Cultural Sustainability Patterns In Vernacular Architecture: A Case Study of Gilan, Iran

Abstract

Global sustainable development is facing enormous
challenges. The United Nation’s World Summit (2002)
underscored economic, social, environmental, and cultural
factors as the cornerstones of sustainable development.
Traditional rural architecture represents an interaction between
local culture and vernacular dwellings. Local vernacular
architecture is a cycle encompassing "life pattern", "form
pattern", and "nature". Some of these vernacular heritages may
have remained stable in the face of a changing world, but some
others are threatened with extinction. The purpose of this paper
was primarily to illustrate cultural sustainable solutions in the
vernacular architecture in the northern Iranian province of
Gilan, bordering the Caspian Sea, and discuss a number of
cultural solutions there, including “Dweller as Designer” and
“Mutable Geometry". The conclusion focuses not only on how
the local knowledge of the native residents is in harmony with the
environment from sustainability perspective, but also on how
people can artistically overcome environmental limitations or
natural catastrophes.