Vernacular Wisdom

Vernacular architectural languages and dialects  were created by millions of people over thousands of years. 
Just like the verbal languages, architectural languages combine everyday insights and lifetime wisdom that find their expression in traditional architectural patterns.

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.