Lessons from Indian Traditional House Forms in Achieving Sustainability

The present house forms are ignoring the rich cultural traditions of their region as the millennials are inclined toward global trends leading to loss of identity and cultural sustainability of the region. To make people aware of their rich cultural roots, the paper tries to explore and identify the socio-cultural factors influencing built form in a particular region. The study will help to make professionals understand the points to be considered while designing for people in a particular region. The study is focused on Indian traditional house forms through comprehensive literature review using systematic literature review technique. Based on literature, inventory of relevant socio-cultural factors is tabulated for understanding significance in achieving cultural sustainability and preserving place identity. Qualitative content analysis is used to identify various dimensions/factors influencing the built form as occupation, gender roles, privacy, family structure, and social interaction. These factors are examined with traditional house forms from different parts of India to check their relevance. Finally, the study highlights the need to incorporate the identified factors in present house forms to preserve the local identity and achieve sustainability to meet socio-cultural preferences of people and in turn promote local identity.