Vastuvidya is derived from "Vas," meaning "to dwell" or "to occupy." The vastus refers to all mortal and immortal dwellings. The science of designing and building vastu, or vastusatra, originated in the Vedic period. Kerala in the olden days had adopted the concepts of architectural engineering from Vastuvidya or Vastusatra, which is also known as Sthapatyaveda or Vastusilpa.

Vastusastra, as a science, takes a systematic approach to the planning, design, and construction of Vastu from concept to completion, based on certain thumb rules. But most of the concepts are shrouded in mystery. Most of the time, the theories of this traditional science are explained in a spiritual or philosophical manner. But a scientific approach to this subject may be useful for familiarising the common people with this traditional science.

We can discover some scientific facts hidden in the texts of Vastu, written purely in a spiritual or philosophical language. The Acharyas or Sthapathis who wrote those texts might have also thought scientifically, but the style they used for representation was purely mythical. So in order to translate them into the present world, a new channel of thought has to be opened without disturbing the sacredness of the past. This is a relatively difficult task and, most of the time, impossible as well. But it may be that only with this translation process, the essence of the traditional system be made popular and practised in the present world.

This project aims to connect some of the traditional building concepts used by the sthapathis with modern reasoning. The traditional residential and secular architecture of Kerala is taken as a backdrop to the study. So this project includes some case studies of traditional Kerala dwellings used for constructing buildings and some modern scientific principles that can be related to Vastu principles.