Hants County, 45º6’10”N 63º44’2”W

Abstract

How can regionalism and modern building practices synthesize to develop a localized building culture? While regionally conscientious modern architecture demands efficiency, sustainable resource equilibrium may be the ultimate goal of vernacular architecture. Local building culture blends the vernacular and modernism, engaging local resources and building culture in architecture. Local labor economies and building resources are influenced directly by the architect, where architecture aggregates in a sustainable and robust building culture. The objective of this thesis is to investigate the middle ground where the aspects of vernacular and modern architecture collide.

A site in Hants County, Nova Scotia is the location for an off-grid farm. Instead of an architecture that circumvents locality, with local building culture, design is a process of regional discovery. Using photography to document the regional architecture, the design develops a context for an architectural project. Through the experiences gathered on site and throughout the area, architectural ideals that are regionally conscientious manifest themselves. By engaging a local building culture, the dialogue between landscape and structure becomes continuous, never meant to stagnate or become static.