Terminologies (a): Folk architecture

The folk architecture and word “folk” is closely associated with the study and discipline of “folklore”. In folklore, the term “folk” refer to “any group of people whatsoever who share at least one common factor” (Dundes:1965). The folk architecture is one of the major components of the folklore material that forms one constituent part of the Material culture or Physical Folklife. The folk material of any kind is always traditional and traditionality is the prerequisite of something to be considered folk.

The traditional architecture of an area or of a folk group, are created, inhabited, and continued by them, can be termed as folk architecture. Like other forms of folklore, the folk architecture also possesses certain inherent features. Noble holds that the meaning of the terms “folk architecture” or “folk building” is similar to traditional building.

Noble said:

the folk building or folk architecture is usually employed to describe practices or structures which are the products of persons not professionally trained in building arts, but who produce structures or follow techniques which basically have been accepted by a society as the correct or “best” way. (Noble:2007:5) These “architecture of habit” belong to a particular ethnic group, which becomes evident even to an outsider after limited exposure. While architectural historian Anthony Quiney, disparages folk building as “mere building”, geographer Peirce Lewis acknowledged the cultural significance of these “common houses” labelling it “cultural spoor” (Noble:2007).

Noble also endeavours to offer the subtle difference between folk architecture and vernacular architecture. Referring to the attempt of different researchers, he has said that folk architectures are “the product of persons who reside in the structure themselves” and vernacular architecture “describe the buildings that are built according to local custom by local builders” (Noble:2007:8). As it is noticed in Assam, the people often receive the services of traditionally skilled and elderly persons of society while community often extend help to construct the traditional structures. On the other hand, in the typology of “Assam Type”, which gradually imbibed and adapted to the folk tradition, professional craftsmen are employed besides traditional craftsmen.

The structures that folk people construct are not mere building, something devoid of design and aesthetic element. Rather, the overall arrangement, built environment, and elements display the builders” obsession for beauty and aestheticism. And in the event of employment of skilled person for the purpose, both the owner and professional participate in the design process, as both know the form as well as function.

H.W. Marshall said:

Folk architecture, also known as traditional or vernacular architecture, values concepts based on enduring patterns that often express regional or ethnic personality. Tradition is the chosen utilization of older, agreed-upon, and sometimes transplanted ideas in a new thing. Though tradition is manifest in every sort of experience, it is the conservative, community-based tradition accrued over time and trial that provides the rootstock for the ordinary structures and landscapes that constitute folk architecture. (Marshall:2011:133)

It is held by scholars and researchers that the traditional buildings or the folk tradition are closely related to the culture and way of life of the majority.

Rapoport said:

The folk tradition, on the other hand, is the direct and unself-conscious translation into physical form of a culture, its needs and values-as well as the desires, dreams, and passion of a people. It is the world view writ small, the “ideal” environment of a people expressed in the buildings and settlements, with no designer, artist, or architect with an axe to grind. (Rapoport:1969:2)

There is no doubt that the apparent visual features, the unique qualities of a building or the architecture of a particular ethnic group make it stand apart that simultaneously betrays the identity of the people. Such features of house make it a cultural identifier as “design of a house often had deep symbolic resonance for its inhabitant” (Noble:2007).

The folk architecture forms a major area of enquiry in the folk-life and folklore. The folklorists are regarded as the earliest to appreciate these architectures. Simultaneously, folkloric studies recognised the cultural significance of these architectures of folk people. The growing awareness on these architectures has drawn interest of various disciplines along with folklore and, “traditional buildings also been studied within the fields of ethnography, cultural geography, and material culture where they have been interpreted as artefacts of human culture” (Brown & Maudlin:2012). The architectural discussion on the vernacular emphasises the aesthetic and formal concerns, the subjects of common academic heritage of folklore considers the vernacular as “aspects of human settlement”, which is an “artefact of material culture”, “that can be read in order to learn about human life” (Brown & Maudlin:2012).