Study on Vietnamese Design Methods of Traditional Vernacular Architecture and Discussion on Their Technical Origins

This paper presents the last remaining typical categories of traditional vernacular architecture of Vietnam including the “Dinh” (communal hall) and the “Nha Ruong” (vernacular house). Even though their owner is from the same ethnic group as the Vietnamese, they are unique indigenous in the regional vernacular architecture originating from different technical origins.In this study, we mainly focused on the viewpoint of architectural technology. Through a series of site surveys, interviews with the traditional master carpenters, studying the carpentry tools and design methods, prototyping analysis of the remaining vernacular buildings, and doing the experimental model studies, the designing methods of traditional vernacular architecture of Vietnam and their potential technical origins have been determined. In addition, this study also defined the acculturation phenomenon in architecture that happened between the Vietnamese and the Chams during the 16th — 19th centuries in the middle region of Vietnam.The study results are expected to enhance academic education in the field of architectural history and to help architects and students to create new architectural products accommodated to modern social life, refining and inheriting the quintessence of architectural heritage to enrich the cultural identity in the architecture of Vietnam and Southeast Asia, as well.