The Site Magazine is issuing a call for submissions for volume 36: Vernacular, to be published in Fall 2016.

Building is a universal phenomenon: long before there were architects, people have crafted their own homes, built cities, and designed systems to harvest requisite natural resources such as water, wind and light. Today, as climate change threatens, as engineered solutions spur new problems, and global politics fall short in addressing local issues, architects are turning to the vernacular: the informal, the spontaneous, the regional and the handmade. Is it mere nostalgia that drives us to seek examples from the past?

Vernacular architecture, made from local materials using techniques that respond to the local climate, present a vision of architecture where human needs exist in perfect harmony with the landscape. The craft is rooted in an instinct and respect for the land. Cultures that still practice vernacular construction often have an intimate relationship with nature and a strong sense of environmental stewardship. These traditions contain valuable lessons for today's socio-environmental concerns.

Yet these same cultures, such as the Native people of Canada, are also marginalized by colonization, resource extraction, and political decisions that have lead to their displacement from landscapes deeply connected with their identity and way of life. Can vernacular traditions continue to thrive in this context? Moreover, modernity brings new technologies, new affluence, and new social desires to traditional communities. How do vernacular typologies evolve and adapt to contemporary living?

The construction industry is driven by cutting-edge technology, computer-aided design and fabrication, and benchmarks for building performance efficiency. Are the homes that people build for themselves, work that is done by hand, using found materials rather than mass-manufactured and certified products fundamentally incompatible with the future of construction?

Amid a looming awareness of the fragility of the environment and its finite resources, are there new answers to be found by revisiting the constructions of the past? Beautiful though it may be, is vernacular architecture still relevant today (and tomorrow)?

We invite you to submit your proposals for essays, reportage, photography, architectural drawings, art and design responses, or other ideas on this theme .