Examples Of Socio-Cultural Architecture

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SOCIO-CULTURAL ASPECTS Vernacular architecture is a concrete manifestation of society and its culture. The study of its anthropology highlights the nuances of human behaviour and beliefs in architecture. The traditional beliefs are seen as concepts of planning of traditional towns and architectural expression of the vernacular built form. The archaeological excavations at the world heritage site of hampi, demonstrate that the urban layout is underlined by cosmic geometries (Mitchell 2001). Religious rituals and community behaviour also underline the study of traditional environments. For example in the temple towns of south India rituals and festivals have played an important role in shaping the social and spatial disposition and form an underlying principle of the urban morphology of historic temple towns. The most eloquent example of the same is the temple city of Madurai. The city is designed in such a way that the Meenaskhi-Sundareshwara temples at the centre of the city with five concentric squares defined by important streets (Sabitha P and Naga S 2009). The spaces are designed in such a way that religious processions, rathyatras can be accommodated easily. The streets were developed as ceremonial axes with water bodies, kunds as well as dharmashala. The design of dwellings is dependant on the eco-cultural response it has on the environment and is often built on the ancient knowledge systems of planning as well as construction materials and techniques. The