Week 9. Learning from Vernacular Traditions?: Third World Development and Eco-cultural Sustainability - Reading ResponseFathy, Hassan. Architecture for the Poor: An Experiment in Rural Egypt. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1973, pp. 1-18 & 25-54. Pyla, Panayiota I. "Hassan Fathy Revisited: Postwar Discourses on Science, Development, and Verncular Architecture." Journal of Architectural Education 60, no. 3 (2007): 28-39.By Felicia Goh Xiu Xian (A0100723Y)Hassan Fathys work on Architecture for the Poor: An experiment in Rural Egypt highlights the importance of incorporating traditional local methods and materials for building in modern times. He shows it in his work in Gourna, where Fathy designed a prototype for mass housing there. Pylas article praises Fathys contribution on vernacular architecture, an attempt to justify a diverse variety of local knowledge systems.Both articles got me thinking, should one adopt vernacular traditions in design as is or should they be challenged and have contextualised improvements made prior to their implementation?In Pylas article, the author showcased a few of Fathys plans, one of which caught my interest: Fathys study on the ventilation within the badgir. He realised that the traditional badgir had poor ventilation due to the small outlet and thus he suggested an enlargement of the badgir to improve and facilitate the airflow. A larger outlet, together with a smaller inlet, will allow the air to rush from one end to another, providing a wind current and thus proper ventilation to the building. This example shows how vernacular traditional knowledge, even though how tried and tested (over time) they might be, should be challenged and contested using modern knowledge for improvement. Singapore is no stranger to ventilation techniques. With our humid, tropical climate, Singapore needs to adapt using natural ventilation systems to increase the efficiency of the buildings cooling systems. For example, in HDB apartments (Singapores take on mass housing), the living room window strategically aligns with the kitchen window providing cross-ventilation. Cross-ventilation is evident in many tropical vernacular buildings as well. In a macro-scale of things however, the arrangement of the HDB blocks poses a problem for the cross-ventilation to work as efficiently as it should. Due to the density of Singapores population, these blocks are arranged back-to-back, shielding the adjacent blocks from the wind. This defeats the purpose of the placements of windows mentioned previously. Perhaps to counter this problem, Singapore could look at town plans with more insight, strategically arrange HDB blocks in such a way where air flow is not as restricted. The application of traditional local knowledge on building design should be taken more seriously, especially in the modern times. Because this local knowledge, having passed down through generations, has been proven that it is feasible for the specific location and corresponding climate. However, with improved technology, it is not to be taken for granted that all aspects of it is still relevant in the present. Hence vernacular architectural methods has to be constantly contested and challenged.