« Maison Paysanne de France », is a French NGO dedicated to preserve the less glamorous part of historical architecture: the vernacular buildings, mostly farmhouses.
Thanks to their dedication and experience, many know-hows have been saved from oblivion. Lime stucco, raw earth buildings and many other techniques that are now being rediscovered by a new generation of architects (see the venice biennale report) and favoured for their thermal qualities and low ecological impact have been used for many years by those pioneers faced with all sorts of administrative barriers fro there is no major company to back them up.
You will find their website here: http://www.maisons-paysannes.org
As the association itself, this exhibition is low key but extremely well documented and informative. Jean-Marc Barreau, president of the Vaucluse section of MPF, and Claude Perron, architect, criss-crossed the region for over 1400 km to classify the typology of vernacular constructions, and draw sketches of individual houses.
It was difficult to get pictures without reflection so I apologise for the poor quality of the shots. I hope this will be printed at some point as the maps are really interesting.
