Dwellings

More than 90 per cent of the world's buildings, including some 800 million homes, constitute architecture of ordinary people. Dwellings is about the vast range of types of vernacular houses around the world. It documents the form of traditional buildings that are self-built by their owner-occupiers or built by members of a community, recording the means of construction and decoration of the house across a spectrum of different cultures.

First published by Phaidon in 1987, Dwellings - in its new updated, revised and expanded format - assimilates new scholarship in the field, including the author's own research, and traces theoretical developments in the spheres of cultural geography, gender studies, sociology and anthropology. It is not only a fascinating reference work on domestic buildings, but also a useful survey for understanding how diverse communities cope with issues of climate, migration, mass development and, in turn, how this brings to life symbolic and cultural meaning in architecture.

An exploration of the types and forms of vernacular houses around the world and how they are constructed, decorated and inhabited by their occupants
A revised and expanded edition of a classic text, containing new field research and scholarship
Includes new academic developments in cultural geography, gender studies, sociology and anthropology
Beautifully illustrated throughout, largely by photographs compiled in the course of the author's field research
A useful survey of how different communities cope with issues of climate, migration, mass development and symbolic and cultural meaning in architecture

Paul Oliver is the Chair of the Master's course in International Studies in Vernacular Architecture at the School of Architecture, Oxford Brookes University.