| All human action is involved with space: conceptual, temporal, social and physical. Humans manipulate its creation, its destruction, movement through or around it, and ultimately its control. As an integral part (if not prerequisite) of being, space and its constructed manifestations function to both mirror and reproduce existence. Consequently, to understand a body of architecture one must explain the society's unique conceptualization and utilization of space. From the earliest European contact, explorers, missionaries, diplomats, and researchers have remarked upon the singularity and beauty of the indigenous style buildings found in the Samoan islands. The open, wooden houses, held together by simple lashing, are one of the great technical achievements of Polynesia. Today a multiplicity of new building styles has developed while retaining established organizational principles. The result is a strategy which, while providing continuity, is responsive to the demands of history, geography, and everyday occurrence. Shaped by cultural beliefs and events, Samoan buildings function as primary metaphor, sign, means of spatial orchestration, and active method of social advancement.; Although there are published descriptions of early, indigenous Samoan architecture, no previous study has attempted an analysis within a cultural context. Few such treatises exist for any Polynesian culture. A consideration of contemporary vernacular buildings is also lacking. Any study of Samoan architecture must consider the nature of the constructed space: its dimensions, organization, contents, process of construction, and interactions with the other domains within the Samoan world. In Samoa, buildings are embedded in a configuration of interlocked spaces (physical, temporal, social and conceptual) which provides the setting for human habitation. Architectural organization incorporates many aspects of this environment and, as a physical form, buildings also make such an infrastructure visible. The relationship is thus bi-directional in that edifices help define as well as draw meaning from the spatial matrix of which they are a part. At the same time buildings, in their construction and subsequent manipulation, are subject to the everyday processes which run counter to the establishment and maintenance of a rigid system. The interaction of framework and variability provide the dynamics of Samoan architectural practice. |
