BALE: IFUGAO HOUSE
Ifugao house building is one of the most admired ethnic architectural designs for having employed an indigenous system of construction that is more complex than its seeming simplicity.
ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN o
LOCATION o It is harmoniously located with the contour of the rice terraces. The one-room house of o the Ifugao commonly known to them as fale.
VIEWS OF THE IFUGAO HOUSE o
EXTERIOR VIEW The exterior of the house seems to be almost nothing but a pyramid resting on four posts. INTERIOR VIEW The interior space is enclosed by slanting walls and ceiling that appears to be spherical that are formed by the loft. Inside the house house was embellished embellished rows of skulls of animals offered to gods during their annual rituals and also as a source of pride to the homeowner
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FLOOR LEVELS OF THE IFUGAO HOUSE
The concept within the house can conceptualized as Three-Leveled Dwelling: o
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GROUND LEVEL It has four post supporting the house. The posts have wooden discs which was called oliang to prevent rats from entering enter ing the house. SECOND LEVEL is the living area that was accessible It through a removable ladder. social affairs, eating, cooking and The sleeping are all done in this area. THIRD LEVEL There was the patie, it is a shelf that extends from the wallboards outwards to the underside of the roof. It serves as the storage area and as a structural support to the roof.
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Structural Frame The Ifugao house is sturdily crafted of timber from amugawan trees raised on four posts, which was buried 50 centimetres below the ground and locked in with stones. It reveals a complex technology that renders it a tensile strength capable of withstanding devastating typhoons, torrential rain, and violent earthquakes. The four wooden posts that rest upon the pavement and support two wooden girders, which also supports three wooden transverse joists. The floor joists, floor silts, vertical studs and horizontal beams rests on the post and girders at about head level from a cage. The floor boards were fitted between the joists. The wooden sides of the house slant outward and rise up to the waist, this forms the lower half of the wall. In its entirety, no nails and bolts are used for all connections. The upper half of the wall is formed by the inner side of the roof. This creates a dark, windowless chamber which suggests a womb. The roof system rests on the “house cage”. The steeply pitched pyramidal roof is covered with thick layers of thatch or cogon, this insulate the house from the heat of the sun and from the torrential rail.
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Size and Floor Plan
The Ifugao house has a square floor plan. Although the size of the house is determined by the socio-economic status of the people, an average Ifugao house is approximately 1214 feet wide and 12-14 feet long.
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Parts of the House ). The house is erected on four 1. Posts (tukud ). strong posts which are usually made of large round logs having an approximate size of 812 inches wide by 6-10 feet in length. These are buried about 2-3 feet below the ground and locked in with stones as foundation. Some posts have intact roots. These are simply set on the ground with the truncated roots acting as footing. 2. Wooden Discs (lidi ). Around the four posts are wooden discs to prevent rats from entering the house. The discs are about 2 to 14 inches thick and 36 to 40 inches in diameter. Either a square opening or a bore
hole is created at the middle portion for the post’s tip to fit in. 3. Transverse Girders (kuling). Two transverse girders are attached at the front and rear posts. They support the two floor beams and center floor joist. Girders may be 12-14 inches thick with 14-16 inches depth and 1214 feet long. The top surface of each girder is flat while the base is rounded. 4. Side Floor Beams (mundilig). These are the outer two floor beams through which the tenons of the secondary posts and wallboards are mortised. They have right angled grooves to receive the floorboards. 5. Center Floor Beam (gawaan). It is the center floor beam upon which the floorboards are fastened. Both sides of the center floor beam have right angled grooves for attaching the floorboards. 6. Front and Rear Floor joist (hakpo). These are the first two floor boards upon which the other boards are affixed. 7. Secondary Posts (bagat ). These are the posts at the house’s main level. Each post is mortised at the base with the outer floor beam. Likewise, each upper tenon of the secondary post is mortised with the purlin. 8. Floor (dotal ). The wooden planks of the floor are about 2 inches thick and 7 feet 7 inches long. The width varies from 12 or 16 to 30 inches wide that covers the whole floor area. 9. Purlin (wanan). The wanan is a horizontal timber supporting the rafters of the roof. It also carries the central cross-beam . 10. Intermediate Post ( pamadingan). These support the ceiling beam and the lintel beam or purlin. 11. Wall Header (huklub). This chest level transverse beam is where the wall boards are rabbeted. 12. Wall boards (gaob). These measure about 1½ inches thick, with varying width and height. Each board has a v-shaped bottom and top to fit the grooved floor beams, joists, and wall header. 13. Shelves ( patye). These are built at the sides of the walls. From the wall header to the roof, boards are fitted horizontally to form a shelf. The space is wide enough to accommodate many clothes, mats, blankets and other household belongings. The shelf above the wall header serves as a cupboard. 14. Attic Central Beam (pumpitolan). It is upon this attic central beam where one or two king posts are positioned.
15. King Post (taknang). The king post holds the roof from collapsing. It stands at the attic central beam and its tip as attached at the center of the apex frame. 16. Apex Frame (ambubullan). The ambubullan supports the upper ends of the rafters, the roof a pyramidal shape. It also serves as the smoke exhaust of the house. 17. Attic ( palah/palan). A stick mat (atag) is fitted between the crossbeam and purlin to serve as a platform for the attic. 18. Rafters (kaho). These are long, round tree trunks or chopped flat boards held by the square roof apex frame. Small tree branches are chiseled and pegged into the apex frame to hold the top rafters in place. The lower ends of the rafters are also pegged to the purlins. They are equally spaced and cantilevered to the level of the floor area. 19. Cross rafters (ibat). Split bamboos and stick of ronos are laid out across the longitudinal rafters and are tied by rattan vines. 20. Roofing (atop). Bundled cogon grass roofing are laid begining from the base to the top. These are tied over woven slit bamboos. The eaves of the roof may descend to the level the floor. The door is constructed facing south so as not to face directly the rising of the sun from the east. Doing otherwise will expose the occupants to accidents and death. Sliding panels of wood are used to close doorways. Entrance to the house is gained by means of a ladder that is removed at night. 21. Fireplace (pamalakngan). It is composed of a hearth (pundapulan), fire wood shelf (huguhug), and rice stacking shelf (palaan). Except for houses used as rice granaries, the Ifugao house is equipped with an earthen fireplace about 3 to 5 square feet. Above it are layers of open shelves. The lower shelf is used for drying firewood. A shelf above it is used to dry stacks of rice and other food staples to be dried and preserved. 22. Door (panto). Movable door shutters are hanged to a rattan vine tied to the end of the wallboards of to the intermediate posts and door jambs. It is locked in place by a wooden bar to a hook-shaped wood. 23. Ladder (tete). It is a wooden or bamboo ladder with wooden rungs. It provides access to the house. For the safety of the occupants, the ladder is pulled inside at night.
Sources: Ifugao House, http://en.wikipilipinas.org/index.php/Ifugao_House Ifugao House, http://www.nikeprogramme.org/index.php/ik-database/researches/82-knowledge-we-wrote/109-ifugao-house.html Ifugao, House, Rosario S. Encarnacion, et. al., FOLK ARCHITECTURE
