1. Landscapes of Rural Settlements
Dwelling Types
Examples of Dwellings
Rural Settlements
Settlement Patterns

2. Introduction Shelter ranks high on list of human needs
Dwellings serve several functions
Houses reveal characteristics of region and culture
Layout and function of houses provides a glimpse of social values and economic needs
Materials used reflect local availability & purpose

3. Spacing of Housing Dispersed Settlement Houses lie far apart
Nucleated Settlement
Houses are grouped together in tiny clusters (hamlets)
Larger clusters (villages)
Arrangement of houses in villages takes on different forms

4. Housing and landscape
Early ancestors- lived in bands of dozen to 50 to 60 people
Early humans lived in holes covered w/ branches and leaves in temporary campsites
deBlij- unlikely first humans lived in caves because many humans lived where no shelter was available
Functional Differentiation:
As society developed, communal dwelling gave way to individual dwelling
Communities became larger & more organized
Buildings for food storage and livestock became necessary
Functional differentiation began in buildings

5. Environmental Influences
Human communities existed as far back as 100,000 years ago
Migrating people protected selves against elements
Buildings reflect adaptations required of environmental changes
Nomadic people had light-weight, tent-like shelters- Igloos for Inuit people

6. Changing Residential Traditions
Unchanged-Traditional
Traditional
Modified-Traditional
Modern

7. Dwelling Types
Unchanged-Traditional – layout, construction, appearance have not been significantly altered by external influences
Modified-Traditional – new building materials used, no change to original structure or layout
Modernized-Traditional – materials and layout have been changed (floor plan, multiple bathrooms, two-car garage, …)
Modern – reflects advanced technology, practicality, comfort, affluence, technology makes up for lack of style, suburbanization (most common in US)
Building Materials
Typically reflect what is locally available
Wood, brick, stone, wattle (tightly woven sticks & poles plastered w/ mud), grass and brush

8. Uygur yurt in Xinjiang Province, China

9. Masai manyatta, Kenya

10. Stone house, Nepal

11. Sod farm house, Iceland

12. Uros reed dwelling, Lake Titicaca, Peru

13. Traditional housing, Nias Island, off the west coast of Sumatera, Indonesia

14. Stone and cement house, Armenia

15. Adobe-style construction, Santa Fe, NM

16. Solar-powered T.V. hut, Niger

17. North American Folk-Housing Regions
Fred Kniffen studied three principal housing types (New England, Middle Atlantic & “Tidewater South” of the Lower Chesapeake); diffused South & West
Ranch house – evolved in California in 1920s; diffused eastward (first through Sunbelt, then to other regions); designed for balmy climate & outdoor living (cultural symbol)
Maladaptive diffusion – negative
Ranch house diffused to areas with greater extremes in temperature (north); image over practicality
New England style diffused into Hawaii

18. Ranch House

19. Buildings of the Lower St. Lawrence Hearth of North America

20. Norman Cottage

21. Quebec cottage

22. Montreal house

24. Buildings of New England

25. Saltbox house

26. Upright-and-wing house

27. Georgian-style NE large house

28. Buildings of the Middle Atlantic States

29. Four-over four house

30. Traditional or classic “I” house, w/ 2 rooms per floor separated by central hallways

31. Buildings of the “Tidewater South”

32. Charleston single house

33. Rural Settlements Hamlet = smallest What constitutes a village?
Canada – up to 1,000 residents; US – 2,500; Japan – up to 30,000 (pop. numbers are not standard)
Functional differentiation: hamlet – offers very few services (gas station, store,…); village – may offer several dozen services
Traditionally- villagers either farmed surrounding land or provided services to those who did
Japan- houses tightly packed, only narrow passageway remains
W. Europeans built on dikes- look more linear
Over ½ of world’s population live in villages and rural areas

34. Village forms: Nucleated & Dispersed
Linear: e.g. low-lying areas in W. Eur. located on levees (Strassendorfs- ‘street villages’)
Clustered: Japan – need to allocate every available foot of land for farming
Round: Africa & parts of Europe – central cattle corral
Grid: US – township-and-range system adopted after Amer. Rev.- Rectangular Survey System
Basic unit is one square mile
Similar system used in Canada

37. Patterns of Settlements
Size and structure of rural regions depend on space, environment, and social norms (and laws)
Primogeniture – larger plots of land (N. Eur, Americas, S. Afr, Aus & N.Z.) – all land passes to eldest son
Land divided among heirs – smaller (S. Eur, Asia, Africa)
Township-and-Range system – U.S.; Northwest Ordinance (1787) – rectangular survey system (dispersed settlers more evenly)
Functional differentiation of buildings is greater in Western cultures – rural areas in core regions vary greatly w/ more isolated, poverty-stricken areas along the periphery