4
Critical Regionalism with relation to Vernacular Architecture “The term ‘Critical Regionalism’ is produced by the amalgamation between culture, topography, climate, craft and traditions. Kenneth Frampton mentioned in his essay “Prospects for a Critical Regionalism’, that according to philosopher Paul Ricoeur regionalism is deeply rooted in culture and tradition of the past civilization.”
(2)
“In 1961, Ricoeur quoted in his essay
that process of cross- fertilization and reinterpretation is impure, where foreign influences affect the regional culture recreating the rooted tradition.”
(3)
Similarly, Kenneth Frampton noted the
‘six points for architecture of resistance’, where he mentioned how modernity is infecting the existing social culture. “The basic strategy of critical regionalism is to integrate self consciousness with the elements of past civilization along with some peculiarities of the particular site like climate, topography and geography.”
(4)
Hence, we can say that critical
regionalism has a strong connection with vernacular architecture of a specific site. Around 500 BC, the first settlers in Srilanka are the Sinhalese people who established Buddhism, along with their very unique traditions. “Western modernity of Portuguese and Dutch invasions dominated the local culture in post colonial period. Regionalist architects tried to reduce the complex modernity along with embracing the simple local culture and materiality.” (5) Geoffrey Bawa is one of the renowned regionalist architects of Srilanka, who recreated the new architectural language for Srilanka, blending past heritage and literature with surrounding nature and modernity. “According to David Robson and Channa Daswatte, Bawa gathered various artists and designers who came together to experiment and discover the contemporary style of architecture based on local Srilankan traditional methods of craft and construction. He also honoured and integrated the Sinhalese traditional architectural style along with modern materiality in a vernacular way depending on the surrounding tropical environment. Thus his style of architecture is known to be both ‘modernist’ and ‘regional’.” (6) 2. Kenneth Frampton, “Prospects for a Critical Regionalism.” Perspecta 20 (January 1, 1983): 147–162. 3. Paul Ricoeur, “Universal Civilization and National Cultures”, History and Truth (Evanston, Illinois: Northwestern University Press, 1961): 276, 283. 4. Kenneth Frampton, “Six Points for Architecture of Resistance.” Towards a Critical Regionalism (1981): 16-20 5. John D. Rogers, “Society and Space: Colonialism, Nationalism, and Postcolonial Identity in Sri Lanka.” The Journal of Asian Studies. Cambridge University Press, (February 1, 1999): 243-244 6. David Robson and Channa Daswatte, “Serendib Serendipity: The Architecture of Geoffrey Bawa” AA Files 35(1998):26-28
