Vernacular Wisdom

Vernacular architectural languages and dialects  were created by millions of people over thousands of years. 
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Just like the verbal languages, architectural languages combined everyday insights and lifetime wisdom  in traditional architectural patterns that evolved though time. Can we a posteriori rationalize the patterns we find? Can we fully recognize those patterns?  Colors, vertical openings, juxtaposition of buildings, textures, immediacy to water? 

Is it a sort of architectural Tao that can not be named, explained or expressed in words? Apparently it has to be lived unintentionally.