INDIGENOUS CONSTRUCTION METHODS AROUND THE WORLD

INDIGENOUS METHODS

• Indigenous methods apply appropriate technology that best fits the factor endowment (i.e. social, cultural, and environmental conditions) of a region. It is more often labor-intensive than capital-intensive.

REASONS FOR EXPLORING INDIGENOUS METHODS

• Traditional or indigenous construction technologies have an importance that extends beyond their form and decoration. They should be examined for more than one reason:
  • Indigenous methods may be more economic for a region where they are applied.
  • Structural, environmental, and functional benefits derived from these methods may be much higher than those derived using contemporary methods.
  • Study of indigenous methods may provide some direction toward the transfer of traditional skills for the effective use of contemporary materials.
  • Study of indigenous methods may provide some guidelines for adapting the available contemporary technologies efficiently to the indigenous methods.
• Labor-saving methods that are economically justifiable in a developed country, for example, where wage rates are high, are usually more expensive than labor-intensive types of construction in a developing country with huge human resources and low wage rates. Replacement of mechanical loading equipment, for example, with human efforts in a country with an abundance of human resources may result in a lowering of project cost to a considerable extent.

AFGHANISTAN

• The traditional buildings were constructed using sun-dried bricks. The roofs were either domes or vaults because they are the most logical solutions when material used is brick.
• Stone with mud mortar was used for foundation.
• Bitumen was used for strengthening bricks.
• The entire construction process (including the construction of roof) proceeded without the help of any scaffolding.
• Traditional construction methods in Egypt and Iran followed the similar principles.

CHINA

• Earth-sheltered housing in semi-arid 'Loess region' of China: People used to carve out courtyard homes. The earth, very hard-packed soil, provided exceptionally efficient natural insulation from cold in the winter months; the thick walls and ceilings provided an "air-conditioned" coolness during hot summer months. Interiors were vaulted.

INDONESIA

• Like many in other places, traditional buildings are a product of the environment in Indonesia. Each regional variant developed in response to the prevailing conditions and materials available. The climatic conditions and vegetation were the modifying factors of building forms.
• Major building materials consisted of softwood, hardwood (mainly teak), bamboo, rattan, and a range of palm woods including sugar palm (ijuk).
• Substructure of buildings were constructed using large wooden pillars that rested on flat stones. The stone beds protected the wood from rising damp. The substructure was strengthened by mortising a system of beams into the piles. The space thus created was used as night time stalls for cattle.
• The major dominating element in a building was the roof. It was covered with thatch. Most of the time, it was steeply pitched and shaped in the form of a saddle-back. It almost resembled a person in the posture of prayer. Stitched palm leaves were used as roofing panels.
• The Toraja people used to construct the wooden structure of a house in tongue-and-groove fashion without any nails. Legends claim that these people arrived from north by sea. They were caught in a storm that damaged their boats rendering them unseaworthy. So they used the boats (upside down) as roof of their new homes where they landed. This determined the form of the houses that were constructed thereafter. All the components of the house were prefabricated, the final assembly took place at site.

MALAYSIA

• Structural members, floors, and walls in a traditional Malaysian building is timber.
• Roof is thatched using nipah, numbia (sago), or bertram leaves.
• Split bamboo is often use as basic roof frame.
• Houses are usually built on stilts for the basic reasons of health and safety.
• Roofs are steeply pitched.
• House plan are 'open' type; the construction system allows for  easy future expansion.

NOMADIC

• The Kazaks from Mongolia used to construct a kind of tent (in fact, a portable house) called 'yurt' using willow. The main frame was made of willow poles. The wall frame was constructed using willow rods, about an inch in diameter, split in half (made into slats) and criss-crossed over one another with hinged joints of knotted leather strings. The slats were woven diagonally that increased the strength and stability of the walls, at the same time it made the walls collapsible so that it could taken from place to place. A woven tension-bend was tied around the top of the wall to keep the element in place. Both the wall and roof frames were covered by very colorful felt rugs.
• Some nomadic tribes from the Sahara region constructed portable dwellings using goat skin over reed frames. These were very basic living quarters using materials that are organic.

MIDDLE EAST

• Traditional architecture in Yemen used mud as the major construction material. A compound of earth and water was prepared for walls and roof. Sometimes a quantity of straw was used for increasing the strength of the material. This mixture was treaded for several hours until it attained correct consistency. The first layer of the mix was laid by hand on the following day on rubble stone foundations. Mud mortar was used in footings.

• The mud mix was formed into balls tossing from hand to hand. The balls were kneaded down by fingers after they were laid in place. A layer of mud mix to construct the wall was called a 'midmak'. The sides of the 'midmak' were shaped by hand or with a flat stick, to form a slightly bulging profile. The 'midmaks' were laid one on top of the other. Each 'midmak' was left to dry for about two days before another was laid on top of it. Mixing and laying were accompanied by rhythmic chants.
• Floors were built by laying stripped poles or sawn timber joists directly on wall head. Smaller branches were laid between joists as purlins, wet earth was pressed on these to form level of the floor above. The roof usually used to be about 6" thick. Regular addition of fresh earth was made on roofs before seasonal rains. This built up to a great depth of the roof over time.
• Opening on walls were formed simply by interrupting the 'midmak' where a door or a window was required.
• In some regions (particularly Wadi Hadramaut), sun-dried bricks (about 16"x10"x3") were used. Raw materials for the bricks were the same as those used for building-mud. The mix was kneaded to required consistency and then left for a day before being pressed into wooden molds to form bricks. Stones were used in foundations.

SOUTH ASIA

• Traditional building materials in parts of rural South Asia were grass and bamboo.
• Bamboo provided ready, light, and sustainable source of building material. A bamboo culm can grow one foot a day. Because the culm is hollow, it is relatively strong and stiff. It is hard with a clean surface and can be cut and split easily using simple tools.

• The main building structure was bamboo frame with wall made of bamboo matting, sometimes plastered with mud. Roof frames were also constructed using bamboo and thatched with a special type of grass (shon).
• Concrete columns are nowadays used instead of bamboo frame to increase the longevity of the buildings.
• Buildings in urban areas and those of religious nature were constructed using kiln-burnt bricks. Raw material for bricks (dug earth) is in abundance in most part of the region. Contemporary buildings also use kiln-burnt bricks and the traditional construction methods.
• Labor-intensive methods are also used to a certain extent in contemporary high-rise buildings.

ANCIENT CHINESE SYSTEM OF ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION: FENG SHUI (FUNG SHWAY)

• Feng shui (pronounced "Fung shway") is a Chinese philosophy about the relationship between humans and their environment. It is about how everything is connected and affects people's well-being. Based on the laws of nature, its theories offer a way of understanding why certain things occur and how to create a comfortable environment that lets us live and work efficiently and progressively.
• Developed over 5,000 years ago as a system of how to survive and excel in harmony with nature, feng shui theories came from some assumptions about natural causes and effects that endured through time. Passed down from generation to generation, only a select few understand the phenomenon of feng shui in its entirety. The complexity and correct application of feng shui takes many years to learn from a master.
• Feng shui is mainly based on the Taoist philosophy of nature: everything is made of qi (pronounced chee) or energy which is organized into five elements: metal, fire, water, wood and earth and associated to the trigrams. The five elements are not considered as static physical elements, but are energies like frequencies which have direction and a unique wavelength. The Five Element Theory explains how qi cycles in nature, constantly changing from phase to phase, since energy is neither created nor destroyed. Consequently, everything around people is connected and has the potential to affect their well-being. Feng shui is practically a multi-disciplinary study encompassing architecture, urban planning, geography, astrology, electromagnetism, landscape design, environmental psychology, and many others.
• The five elements are Water, Wood, Fire, Earth and Metal and are considered the building blocks of life. The constructive or productive sequence is as follows: Water nourish plants and trees: producing Wood, Wood makes Fire and burns into ashes to form Earth, Earth is the source of Metal. Metal can be condensed to water or can be melted into liquid i.e. `Water'. Therefore this process is known as the productive sequence.