This article examines construction techniques of earthen vernacular architecture, with a particular focus on traditional construction processes of mud brick vaults and domes in contemporary Iran. The village of Esfahak, in South Khurasan, is selected as a case study due to its unique historical circumstances, traditional buildings and construction methods, and recent restoration activities carried out by villagers. The village was damaged by an earthquake in 1978 and abandoned for 30 years until a group of Esfahakis decided to restore their ruined earthen houses. This marked the start of an intergenerational exchange that allowed young villagers to train alongside old masters in a process of rediscovery of long-time abandoned construction techniques. The old village has been reconnected to the lives of current residents, while the reconstructed buildings continue to bear witness to the millennial knowledge and skills of erecting vaults and domes from the plateau's arid soil. This article is based on fieldwork research on building sites and interviews with craftsmen in Esfahak, combined with a review of existing literature on traditional and historical construction techniques in the Persian world.

Abstract. This article presents a methodology for recording and documenting building processes using an anthropological approach. The village of Esfahak, in the region of South Khorasan (Iran) is situated in an arid environment scarce in water and trees. These conditions have resulted in the development of building forms that are almost entirely made out of earth. For centuries houses have been erected by local master masons utilizing only mud bricks and without the use of any architectural drawings. This research seeks to document how building processes unfold and are implemented in the village, for both restoration and new constructions. The researcher undertakes ethnographic fieldwork examining the relationship between villagers and their architecture. This approach is based on participant observation, engaging the local community to study how buildings were and are conceived, constructed, inhabited, maintained and restored. Moreover, the research employs an apprentice-style fieldwork method to access building sites. Thus, the researcher learns by doing with masons as a way to embody local knowledge, and not merely through passive observation. The work on site, given its processual nature, is documented through audio-visual recordings from both an external and first-person perspective. The use of head-mounted cameras facilitates review and discussion of building processes with the masons allowing for an in-depth understanding of this craft practice.

The Dukhang Yokma is a small Buddhist temple part of the Ensa monastery in the Nubra river valley in Ladakh. The Dukhang was severely damaged by water infiltration soon after its construction at the beginning of the 20 th century. Water seepage through its stone and mud mortar plinth caused a gradual bulging of the foundations which was followed by a steady shift of the whole structure. In the course of several decades this shift became irreversible and gradually damaged most of the masonry structure. The building had been neglected for several years before an active interest in its preservation emerged. During this time, several parts of the buildings were dismantled and the temple's inner chamber on two storeys tilted almost to the point of collapse. The conservation, consolidation and restoration of the temple has been undertaken by Achi Association India from 2018. This article analyses the restoration project and its many challenges, including wall painting stabilization. It explains in detail the issues faced by Achi team members and the way these problems were resolved through making use of local resources in this remote hermitage. One of the most complicated issues was to bring the inner temple's structural elements back to their original straight position, avoiding any collapse and damage of the wall paintings. The complexity of the task was due to the very fragile mixed structure on two storeys made of wood, mud bricks and stone.

Vernacular architecture provides extraordinary technological and typological solutions, which are the result of a complex system of knowledge that has evolved through trial and error, in a deep connection to the environmental, social, economic and cultural contexts. The goal of the study presented here is to propose a tool able to organise vernacular knowledge, both tangible and intangible, by systematising principles, strategies, design models and solutions in order to be more easily shared, transmitted and employed in the design of new sustainable architecture. The tool, which is developed as part of the project "VerSus+ / Heritage for People" (Creative Europe Program), is a collaborative Web Application able to map solutions and models from vernacular architecture, and to associate and classify them with sustainable strategies. In addition to physical objects (cultural landscapes, urban, typological and technological solutions), the App will also map the people involved in the knowledge management of vernacular architecture: craftspeople and professionals in the field of vernacular architecture enhancement and conservation. This tool can catalogue solutions and knowledge from different branches of vernacular architecture, and make it available to a large audience, such as professionals, researchers, artisans and citizens, who can also directly contribute to the growth of the vernacular database by adding new information and solutions to the App. The idea is to have a user friendly and easy to consult App, able to suggest new solutions to contemporary design problems, based on the observation of similar past problems, so that sustainable models developed in the past can be adapted to design and construct a more appropriate architecture for the future.