MATERIALS AND TECHNIQUES ROHIT DEVGAN ASHMEET SINGH SINGH
is an architectural style that is designed based on local needs, availability of construction materials and reflecting local traditions. At least originally, vernacular architecture did not use formallyschooled architects, but relied on the design skills and tradition of local builders. Vernacular architecture can be contrasted against polite architecture which is characterized by stylistic elements of design intentionally incorporated for aesthetic purposes which go beyond a building's functional requirements. This article also covers the term , which exists somewhere between the two extremes yet still is based upon up on authentic themes
is an architectural style that is designed based on local needs, availability of construction materials and reflecting local traditions. At least originally, vernacular architecture did not use formallyschooled architects, but relied on the design skills and tradition of local builders. Vernacular architecture can be contrasted against polite architecture which is characterized by stylistic elements of design intentionally incorporated for aesthetic purposes which go beyond a building's functional requirements. This article also covers the term , which exists somewhere between the two extremes yet still is based upon up on authentic themes
is any material which is used for construction purposes. Many naturally occurring substances, such as clay, rocks, sand, and wood, even twigs and leaves, have been used to construct buildings. Apart from naturally occurring materials, many man-made products are in use, some more and some less synthetic. The manufacture of building materials is an established industry in many countries and the use of these materials is typically ty pically segmented into specific specialty trades, such as carpentry, c arpentry, insulation, plumbing, and roofing work.
There is quite a range of materials used in vernacular construction . However it depends on native land or typology of area which are plains , hilly , coastal or desert. Some very common are :
•
•
•
•
•
Wood construction is common for many single-family houses throughout the world. In areas where timber and wood materials are easily accessible, wood construction is often considered to be the cheapest and best approach for small housing structures. The advantages of timber housing construction stem from the use of timber, a lightweight and ductile building material. A critical issue in timber construction is related to the connections (floor-beam, column –beam or panel-beam) and their ability to transfer the forces from one building member to another and then down to the foundation. It should be noted that the wood is quite vulnerable to the effects of humidity and insects.
These types use all forms of timber available from logs to sawn/shaped timbers to smaller branches and leaves. These types also utilize various types of wall coverings from plant-based coverings to timber materials to earthen materials, such as mud or stone .
Thatch construction
post-and-beam Frame construction Wood Panel construction Stud-wall frames with plywood
HOUSE IN KERALA WOODEN HOUSES IN ZIRO, ARUNACHAL PRADESH
KULLU HOUSES ARE MORE EARTHQUAKE RESISTANT
•
•
•
•
The mud – house uses minimal energy, is comfortable year round. The mud – house construction uses only simple natural materials, which are any digging soil from the earth mixed with water. Mud house construction is durable and can be easily recycled . Mud construction also provide air conditioning system which provide cool air from the massive walls.
These are Various Construction Techniques used for mud construction of buildings. Techniques as follows: Cob Wattle and Daub method
Pise or Rammed earth Adobe
•
•
•
To save natural resources. Using neither cement nor rock (Save our mountains.
•
•
Main materials are soil and water, mixed to be mud, if the mud is too sticky, we can add up with paddy husky or rice straw or local fiber weed or bamboo.
•
•
•
•
To save energy Cool in summer (Inside building temperature is about 24° c to 26 ° c Warm in Winter (Automatic control temperature by passive cooling system)
•
•
•
•
•
To save money . No air – conditioning, no electricity bills.
Humidity is the crucial factor, mud-house will easily be fungus. The brand- new mud-house may have foul odor of crushed green leaves Termites usually buildup on mud structure
EXAMPLES : MUD AS A CONSTRUCTION MATERIAL
1. The Mud House at Anangpur Village, Surajkund, Haryana, is located on land that was once a quarry, mining quartzite and Badarpur stone dust. 2. The architecture of the house is based on the premise that the purpose of human culture is to accord dignity to all forms of life, to recognize the holistic nature of the environment and to value its regenerating and self-healing capabilities. 3. The design process has actively been guided towards the evolution of an ecological architectural vocabulary informed by indigenous building practices. 4. The creating of space, form and visual characteristics is based on the rearrangement of natural materials found on the site and its surroundings, with a minimum, judicious use of nonrenewable, non-bio-degradable and fossil resources such as metals, stone, stone slabs, plastics, cement, lime etc.
THE HOMES OF VILLAGERS ARE HANDICRAFT AND CONSTRUCTED WITH THE MUD
•
•
•
•
•
•
Stones are traditionally used in hilly areas like Himachal Pradesh, Shimla, Ladakh etc. Stone is highly durable, low maintenance building material with high thermal mass. It is versatile available in many shapes, size, colors and textures. It is used for floor, arches, walls and roofs. Stone blends well with natural landscape and can easily be recycled for other building purposes. Stones have been considered as one of the popular building material from the olden days due to their availability in abundance from the natural rocks.
•
•
•
•
RUBBLE DIMENSION STONE FLAGSTONE CRUSHED STONE
FOUNDATION AND PLINTH :Stone plinth is filled upto a meter from the ground level and higher in case of tower temples. The depth of the trench is relative to the height of the structure. For two storey the depth is 0.6 to 1m and incase of tower temples it may be as deep as 3m. •
WALL (WOOD AND STONE WALL):The walls are constructed with alternate course of dry masonry and wood without any cementing mortar. This types of wall construction involves two wooden wall beams parallel to each other with a gap in between. The gap is filled with rubble stone. •
FLOOR AND STAIRCASE :The ground floor is raised above the stone plinth and finished with adobe. It functions as an insulating layer and at the same time remains warmer than stone finished surface. The floor beams are shear pinned with the wall logs. •
ROOF :The roof structure is constructed out of wooden beams followed by purlins and rafters, topped with slate or wooden shingles. The slate stones also weighs down the structure against strong winds. •
EXAMPLES : STONE AS A CONSTRUCTION MATERIAL
A typical house in himachal pradesh is built using kath-khuni construction technique and is usually two or three storey high. The lower floor is for cattle and the upper floors are for residence, kitchen and storing. It shows a typical house with guashala at the bottom, and living area on the top capped off by a pent-andgable roof. Temple has similar features with different proportions.
Temples of kath-khuni
Bamboo is available in abundance in North-east states of India . Riang houses, Mizo houses and Adi Gallong houses use bamboo as the primary material for construction . Sometimes even the thatch is made of bamboo leaves. There are typical hill houses constructed on bamboo stilts and have woven bamboo mats for walls. Flooring is made of splits or flattened bamboo. In south india bamboo was used majorly in roofing structure for both sloped and flat lime surki roofs In the coastal belt, bamboo is used for walling and roofing structure, as also for fencing mostly by the fishermen. The walls are made of woven mats from Bamboo. Famous Kerala house boats use bamboo for their complete superstructure in •
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Light weight Available in abundance As region experiences heavy rainfall houses on stilt are prefered as a flood precaution ,which are easily constructed with bamboo . Has good tensile strength Does not require very skilled craftsmen Very durable Cost effective
To prepare bamboo for use in construction, the culms (stems) must be carefully split. Iron or hardwood bars, 2.5cm (1") thick Ax Steel wedges , Wooden posts ,Splitting knives Several devices can be used for splitting culms. When bamboo is split the edges of the bamboo strips can be razor-sharp; they should be handled carefully. Small culms can be split to make withes (strips) for weaving and lashing: Use a splitting knife with a short handle and broad blade to make four cuts, at equal distances from each other, in the upper end of the culm
Bamboo parts are usually lashed together because nails will split most culms. The withes (strips) for lashing are often split from bamboo and sometimes from rattan. When all local bamboo yields brittle withes, lashing must be done with bark, vines or galvanized iron wire. In bending bamboo--for example, for the "Double Butt Bent Joint"can help to keep the bamboo from splitting by boiling or steaming it and bending it while it is hot. Local artisans often know the best species of bamboo and they have frequently worked out practical methods for making joints.
•
•
•
•
Thatch is a roof covering made of dead plant material - other than wood. Grasses and palm leaves are the most widely used materials; many others, such as seaweed, herbaceous fibres and large leaves provide roofing for traditional building in some countries. It was used in many states in India because of its easy availability and almost no cost . It was mostly used by rural tribes or lower class of people (shudras) to build there kaccha houses. Examples of use of thatched roof can be seen in Gugrat, Punjab ,Kerela , Assam .
House by Nyishi tribe Arunachal pradesh
Kukis house in Manipur
First, it uses locally produced material. Supplies can be increased at very little cost to the community and without risk of upsetting the local economy. Grass or palm leaves grow again every year and with the simplest care will provide abundant thatching material. Thatching can provide the basis for small business where people have few or no resources, and can thus increase prosperity and independence. Farmers and thatching craftsmen would both benefit directly and in turn help the local economy. • The technique provides aesthetically better looking and more durable roof: . • Provides safety on the long run. • Reduced maintenance expenditure. • Long life which is expected to be between 12-15 years. • The technique can usher in an atmosphere of self help and cooperative spirit at the village level. •
•
•
•
•
The two fundamental sspects of a thatching material are the minimum roof slope it needs (measured in degrees/“), and its weight (measured in kilograms per square metre/kg/m2).
•
•
•
•
Thatch should be laid on a roof pitch of at least 45”, preferably 50”. This applies to all grass and palm thatch. The steep slope is needed so that water will run off from the roof surface with minimal penetration into the body of the thatch coat. At a pitch lower than 45” the thatch will decay very rapidly
Thatch construction • • •
Thatch construction is generally a traditional construction type. Wood is used as main supporting members as cover it by thatch. A lightweight roof, such as the thatched roof typical for traditional housing construction in Malawi (Figure 3, left), results in much superior seismic performance when compared to the heavy roofs found in the traditional adobe construction.
A traditional yomata with thatched roof in Malawi
Thatch roofing on timber and burnt brick masonry wall
After cutting and loosely bundling, each bundle is shaken briskly to dislodge all loose material. The bundles are then cleaned by passing a sickle through them. This removes the remaining leaf growth from the lower two thirds of the stalks. The grass is then remade into bundles. These bundles are each tied with a thong of twisted grass or with twine and packed in heaps about 2m high and 3 m in diameter at the base. When the thatch is to be used for the area immediately above the thatching battens, where the underside will often be exposed within a room, the material should be combed to ensure that the stalks are perfectly clean. A comb is made by driving a number of round wire nails into a approximately 300 mm length of horizontal pole. •
•
•
•
•
Mud brick, also referred to by the Spanish name of 'Adobe' which means mud or puddle earth, generally refers to the technique of building with sun-dried mud blocks in either load bearing or non load bearing construction. Mud bricks are becoming increasingly commercially available in a range of stabilized and non stabilized bricks.
Sun Dried Mud Bricks Or Adobe
Mould size for making of Adobe
Mud brick has several advantages over conventional fired clay or concrete masonry. The advantages include : 1. Low in embodied energy 2. Utilization of natural resources and minimal use of manufactured products 3. Good sound absorption characteristics 4. High thermal mass 5. A claimed ability to "breath" 6. Suited to a wide range of soils 7. Easily manufactured and worked 8. Flexibility in design/color/surface finishes 9. Insulation properties similar to those of concrete or brickwork
ADOBE
•
•
•
•
•
Mud bricks are typically 250 mm wide x 125 mm high x 375 mm long and normally made from earth with a clay content of 50 to 80% with the remainder comprising a grading of sand, silt or gravel. Kaolin clays are the preferred clay types due to their non expansion characteristics. Blocks shall be kept covered with air tight polythene sheets for first 48 hrs with relative humidity up to 100. Wet Bricks Mud Moulds Polythene sheets shall be removed after 48 hrs and the blocks shall be kept in shaded area like having enough air circulation Sprinkle water over blocks daily , as many times needed, during 28 days. Write date of production on block corner. Cover stacks top with coconut leaves or any other cover to KAOLIN CLAY avoid direct sunlight. Principle is that blocks shall not dry for 4weeks.
