Ethnography in the Hands of Architects

There have always been overlapping interests between architecture and
ethnography: ethnographers have studied local building techniques and
socio-spatial organisation of villages and longhouses around the world, and
architects have sought inspiration in so-called vernacular architecture.
Recently the two disciplines have, however, moved closer, experimenting
with new ways of collaborating and combining approaches. Not just in
places with ‘architecture without architects’, but also in the big cities,
public spaces, institutions, workplaces and residential neighbourhoods that
most architects are more familiar with. They have come together around
‘architecture with architects’, one could say. The focus of this paper is such
new ways of combining approaches in these contexts.