An investigation on sustainability indicators of vernacular environments: The case of Cyprus

Abstract

In general, vernacular environments might be described as the settings which occurred as the products of the socio-cultural, economic and especially local characteristics of the particular region by and for the inhabitants of that region. When these environments are considered, it is obvious that the main considerations of the builders and/or the owners of them were to achieve functionally proper and environmentally appropriate solutions for themselves. In this respect, the way of life, climate, topography, available material and existing building technology might be described as the formative concerns of vernacular environments in general and in Cyprus as well. On the other hand, when housing developments today on the Island of Cyprus and their problems are investigated, it might be easily perceived that most of them fail to fit to the existing environmental conditions because of the lack of consideration given to the ecosystem. As time changes, the needs, requirements and especially the way of life change. Therefore the need to transform and adapt houses, villages, cities etc to the changing and developing conditions is inevitable. However, while performing these changes it is important to investigate the vernacular houses and their settings, which were developed harmoniously with the ecosystem of a particular region and act as sustainability indicators. In brief, this study aims to investigate the particular vernacular houses and settings of Cyprus, to find out the main characteristics of them in the manner of responding to the environmental and cultural values. We intend to list these characteristics in order to provide a vision for future housing developments to achieve environmentally sustainable developments in Cyprus.