Revisiting Architectural Structuralism: Archi-Cultural Pattern as a Method to Read the Meaning of Tamkesi Vernacular Architecture

Abstract

The widespread tendency to combine vernacular with modern architecture has led to the need for an in-depth understanding of the concepts that underlie the form of vernacular architecture. Unfortunately, there has been no systematic and rigorous research method aimed explicitly at reading the architecture of vernacular settlements that do not have written data on local traditions and culture. This study puts forward the theoretical-methodological steps to read the meaning of architectural patterns in the context of vernacular settlements by elaborating Levi-Strauss' structural analysis of myths with Salura and Alexander architectural theory. This study resulted in structuralist-inductivist steps to describe, analyse, and interpret vernacular architecture. The methodological framework consists as three significant parts: Firstly, to describe the activity and form of vernacular architecture in-depth based on the anatomical scope and architectural composition-properties. Secondly, to explore the surface structure of local myths, activities, and architectural form. Thirdly, to disclose the deep structure that underlies the relationship between local myths - activities - architectural form. These steps can be applied to read the meaning of vernacular settlements with no written sources on cultural traditions. Thus, this research contributes to the development of the theory and methodology of architectural scholarship. This research also acts as a source of knowledge for architectural practitioners and a significant input for the survival strategies of vernacular architecture.

Architecture in Anthropological Perspective: Structural Reflection on Local Architectural Dynamics

“…Understanding architecture as a cultural phenomenon is also approached from an anthropological standpoint. It investigates anthropological concepts like social context (Adimihardja & Salura, 2004), cultural values (Lake & Salura, 2021), and human-environment interaction in an architectural context (Pudianti & Vitasurya, 2019). In addition, it examines architecture's physical structure to determine how it reflects the social structure and symbolism in society.…”

“…It is believed that paradigms or knowledge evolve and annihilate previous paradigms or knowledge (Lake & Salura, 2021). This tendency can be identified as anthropological exclusion from architectural science (Setiadi, 2021).…”

“…As expressed by (Siregar, 2008), Anthropology is believed to be an art that studies and reflects human existence in a particular ecological and cultural environment with impacts that include the global aspects of society (Siregar, 2008;(Salura et al, 2020b). It is also believed that humans have never stopped interpreting the natural-cultural environment that surrounds them as a vessel of life, particularly architecture, since the dawn of civilization (Lake & Salura, 2021). Thus, every anthropological study and reflection involves a significant architectural effort (Reginaldo Christophori Lake, 2022;Salura, 2005).…”

“…Unfortunately, an anthropologist and an architectural expert's research has yet to formulate and test a hypothesis and attempt to explain the phenomenon of human existence that is observed so that it reaches its authentic roots in a specific spatial and contextual context (Lake & Salura, 2021). Thus, the growing desire to re-establish the relationship between anthropology and architecture must be balanced against the numerous scientific publications that discuss the essence of human consciousness's existence in its cultural environment.…”

The meaning and change in the function of communal space in Lamin house

“…With the advancement of time and the rapid wave of modernization, which has had an impact on the shifting cultural values, traditional houses in Indonesia have also undergone changes (Purbadi, Sumardiyanto, and Vitasurya 2023;Lake and Salura, Antariksa 2021). Several studies have mentioned the changes in the functions of traditional houses (Santoso 2012;Nestri Kiswari 2019), including Lamin houses.…”