Research Trends in Vernacular Architecture: A bibliometric study

Abstract

Research about vernacular architecture is constantly evolving to include new building typologies, geographic regions, and new research approaches. The purpose of this paper is to examine the scientific literature in this field and identify the aspects and regions that might need investigation and the disciplines that can be involved in future research. A systematic analysis of published research about the topic was performed through a bibliometric methodology. Data related to more than 700 published articles was collected from the Web of Science and SCOPUS. Further computerized analysis was made to investigate the different characters of the collected data, such as the themes investigated, countries of the most published papers and the scientific fields involved in this research during the past 70 years. The results show that the published scientific literature about vernacular architecture is progressively expanding, specifically after the turn of the third millennium. Research about this topic is not confined within the Humanities anymore. Rather, it has extended to include the field of “hard” sciences as well. It is being invested by multidisciplinary and transdisciplinary approaches. The present research also reveals a shift in the center of production of scientific literature, about the vernacular architecture from North America to Asia.

Keywords: Bibliometric, Vernacular Architecture, Traditional Architecture, SCOPUS, Web of Science.

JEL Classification: L11, L1, L2, M11, M12, M1, M54, Q1, O1, O3, P42, P24, P29, Q31, Q32, L17