This book was on my reading list for the International Architectural Regeneration and Development specialisation for my Masters course at Oxford Brookes. It travelled the world in my backpack during the summer but I have finally had the chance to properly sit down and read the book from cover to cover. As well as it being on my reading list, when I was flicking through the book originally I noticed a few photos of Guernsey houses which made me intrigued to read it, I wanted to see what Henry Glassie had to say about my little rock!
The book is called ‘Vernacular Architecture’, its looks mainly at american vernacular architecture but Glassie also analyses the change of the house, village and community within England, Ireland, Sweden, Turkey and Bangladesh. This study of a collective of countries shows connections to the change over history due not only to the involvement within the country itself but the diversity and contribution of the world. This contribution from different countries shows how architectural styles, materials and plans have spread across the world and Glassie has produced an excellent resource of this. It also goes on to show how people started to commerce national products which was then exported around the world. These items such china, pottery, amber etc. were showed off in individuals houses to show status and also their own personal identity to visitors to their home.
Glassie empathizes that a lot of historians do not go further than the written artifact at times, especially during the 19th century. To them the written formation is evident enough for them to base history on. Glassie disagrees with this by say ‘architecture provides a prime resource to the one who would write a better history’. He goes above and beyond, spending years in places around the world recording and living in the houses and communities. This should be a good demonstration to anyone doing research, student or professional that you should get hands-on to get that extra information and understanding, you may even uncover something new.
Glassie does not just analyses the change of built form of the countries houses over history but also how the social relationships within the community, religious, political, gender and class have played heavily on the plan and aesthetics of the building. This is one of the main underlining studies that Glassie carries out throughout the book. Yes the buildings we inhabit can control and make our communities but you can completely flip the analyses over to the people, we have over time also taken control to shape the community and our home.
Glassie has written it very well, keeping the reader engaged with the subject. This book has given me a strong introduction into my chosen course ahead and I am sure I will be referring back to it over time. I would recommend this to anyone involved or interested in architecture or the history of architecture, it certainly makes you think about the homes you have lived in, from the front facade, entrance point, internal layout, massing, materials! It is always nice to have an understanding of how things have become to what they are today.