Benny Kuriakose certainly thinks so. In this episode of Ecogradia, the prolific practitioner from Chennai, India, whose firm, Benny Kuriakose & Associates, champions vernacular-inspired architecture, illustrates how traditional knowledge is a pathway to sustainability.

His portfolio includes conservation, hospitality, and housing projects. The vast majority of his buildings are in peri-urban or rural settings and tend to be low-rise structures set in natural landscapes. His work is a conduit for the materials and crafts indigenous to a region.