Vernacular architecture, by nature, is an embodiment of cultural expressions, adaptability to climate and intelligence about materials and natural systems surrounding them. Every vernacular setting has to be understood on their own merits. Undeniably, vernacular responses to environmental elements like water, light, ventilation, and thermal comfort are central to this discourse. In this context, this theme investigates how traditional vernacular heritage provide valuable insights into creating culturally rich, environmentally responsive and resource-efficient design solutions for the present and future. Topics under this track may include the study of climate-adaptive design strategies present in vernacular models—such as passive cooling, thermal massing, and spatial orientation—as well as the use of local materials and craft-based construction for sustainable futures. Emphasis is placed on understanding the ecological and spatial logic of the use of traditional systems, and how these can contribute to our understanding of Vernacular Heritage.

Designing within or around heritage environments poses unique challenges and opportunities. This sub-theme focuses on how architects and designers engage with heritage contexts—such as historic neighborhoods, traditional urban cores, or culturally significant landscapes—through sensitive, site-specific, and adaptive approaches. It invites discussions on balancing preservation and transformation, negotiating regulatory frameworks, and integrating contemporary functions within heritage settings without compromising their integrity. Whether through conservation-led architecture, subtle insertions, or reinterpretive design responses, the sub-theme addresses how contemporary interventions can coexist with and enrich heritage environments, contributing to their continuity and renewed relevance.

Heritage is not only about the built environment but also about people, memory, and lived experience. This sub-theme emphasizes design as a participatory and socially engaged act that can empower communities and activate cultural narratives. It explores how architecture and design can serve as tools for community building, intergenerational dialogue, cultural revival, and spatial justice. Projects and research that engage in participatory design processes, community heritage initiatives, cultural programming, and storytelling through spatial interventions are particularly welcome. The aim is to foster socially inclusive and community-centered design practices that enrich heritage through active engagement and co-creation.

This sub-theme explores design strategies that are derived directly from the logics, techniques, and philosophies of vernacular architecture. It seeks to understand how traditional construction systems, spatial typologies, material knowledge, and environmental responsiveness can inform contemporary design practices. Case studies, built works, and experimental approaches that reinterpret or hybridize vernacular elements are encouraged. Emphasis is placed on crafts, construction details, material tactility, climate sensitivity, and cultural appropriateness. The sub-theme invites reflection on how these embedded traditions can be reactivated in design thinking—not as a nostalgic return to the past, but as a forward-looking, contextually rooted practice.

Design, in its broadest sense, is a cultural act that can preserve, amplify, and celebrate vernacular knowledge across disciplines and media. This sub-theme focuses on how design thinking can promote awareness of vernacular culture through visual, spatial, digital, and educational means. It invites contributions that demonstrate how design—be it through exhibitions, installations, pedagogical tools, crafts-based innovation, digital storytelling, or cross-disciplinary collaborations—can serve as a platform for sustaining and reinterpreting vernacular culture in contemporary society. The emphasis lies on activating cultural heritage as a dynamic and living entity that can evolve and thrive through creative and inclusive design engagement.

Emerging technologies offer powerful tools to preserve, visualize, and reimagine vernacular heritage. This theme invites discussions on how digital media—such as 3D scanning, photogrammetry, BIM, and immersive technologies like AR/VR—are reshaping the ways in which heritage is recorded, analyzed, and communicated. It also considers the role of AI, open-source platforms, and digital archives in building collaborative, accessible heritage knowledge systems. Contributions may explore the reconstruction of lost or endangered heritage, as well as how digital technologies can support both conservation efforts and contemporary design inspired by vernacular traditions. The track bridges the past with the future, highlighting the evolving interface between tradition and innovation.