Vernacular architecture is the natural and largely informal way of building in traditional communities. The papers presented in this book their importance are in their disparate origins. They discuss a range of vernacular traditions well beyond what which would be familiar to any scholar. They have been grouped here under the broad headings of Principles, Survey & Description, and Conservation, though of course there is much overlap. These papers consider an astonishing range of vernacular architecture, and bring out surprising analogies between disparate areas such as China and the Middle East, and Europe and South America. They reveal an equally extensive range of problems and threats, of which, inevitably, development pressure is the greatest. But the situation is not entirely hopeless, because there are some success stories here, and if those success can be imitated, then much can be saved.