Traditional design embraces craft artefacts, vernacular buildings and any designs evolving or mutating from such traditions.  In many cases traditional form and function shows a continuous evolution over generations or centuries.  Curraghs, a form of skin boat, found on the west coast of Ireland have a lineage of 300 generations.  Similarly, traditional crafts such as basketry, which still flourish today in parts of western Europe, (notably the Somerset Levels in the UK, Perigord in France and in Poland) show diverse evolutionary paths to meet contemporary socio-cultural needs.  An inherent feature of craft artefacts and vernacular buildings is the close relationship between the locality of production and source of raw materials and the designer-maker’s understanding of their materials and traditional technologies.  Traditional design is often integral to the locality, society, culture and environment from which it originates and is therefore well placed to serve the well-being of individuals, communities and the local environment.  It is often part of a closed-loop production system, waste and products at the end of their useful lives being returned to nature, re-used or recycled.

‘Herring cran’ log basket, David Mellor Design, UK – the Herring cran was a standard weights and measures fish basket for the sale of herring throughout the UK.  Its lightweight but exceptionally strong design derives from the open fitched work held firmly in a five-by-two rod border.  While herrings are no longer part of the staple British diet, the cran has been adapted to create a log carrying basket.

Northern Fleet Chandelier, Deborah Thomas, UK – In the grand homes of 17th, 18th and 19th century Europe cut glass chandeliers signified the confidence and excess of imperialist empire-building cultures.  This hand-made chandelier has been lovingly assembled from thousands of shards of broken glass, drilled and attached to a wire frame.  This is the tradition of the one-off.  Here waste is food for the next materialisation of raw materials.  Each shard of glass is formed and assembled, each bears the mark of its maker.



Black tents of the desert – the origin of these tents, found throughout North Africa and the Middle East, dates back to the domestication of sheep and goats in Mesopotamia.  Loosely woven of goat, sheep, camel and/or plant fibres, the loose weave creates a unique surface.  It absorbs infrared light as heat but does not release it to the interior air, it provides fantastic insulation in cold nights and, due to the natural greases in the fibres, sheds water.  A temperature gradient of up to 30 degrees Celsius is not unusual between the outside and inside environments.  It is a transportable home which is readily stowed and unpacked, and is erected by pegging the outer edge then inserting the poles, starting at the outside and working towards the centre, and fixing ropes over the poles to tension.  This is traditional technology, honed and perfected over thousands of years.  It is also finely tuned to resource availability, human needs and climatic extremes.



Studio in the West Country, UK by David Lea – Built in1985 this building was a joint endeavour between Lea and his artist client.  Central to the concept is the idea of minimal separation between architecture and nature.  A bent wood frame is given form and substance by infilling with straw insulation and rendering with cement reinforced with chicken wire and cow hair.  Topped with a fine traditional thatch the whole structure resonates with modesty and economy of materials yet it consciously strives to deliver well-being and a sense of harmony to its occupants.  Representing five hundred years or more of European tradition it is not difficult to image similar homes by the year 2500 since it is eco-efficient, easily constructed with basic skills and responds to basic human aspirations.

©2004, 2005 Alastair Fuad-Luke. All rights reserved.