Local Wisdom of Structure and Building System Traditional Architecture in Responding to Nature
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LivaS - International Journal on Livable Space | Vol. 02, No. 1, February 2017: 14 – 22 ISSN: 2548-7515 (online) LOCAL WISDOM OF STRUCTURE AND BUILDING SYSTEM TRADITIONAL ARCHITECTURE IN RESPONDING TO NATURE Parmonangan Manurung Lecturer, Department of Architecture Faculty of Architecture and Design, Universitas Kristen Duta Wacana Jl. Dr. Wahidin Sudirohusodo No. 5-25 Yogyakarta, INDONESIA email: [email protected] Abstract them has its own house and bring Indonesia as a country which has Traditional architecture was built on a hundreds of diverse customary houses. tradition inherited from one generation to On the other hand, Mangunwijaya (1992) the next. As a country which has said that the concept of architecture of hundreds of tribes, Indonesia has the archipelago is the adjustment and hundreds of traditional architecture the tunings with nature. designed by the ancestors to fulfill the function as well as responding to natural The diversity of geographic context. The aim of this research is to condition, culture and social find out how the structural and building backgrounds produces diversity of system traditional architecture in this architecture in Indonesia. Natural and country respond its natural conditions as cultural richness brought architectural the context. The method used is diversity of this country. The land that qualitative descriptive with the analysis stretches from west to east has a variety of some traditional architecture which of traditional architecture, with its have been visited and conducted a diversity in shape and structure system. theory review. The results showed that Differences in geographical conditions the traditional architecture in Indonesia produce different designs in response to had been designed to respond to nature site conditions. As the site conditions, as context. From the discussion, it can climatic and environmental conditions be concluded that traditional architecture play a role in providing a diversity of in each region has an approach in architecture in the archipelago because aligning themselves with nature as of traditional architecture has a role in context. responding the nature and the environment. Keywords: Local wisdom, traditional architecture, earthquake, climate, This study aims to find out how the context. traditional architecture in Indonesia responds its natural conditions as the context through building structure A. INTRODUCTION structures and building systems design. In order to achieve these objectives, Indonesia is an archipelago which has a qualitative research methods had been very diverse geography. Geographic used. Meanwhile, to enrich the data and conditions in Indonesia produces natural the analysis, some previous field conditions which are different from one observations, brief interviews, and another, including culture, and ethnicity. literature review were also employed. In According to Ronald (2002:5) there are the field observations, visual condition more than three hundred tribes in data were collected using a camera to Indonesia which can be further divided record the traditional architecture into several customs, which each of conditions including its structure and [14] LivaS - International Journal on Livable Space | Vol. 02, No. 1, February 2017: 14 – 22 ISSN: 2548-7515 (online) building systems. The analysis is done modern buildings. Meanwhile, traditional by comparing the data obtained in the building has been considering the field with a literature study to get a structure and building systems in its conclusion. architectural design. based on these considerations, the discussion in this paper will be limited to study of the structural and building systems that are B. LITERATURE REVIEW used by some of the traditional Traditional houses in Indonesia were architecture in Indonesia. The selection built by the ancestors of Indonesia, also of cases is done by considering the noticed the natural environment as a geographical conditions where the context. And behold how each of the traditional architecture is located. Some building work is an attempt to bring the traditional architecture located in islands Universe (Mangunwijaya, 1992). which are prone to earthquakes such as Traditional architecture designed by the Nias Island, Java Island and Sulawesi ancestors of Indonesia to respond to its Islands (as shown by Figure 1.) have context and resolved by utilizing local been chosen. Meanwhile, to analyze the potential. This explains how humans try system of the building, some of to establish a relationship with nature traditional architecture that consider and create harmony in presenting the natural ventilation and natural lighting building or architectural work. According systems in its design have been selected to Lechner (2015), the reasons of as a case study. differences in the architectural design of each region are a response to the 4.1 Responding to Earthquake climate. Design buildings in hot and dry areas will be different when compared to Indonesia is a country which is prone to the hot and humid regions. This affects natural disasters because it is located the design of the roof and openings in around of the ring of fire (Wijayanto, order to response natural light and 2016). This condition makes Indonesia is thermal comfort. Rudofsky (1965:1) prone to earthquakes, especially for describes vernacular architecture as islands located in the ring of fire. Figure "architecture without architects". In other 1 shows the earthquake zone map word Rudofsky want to show that indicating areas in Indonesia, which is vernacular architecture is not influenced prone to earthquakes. Sumatra by trends or particular style but oriented (especially Nias Island), Java Island and to the needs and potential of nature as Sulawesi Island are vulnerable to the context. It can be concluded that the earthquakes. Therefore, traditional local wisdom of our ancestors is wisdom architecture that is located in these areas in dealing with nature as context has been chosen as a case study. resulting architectural design that can address the needs of the building and in Although they were situated in harmony with nature. locations that are vulnerable to earthquakes, the traditional architecture of those areas has capability to respond the earthquake impact through their C. DISCUSSION design approach. Our ancestors have There are four basic elements of a responded to these conditions by the building; building structure, building design approach of their traditional systems, building services, and building architecture, especially traditional management (So and Chan, 1999). houses that are geographically situated Building services and building on the ring of fire. For instance, how is a Management are two elements of traditional house solving the problems buildings that are more common in caused by earthquakes? Field [15] LivaS - International Journal on Livable Space | Vol. 02, No. 1, February 2017: 14 – 22 ISSN: 2548-7515 (online) observations showed that Nias traditional the rhythm of the earthquake. house is located on the south side of the Meanwhile, according to Pudjisuryadi, et. island of Sumatra; it is also called as al. (2007), Nias traditional houses (Omo Omo Hada. This house has some Hada) were able to resist an earthquake diagonal column known (called as V- measuring 8.7 on the Richter scale Shape) and play a role as a structure without any damage, while modern system to resist lateral forces caused by buildings are located in the same area the earthquake. V-Shape structure have collapsed. Results of research system is able to withstand lateral forces conducted by Pudjisuryadi, et. al. (2007) during an earthquake occurs so that the showed that Omo hada has a very stable building can remain stable. The structure system. The foundation system connection between the columns and as a base isolation has ability to reduce beams are not using nails, causing the internal forces as well. buildings can be moved dynamically to Figure 1. Indonesian Earthquake Zoning Map. (Source: http://www.pu.go.id) Besides the Nias Island, Java pedestal made flops, because 3- Island also has the risk of earthquake. dimensional skeletal structure and the Therefore, the traditional architecture in loading system is able to cope with Java Island is one of the works of earthquake force vibration in the seismic architecture that responds earthquake zone 3. His research also shows that through its structural design. Prihatmaji local knowledge of our ancestors is a (2007) in his research found that the problem solving in responding to structure of the Java traditional house earthquakes. The design approach they (called Joglo) is capable to withstand have done has resulted in the design of earthquake forces zone 3. The structural buildings that can respond to lateral factors of this traditional house has forces are generated. capability to withstand vibration earthquake forces through a ductility of On Sulawesi Island, one of the soko guru (main vertical structure most famous and very unique traditional system) wood, construction quality of the architecture on this island is Tongkonan. connection, and the proportion of the This traditional house of Toraja people length-width-height rong-rongan. has an interesting shape with its soaring Prihatmaji also recommends that the use roof. The main building material is wood, of traditional Javanese house at present while the roof cover material used either considered to be safe, if the system bamboo or stone. Toraja is located in an [16] LivaS