Folk Architecture Research Articles

Plaster Pigments in Traditional Folk Architecture - A Case Study from Moravia (Czech Republic)

The results of analyses of coloured plasters are given in the paper. The samples come from traditional folk earth houses from SE and Central Moravia and were chosen so as all of the most common colours of the Central European folk architecture are present among them: red, yellow, blue, green, and black. The analyses were conducted by the means of light microscopy, which is also a powerful tool for stratigraphical analyses, X-ray diffractometry, Raman spectrometry, end electron microanalysis. Hematite of industrial origin was identified as the red pigment, the yellow one was formed by yellow earth, which also may be a precursor for traditional production of red dye. The widest used blue pigment was ultramarine in the 19th and the first half of 20th century in Moravia. The analysed green pigments were formed by an organic dye of green earth and the black one consisted of soot. Based on the sort and composition of pigment and plaster, the age of the material is also discussed.

Проблемы и перспективы сохранения памятников деревянного зодчества Костромской области

Wooden folk architecture is a unique layer of world cultural heritage. Over a period of one and a half centuries of research of wooden architecture heritage in Russia different forms of monuments preservation were worked out. The most effective of them is creation of wooden architecture museums out in the open. The article considers the activities of the Kostroma Museum of wooden architecture for preservation of landmarks under the Federal target program «Culture of Russia». The Museum was created in order to preserve the irrecoverable loss of monuments of wooden architecture of the Kostroma region. The objects of wooden architecture require regular attention of restorers with the purpose of maintenance of monuments in the standard condition, timely restoration and conservation activities. The support of the Federal target program «Culture of Russia» has provided a series of repair-restoration, project and research works. The museumification of monuments as a large regional network, when creating sufficient transport and tourist infrastructure, would enrich the tourist and cultural map of the Kostroma region. The author sets out the prerequisites for creating the Program for the preservation of monuments of wooden architecture, examples of similar programs in force in other regions of the Russian Federation.

Mexican and American Folk Architectural Traditions and Adaptations at Hedges: A Late Nineteenth–Early Twentieth-Century Mining Camp in the California Desert

In the spring of 1992, Burney and Associates of Boulder, Colorado, conducted archaeological investigations at the mining camp town site of Hedges in eastern Imperial County, California. The site represented a population of Mexican laborers and their families, as well as the influences of Anglo-American company management. Architectural data indicated that construction methods reflected the use of both the traditional Hispanic and the blending and adaptation of Mexican-Sonoran and Anglo-American architectural traditions. In communities like Hedges, where the vernacular architectural customs of the Sonoran Desert met those of the American East, the inventory of available folk design solutions increased dramatically for all residents. Although representing two distinct societies and cultures, the fundamental principles of both were embodied in long-standing customs. Efficiency and adaptability determined house form. These solutions embodied the essence of folk architecture. Through economy and innovation, design and materials were adapted to meet the builders’ specific needs.

Timber - Traditional Material History or Vision in Architectural Design

Wood belongs among one of the oldest building materials in Slovakia. Historically, it has been used mainly in traditional folk architecture, however in many forms; as a structural and expressive material, it is an inherent part of representative historical architecture. Considerable decline in the use of wood as structural material started in the 2nd half of the 20th century, when building construction industry turned to more progressive materials such as concrete, steel, aluminium, plastics and glass.

Fonó és Kisgyalán községek népi építészete, az istállók rendeltetésének változása

The aim of this study was to compare the folk archi-tecture of two neighbouring villages in Outer-somogy; fonó and kisgyalán. The prestigious agricultural buildings were built in the 19th century as a result of the change in farm management conditions due to river control and drainage. field experience proved that the function of stables significantly changed by the 21st century. The stables had residential function in many cas-es; these barns were quantified in both villages on street basis. in those streets which were established after 1945, barns built were not always finished, their proportion, quality and conver-sion into house for living were nearly the same in both villages. However, Kisgyalán had an average financial position, while fonó was a rich village with middle peasants. Consequently, the true-born population of two villages built different quality agricultural buildings and structures. shed of extremely high standard were found in fonó, while beautifully crafted corn-cribs were established in kisgyalán. The preservation of the buildings is of high interest of the population of both villages.

Small Forms of Wooden Architecture of the Russian North: Fences, Gates, Wicket Doors and Retaining Walls

The article studies historical and modern aspects of design and building of small architectural forms (fences, gates, wicket doors, retaining walls and partially – bridge fences) in many regions of the Russian North and other regions of Russia. This work is based on the author’s investigations of the great number of monuments of wooden architecture during the visit to several regions of Russia in connection with preparation of the Collection of Monuments and the building of open-air museums in the Vologda and Arkhangelsk regions (“Malye Korely”). The author suggests her own systematization of the above-mentioned constructions, most of which have eventually become monuments of folk architecture. The majority of the discovered and measured small architectural forms are reconstructed in the museums. They can be also easily built in the real environment of rural settlements, small towns, country estates and dacha communities of the mentioned regions.

Reflection on Spatial Morphology Evolution of Traditional Jiangnan Water Towns

With reflection on the spatial morphology continuity of water towns nurtured in the environment of Jiangnan (south of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River), the writer analyses, on the basis of analysis of the prototype elements which constitutes the spatial morphology of the water towns, the characteristics and reasons of the spatial morphology evolution of modern towns and finds that it is an operational method to restore the fragmented morphology starting from the archetype elements, thus putting forward the idea of restoring the ecological corridor of water network, integrating folk house architecture and returning the street to a humanity space.

Pot Chitra: the oldest audio-visual medium of Bengal and its’ application in Fashion

The paper attempts to study the importance of Art philosophy in the process of fashion designer. This goal could be extended to state that we intend to show the recognition of Folk Arts during all the developmental stages of Fashion Design. Folk Arts provide the proper understanding of the culture of a country and the nation. From that perspective, the Bengal Folk Arts are rich and diversely flourishing. Among the thousands of materials or objects in the Folk Arts it is not difficult to understand the stylish characteristics. The creations of art, its rhythmic outlines were attained by the artists aesthetic mind. Therefore, the mass, volume and types of art-forms can be found, such as, pottery, carpentry and engraving, architecture, metal crafts, shell crafting, ivory crafting, mask making etc. The expression media of the Folk Arts, such as, clay, wood, tapestries, canvas, masks, graffiti, carpentry and wood carving, folk architecture, embroidery, cork-crafting, shell crafting, ornamentation, metal craft, basket weaving, even the fishing accessories. Pot Chitra, the traditional audio-video medium of Bengal, displays a rich vocabulary of motifs. These motifs are deeply rooted in strong religious beliefs and underlain a strong symbolism. Identifying Pot Chitra as formalized folklore, the word Pot Chitra has been analyzed. The scriptural customs of picture painting and the making of elongated Pot Chitra have been discussed. . Though there are many works about Pot Chitra but none has worked with it mingled with fashion. So, the work is pioneer ever in Bangladesh. The Pot Chitra was classified into the contexts. Some primitive processes of making brush and the ink exist which are very own of the Potua. The processes vary in different districts. In some cases there are some similarities as well.

Kai kurie medinės architektūros aspektai sovietmečio Lietuvoje

Autorius straipsnyje analizuoja kai kuriuos medinės architektūros aspektus sovietmečio Lietuvoje. Atliktas tyrimas leidžia teigti, jog pirmaisiais sovietmečio dešimtmečiais medis dažniausiai buvo naudotas tik mažaaukščių gyvenamųjų namų statyboje. Šiuose pastatuose buvo bandoma ieškoti sąsajos su tradicine liaudies architektūra, tačiau iki 7 dešimtmečio pabaigos medis kaip medžiaga architektūroje buvo naudojamas vis rečiau. Nuo 7 dešimtmečio pasaulinės regionalizmo, švietos dvasios ir modernaus medžio panaudojimo architektūroje idėjos ir pavyzdžiai paskatino Lietuvos architektus vėl prisiminti primirštą medžiagą. Prasiplėtė pastatų, kurių architektūroje buvo panaudotas medis, tipologija ir geografija. Sovietmečio medinė architektūra negausi, tačiau išskirtinė, įdomi ir reikšminga Lietuvos architektūros istorijai, todėl jos tyrimams reikėtų skirti didesnį dėmesį.

Customary rules of the Rajac wine cellars construction

This paper considers the possibility of implementing the customary rules of construction and organization of the Rajac wine cellars, as well as whether and to what extent they have been implemented so far. Wine cellars of the village of Rajac are a unique example of ethno-architecture in the Republic of Serbia and its surrounding. They are under the protection regime as a rare spatial cultural-historical entity, i.e. cultural property of exceptional importance to Serbia. The paper analyzes various elements of spatial development and structure, as well as specific characteristics of construction carried out by migrant workers. Considering that customary rules of construction are found in some other complexes of folk architecture in the immediate and broader surrounding of the Republic of Serbia (Korcula, Dubrovnik and Ilok in the Republic of Croatia), it has been indicated, based on comparative analysis, that it is possible that the same rules as those implemented during the foundation and development of the Rajac wine cellars have also been implemented later during their renovation by introducing new architectural principles through characteristic way of construction of Macedonian craftsmen-builders - migrant workers.

Etno parks in the function of cultural tourism development in the Macva, Sabacka Posavina and Pocerina

The monuments of folk architecture have its historical, artistic and tourist value. They illustrate the characteristics of local culture and way of life, and therefore should be preserved for the future. The main touristic functions in them can be cognitive, educational, fun, and also vacation and recreation. If we would like to keep the traditional folk architecture, it is necessary to protect vulnerable areas at the source or in the open air museums. This paper presents an overview of the ethno-parks and other facilities in the Macva, Sabac, Sabacka Pocerina and Posavina, which seems preserved examples of folk architecture and architecture from the nineteenth and early twentieth century, are part of the cultural heritage not only of these areas, but also the whole of Serbia.

‘Place’ Construction: innovative reworking of fiction in recent Chinese films

How can film become a tool of ‘conservation of remembrance’ and be a part of rescuing and rebuilding of cultural and communal memories? Taking a cue from recent ecologically oriented debate on modernity, this paper will focus on memories through films on rural localities that intently counter the trauma of urban migration and dislocation in and around local ‘dwellings’. By looking at recent Chinese films like Dai Sijie's Little Chinese Seamstress and Huo Jianqi's Postmen in the Mountains, I discuss the directors' emotive re-imaging of local and folk architecture and landmarks so as to dispel feelings of displacement resulted from frenzied urban booming, and posit an emotive ‘embedding’ linking urban migrants to their nostalgic home dwellings. These visual narratives consciously negotiate over the emotive terrains between memoirs of local landscape and nagging issues of poverty and backwardness, between tourist exoticism and ‘emotion pictures’, between progress and preservation, and between the lure of global consumer culture and the beckoning of local and nascent ‘dwellings’.

Formative characteristics of moderne style in Nis

Architectural forming in the Moderne movement lies, or rather stems from the function, that is, from the structure bulk, whose composition dictates volumetry which is the principal characteristics of a structure. It can be stated that this simplified definition of architectural forming in the Nis Moderne is only partially true, because many other factors influenced forming and creation of the Nis Moderne. The very introduction states that until 30's of the last century, the prevailing styles and directions in Serbian Moderne, and by virtue of this, in Nis, were classicistic pseudo styles, national romantic architecture based on Serbian-Byzantine style, as well as folk architecture. Many authors leading the Moderne in Serbia and Nis, often designed at the beginning of their careers in some of the mentioned styles or combined them, so that the influence of these styles and directions was felt for a very long time in their designing opus. Often, the investors' wishes to add an element or two on the fa?ade in order to make it 'more beautiful and richer' left its mark - the majority of Moderne buildings in Serbia and Nis are a sort of compromise resulting from this struggle between old styles, investors' preferences and architects' aspirations to something new.

The Hemshin: History, Society and Identity in the Highlands of Northeast Turkey

Part 1: History 1. Morale, Cohesion and Power in the First Centuries of Amatuni Hamshen Anne Elizabeth Redgate 2. Hamshen before Hemshin: The Prelude to Islamicization Hovann H. Simonian 3. The Manuscript Painting of Hamshen Christina Maranci 4. Hemshin from Islamicization to the End of the Nineteenth Century Hovann H. Simonian 5. Ottoman Political and Religious Elites among the Hemshin: The Mid-Nineteenth Century to 1926 Alexandre Toumarkine 6. Interactions and Mutual Perceptions during the 1878-1923 Period: Muslims of Armenian Background and Armenians in the Pontos Hovann H. Simonian Part 2: Geography, Economy and Architecture 7. Notes on the Historical Geography and Present Territorial Distribution of the Hemshinli Hagop Hachikian 8. Social and Economic Structures of the Hemshin People in Camlihemsin Erhan Gursel Ersoy 9. Hemshin Folk Architecture in the Akbucak, Ortayol and Ugrak Villages of the County of Pazar in Rize Gulsen Balikci Part 3: Language 10. Homshetsma: The Language of the Armenians of Hamshen Bert Vaux 11. Armenian in the Vocabulary and Culture of the Turkish Hemshinli Uwe Blasing Part 4: Identity, State and Relations with Neighbours 12. Some Particulars of Hemshin Identity Hagop Hachikian 13. The Hemshin People: Ethnic Identity, Beliefs and Yayla Festivals in Camlihemsin Erhan Gursel Ersoy 14. Hemshinli-Lazi Relations in Northeast Turkey Ildiko Beller-Hann 15. Turks and Hemshinli: Manipulating Ethnic Origins and Identity Rudiger Benninghaus

Subject of research on effects of tourism on population development

The importance of tourism in the context of economic and demographic recovery of certain regions has created an image of tourism as a development catalyst. Thus strategies of revitalization in depopulated and passive regions often consider tourism as an activity that can speed up the development and successfully valorize existing natural, cultural and demographic potentials. This "key" is used mainly in the absence of other development resources since tourism valorizes issues that other industries ignore (landscape features, ethnical heritage, authentic folk architecture, etc). In addition it is more difficult to recommend the right forms of tourism to be developed in depopulated regions, as well as to estimate the resulting economic and demographic effects. To this end, there are success stories, but there is also evidence of non-rational initiatives and projects that were never completed. This paper attempts to discover the most logical links between population development and tourism development, based on some important characteristics of population development. The characteristics used are overall population increase, population migrations, population structures and changes in households. They were selected because they best reflect not only direct, but also indirect multiplicative effects of tourism. Along with the theoretical and methodological background, the research is also supported by selected examples, interviews, and demographic analyzes. The effects are not universal. They depend on the region, the kind of tourism and the degree of its development, the demographic situation as it is, and the research approach, since global and local effects need not necessarily be unidirectional. Population increase initiated by tourism development is achieved due to the migration component, but the effects are most obvious at the level of tourist regions and their tourist centers. One can also note counter processes in some places that have tourist function. The level of tourism development and social attitudes to tourism development determine the sense of perspective that makes people to move. The most direct effects are reflected in the restructuring of active population w.r.t. the existing industries and the domination of tertiary activities. The activity of women is increased, as well as their responsibilities in households. The most diverse effects of tourism factors are sublimed in households. Such effects are not possible with small-scale tourism that is the most appropriate one in depopulated regions. The effects are best reflected in strengthening of economic and social functions of households and in the increase of local industries and crafts, which can lead to population decrease.

Tourism as revitalizing factor of farms- example of Cvetni salaš (Flowery farm) and Majkin salaš (Grandma′s farm) in Palić

Farms are cultural and ambience special feature of pannonian plain and, in the sense of cultural heritage, they are the protective symbol of Northern Bačka. Farm or "salaš" on Serbian language, represents green oasis made of house, farm buildings, sweep and the endless cultivated plain, but also represents the way of living. As a specific creation of folk architecture and as a special ethnographic museum, with preserved old tools, pottery, folk costume and folk customs, usually situated in preserved natural ambience, farms are attractive for tourists. Unfortunately, they have never been used enough in tourist presentation. The best results in tourist valorization are achieved with farms near towns Subotica and Sombor. These farms require relatively small investments for tourist arrangement and farmers are interested in developing tourism, which can contribute in different ways to revitalization of farms. Farms should create tourist offer, based on unique experience of the plain, authentic ambience, tradition, healthy food. In many European countries, tourism has been recognized as an appropriate tool to revitalize rural areas and to ensure their sustainable development. In this paper, there is going to be presented tourist arrangement and offer of Cvetni salaš (Flowery farm) and Majkin salaš (Grandma’s farm), which are situated on Palić, settlement with long tourist tradition.

The Architecture of Vernacular Subjectivities: North American and Slovenian Perspectives

This article examines the construction of North American and Slovenian vernacular architecture studies and points to assumptions that guide researchers, including unofficial political beliefs held by scholars. Vernacular architecture studies in North America exhibit a concern for the contemporary everyday, which derives in part from widespread belief in the nation as flexible and incorporative, as well as a concomitant understanding that modernity is fluid and centered in the present. In contrast, Slovenian folkloristics and Slovenian architecture studies insist on traditional forms as vernacular architecture, a focus that stems from disciplinary continuities predating the socialist period, from myths of the nation that draw on nineteenth-century folkloristic constructions, and from an associated, temporally fixed notion of modernity. The striking differences between views of folk architecture in North America and Slovenia underscore the spatio-temporal specificity of modernity, as well as the need to acknowledge situated, not universal, subjectivities and disciplinary concepts.

Hutsul Christmas as a Phenomenon of Christian Worldview and Folk Morality

Hutsuls, as one of the ethnic groups of the Ukrainian people, are undoubtedly, along with fights and lemmas, among the most striking exponents of the spiritual culture of the Carpathian Ukrainians. The great attractiveness of the Hutsul's geographical space of habitation could not but affect their worldviews, bright mentality and original patterns of traditional culture. Along with unsurpassed specimens of folk architecture, folk art, choreography, the original pearls of the Hutsul's spiritual heritage include their songs.

Building with Logs: Western Log Construction in Context

Building With Logs: Western Log Construction in Context. By Jennifer Eastman Attebery. Northwest Folklife Series. (Moscow, Idaho: University of Idaho Press, 1998. Pp. xvi + 147, preface, illustrations, tables, maps, bibliography, index. $39.95 cloth) Studies of traditional building in the eastern United States have been far more numerous than they have been in the west. Although there are a number of excellent scholars of folk architecture in the western United States, we lack the comprehensive view of traditional building that we have for the east. Despite the title, Building with Logs: Western Log Construction in Context does not ofFer a look at log building throughout the west. In fact, Jennifer Eastman Attebery argues against sweeping regional generalizations, favoring instead studies grounded in particular times and places. Building with Logs is a tightly structured contextual study of log construction in two regions in Idaho: the Mormon settlements of the southeast and the mining region of the north Idaho mountains. The vernacular architecture scholar more familiar with eastern patterns of building will be both enlightened and frustrated by Attebery's work. She makes a strong case for the need to understand western building in specific contexts and she clearly demonstrates a comprehensive understanding of the building in her home state. However, in contrasting the building of her region with that in the east, Attebery is guilty of the same type of generalizations of eastern building that she argues against for the west. For her information on log construction in the east, she relies heavily on The American Backwoods Frontier, by Terry G. Jordan and Matti Kaups, a worked flawed in both its data and conclusions. Although Attebery notes some of the stereotypical assumptions of Jordan and Kaups, this does not prevent her from using the work as her main source of information about the eastern log technology. Attebery makes much of the Jordan's and Kaups's log house/cabin dichotomy and then concludes that in Idaho there is no such neat division. What she fails to consider is that this division does not truly exist in the east either. In a note to the final chapter of her book, Attebery suggests perhaps eastern uniformity has also been overstated. One wishes she had considered this possibility earlier. Despite the efforts of some vernacular architecture scholars to create a context free terminology, nomenclature invariably varies from study region to study region. Attebery's work would be stronger if she explained her choice of terms. Why, for instance, does she use the term round notching, rather than saddie notching? …

The Mountain West: Interpreting the Folk Landscape

Looking towards the log folk buildings of the Mountain from New Mexico to Alaska, this volume explains why the West the Arguing that its artifacts such as dwellings, barns and fences can, if correctly interpreted, reveal much about the origins and character of the regional culture, the authors set forth not only a description and analysis of Western folk architecture but also a systematic explanation of the culture of the West. The West, the authors conclude, is at once indigenous and imported, innovative and ultra-conservative, Anglo-American and ethnic, unitary and plural. Westerners tinkered, invented, modified and diversified. No single adaptive strategy brought to the West worked flawlessly in the new habitat. By extensive field investigation of still-extant folkhouses, fences, barns, hay derricks and cabins - all elements of material culture - they explain what the land tells us about the West.