FIELD RESEARCH ON TRADITIONAL HOUSE

BUILDING CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS

 INTRODUCTION
The main purpose of the field research is to study the type of
construction materials
• Which were and are used for the construction of traditional house
• The material mix for construction
• Artisanship
• Method of construction of vernacular house
 VERNACULAR BUILDING
• It is not high-style designed created by professional architects and
engineers based on academic or theoretical principles
• Rather it is the skill of traditional building construction pass from one
generation to builders to the next in practical hand-on way through
the use of materials, forms and ornamentation.
• Traditional buildings are disappearing and few traditional houses have
been maintained in their original condition to present.
• Most houses, especially those owned by local residents were
transformed from a common archetype to accommodate modern
ways of living.
 APPROACH AND METHODOLOGY
The designed procedures were involved for data collection are
• Questionnaire
• Interview
• Panel discussion
• Observation
The study area is located in central Gondar zone, Gondar zuria wereda,
lay teda kebele
 RESULT AND DISCUSSION
• The common vernacular house in the area is round/circular
house(tukul) with walls and thatch roofs built in different materials
• Nonadays some of this round house is replaced by rectangular house
with wood, chika walls and corrugated iron sheet roofs
VERNACULAR HOUSE
TRADITIONAL CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS
Traditional construction materials
• Have good insulating effect due to this traditional house have good
condition of temperature during hot and cold weather.
• Are easily available in the local area
• Have low cost
• Have short period of life due to termite, weather condition and black
cotton soil expansiveness
• So, traditional houses need frequent maintenance
TRADITIONAL CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS
The most important popular traditional building construction materials
made from different indigenous sources which are used to construct
vernacular house are
• Wood
• Clay/earth
• Grass
• Straw
• Stone
 WOOD
The main source of wood is Eucalyptus tree around the village
The function of wood in vernacular house construction are
• For the main structure of the house like the central pillar, wall and
roof
• The splitted wood for wall vertical member
• Thin wood for horizontal tie
• For the construction of thatched roof structural member
• The bark is also used for tie purpose in wall and roof construction
Preparation of wood for construction
• Select and cut straight Eucalyptus tree and left for some days to
shrink and loss its water content
• Arrange the wood according to their diameter for the specific
purpose like the main central pillar, vertical and horizontal structural
member of wall and roof structural member
 GRASS
• Grass is used for thatched roof cover
• The type of grass used for roof cover is ‘senbelet’ in which its length is
1m and above
• It is cut at the end of rainy season and left to dry for construction
purpose
 STRAW
• Straw is used as a fiber in clay/earth and water mixture called ‘chika’
in wall construction and plastering purpose
• The source of straw is the by-product of common crops like teff and
dagusa.
 CLAY/EARTH
• The mixture of earth material especially clay with straw of teff/dagusa
is suitable for the construction wall which is called chika
• The preparation of chika is by excavating selected or suitable clay
from borrow area around the village and the mixture of clay and
straw are soaked with water
• The mix is left for at least two month by mixing with water in three
days interval
• The clay used as a cementing material when it is in wet condition and
• The straw is used as a fiber material
 CHIKA
• The chika construction for wall is conducted in two phase
• The first phase is for covering the opening between the wood of the
wall vertical member
• The second phase/layer is used as plastering and applied in the inner
part of the wall for smooth finish and good appearance
• Chika is also used as a mortar in stone masonry
• Earth and cow dung are the common flooring material used in the
village
 STONE(FRAGMENTED ROCK)
• Stone is locally available material and can be extracted from surface
quarries with manpower and simple excavating tool available in the
community
• It can be also collected from the surface of the land around the village
• Stone is used for dry masonry work
• Even if, dry masonry is common in the area for foundation and bracing
support for wall, it is not provide in all traditional house in the village.
• Dry stone masonry is common for fencing and boundary demarcation
purpose
• In rectangular house which is made of wood and chika have masonry with
chika mortar for wall bracing and support purpose.
THATCHED ROOF
STONE
 METHOD OF CONSTRUCTION
The common method of construction round vernacular house are
• The ground on which the house will stand is levelled
• A peg is then driven approximately in the center of the levelled
ground
• A rope is tied to the peg, and sharp stick is tied to the free end. The
rope is kept tight, as a circle is drawn on the ground.
• The house radius varies between 3 and 4m based on the owner
interest, measured from toe to toe
• One group of workers starts on the roof and another group works on
the wall frame
 …Continued
• House construction is essentially a co-operative endeavor. Neighbors
help each other willingly
• Certain details require the attention of master craftsmen like
 The door frame
 The central supporting pole
 The various struts supporting the roof
 Thatched roof
• The wall frame is made from roughly split wood, the individual pieces
are tied with ‘kacha’ rope
 …Continued
• The horizontal rings of the wall frame works are from thin diameter
wood. These are usually placed at intervals of 50cm.
• The height of the wall ranges between 2 and 2.5m
• Thatching begins at the bottom and gradually works up to the top in a
spiral pattern
• There are no windows and no other opening except for the door
DRAWING
 CONCLUSION
The result of this field research showed the society is related to
vernacular house because of
• social value
• weather condition
• cost-effective and
• the available materials which they have in their enclosed community.
 RECOMMENDATION
Based on the finding of the research the following recommendations
were forwarded:
• To sustain social and cultural life of the society, especial attention has
to be given for vernacular houses and for its construction materials.
• The Agricultural office should provide methods to keep and sustain
this Grass, Eucalyptus and other raw construction materials because
of their multi-dimensional advantages for the community.
• Because of social and cultural values of vernacular houses; Architects
and Engineers have to focus on the tactics for efficient management
of the culture system expedient.
 THE END
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