Southeast Asian Houses: Expanding Tradition

By Seo Ryeung Ju et al.

Southeast Asian architecture tends to be generalized under one umbrella due to the countries’ common geographical, climatic, and historical context. However, Southeast Asian countries are dissimilar due to their ethnic and religious differences, which led to each country’s own subtle characteristics in housing. In order to identify the commonality and diversity among Southeast Asian architecture, details of the architectural forms have to be carefully analyzed.

This book begins with an introductory section about housing culture in Southeast Asia as a whole and then examines the traditional houses of five countries in more detail. Each chapter contains a brief summary of a Southeast Asian country’s history and culture and an introduction to the general characteristics and major types of traditional houses of the country. This is followed by a detailed explanation on the form and significance of one of the country’s major types of housing. The authors also explain how traditional houses are being modernized, offering a glimpse at the future of traditional housing in each country.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Seoul Selection
• Release date: Aug 4, 2017
• ISBN: 9781624120954

Book preview

Authors

PREFACE

As widely accepted amongst scholars, the form of a house can be seen as a product of a culture. However, unlike other cultural products that rapidly transform in the ever-changing global society, housing tends to change at a much slower rate by preserving its traditions. Such a global phenomenon is evident in Southeast Asian countries as well. Rapid westernization of Southeast Asian countries since the early twentieth-century undermined the uniqueness of their distinctive traditions as the traditional customs fused with Western influences. Likewise, Southeast Asian architecture transformed over time to merge with the global trends. However, I strongly believe that housing, more so than other aspects of the Southeast Asian cultures, has maintained its uniqueness through its essential traditional elements. As architectural tradition continues in contemporary houses and reflects a country’s unique living culture, I suggest that one should first understand the differences in traditional housing among Southeast Asian countries in order to understand the diverse lifestyles in Southeast Asia today.

Southeast Asia is a region comprised of eleven sovereign countries. The region’s distinct culture emerged from the blending of its indigenous civilization with Eastern beliefs from China and India and with Western influences that arrived via trade routes that run through this crossroads between East and West.

Southeast Asian architecture tends to be generalized under one umbrella due to the countries’ common geographical, climatic, and historical context. However, Southeast Asian countries are dissimilar due to their ethnic and religious differences, which led to each country’s own subtle characteristics in housing. In order to identify the commonality and diversity among Southeast Asian architecture, details of the architectural forms have to be carefully analyzed.

As no book has yet offered a comprehensive and systematic analysis of Southeast Asian housing, this book will provide an introductory guide to the subject. The work on this book began in 2010. After beginning research on Malaysian houses in 2008, I became curious about the housing of the entire region. In 2010, I broadened my academic interests to other countries in Southeast Asia, including Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia. Over the course of two trips in 2010 and 2011, I interacted with many scholars from various Southeast Asian countries, and several of them agreed to publish a book about Southeast Asian traditional houses with me.

As our first step, we organized the first Southeast Asian Housing Forum on Commonality and Diversity in Southeast Asian Housing: A Search for New Identity, which was held in Seoul, South Korea, in October 2011. Twelve housing experts from Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia were invited to speak. This laid the foundation for the Asian Research Center for Housing (ARCH), a strong international academic network that is designed to share knowledge about the housing studies of each Southeast Asian country. Proceedings of 2011 Southeast Asian Housing Forum, published by USD Publishing, contains the fruits of this rich forum. Since then, the participants have expanded upon the material they presented during the forum, culminating in this book.

This book begins with an introductory section about housing culture in Southeast Asia as a whole and then examines the traditional houses of five countries in more detail. Each chapter contains a brief summary of a Southeast Asian country’s history and culture and an introduction to the general characteristics and major types of traditional houses of the country. This is followed by a detailed explanation on the form and significance of one of the country’s major types of housing. The authors also explain how traditional houses are being modernized, offering a glimpse at the future of traditional housing in each country. Due to the authors’ diverse academic interests, the utilized materials and approaches are different in each chapter. Even so, we have strived to provide a general explanation of each country’s traditional housing. In the first chapter (Commonality and Diversity of Southeast Asia Houses), I conclude the suggested theory by further analyzing the commonality and diversity amongst the cases explained in this book. Based on this book’s findings, subsequent research will be aimed at identifying the most essential factors of housing culture that are found not only in traditional culture, but also in the contemporary world.

A total of twelve authors from six countries are involved in writing this book and its sequel, which will be a volume on contemporary housing in Southeast Asia. I am deeply grateful to the authors for their trust and patience since the book’s conception in 2010 and for their work and dedication despite their busy schedules.

I would like to express my gratitude to those who gave us permission to use their images for this book. Also, I am thankful to the staff of Seoul Selection for leading the publication process. Lastly, I would like to thank my dear family and students for their sincere support.

This book is dedicated to my mother, who devoted her life to her daughter.

Seo Ryeung Ju

Chapter 1

THE COMMONALITY AND DIVERSITY OF VERNACULAR HOUSING IN SOUTHEAST ASIA

¹

Seo Ryeung Ju

Min Kyoung Kim

Vernacular housing is designed and built by the people who live in them to meet specific needs; it accommodates the values, economy and ways of life of the cultures that produce them. The vernacular housing of Southeast Asia is generally understood as a timber-framed structure, raised on piles, with an open layout that is well-suited to the heat and humidity of the region’s tropical climate. Its forms and cultures of housing vary by country and region, but vernacular housing in Southeast Asia has definite commonalities based on a shared history and culture.

The purpose of this chapter is to analyze the commonalities and diversity of vernacular houses in Southeast Asia from two different perspectives. One is the climate perspective, for which an analysis was undertaken on formal characteristics such as the climate and geographical area, along with materials, structure and technology used in the vernacular houses. Climate-deterministic perspectives are common among researchers studying vernacular architecture. The second perspective relates to social-cultural factors, which examine religion, family structure, social organization, territoriality and lifestyle. This chapter identifies and summarizes the symbolic meaning of vernacular housing in Southeast Asia, including cultural, spiritual, material and social concerns.

Introduction

A study that uses the name Southeast Asia in its title inevitably assumes that this region shares a cultural commonality—due to geographical, climatic and historical circumstances—that is distinctly Southeast Asian. But even within a single country, various cultures and forms of vernacular housing can arise due to differences in race, religion, time periods and geography.

Accordingly, it is not an easy task to present a concise summary of the form and culture of Southeast Asian housing. Such an endeavor requires the integration, over a long period of time, of regional studies with academic work that adopts a more general and comprehensive approach towards the subject matter. This is because, in the wider context, the need for an overall understanding of the subject matter must be addressed to avoid errors when undertaking regional studies in Southeast Asia.

The aim of this chapter is to present a comprehensive overview of the vernacular housing of Southeast Asia by examining pre-existing literature. The main texts analyzed in this study are historical records which allow for a better understanding of the cultural background of Southeast Asia; research publications (Brunskill, 2000; Dumarcay, 1987; Oliver, 1997, Sparkes et al., 2003; Waterson, 1990) on the architecture and vernacular housing of the region, which shed light on the commonalities and diversities of Southeast Asia; and research publications (Ariffin, 2001; Chaichongrak, 2002; Chen, 2007; Lim, 1987; Schefold et al., 2003) that examine in detail the vernacular housing of different countries in Southeast Asia. It should be noted, however, that the different regions of Southeast Asia are not evenly represented in the relevant literature. In addition, there is limited published material, and most studies were not carried out using a common methodology or with a common objective in mind. Therefore, it has been extremely difficult to examine and directly compare results of studies carried out on different areas of Southeast Asia. This has rendered an objective consideration of vernacular housing around the region equally difficult.

In this chapter, both perspectives are adopted. From a climatic perspective, the correlation between house form and elements such as climate, geographic area, materials, structure and technology is considered. From a socio-cultural perspective, the correlation between house form and religion, family structure, social organization, territoriality and way of life is examined to identify the symbolic meaning of vernacular houses. These latter factors are widely considered an embodiment of cultural, spiritual, material and social concerns.

The common background of Southeast Asian civilization

Regarding the cultural commonalities of Southeast Asia, it was suggested that the region was home to a common sphere of civilization, as evidenced, for example, by the bronze drums that are a key feature of the Dong Son culture of Vietnam but also occur in regions of Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. It is thought that this civilization was distinct from the civilizations of China and India. The earliest forms of Southeast Asian vernacular architecture may be inferred from the bronze drums that were unearthed during excavations carried out on prehistoric sites in Northern Vietnam. These bronze drums, which date from 600–400 BC at the earliest and AD 100 at the latest, are among the most important material remnants of the Dong Son culture (Choi, 2006; Dumarcay, 1987; Schefold et al., 2003; Waterson, 1990).

Some of the images engraved onto these bronze drums appear to depict vernacular houses. People are shown sitting on the floor, which was raised on piles. The mid-section of the roofline dipped downwards while the roof-ends soared upwards in an exaggerated manner. In addition, animals were kept in a space under the floor.

The practice of magic based on indigenous beliefs and spirit worship can also be observed among the populations of Southeast Asia, who worship natural spirits that reside in rivers, forests and mountains. People of this region also worship places and objects of supernatural power, a practice that extends to housing. Houses in Southeast Asia are divided, from top to bottom, into the roof, living space and foundations. This division is seen to embody and symbolize the religious hierarchy of the gods, the humans (who live beneath the gods) and the animals (who live beneath the humans) (Widodo, 2004, p. 3; Ariffin, 2001, p. 54; Schefold et al., 2003, p. 23). This cosmology has a similar context to the hierarchical division present in the images engraved onto the bronze drums discussed above.

Figure 1. House represented on Dong Son drums

© Hoang Manh Nguyen

Figure 2. Dividing houses into three layers (Kon Rbang, Vietnam)

Southeast Asia is home to more than 350 ethnic groups and its constituent countries are spread out over a vast area. However, all the region’s languages belong to the Austronesian language family² and developed from a single original language. Given that language is one of the key elements defining a cultural sphere, these shared linguistic roots provide strong evidence of the cultural commonalities of the region.

Waterson (1990) noted that the early houses of mainland and insular Southeast Asia, along with those of Micronesia and Melanesia, were elevated on pile foundations and entered using ladders. Though these regions are comprised largely of islands spread out over vast tracts of water, the relative ease of movement across the seas, even in ancient times, would have helped overcome physical distance. This provides further support to the possibility of a common Southeast Asian civilization (Bellwood, 2004; Waterson, 1990).

Figure 3. Extent of the Austronesian language family

Source: Bellwood, P. (2004). First Farmers. Wiley-Blackwell. p. 140.

Formal characteristics of vernacular housing

We categorized the formal characteristics of Southeast Asian housing in terms of three crucial aspects of vernacular Southeast Asian housing: piles, roofs and walls.

Piles

Supporting piles give stability to houses during earthquakes, a function that is particularly important on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. According to Waterson (1990), the pile-built system of Aceh houses gives them flexibility, and this functional advantage provides Sumatra’s houses with stability during the frequent earthquakes and tremors. In the southern part of the island of Nias, house thick piles (some exceeding 1 meter in diameter) were installed diagonally and vertically to provide additional resistance to earthquake stress and contribute to the stability of the structure as a whole.³

Figure 4. Piles provide added resistance to the stresses of earthquakes (Nias, Indonesia)

Source: Waterson, R. (1990). The Living House, p. 82, 107.

Figure 5. The defensive aspect of Dayak houses (Indonesia)

The houses built on piles also provided houses with an added degree of security. In Indonesia, besides being used as a defense against earthquakes, pile constructions were adopted as a security measure in places like Borneo. The longhouses of the Rejang River were raised on piles as high as 20-40 feet tall, with fence structures consisting of densely branched trees providing an extra level of security. However, as the fear of attacks diminished, pile-built houses of this height started to disappear (Schefold et al., 2003).

Roofs

The vernacular houses in Southeast Asia have steep sloping roofs. Attap, which does not absorb rainwater, is commonly used as a roofing material, and the steep angle of the roof allows rainwater to run down it quickly. In helping houses withstand tropical rainfalls and the long wet season, roofs are one of the key mechanisms Southeast Asian houses have for adapting to the climate. However, despite the functional similarities, roofs across Southeast Asia are in fact highly diverse in architectural terms.

The roof is arguably the most important element of expression in Southeast Asian architecture. The exaggerated roof form can be used to symbolize the building function or the social status of its resident. The symbolism of the roof, which cannot be explained in functional terms from a climatic perspective, can be expressed through its great size and elaborate decoration, as well as its exaggerated form.

The most distinctive type of roof used in Southeast Asia is the saddle-backed roof. The saddle-backed roof can be defined, in its most basic form, as a roof in which the roof-ends soar upwards and are positioned higher than the center of the roof ridge. There are also different variations of the saddle-backed roof. For example, the gable-ends of the roof can slope outwards or the eave-ends can be highly exaggerated to form points that are then decorated.

Figure 6. Examples of saddle-backed roof house (Indonesia)

a. Sumatra, b. Toraja

Figure 7. Symbolism of exaggerated roof (Indonesia)

a. Minangkabau, b. South Nias, c. Toraja

A more grand and elaborate example of the saddle-backed roof is represented by the Minangkabau style, which consists of several saddle-backed roofs with exaggerated roof-ends stacked one upon the other. These Minangkabau-style roofs have extended ridge-lines which often result in outward-sloping gable-ends; sometimes the eave-ends form highly exaggerated points which soar up like buffalo horns (Figure 7-a).

Another example of the saddle-backed roof is shown in the Nias style, where the roof is disproportionately large in comparison to the rest of the