Vernacular: A Framework for Architectural Design

VERNACULAR : A FRAMEWORK FOR ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN

GAVIN GERSHMAN | KILLION MOKWETE

WENDAT QUEBEC, CA

AINU HOKKAIDO, JP

STUDY

PRISM

FRAMEWORK DESIGN

MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A.

The primary goal of this project is to better understand how designers can potentially generate designs that uphold locally specific community values through stakeholder engagement. Two cultural regions (sharing the same climate zone) were chosen for their similar weather patterns and natural resources. The people within these cultural regions, who likely had no communication with one another, responded to a similar set of challenges with a similar set of materials. Despite these similarities, their differing cultural values and social structures manifest in entirely different dwelling styles. This project aims to examine the architectural expression of cultural differences. Through this study, a framework for design was developed and utilized to design a new building typology specific to three communities in Boston. The framework is not absolute but is meant to supplement the common practice of engaging with stakeholders through design.

One cultural region is home to the Ainu Indigenous peoples located in what is currently known as southern Hokkaido, Japan. The other cultural region is home to the Wendant (Huron) first nation located in what is currently known as Quebec, Canada. There is supplementary photography from the Hisatsinom (Sinagua) first nation located in what is currently known as Sedona, Arizona U.S.A.

To this day in the Americas, many first nation names circulating common knowledge are names given by white settlers. there is a desire to change the familiarity to slowly dissolve these names and use the ones true to each first nation community. Many country’s constitutions to this day still perpetuate systems of oppression. For further information scan the QR codes or feel free to reach me directly.

Thank you to those who made this possible in no particular order: James and Jill Gabbe, Killion Mokwete, Jessica Larochelle, Noemie, Katherine Calzada, Alison Ottaviano, Christine Oka, Musee Huron-Wendat, Huron Traditional Site - Wendake, Paul Pedulla, Devon Whitney, Michael Thornton, Mary Hale

contact: gershman.g@northeastern.edu @gavinarchitecture

AINU STRUCTURE STUDY

-built inside first row of coastal sandy dunes protection from gales

-irregular placement, no roads to guide eye through village

-rank weed & vegetables planted around dwellings

-construction; quadrilateral roof made first, round sticks lashed together, storage shelf at top plate

-arundinaria, 18” coarse for reeds

-steep roof pitch for easy snow melt, eaves reach within 4’ of ground

-roof placed on 4 corner square sticks

-roof slope north west south, 15 square feet west appendix, may be internally separated by wicker framework

-median of house east to west direction

-worship god of sun through eastern window

-south two windows ,w/ shutters that latch open awning style

-optional addition: wash basin placed under northern window, south entry, roofed porch on south,

-fireplace, oblong in shape, always underneath ridgepole, more on western side

-flooring, boarded n,e,s sides of fireplace, more typical board under eastern window

-entrance, western side or south if western addition is present

-spatial organization: north-sacred to family, east-only distinguished guests/permanent visitors, south-casual visitors

-walls - slope inward for strength

-storehouse, similar construction, raised 5’ off ground, notched stick functioned as ladder

-men and women had different bathrooms, mens larger with door

WENDAT SOCIAL STRUCTURE

-maternal social structure

-wendake means island, as they lived on a peninsula, wendat means people on an island

-linguistic family -> nation -> smaller nation -> tribe/village -> clan

-oldest woman in each clan was the clan chief, in charge of all clan decisions

-each village had several dozen clans and the clan chiefs would elect other male chiefs to handle politics and war since other linguistic families wouldn’t respect a woman as chief

-for marriage, man would leave home clan to join woman’s clan

-out of twelve original clans, the remaining clans & their specialties; bear, medicine; wolf, war; deer, craftsman; turtle, keeper of knowledge

-powwow dance done around outdoor communal fireplace; celebrating seasons, marriage, treaties

-moved to new village site every 15-20 years

-would move sites for fertile soil & structure degradation

-men would hunt, women would gather typically, but could change

-extensive trade network between northern algonquin and southern iroquois

-buried seeds and fish flakes within longhouse in case of fire, the ground would protect them

-colonialist fur trade wars pushed wendat peoples north from great lakes to upper st. lawrence

-animist culture, holding deep respect for all living beings

-three sisters cropping technique, corn, squash, beans

-largest agrarian clans because of fertile soil on wendake peninsula

-population was once 30-40,000 but due to disease and war from settlers, reduced to 300

-under canadian constitution, indigenous peoples considered minors until age of 99

AINU SOCIAL STRUCTURE

-patriarchal society

-animist faith, with generosity, hospitality as core values

-kotan (village) comprised of several cise (households)

-low level of inner-kotan family interaction

-gathered for ceremonies such as annual bear festival

-women would join men’s kotan

-when head of house died, cise was burned

-men responsible for tilling, hunting, building

-women responsible for cooking, harvesting, weaving, and children

-familial structure changed depending on the region of the clan

-cise construction was done by many family’s within kotan

-men of one kotan fished and hunted together, women expertly fished at night

-forced into more agrarian life off of hakkaido beaches from japan colonialism

-1899 aboriginals protection act was first-time ainu recognized as indigenous peoples

WENDAT PALISADE MAZE

WENDAT PLATFORM FOR WINTER FOOD STORAGE

LASHING // BARK CLADDING

WENDAT TURTLE CLAN LONGHOUSE

GRASS BUNDLE

WENDAT STRUCTURE STUDY

-qualities of materials: strength, elasticity, combustibility, weight, pliability

-rope made of tree cambium `

-structural strength through center columns, walls & roof are structurally separate

“pi-frames”

-exterior wall post molds 3” in diameter, sunken 2’ into ground & reach 1”

diameter at tallest 16’ point

-two roof theories 1. roof & wall separate 2. wall posts run up to ridge

-5’ wide platforms ran along walls served as beds and benches

-conservative estimate of 15 wall posts between “pi-frames”

-central columns varied placement depending on structural needs

-vestibules at each end with door used for outdoor storage like wood and tools

-central corridor housed hearths placed every two pi-forms, each shared by two families each

-bower-like roof had holes in roof with removable vents, roof ratio of 4:1

-typically 180’-220’ long by 20’ wide

-dwellings can be added upon, largest being 400’

VERTICAL POSTCEDAR

TIEBACKSBASS WOOD INSULATIONWOVEN MATS & FUR

BARKWHITE ELM & WHITE CEDAR LASHINGTREE CAMBIUM

INSULATIONSNOW

WENDAT LONGHOUSE RECREATION QUEBEC, CANADA

WENDAT INTERIOR

WENDAT INTERIOR

WENDAT INTERIOR

WENDAT LASHING

WENDAT INTERIOR FRAMING

WENDAT EXRTERIOR FRAMING

WENDAT SMOKER

WENDAT SMOKER

WENDAT PALISADE

WENDAT BEDTIME

DESIGN FRAMEWORK

AINU WENDAT (HURON) METRICS

ARUNDINARIA

-(reeds) (lashing) (posts)

UP-DOWN CONSTRUCTION

-roof frame - built then lifted

-corner posts

-wall framing

SPIRITUAL SIGNIFICANCE

-seems to avoid openings that face ocean, so maybe both spiritual & thermogregulatory

-importance on geography, hyper-specific to occupied cultural region

COMMUNALLY SEGREGATED HOUSING

-one family ‘head’ per dwelling

-dwellings hidden amongst vegetation

-less interaction between families

-low density, small size

-supporting structures, bear cage, storage, bathroom

SHORT HIPPED ROOF

-not entirely uniform in size but typically, 25’ x 30’ x 12’

-windows, shutters, -shorter ceilings, captures smoke from fire

-personification of dwelling

LIFETIME

-dwellings built after a marriage

-dwellings burned upon death of head of house

MATERIALS

- what materials are unique

- no nails

CONSTRUCTION

-what methods of construction are unique?

-built-ons possible and likely after construction

-insulation strategies involve animal pelts

ORIENTATION

-what is the trend for the dwellings orientation?

-although spiritual isn’t an elemental reason, both have environmental logic to avoiding wind

PROGRAM

-not question of what action, but how is the action done & under what qualities?

-sleep, cooking, entertaining, storage

-place of worship

-place of community meetings

VOLUME

-what qualities of volume seem unique to each community?

-polar volumetric strategies

-volume and program have great effect on one another, hard to determine which came was driving force for other

TIME

-how is the time of dwelling viewed?

-how is the time of occupancy considered?

-dwellings need constant maintenance

-built during specific points in occupants lives

ELM, BASSWOOD, CEDAR

- (bark) (lashing) (posts)

- many tree species were plagued, requiring adaptation depending on site location and resources available

PI-FRAMES

-wall framing/scaffolding

-roof framing

-bark

THERMOREGULATION

-facing NW & SE reducing surface area to wind on coldest days of year

-when die, need to find their way to wendake in the sky, often buried on deer trail paths to help them find their way

COMMUNALLY INTEGRATED HOUSING

-clan chief decided everything regarding organization of longhouse

-multiple families in one house sharing a fire, promoted social integration

-high density, large size

-fence around community

-huron uniquely dense community because of fertile plain and location for inter-community trade

TALL BOWER ROOF

-20’x20’ mostly between 180’ - 220’ long

-high ceilings makes space feel comfortable although dense

-only doors on either end, smoke vents are only other opening

-storage within and near either entrance

-dwelling as metaphor in government & community

VILLAGE SITES

-each village had 4-5 different sites that were cycled between

-never return to same village site within one lifetime

-villages moved every 15-20 years

-leaving everything behind as respect to land, but burned everything if in time of war

HISATSINOM ROUNDHOUSE AZ, U.S.A.

HISATSINOM HAND PRINT IN MORTAR AZ, U.S.A.

HISATSINOM INTERIOR JOIST MOULDS AZ, U.S.A.

PRISM

PRIS M

As an astronomer use a prism within their telescope to study the stars. The design portion of this project utilizes hexagonal prisms to explore how identically space is organized by varying individuals. The prism offers dwellings of the same volumetric properties to artists, sommeliers, and fishermen. Then the interior program is organized to optimize the functions of living, working, and entertaining preferences for each group. The hexagonal volume offers a new typology of aggregation and community relation. Engaging occupants with one another in forming an urban neighborhood.

ARTIST

FISHERMAN

SOMMELIER

COMMUNITY SPACE