SHELTER AND SOCIETY
Visiting Professor, Dr Paul Oliver, MBE.
“Vernacular Architecture” may be defined as “the architecture of the people” while “Shelter” implies its universal primary function. “Society” can be regarded as “the state of living continuously in structured association with others for mutual benefit, often in a specific territory.” The term “Culture” refers both to the collective characteristics, values and attainments of a society, and to the Culture that produces them. In this lecture the implications of “Shelter and Society” will be considered, illustrated with representative examples drawn from most continents.
Vernacular buildings are not architect-designed but are constructed by members of societies to meet their respective and diverse needs. Such needs may relate to their environment and its management, to their respective economies and occupations, to their inheritances and their aspirations and to their relationships with other social groups. In most societies the people are too numerous to be accommodated in single shelters, so settlement location, organization and communication routes are of great importance.
These factors depend on the nature and structure of the society concerned. Basic to all societies is the family unit and its continuity and growth over generations, frequently leading to social structures involving related families. Individuals and groups may be engaged in pasturalism, agriculture, manufacture or trading. Whether nomadic or sedentary, such subsistence or expanding economies may be dependant on climate, soils, vegetation, seasons and other natural resources and phenomena. These do not determine shelter forms but they do condition them. Vernacular types develop which reflect shared beliefs, hierarchies, and kinship patterns, while some dwellings may have symbolic connotations or ornamentation which are of significance to particular cultures.
The continuity and sustainability of the various kinds of shelter to be found across the world are largely dependent on the passing on of acquired knowledge and construction skills, over generations. These, in turn, are affected by the availability of material and other resources. Where some of these are in decline or where certain economies have consumed them, social change may be inevitable, to which cultures have to adapt. The introduction of cash economies and the prospect of employment, have led to extensive migrations to the cities. During the past and present centuries “informal”, “illegal” or “squatter” settlements, or massive concentrations of self-built shelter, have contributed to urban growth in most continents. Like the vernacular traditions with which innumerable societies identify themselves, these shelters and settlements of peri-urban communities also need to be recognized. If the challenge of world housing, whether rural or urban, is to be met with culturally appropriate shelter, this necessitates the understanding, support, and servicing of societies and their vernacular traditions.
Visiting Professor, Dr Paul Oliver, MBE.
Department of Architecture, School of the Built Environment
Oxford Brookes University, England
Qualifications and Awards
Paul Oliver (born Nottingham, England, 25 May, 1927), the son of architect and RIBA Councillor, W. Norman Oliver, was awarded the National Diploma in Design, 1948, the Art Teacher’s Diploma at Goldsmith’s College, London University, 1949 and Diploma in Humanities (History of Art) University of London 1955.
Elected Fellow of the Royal Anthropological Institution, 1977. Honorary Fellowship of Commonwealth and American Studies, University of Exeter, 1980; Leverhulme Emeritus Professorship, 1993. Made Doctor of Arts, Oxford Brookes University, 1995, and Honorary Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects, 1999. Lifetime Achievement Award, International Association for the Study of Traditional Environments, 2002. Awarded MBE by Her Majesty the Queen of England, New Year Honours, 2004.
Appointments
Head of Art and Crafts at Harrow County Grammar School and for Adult Classes of the Workers’ Education Association, 1950s. Part-time Public Lecturer at the National Gallery of Art, and also at the Tate Gallery of Modern Art, London, 1955-1960.
Appointed Senior Lecturer in Arts and History at the Architectural Association School; subsequently Head of the Architectural Association Graduate School, 1960-73.
Director of Art and Design at Dartington College of Arts, 1973-78.
Associate Head of the Department of Architecture Oxford Polytechnic, (later Oxford Brookes University), 1978-1988; Chair of the Graduate Diploma Course 1984-87.
Lecture series in Vernacular Architecture and Development at Architectural Association Graduate School and Bartlett School of Architecture, University of London.
Visiting Professor for extended periods at Universities in Ghana, Kenya, Pakistan, Costa Rica, and the United States, and as short-term Visiting Professor and Guest Lecturer in nine European countries. He was also Visiting Professor in Australia, New Zealand, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Indonesia, India, Thailand, Mexico, Argentina and Brazil, Keynote Lecturer and contributor at Conferences in Egypt, Japan, China, etc.
Publications
Contributing Editor:
Shelter and Society, Barrie, UK, Praeger USA; 1969
Shelter in Africa, Barrie, UK; Praeger, USA 1973
Shelter, Sign and Symbol, Barrie, UK, Overlook, USA 1975
Co-editor with Orestis Doumanis: Shelter in Greece, 1974
Co-author with Ian Davis, Ian Bentley: Dunroamin: The Suburban Semi and its Enemies Barrie, 1981; Pimlico, Random House, 1994
Co-author with Yasemin Aysan: Housing and Culture After Earthquakes: A Guide for Policy Makers, Overseas Development Administration, 1987
Author: Dwellings: The House Across the World, Phaidon, 1987
Co-author with Richard Hayward: Architecture: an Invitation, Blackwell, 1990
Contributing Editor: Encyclopedia of Vernacular Architecture of the World Cambridge University Press (Three Volumes) 1997 (Sir Banister Fletcher Award 1998)
Author: Dwellings: The Vernacular House World-Wide Revised, expanded edition 2003
Author: Built to Meet Needs; Cultural Issues in Vernacular Architecture, Elsevier, 2006