Reading the Vernacular Interior: A Pattern Language for Reuse

Abstract

Historic interiors are unique repositories of memory, yet conventional reuse practices often fail to grasp their cultural complexity, prioritising formal interventions over lived experience. Dominant strategy-based frameworks for reuse struggle to capture the incremental, user-led adaptations that define these lived interiors. This paper addresses these limitations through a case study of the community-led revival of Harat al-Aqr, Oman. Methodologically, it reframes Alexander et al.'s (1977) pattern language as an interpretive lens for analysing the incremental evolution and embedded cultural intelligence of lived interiors. The research synthesises subjective narrative writing with analytical patterns, revealing that the significance of such spaces lies in their ‘livedness’ and the interconnected network of user-led spatial practices that exist within them. The patterns identified, such as Living Roof, Expanded Dwelling, and Mutual Dependencies, are presented as a way to capture and embody this user agency and cultural logic tangibly. The paper thus concludes by advocating a new approach to interior reuse, especially in environments that have undergone incremental changes or vernacular adaptations. It proposes a shift from imposing preconceived strategies to first interpreting the logic of existing use patterns, thereby offering a more responsive approach to engaging with historic interiors as living environments.