Culture influencing Rural and Urban Housing

Seminar; Semester 7, Year 4, 2020-21.AY.

CULTURE INFLUENCING RURAL AND URBAN HOUSING. Ms.Segu LavanyaBala, Student of B.arch 4th year Department of Architecture, School of planning and architecture, Vijayawada.

ABSTRACT: Due to rapid urbanization,the cities are becoming concrete jungles. To provide social habitat in surroundings, the integration of cultural aspects are important for healthy and quality environment. The research aims not only to achieve the above objective but also towards the approach on cultural influences in rural and urban housing. One of the best challenges in architecture and urban design is to integrate the prevailing cultural of a city or a town with the proposed built fabric. This helps within the interaction of individuals and study heritage is taken into account to be a physical expression of cultural diversity in an exceedingly long perspective, and it plots a nation's history; it shapes the nation's culture and provides stability and commonality at the community level. The level of integration would be ranging from area -use, user groups and footfall to transportation, built-form and post-design stratagies . This study focuses on incorporating “culture” united of the first parameters of rural and urban housing within the Indian context in keeping with the occupation (weavers). And analysis on the housing typologies of weavers in rural and how it can be implemented in urban context would be the main focus of study.

KEYWORDS: Culture, Culture influences, Relation of culture and architecture, Rural and urban housing ,occupation ,weavers houses INTRODUCTION Culture is not only a set of beliefs, knowledge, education and customs, but also it is intended to achieve a development. Incorporating our own culture in architecture is really a good proposition unless it gives aesthetic look and identity of the people and increases their patriotism and nationalism( Ettehad,2014) .Specific cultural values can be identified on the basis of various behaviour patterns in a particular space which has more influence in improving the cultural change( Nisha, Tony2016).

CONCEPT OF CULTURE SOURCE: Impact of Culture on Rural Built Environment

-Daketi Srinivas

Culture can have impact architectural spaces through the creation of behavioral patterns, which leads to functional organizing and spatial hierarchy( Ettehad,2014). Proper architectural space can be created through the creation of memories, belief and physical symptoms in the form of symbols, archetypes. Besides culture, climate also plays an important role in formation of layout and other elements such as roof forms, materialsetc.Culture is not a constant.(Jayasudha2016). It keeps changing and also accommodates changes. People tends to have change in their culture, due to the influences from beside cultures or 1|P a g e

occupation or from any other situations. Because of reflection of human values in architecture, old architecture is still identified with greater value. In order to show the traditional architecture, it is not necessary to construct the old architectural buildings now as they do not satisfy modern lifestyle. Hence, the culture should be integrated in such a way that it suits the needs and desires of the modern people (Qun Zhang2017).

With the development of society and the progress of mankind, sustainable development of

aesthetics will be more mature and perfect and will become the aesthetic standard of value on the generalized base and( Subin Xu1,2012). Different architectural styles have emerged out of various cultures, customs and behaviour patterns of the society. In order to meet the new requirements, those architectural styles need some new ways and changes. studies of the caste, religion and occupation gives interesting ideas about the environment and form. The houses were divided based on the caste, religion and this had influence on the occupation patterns. This shows the impact of culture on built forms and environment.

The seperations are clear with hierarchy and had defined occupation for different groups. During this , various differences and changes , have the interplay of social, culture, rituals, economic and physical factors, create spatial (area) variations.

Main objectives: •

Need for integration of culture in architecture(housing).

•

Relationship between culture and architecture.

•

Cultural aspects on housing.

•

Factors of culture and its influences.

•

integration of culture in a modern perspective.

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Case study on rural and urban housing related to occupation.

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comparative analysis on both rural and urban housing and approach for development of urban housing in the aspect of culture.

METHODOLOGY One of the main objectives is to raise awareness that culture and identity are general factors that influence architecture. Since the research should be on a region , The field of research of architectural documentation would be case study of the building and drawing of plans and analysing the spaces. In a modern approach, buildings should be interpreted as the mixture of many influences, where historical, social, cultural, economical and ecological factors all have an effect on the design and structure and function of architecture. In the first phase for the , topics will be outlined and discussed regarding different aspects. Next phase would be according to the specific area (occupation basis) .it is focused on the analysis and study of cultural spaces on site. Topics include elements and spatial uses in urban and rural areas against the background of different cultural identities. Documentation on objects and rural 2|P a g e

environments on site, according to their chosen group and analysis on the urban housing for the same group and approach points for designing the housing strategies according to the weavers needs.

Stage 1-general outline of culture and factors ,aspects is studied.

Stage 2-case study on mangalagiri weavers and housing type ,study on urban housing reflecting culture.

Final discussion-analysis on urban and rural housing related to culture and design approach principles of housing for weavers living in urban context.

CHALLENGES Any house can be constructed in a particular culture but the challenge will come according to the context, availability of space and materials. And also facing challenges related to caste ,religion ,beliefs as it is not neutral. Integration everything is one place is challenging aspect.

NEED OF INTEGRATION OF CULTURE IN ARCHITECTURE(HOUSING).

Every house has its own essence and magnificence of its own that reflects the identity of the persons within the house. This would be with culture because the cultural elements of the house reflects the identity of the persons .Identity is an issue that's necessary all told areas together with architecture. queries like " where do we belong? who are we? is come back up in varied forms, and associated with cultures, religions or nations and countries( Ettehad,2014). The notion that design could be a reflection of a culture could be a idea and can still be discussed. It's a perspective that could provide inspiration .Human identity is manifested in art yet as in architecture. Human has continually showed his dedication to his roots in his arts. So, it is same that each civilization or ethnic teams offers specific design in accordance with their culture at completely different times . Identity suggests that character, essence, and therefore the existence. identity is expressed as follows: Supreme being, essence, existence; What causes an individual to be known which suggests what differentiate an individual from the others. Hence, identity isn't expressed within the vacuum.

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CULTURE AND ARCHITECTURE Understanding about the relationship between culture and architecture, the relationship between space and culture should be mentioned. Space and culture are interlinked which changes the perception of people.Space has an important role in identification of culture, because the expected behavior patterns within a particular space reflects the specific cultural values which gives the identity(

Harshitha.2017).

.

understanding the relationship according to the human minds it is about the character of the space and and how the surrounding environment is influencing the human minds related to culture and make them 3|P a g e

to belief in the same phycology . culture is the factor or way of human’s relation with an artificial environment and implies on two categories: a) Standardized behaviors, thoughts, and feelings; b) Products that are the result or a continuation of the behavior and thinking of people in a given society Cultural factors affecting the formation of architectural spaces( Ettehad,2014). So Culture can affect on the formation of architectural spaces through two following ways: 1. Through the creation of behavioral laws and rules that leads to functional organizing and spatial hierarchy. 2. Through the creation of memories, beliefs and physical symptoms in the form of symbols, archetypes and metaphors that lead to creating meaning in the architectural space.

CULTURAL ASPECTS OF HOUSING BELIEFS: It refers to faith (may be old and new)often include with religion expliains the use of resources

among others for example: be it Christianity/ Hinduism/ Buddhism/Sikhism/ Islam each one recognizes water as pure and similar parallels may be drawn for other natural sources as well Sun/ Moon/ and others, (Anjali2018).

Another example is the place of worship based on religion the place of god is a space in the

house that is most sacred and in Hinduism it is the Kitchen or east-facing wall.it purly in the belief of vastu.

VALUES: This culture is very important while consumption of available resources, which is believed and

accepted by the community as a true asset.In the matter of ownership, cultural issues have an important place. For Eg: Girls/sisters generally forget their legal rights voluntarily in favour of their brothers/male cousins and in return they perform certain customs. Such a close relationship in the community will have larger impact and bring identity at large. In this background, the houses are not just four walls and roof but a house for the family that resides irrespective of its size. The gender connotation is equally sensitive.

BEHAVIOUR: The social behavior reflected in building elements as well: entrance to a house is huge

deal from a newborn to newly wed to the dead one the connotation continues till date thus threshold of the entrance door; often the entrance door is decorated with pictures of God/ Goddesses niche in the wall for light / bells. Thus the entrance door is the threshold of the outer world and a secure family world where all the needs are taken care.Next even the system of fenestrations are governed by cultural beliefs/ norms; if the community is an extrovert then large openings while in case of introvert the number of opening are less even the scale, proportion, shape of openings and hierarchy is determined such. Space utilization is huge factorbe it outdoor or indoor(Anjali2018)..

OCCUPATION: The typology of housing can also change in the arrangement of spaces in the house

according to their needs for working class group there would be a seperate room for work in the front part or in the middle part(courtyard) of the house . this spatial arrangement differ from person to person 4|P a g e

according to their needs,( Dilshad Rahat Ara2014).The above-mentioned gives on an insight into the influence of culture but varies with contexts be it geographical, religious or any other.

WEAVERS HOUSES Weavers’ homes are dual-purpose constructions. Their layouts accommodate both living space for the family and working space for weaving and ancillary activities. Other types of rural homes may also be used for dual-purposes in constructions, but these are generally for agricultural activities such as tethering animals (like pigs and goats), keeping the agricultural procedures or drying/ curing farm produce. Weavers’ homes, however, are more like individual ‘artisanal workshops’, for they are built for the home-based manufacturing of cloth. Their house is numerically significant number of people, considering that the handloom ‘cottage’ industry in India is the largest and most widely dispersed manufacturing activity in the country, employing 4.3 million members of rural artisan families. They are geographically widely dispersed since weaving is a traditional craft practiced all over the country. 4. And given this geographical spread, weavers’ clusters also provide us an opportunity to study the ‘subtypes’ within the broader typology, depending on regional factors such as local building materials, climatic conditions, and cultural- and community-specific traditions. (Aruna Bagchee,2018).

CULTURAL INFLUENCES IN RURAL HOUSING CASE STUDY:MANGALAGIRI WEAVERS

Mangalagiri a town, in Guntur District of Andhra Pradesh, India. It is part of Vijayawada urban agglomeration. Mangalagiri which is a temple town is also famous for its beautiful Mangalagiri cotton sarees and materials. Believed that visitors , who went to prayers in temples on the hill, will buy a sari from local weavers before leaving this place. This clearly emphasizes that Mangalagiri handloom are deep-rooted in our Traditions. The main occupation in of Mangalagiri is hand loom weaving. Half of the population in Mangalagiri depends on weaving of Mangalagiri cotton products. Mangalagiri is a major weaving center in Krishna and Guntur districts. where 50% of the mangalgiri's economy is on the textile industry. MANDAVA houses which were most found here are almost are in a demolition stage. Based on the Vastu Purusha Mandala rules and according to the need of the space the weavers had provisioned and planed the spaces of their houses.This house consists of a Verandah with 3to4 pit looms for weaving equipment. This can also used as informal gathering space. Main house which has a big hall for seating leads to the central courtyard with a religious Tulasi plant. Remaining area is used as a weaving space , and for rituals and gallery spaces which is surrounded by a courtyard. It is the spatial, social, and environment control centre for the home. The courtyard orders other spaces by context in an abode where

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space was not rigidly fixed but could be adaptable depending on the time of day.verandas, with its main gateways at the entrance gives a welcoming posture of Muggu (Rangoli) with a warm feel.

Plan of Mandava house in mangalagiri

Plan of Weaver‘s house in 19th century

(16th century) SOURCE:Impact of Culture on Rural Built EnvironmentDaketi Srinivas

Coming to a

weaver‘s house in mid of 19th and 20th century: The changing period

of British

architecture and their construction techniques on the whole country has its effect on Mangalagiri. It was the transition period for the buildings where they have started adopting new styles, flat plain surfaces with less number of detailing, flat roofs, less semi and open spaces. From 1904 Guntur district was formed and making Mangalagiri as a part of the district due to the migration and development in Mangalagiri town the dwellings were constructed by taking available space as a consideration. Some major government buildings were constructed with the colonial architectural styles of the British . With mud or brick walls, mud tiled roofs, with a front yard, backyard, 1 or 2 rooms, a toilet (usually in the backyard) and a kitchen, weavers' homes became very simple

(Daketi Srinivas2015).

The central

space(courtyard) started losing from the houses, the traditional detailings on the columns, doors and windows were eliminated to reduce the cost and make the construction process ease and fast.

CULTURAL INFLUENCES IN URBAN HOUSING If we tend to take the migrant weavers from rural to urban the foremost distinguished place for residing is affordable housing living units .these living units across the globe have a typical model styles and layouts.

With the information of cultures and people response to the built environment varies. and therefore the 6|P a g e

responses area unit reflected, as changes area unit generally restricted to internal layout, services, utilization of areas ..As the migrant population (weavers) residing in these dwelling units belong to semiskilled, moderately educated, typically less aware so for them their various backdrops/ lineage/ places they hail from type a significant part of their identity and therefore the expression of a similar therefore comparatively a lot of crucial

(Qun Zhang2017).

as an example use of specific color / element/ paintings/

ornamentation etc on the external surfaces strengths their sense of happiness. Both utilization of resources and spaces are largely determined by their lifestyles .so the visual mapping of a standard affordable housing shall appear as if a ‘mosaic’ of colors and textures, typically few extensions, balconies/ terraces lined cord and even aromas of change of state

(Anjali.2018).

Such a visible scenery displays the colourful

nature of the residents that has to be expedited in style and designing .With migration occurring between the developing nations; the combination of the residents gets even a lot of complicated and thereby the transformations indicated as world cultures COMPARISON /ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION RURAL HOUSING

URBAN HOUSING

Space

Work space in the middle of the house or at

The workspace changed to the

hierarchy(weavers)

the starting of the house which represents

common gathering spaces like

their profession and identity of the person.

terraces and balconies in affordable housing due to the space constraints.

Colors /patterns on

Flexible according to their desires

walls

Mostly Not flexible it is mostly according to the context.

Cultural elements may differ from house to

Cultural elements mostly don’t

house in the form of layout,elements,colours

differ like same layout for

etc.

everyone in a particular building.

Construction

Mostly use of traditional materials like

Materials such as concrete

methods

adobe,bamboo,thatch,mud bricks etc.

,bricks, cement etc.

Cultural elements

Source:author

An important contribution to the understanding of culture’s function is nurturing economic development by addressing one element in the development of identity: sense of place. The sense of location and the 7|P a g e

sense of origin are essential components of social stability or social capital building. The definition of roots introduces the physical dimensions of the city, the buildings and the spaces that are of particular importance to individuals and help establish identity and sense of belonging.. Individual’s sense of well being and resulting effective action depend on stable references from the past that provide a sense of continuity, from parallel may be drawn for the local community too To summarize usually Cultural centrical approach to urban housing for weaves could addresses the subsequent key points: - versatile or flexible housing unit design- most utilization of areas (covered/semi-covered/open).

-Adaptable layout of neighbourhood cluster.

-Optimum resource consumption.

-Facilitate economic activity as multiple use of area.

-Sustainable.

-Context-specific norms and standards.

-Climate responsive and optimum energy consumption.( Sharma, Anjali. 2018) CONCLUSION/WAY FORWARD The paper aims at bringing out the impact of culture on rural and urban built environment and the behavior associated with it. There is a major impact on the built form due to culture.the case study is limited to the specific occupation (weavers) and the spatial arrangements in rural and urban housing.so culture is one of the aspect of type of place and essence of the place. And flexible design approaches for any occupation in urban housing . The future scope would be about the ways of integrating cultural desires in modern perspective with the satisfaction of the modern needs and lifestyle and promote the identity of the place in the future.

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REFERENCES No conflict of interest.

1. Ettehad, Sheida& Karimi azeri, Amir reza& Kari, Ghazaleh. (2014). The Role of Culture in Promoting Architectural Identity. European Online Journal of Natural and Social Sciences. 3. 410-418.

2.YifengWEN(2011)Research on Framework of Urban-Rural Spatial Structure and Morphology Based on Cultural TheoryApplied Mechanics and Materials Vols 71-78 (2011) pp 4689-4700.

3.Jayasudha, P & Nisha, Tony. (2016). Cultural Expressions In Architecture – A Case Of Manapad In The Coastal Stretch Of Tuticorin. 13.

14-20. 10.9790/1684-1305031420.

4. Sharma, Anjali. (2018). INFLUENCE OF ‘CULTURE’ ON AFFORDABLE HOUSING TYPOLOGIES. 5.Daketi Srinivas(2015),Impact of Culture on Rural Built EnvironmentInternational Conference on IT, Architecture and Mechanical Engineering (ICITAME'2015) May 22-23, 2015 Dubai (UAE).

6.Peng Liu*1 ,Qun Zhang(2017)The Influence of Architectural Culture Superposition on Urban Differentiation 7. Raju, Harshitha. (2017). Design as Culture: Understanding Vernacular Architecture of Indigenous Tribal Community of India. 879-891.

10.1007/978-981-10-3521-0_75.

8.Kamalipour, Hesam&Zaroudi, Mostafa. (2014). Sociocultural Context and Vernacular Housing Morphology: A Case Study. Current Urban Studies. 2. 220-232. 10.4236/cus.2014.23022.

9.Min Liu1, a, Nobuo AOKI1,b and Subin Xu1,(2012)Study on the Architectural Heritage Value from the View of Cultural

Economics 10.Mamun Rashida,1 , Dilshad Rahat Ara(2014)Modernity in tradition: Reflections on building design and technology in the Asian vernacular.

11. Aruna Bagchee,(2018)A case for conserving the Vernacular Architecture of Handloom Sari Weavers’ Homes and Settlements.

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