular architecture was stimulated by the book Architecture without Architects, the exhibition catalogue for Bernard Rudofsky’s 1964 exhibition in New York’s Museum of Modern Art. It was a controversial publication, more “revolutionary” than scholarly. But the power of its images and challenges of Rufofsky’s viewpoints affected a generation. For this reason, I have embraced every opportunity to address the “popular” audience in addition to the academic community. I have done this through the development of public lectures and exhibitions. In the spirit of Rudofsky’s work, the lectures have been stimulating multi-media events filled with rich, dense, colorful, textured images—as many as 600 slides in 80 minutes— provocative interpretations and eclectic musical scores. The series, which has found a home next to the Giberti doors in the great hall of the Temple Buell Architecture Gallery in the old Architecture Building, has attracted overflowing, interdisciplinary audiences of UIUC students and scholars, design professionals and residents from the Champaign-Urbana community as well. The lectures, based upon images and thoughts generated from my most recent travels and field research include:

“PORTRAITS: Recent Travels in Southeast Asia,” 1989
“Primary Colors and the Post Modern Pig,” 1992
“The Lifting of the Gyangze Dumptruck . . . and other backyard stories,” 1995
“Poetic Champions,” 1999
“Mongrels, Mutts and Alley Cats: Lessons from the Non-Pedigreed”.

Public exhibitions have afforded yet another method to present my highly visual research findings to broader audiences. The visual content has ranged from original pen and ink sketches and travel journal entries to large format photographs. Presented as visual essays, the original drawings and photographs lie somewhere between art, field notes and photo journalism. This intentional ambiguity, an unromanticized subject matter and creative captions combine to provoke thoughtful, critical discourse among viewers. Past exhibits include:


“TIANGUIZ: Indian Markets of the Americas,” Illini Union Gallery, Champaign, IL, 1982
“Images of Every Man,” Temple Buell Architecture Gallery and Davenport Hall, 1990
“Incidents of Travel . . .,” I Space, Chicago, 1994
(now permanently housed in the UIUC Campus Honors House of the Chancellor’s Scholars)
“Dancing Lessons from God: Travel Sketches 1994-97,” Temple Buell Hall, 1997
“Architecture of Occasion: Time + Place,” Taskisla Gallery, Istanbul, Turkey, 2002;
Tongji University College of Architecture and Urban Planning, Shanghai, 2002;
Mackintosh School of Architecture,Glasgow, Scotland, 2003
“Inalterable Dreams: People and Architecture of China’s Folk Environments,” Deke Erh Art Center, Shanghai, 2003; I-Space,Chicago, 2003; Temple Hoyne Buell Hall Architecture Gallery,Champaign, 2003
“Stone Poems: Architecture and the Land, I Space Gallery, Chicago, IL,
2004; Temple Buell Hall, Champaign, IL, 2005; The University
Museum, Carbondale IL, 2006; AIA Wisconsin Annual Convention, Madison, WI, 2007
“Vernacular Anthem,” subject of a proposal to be submitted to the: Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts


6. Development of Digital Archives of all Research Materials


For the last forty years, I have pursued a focused study pertaining to form determinants in vernacular architecture. While the focus has been sharp, my field research has been conducted worldwide striking an internationally wide arc to include a variety of case studies among cultures where significant quality examples of vernacular architecture still exist. My intention has always been to share these materials as widely as possible with students, colleagues and fellow design professionals. Over the years, I have developed a methodology for acquiring, recording and cataloguing field information through field notes, on-site sketches, measured drawings and intensive photography which has remained remarkably consistent. The research has yielded a written and visual collection ranging from field notes and interpretive sketches to sound recordings and slide transparencies. Most recently, new technologies are allowing the complete cataloguing of all these records and indeed have the potential to make the
entire collection available through digital image recording and web links to scholars worldwide. Last year, with the support of the Research Board, I purchased computer, scanning and printing equipment. This new technology not only allowed me to assemble the exhibit “Inalterable Dreams,” but also illuminated new potentials for archiving my research materials. I can now foresee my collection of some 300,000 images distilled to a digital archive record of 50,000 accessible images at screen quality by worldwide web and at publishable quality by inexpensive CD and DVD recordings. At this writing, over 5,000 images are already archived, including many of those to be featured in “Stone Poems.”

7. Future Projects, Plans and Products
For scholars and artists whose original research projects have been visual, the advances in technology have opened new doors. The abilities to archive vast numbers of images, to print inexpensively in one’s own workplace, to share collections instantaneously with colleagues worldwide by email or internet, to produce quality compact disc or DVD catalogues of photographs or drawings, and even the ability to create large format exhibition quality photographic prints in one’s own office or through local services—all these new capabilities allow and empower research scholars to set higher goals. My future plans include:


a) The design production and exhibition of “Stone Poems: Architecture and the Land” for I Space, Chicago in March 2004.
b) The development of a compact disc catalogue under the sponsorship of the Cultural Heritage Landscape Group. This catalogue will be available in January 2004 in order that it might be utilized for publicity before the exhibit as well as serve as a permanent record afterwards (pre-recording of the 2003 exhibit “Inalterable Dreams” allowed pre-publicity which led to over 35 newspaper/journal reviews and features.
c) Preparation of a grant proposal to the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts for an exhibition and catalogue “Vernacular Anthem: Universal Design Principles in the Built Environment.” This exhibit will draw heavily upon my research archives and will consist of 700-900 images presented as exemplars of universal design fundamentals: space, light, movement, form, materials, structure, craft, color, place, memory, history, culture, gender, utility, relationship to the land, etc.
d) A search for sponsor to transfer the five multimedia lectures on travel and research on vernacular architecture in the 1990s into DVD format (the original lectures were recorded and can be reconstructed with images, music, etc.).
e) To work with a webmaster to develop a web site based upon vernacular research with links to an extensive selection of images. The intention is to make the 50,000 images catalogued both by culture and universal fundamental principles of design accessible to scholars worldwide.
© 2008 James Warfield. All rights reserved.
Contact: jwarfiel (at) uiuc (dot) edu