Vernacular identity conservation: architectural ethnography fieldwork on Cham housing in Mekong Delta, Vietnam

With the technology advances recently, cities are transforming at an unprecedented speed. Meanwhile, the focus is given unequally to preserving culture worldwide, which makes ethnicity conservation a challenge for authorities of lower-income countries. In this context, the approach to vernacular architecture has shifted towards learning and applying environmentally friendly principles for sustainable design. Vietnam is already a rare example of its 54 ethnicities and architectural heritage that survived through generations of colonization and is a growing interest in city development. However, in remote areas, the conservation of local identity from vernacular knowledge is lacking due to unequal attention given to ethnic people. Such a case exists in the Cham Muslim village at the Northwest borders of the Mekong Delta region, which is the motivation for this study. In this research, the authors have conducted extensive on-site fieldwork of approximately two thousand rural houses of the ethnic Cham for two months. Through fieldwork collection of everyday life, the research employs the vigorous practice of architectural ethnography and a critical approach to environmental consciousness. Developed from previous work on the spatial formation and transformation of Cham village housing typology, this paper examines the process of architectural ethnography fieldwork employed to define the evolution of Cham Muslim villages and housing. These characteristics contribute to their identity, their community, and their adaptation to cohabitation with other ethnic in the Mekong Delta. The results show how the spatial layout and architectural elements of Cham traditional housing are made conscious of their day-to-day activities, lifestyle and living environment. Furthermore, the vernacular knowledge of living with nature contributes to preserving its cultural and architectural heritage and protects the community identity from homogenization and eradication. The outcome of such a tenuous practice can be a valuable archive to discuss the future development of cities in Vietnam, which are currently under threat of fast and destructive urbanization.