Proceedings of International Conference on Architecture 2017 (ICRP-AVAN), Unsyiah (Banda Aceh) and UiTM (Perak), October 18-19, 2017, Banda Aceh, Indonesia The “Aceh Method” as a mode of “seeing” Vernacular Knowledge Julie Nichols1, Darren Fong1, Naufal Fadhil2 1School of Art, Architecture and Design, University of South Australia, GPO Box 2471 Adelaide, South Australia 5001, Australia 2Department of Architecture and Planning, Faculty of Engineering, University of Indonesia, Depok, Indonesia *Corresponding Author: [email protected] ABSTRACT By re-envisioning Acehnese buildings through contemporary technological tools, the “Aceh Method” presents to scholars and local people a new way of seeing historical information that re-introduces a unique capture of architectural and cultural heritage. Some of the key problems informing the study of the Acehnese house are illuminated by establishing associations between information which is not normally read or interpreted together, and therefore results in new relationships or “ways of seeing” a rich heritage. The “Aceh Method” employs different forms of technology and skillsets to drive an outcome – a model of interpretation and structure which can be transferred between environments, purposes and cultures. Given Aceh’s catastrophic losses from the tsunami in 2004 particularly in terms of their people and their built cultural heritage records, a transferrable record, distributed to multiple locations offers a safeguarding and endurance of this newly recorded materials. It also offers a “way of seeing” and capturing heritage as a reference for future post-disaster reconstruction strategies. Notably a way of seeing reveals both ‘seen’ and ‘unseen’ conditions. These records will present a typology of housing well-suited to the socio-cultural and environmental conditions as well as a vernacular way of existing in the world, which may not be evident to aid workers and NGOs when they are presented with the colossal task of post-disaster reconstruction. This paper addresses origins of the Acehnese house re-presenting them from anthropological and theoretical perspectives. It reports on the fieldwork activities conducted for July 2017 that have led to the piloting of the “Aceh Method,” this involved a number of modes of capturing traditional Lambunot houses whilst this paper focuses on two of these: 1. VERNADOC – analogue measuring and drawing on site; 2. Digital capture of the surrounding environment through the gigapan tools. The villagers and their built environment are not solely the root of the study but the researchers in the field at the same time are also acknowledged as an integral part of the whole process resulting in a new way of seeing and engaging with this vernacular knowledge. This holistic method re-conceptualizes writing history through the “Aceh Method” acknowledges the curatorial and highly selective process of historiography. It embraces biases and distance from the historical artefact and subject as well as literature from western secondary sources–a reading, it is unapologetically from outsiders’ perspectives. This reading is informed by secondary sources whilst collecting and recording primary data to re- analyse the Aceh house as a microcosmic study of Acehnese built environments. Keywords: Acehnese traditional house, re-conceptualizing vernacular; anthropological architecture. INTRODUCTION According to Kamal A. Arif in his book Ragam Citra Kota Banda Aceh, the Acehnese house or Rumoh Aceh was originally conceived, from a maritime tradition as a boat-house typology. It is thought it was designed in response to an entrenched geographical association with the sea—a site of exchange, international networks and knowledge transfer for the local communities. Rumoh Aceh was also referred to as a type of stage house [elevated structure for activities of the family] that was earthquake-resistant and 6 Proceedings of International Conference on Architecture 2017 (ICRP-AVAN), Unsyiah (Banda Aceh) and UiTM (Perak), October 18-19, 2017, Banda Aceh, Indonesia designed to anticipate floods and ocean tides. (Arif, 2009). Potentially, the Rumoh Aceh and its evolving vernacular from a boat-like house to a stage-like space for daily dwelling reflects a respectful acknowledgement of the natural environment as well as a mode of dwelling bridging physical and spiritual worlds. To recast the Acehnese house as an architecture adhering to modern concerns of maritime environmental disasters, historical continuity of spiritual belief systems, repositions this vernacular knowledge as a living tradition—an anchor for socially cohesive practices for resilient communities. This is the conceptual positioning from which the “Aceh Method” – a multi-modal means of recording, measuring, and representing the traditional archetype of the Acehnese house in its existing socio-cultural context of Lambunot Village Indrapuri, is proposed. (Nusfi, 2017). Geographer Yi Fu Tuan’s notion, of what we will call, ‘seen’ conditions bring to this study of the ‘traditional’ Acehnese house another layer of interpretation to pragmatic considerations of environment. ‘Seen’ conditions are understood as representing a permanent, tangible, familiar, sentimental and sedentary attachment to place, relying on human qualities of sensory perception of their environment encompasses relationships typically explored in vernacular architectural discourse. (Tuan, 1976). These tangible experiences are related to human sensory visible spatial responses to climate. The paper also explores new ‘ways of seeing’ the house with the ‘Aceh Method,’ whereby often non- tangible relations that exist in vernacular architecture may be conceptualized as ‘unseen’ conditions. These are dynamic interconnections between the built form, as well as psychological or spiritual understandings established from ancient belief systems. The ‘Aceh Method’ acknowledges that architectural space-making theorized through these different lenses—geographic quantities of the land and sea, resonating as both physical and cosmological entities in pre-modern Indonesian cultures are necessary considerations of these house typologies. There is some debate around these origins in contemporary understandings. The ‘Aceh Method’ encourages multiple understandings through new ‘ways of seeing’ for contemporary insight. Pragmatic and ‘seen’ conditions of the sea include: the sourcing food; trading materials; food, technologies and ideas; an avenue to facilitate transport for social or religious purposes or generally as a connection to a global environment for travel and exploration. A stage house was responsive both structurally and spiritually in its demountability and varying level changes in the house. The sea was also an unknown realm, exhibiting ‘unseen’ relationships with cosmological sea creatures as part of an underworld of potentially submerged dangerous spirits. It also poses unpredictable, environmental threats to villages within its proximity. Positive connotations included being transported via the sea between cosmological worlds. The land and sea appear as design influences in the evolution of the archetype of the house. Socio-cultural practices of the local communities’ with belief systems infused by ancient Hindu references (the ‘unseen’) alongside Koranic understandings of being in the world (the ‘seen’) are conceived as a bridging of these theoretical ideas. Therefore, the Acehnese house is re-conceptualised as a precedent embodying both ‘seen’ and ‘unseen’ contributions which imbue meaning in architectural space. The qualities of the production of such space cannot be measured in terms solely of their tangible and intangible attributes but rather how they inform, unite and create social cohesion through sets of rules which enable the historical continuity of cultural relationships. The ‘Aceh Method’ provides the leverage for this holistic analysis. Firstly, through the theoretical and historical analysis, secondly onsite architectural anthropological analysis, thirdly 3-D capture through gigapan and drone mapping of context, and video capture of people in their daily lives and landscapes. Between architectural and anthropological sources the ‘Aceh Method’ revives Acehnese archetypes as a long and living tradition, exhibiting valuable cultural memories to challenge generic housing solutions which have prevailed in post-tsunami Aceh 2004. Questions around, why is the preservation of built cultural heritage important for societies who have experienced significance loss and trauma? To what extent does adhering to historically continuous ideas around built space, construction and habitation facilitate a sense of belonging and identity with a community beyond shelter but contributing to psychological and socio- cultural rehabilitation? A reconsideration of approaches to the future creation of domestic spaces for living is required. The ‘Aceh Method’ links information for new understandings which necessarily respond to socio-cultural conditions. It is a proposal to navigate desires and aspirations for modern conveniences, whilst relating to an evolving identity to continue to ‘anchor’ social resilience. 7 Proceedings of International Conference on Architecture 2017 (ICRP-AVAN), Unsyiah (Banda Aceh) and UiTM (Perak), October 18-19, 2017, Banda Aceh, Indonesia ACEH: HISTORICALLY – WAYS OF SEEING Aceh’s early urban settlements supported ethnicities ranging from Persians, Indians, Chinese, Arabs, Malays, Acehnese as an indication of some of the cultural diversity