NOTES: A Review of Traditional Architecture Houses in Buddhist Culture. Sonam Chuki, Raju Sarker, Ritesh Kurar, ‘A Review of Traditional Architecture Houses in Buddhist Culture.’ American Journal of Civil Engineering and Architecture, vol.5, no. 3 (2017): 113-123.

NOTES:
A Review of Traditional Architecture Houses in Buddhist Culture.
Sonam Chuki, Raju Sarker, Ritesh Kurar, ‘A Review of Traditional Architecture Houses in Buddhist Culture.’ American Journal of Civil Engineering and Architecture, vol.5, no. 3 (2017): 113-123.
Introduction:
Traditional Architecture:
- Satisfies:
- Functional
- Cultural
- Economic
- Social
- Spiritual requirements
Asian Buddhist Countries (Japan, Nepal, Vietname):
- Mortoise and Tenon
- Dovetail
- Timber construction.
Use of rectilinear form:
-“use of rectilinear form as a respect to traditional architecture since in Buddhism, straight lines represents purity, focus and determination
Decorative elements:
Myanmar:
- Door,
- Window leaves,
- Verandah Handrails
Bhutan:
- Painted with various symbols
o Religious significance
- Explicit paintings of Phallus
o Drive away evil and malicious gossip.
Floor:
Raised at a certain height above the ground to accommodate:
- Pests:
- Flood
- Ventilation.
- Reflects beliefs of a ‘higher value of mind’
Each level of the house represents distinctive functions:
- Comprised mostly of two to three storey dwellings.
- Open attic
- Vertical hierarchy
- Ground floor is used as ow shed.
- First Floor used as living space
- Sacred Space and Alter on the highest level.
- Attic used for crop drying and food storage:
o Products that reflect the agrarian society.
Roof:
- Most important feature.
- Represents: “highest level of the hierarchy system in Buddhist Culture.
- Open pitched roof with deep eaves (similar across asian region)
- High pitched
- Partially climatic response to monsoon rains.
- “according to religious and cultural beliefs, the high pitched roof has an appearance of almost touching the sky, thus, making the roofs connection between heaven and earth.
Materials Used for Construction of Traditional Dwellings
Timber:
- Most important feature
Bhutan:
- Windows
- Doors
- Floors
- Rabsels
- Cornices
- Roof truss
- Structural framework
Vietnam, Laos, Japan, Myanmar, Thailand, China, Nepal:
- Windows,
- Doors
- Framework
- Floors
Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand,
- Wall construction
Wooden shingles used alongside thatch; straw and leaves.
Earth:
- Western part of Bhutan
o Rammed earth
- Colder regions of china
o Inc. Neolithic Cave dwellings.
- ‘Tolou’ (mud walls)
Bamboo:
- Shamig, Ekra (Bhutanese):
o Shamig: mud plaster on bamboo mat inserted between timber frames (internal non-load bearing structure)
o Ekra: ?
- Wall construction:
o Myanmar, Laos, Japan, China.
Stone:
- Wall Construction
- Dwellings and religious structures
- (houses: central and eastern bhutan)
Rice Paper:
- China, Japan, Vietnam.
Japanese Architecture:
- Fusuma, Shoji
- Fusuma:
o “Vertical rectangular panel which slides from side to side and acts as a door”
- Shoji:
o Door, window, room divider
o Transclucent paper over wooden frame.
Literature:
- Architecture is a product of climate, socio-cultural background, religion. -Shah
Kathmandu:
- Small coutyards
- Narrow streets
- Uniform burn and unburnt clay bricks
- Newar settlement.
- Advancment of building technologies:
o Vernacular architecture being curtailed.
o “accepting all of the new developments just in the name of modernism might result in identity problem in the future.”
- Traditional Newari house usually has a typical rectangular plan.
o 3 storey construction
o Timber frame
o External masonry walls (static & dynamic loads)
Japan:
- Japanese: Thermal comfort in traditional house:
o no thermal insulation.
- Tradition of wooden architecture
o Post and beam
o “Basic characteristic”
o Exposed structure
 Express traditional forms and patterns
 Pursuit of perfection within carpentry.
- Various urban traditions culminating in a re-direction in Sapporo (choi)
o “planning and building of early structures in Sapporo coincided with the time when notions of modern Japan have been created.
 (bore resemblance to west american cities such as salt lake city)
Thailand (contemporary house).
- “traditional house designs are superior to the contemporary in providing thermal comfort for all three selected climatic zones of thailand.
o Traditional designs tend to help inform environmental climate reaction of buildings.
Northern Laos:
- Wood preferences impact forest diversity.
Namo Nua:
o Greater construction knowledge
o Materiality seen as important
Houses;
o Built on high poles
o Several meters off the ground
 1 tree walls
 1 tree flooring
 Minimum nails.
Phaou Xang:
o Houses on the ground
o Fewer tree species
- Tradition of using wood as the main building material in these two villages have resulted in extensive forest degradation and the unsustainable way of wood harvest has lead to the extinction of important construction wood.
Spiritual aspect of Thai Architecture
- Traditional Thai:
- High pitched roof
o Grass
o Thatch
o Straw
- Raised floor
o Pests
o Flood
o Insulation
- Thick Brick walls
o Thermal comfort
- Other materials:
o Wood
o Masonry
o Thatch
Mayanmar:
- Dwellings known as Kayin
o Bamboo and timber structure
 Raised 6-8 feet off ground
 Removable ladder
o 3 major categories
 Sagaw
 Paw
 Bwe
- Sagaw Kaying
o Rectangular
o Square
o Plan
o Ladder at east and west orientation
o Always include verandah
- Paw Kayin
o Unsymmetrical plan
o Include decking area
- Bwe Kayin
o Informal balance
o Always place ladder at centre of house
Chinese vernacular
- Climate response
o Severe cold
o Moderate
o Hot summer
o Cold winter
Severe Cold:
- South facing
- Low rise
- Mud walls
- Spacious courtyards
- Sufficient solar access
Moderate Region:
- Timber construction
- Small structure
- Three to five rooms
o Bamboo
o Wooden frames
o Steep thatched roofs
o Sloping eaves
o Wide open corridoors
Tolou (clay building):
- Mu walls
- Several stories high
- Tiled roofs
- Overhanging eaves
- Up to 800 people
- Round or square
- Inc:
o Central open courtyard
o Ancestral hall
o Private school
o Stage.
- Vernacular housing
Bhutanese Dwellings:
- Sustaining the state of wellbeingness
- Sustaining traditional bhutanese dwellings
Shari Village, Paro Dzongkhag:
- Abndance:
o Natural
o Cultural
 Resources
o Biodiversity
Houses:
- Two storeyed buildings
- Open or enclosed attic
- Rammed earth walls
- Houses used wooden planks for flooring
- Modenization, urbanization:
o Led to the decline of traditional houses.
- Royal Govt. Bhutan:
o Guidelines of tradtitional bhutanese dwelling:
 No planning
 Local carpenters (zow)
 Masons (Dozop)
o Examples:
 Dzongs (fortresses)
 Lhakhangs (temples)
 Goenpas (monestaries)
 Chortens (stupas)
o Minor variations in:
 Rabsels (projected windows)
 Material for wall construction
• Stone masonry in eastern part
• Rammed earth in the western part
- Rabsels represent important feature
o Sophistication
o “beautiful and striking nature”
Chinese Vernacular Courtyard house settlement.
- Climatic wind response to influence modern designs.
Truong: sit planning, building design, materiality, researches sveral houses to see how tradition can influence contemporary design.