Vernacular architecture is based on a local way to design houses in regard to the local climate and to the accessibility of materials. The technique has been modified throughout many years and is used to make the house comfortable to live in during all seasons. Originally, the architecture is not developed by architects, but by he local builders and their design skills. Vernacular architectures vary in different local areas because of the regions climate change and therefore can we divide countries into different areas such as alpine climate, temperate climate, tropical climate and cold climate. It is also possible to divide the a country into areas because of the access of different materials. 

This report will study vernacular architecture in different areas in Italy and in the alpine and warm-temperate regions in Peru. In chapter two there is a discussion about which design strategies it is important to implement in the climates of Roma and Kathmandu. Chapter three will contain a presentation of modern architecture that have the same principals as the Vernacular architecture. 

Nowadays we generally speak of ‘rural architecture in Italy’ because of the great variety of forms and structures to be found in our rural buildings. Origins and development of such architecture can be understood only if we place its principal aspects and problems within a general historical perspective. Vernacular architecture has been modified regarding the local climate over many years. Because of the high rate of population growth there has been new changes in the house industry where the focus has been on building quickly.

Traditional architectural typology has local characterization, the region climate can change within short distances and because of a variety of physical and climatic features, and we can divide our country in three mainly areas: the Alpine chain and a part of the Apennines, the plains and the low hills, and Southern Italy with the islands. (Even though, because of its long and narrow shape, crossing different latitude grades, and because of the orographic variety of the landmark, it is not possible to talk about an Italian vernacular architecture, but of different architectures, each one with different climatic characterizations).

One of the factors that has always influenced architecture is the local availability of materials. The material habitually used for rural buildings, are those deriving ultimately from the soil on which the buildings stand. Technological differences, though largely dependent on economic and social disparities, are also partly the result of differences in the materials employed.

Other aspects directly linked with climate are also the presence of arcades, porches, window dimensions and the ratio between surface and volume. In northern countries with typical cold weather, buildings are more compact than in areas with a milder climate.

The Alpine region possesses every variety of rural dwelling that could derive from the mingling of the different cultures -the Latin and the Germanic.

In general, the wooden house with roof sloping towards the north represents an adaptation of the dwellings of the mountainous areas of Central Germany, while the brick house with roof sloping southwards belongs to the cultural sphere of the Roman world.