Materials
traditional architecture
ICH Materials 32
Publications(Article)
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PRACTICE OF CONSTRUCTING THE MONGOLIAN GERThe ger, a traditional dwelling created by nomadic Mongolians, is specifically designed to fit their way of life. Its semi- sphere shape helps the ger endure storms and tempests. It has solutions for heat control and ventilation. It is flexible in terms of size and design, and it is portable and lightweight. At the same time, it is also comfortable to live in and easy to build and dismantle. Moreover, the ger is used as a measure for time and directions.Year2013NationSouth Korea
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Cultural Heritage in Conflict AreasTo professionals in the sector of cultural heritage and stewards who recognize its significance to us all, tangible objects and intangible traditions both possess more power than many realize. There is a reason why in times of conflict, historic buildings and the rites and rituals related to these tangible elements are targeted as a means of violence: because as a direct line to identity, community, solidarity, belonging, unity, and connection to the past, both tangible and intangible heritage are an easy target for those who seek to obtain control by dismantling those rudimentary building blocks. Extremist groups, political regimes, and global institutions are all well aware that one of the most fundamental ways to injure a people is to separate them from the elements of cultural heritage that otherwise connect us, fill us up, and provide us with a sense of self, place, and purpose—and ultimately make us human.\n\nThe power that cultural heritage holds over entire nations, vastly spread ethnic groups, and displaced people across the globe does increase the vulnerability of the precious manifestations of that heritage—everything from architecture marvels to the surprisingly meaningful trinkets laying around peoples’ houses to the recipes, fairy tales, figures of speech, and traditional melodies passed down from generation to generation. But this strong influence can also be harnessed as a more positive asset, especially in the aftermath of conflict and trauma.\n\nAs communities heal from the wounds carved by violence and destruction in contexts like war, political upheaval, civil unrest, or natural disasters, cultural heritage may be a lifeline to which they can cling. Programs offered by global organizations like ICCROM and grassroots movements alike are mobilizing cultural heritage in the aftermath of destructive conflicts, fashioning it into a tool that will help to re-establish a sense of unity and identity. Honoring traditions by telling stories, revisiting significant locations, cooking recipes, and documenting intangible heritage offers an arena in which current pains can be momentarily soothed by the comfort of familiar customs and the reunification of a community. The education of local history has offered a similar sense of togetherness through the remembrance of a shared past, in which our identities the present day are so deeply rooted. But furthermore, history adds a layer of perspective, accounting for many of the grudges and lingering pains in which modern conflicts are often steeped.\n\nOutside of conflict zones, heritage can continue to pull its weight in the post-conflict recovery process. As refugees navigate displacement in new environments, collections at museums containing heritage objects that hail from their home countries can become touchstones of familiarity and opportunities for intangible heritage to be remembered and maintained. Through both the tangible objects themselves, which may hold particular significance and meaning to the people who come from the same cultural background, and through the elements of intangible heritage, memory, and identity that the items invoke, historical artifacts can be instrumental in establishing new communities and connections among immigrants and refugees.\n\nSeveral museums have recognized their role as meeting places offering programs in which displaced communities are trained as museum guides and deliver tours in their native languages, projects like this enable displaced people to be connected to their heritage while participating in the exchange of diverse cultural experiences within the museum. Although the tangible collections are the base of such initiatives, they also provide a venue for language, memory, culture, and identity to be expressed and kept alive.\n\nBoth on the ground as the dust settles in post-conflict zones and in widespread corners of the globe where displaced persons start new lives, cultural heritage has great potential to serve as a steppingstone as individuals and communities take steps forward in their healing process. In reconnecting individuals to the traditions, memory, community, shared history, and identity that shapes every one of us, heritage is undoubtedly powerful. But beyond this, in its appeal to the part of the human psyche that inherently yearns to belong to something, to know where we have come from, and to feel safely held by the cultures, which serve as a placeless home, some would argue that heritage is essential.\n\nPhoto : Science Photo Library, CC BY NTB scanpixYear2020NationCentral Asia
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CHALLENGES OF INTANGIBLE CULTURAL HERITAGE SAFEGUARDING IN INDIAIndia is the repository of an astounding wealth of intangible heritage with distinctive qualities of its own. The variety of geophysical features of India reflects its cultural diversity, from the Himalayan peaks to the sea coast, river-fed plains, marshlands, and deserts, all of which has helped shape its intangible culture in consonance with nature. India is a pluralistic society that combines different religions, faiths, racial communities, languages, and cultures. It has a wide range of artistic activities, traditional knowledge systems, folklore, performing arts and festivals, with about eight hundred dialects, and more than twenty officially recognized languages, several faiths, various styles of art, architecture, literature, music, dance, and lifestyle patterns from the urban and rural to the tribal.Year2009NationIndia
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Coral Stone Mosques of the Maldives: The Vanishing Legacy of the Indian OceanThe Department of Heritage of the Republic of Maldives held an exhibition to display architectural drawings showcasing Maldivian craftsmanship skills at Maldives National Museum of the Maldives from 28 May to 31 July 2017. The event also featured the illustrations on Maldivian coral carpentry by a renowned Maldivian architect, Mohamed Mauroof Jameel. In the opening ceremony of the exhibition, “Coral Stone Mosques of the Maldives: The Vanishing Legacy of the Indian Ocean” was launched. It is a book detailing the architecture and coral carpentry of coral stone mosques co-authored by Mohamed Mauroof Jameel and Yahya Ahmad, a Malaysian architect.\n\nThe coral stone mosques in Maldives embody the intricate carpentry skills of the Maldivian. Intricately carved, they are exceptional with their lacquerware; an architectural creation seen only in Maldives. Coral carpentry dates back to the Buddhist era in the twelfth century and continued till the introduction of masonry in the late eighteenth century. As the only long-lasting and easily available materials were coral stone and timber, coral stones became the primary building material for monumental buildings. Skilled workers would lift live reef coral boulders or Porite corals from the seabed, cut them into stone blocks while still soft, air dry, and then interlock them to build an edifice. The method of construction using coral blocks was the tongue and groove method, an excellent building technique used in the ancient Maldives. Coral stone construction became even more refined during the emergence of Islam, particularly when the cutting techniques of Swahili region in East Africa influenced Maldivian artisans. The fusion of Buddhist and Islamic cultures in Maldives is reflected in the architecture of the mosques.\n\nHowever, removing corals is now prohibited due to environmental implications. The physical setting of the Maldivian islands with faros (ring-shaped reefs) by reef sediments resulted in the formation of coral reef islands. It is believed that the traditional lifestyle of the people had almost negligible impact on the marine environment. Being a country with more territorial sea than dry land, Maldivians highly depend on resources from the sea. Henceforth, coral reefs are not only economically important to Maldives in terms of revenue since they also function as a buffer to shorelines from wave action and other oceanic processes. It is found that coral mining for coral carpentry could be highly destructive and is carried out at a high cost to the reef environment with a very small return of corals as building materials. Consequently, the Government of Maldives is controlling coral mining with legislation, mindful of the environmental implications of such practice.\n\nThe only coral stone mosques left are those that were built during the ancient times. Maldivians do not practice coral carpentry anymore; however, coral carpentry as a skill is still being transmitted for the future generations. The existing coral carvings and construction are safeguarded by the government and local communities. This heritage embodies spiritual values and history of the Maldivian communities.\n\nPhoto : Detail of coral carving on the premises of Male' Friday Mosque © Dominic SansoniYear2017NationMaldives
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O le ʻIe Sae, o le Maniti a Tamāliʻi—Weaving Social Cohesion in SamoaSamoa is a country of great natural beauty with a rich and distinguished cultural heritage. Living in isolation from the rest of the world in the vast Pacific Ocean, Sāmoans have developed a body of traditional ecological knowledge and a wide range of artisanal skills enabling them to create all they need to live in comfort and safety. The wellbeing of the extended family and an intricate network of kinship ties form a complex system of traditional governance and social organisation in one of the few remaining chiefdom cultures of the modern world. The mainstay of this culture and the profusion of expressions emanating from it is the natural environment. Sāmoans had a kinship relationship with the contingent world, living in harmony with the natural resources that provided for their wellbeing.\n\nFilled with a spirit of inquiry, sogāsogā, early settlers in the island archipelago adapted the knowledge they brought with them with succeeding generations refining and building on that knowledge with new and innovative uses. The knowledge and skills of the tufuga or expert artisan, can be seen in fale Samoa, a resilient style of architecture perfectly suited to the climate; in alia, swift double-hulled ocean voyaging canoes capable of sailing the vast ocean using stars, waves, clouds, currents, and birds for navigation; in tanoa, functional and aesthetic wooden bowls used in rituals; in ingenious and versatile ʻafa (coconut sennit), a versatile and strong cord used in myriad cultural products including houses and boats; in tatau (tattoo), that adorns both men and women; and, in lālaga, finely woven pandanus leaf mats created to strengthen social cohesion.\n\nRural women in Samoa are highly skilled weavers, and the finest of mats are known as ‘ie sae. These precious heirlooms take many months and even decades to make and are reserved for important milestones in the life of a person: birth, marriage, the bestowal of a chief’s title, and death. They are presented in connection with the building of traditional houses and churches. Old mats associated with important historical events are so highly valued that they are given names. An example of this is Le Ageagea o Tūmua, presented by the village of Lufilufi to the Prime Minister of New Zealand after she apologized to the people of Samoa in 2002 for catastrophic mistakes made during the early administration of Samoa as a British colony. The name ‘ie sae is derived from the ingenious process of splitting the pandanus leaves lengthwise. There are several varieties of pandanus cultivated by the weavers themselves, often with the help of men in their households and children in the family. The variety used to weave ‘ie sae is known as lauʻie.\n\nBecause of its importance to Samoan culture, the Government of Samoa established a Fine Mat and Siapo program in 2003 with the twofold aim of increasing the making of fine mats and siapo or bark cloth art throughout the country and standardizing dimensions and quality. Since then, ʻie sae and siapo have been paraded annually in a ceremony coinciding with the National Day for Women.\n\nThe ‘ie sae is arguably the single most important cultural product created by women in Samoa. It is cultural currency ritually exchanged to meet social obligations, strengthening kinship ties, and thereby contributing to social cohesion in Samoan society. Of all the accolades designating the importance of the ʻie sae, perhaps the most intriguing is that it send shivers of delight to Samoa’s aristocracy: o le ʻie sae, o le maniti a tamāliʻi.\n\nPhoto : A child watches and learns as her mother weaves a fine mat ⓒ Steven PercivalYear2019NationSamoa
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Advances and Challenges in Safeguarding Traditional Medicine in CuraçaoSitting on an unwalled cement floor with a coconut frond roof (a recently imported trend in outdoor architecture), a group of about thirty people listened on while a man explained how over one hundred years ago his grandfather gave leaves of the plant they were just now talking about to his donkeys, for strength. This would help them carry their loads much more easily. The fact that it thundered for several seconds at the exact moment the man finished talking was taken as a natural sign of confirmation. Some agreed somewhat jokingly about the thunder; others were quite clear this was a confirmation and matter-of-factly went on with the rest of the conversation; still others wanted the rest of the group to at least reflect on such a relationship with nature a little longer before continuing.\nThis is one of the latest settings in which traditional medicine, espe-cially herbalism is being explored, safeguarded, revitalized, transformed and shared. The group is Bo salú ta den bo kurá (Your health is in your yard) and meets every third Sunday of the month in a space donated for the meetings those Sundays. Medicinal and nutritional qualities of local herbs are discussed, traditional healing wisdom shared, planting methods are shown, local natural products sold and networking happens among healers, agriculturalists, healthy living advocates, community activists, retirees, people from all walks of life. The place is Curacao, and although this kind of exchange is relatively new it is based both on traditional forms and on traditional wisdom, combined with the latest information from the internet, connections to international networks, and environmental science.Year2019NationSouth Korea
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Voices of the Wind: Celebrating Traditional Musicians of LaosLaos is host to a diversity of cultures, traditions, and arts. While the handicraft heritage of the country, such as textile production, is widely promoted, documented, and commercialized, its rich musical traditions remain largely unknown and underestimated. The same could be said of its built heritage – much work and funding has gone into stabilizing or renovating architecture and buildings, particularly religious sites of national importance. Intangible cultural traditions, such as how to sing traditional songs, how to make instruments, and how to play certain instruments, are being left by the wayside. Due to its specific topography and the variety of ethnic groups inhabiting Laos, the country hosts an impressive diversity of musical styles. Singing is the most common form of musical expression in Laos. Traditional popular songs are called “khap” in the north and “lam” in the south. Traditional singing of Laos (khap-lam) is also used as symbol of ethnic identity, as each group has its own melodic model or musical style. While a rich knowledge exists about music, it is rarely explicitly verbalized, as most musical practices are implicitly learned through processes of listening/observation and imitation. Today, however, documenting and safeguarding this ancestral knowledge is urgent, as new media and changing social mores lead to changes in traditional mechanisms of transmission.Year2019NationLao People's Democratic Republic
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Hanji: A Korean Heritage Connecting Tradition and ModernismThere is a rich tradition of hand papermaking in East Asia that is still alive today. In Korea, hanji (traditional paper) making remains a distinguished cultural activity. According to many studies, such as the one conducted by Minah Song and Jesse Munn,1. different methods and materials in making hanji are tested to gauge permanence and durability. This is done because traditional Korean paper serves many functions, from it being a primary element in architecture and interior design to the versatility of hanji in art-making and recreation. More importantly, conservation of traditional hand papermaking in Korea is given attention because hanji is culturally symbolic of Korea being a nation of literacy, a nation that believes in the power of reading and writing. Aimee Lee, a leading hanji researcher, has carefully documented many ways in which hanji may be perceived: as a traditional process in a highly digital world, as a practice appropriated in North America, as an art made by hand, and as a performance of conservation. All of these lenses bring to the fore how intentional the process is and how meticulous one has to be to make a paper according to traditional knowledge.\n\nFrom 5 to 7 May 2018, the most traditional city of Korea, Jeonju, saw the return of the Hanji Culture Festival. The festival was a reminder of hanji importance, but it also showed the evolution of hanji, specifically on how hanji can be integrated into modern life. On the first day of the festival, p’ansori singer Nani Kim and calligraphist Lucia Choi opened the event with performances. The twenty-fourth National Hanji Craft Competition Awards Ceremony followed. The works of the competition winners as well as those of invited artists were on display for the entire run of the festival. The festival certainly was not short on performances: a hanji puppetry called “Ariari Puppet Play” was showcased. If not the most, one of the most anticipated segments of the festival was the 2018 Jeonju Hanji Fashion Competition and Show. It was a very special part of experiencing how important hanji is because it educated people on the transformative capability of hanji: that Korean traditional paper can actually be transformed into textile.\n\nLike other traditional handicrafts, hanji takes an important place in Korean heritage, allowing the possibility of witnessing timeless values that hold the nation together. It is for this that appreciation and conservation of hanji should be in place especially now that traditions are situated in global societies run by high technology.\n\nNotes\n1. Song, Minah and Munn, Jesse. 2004. “Permanence, Durability and Unique Properties of Hanji.” The Book and Paper Group Annual v23. American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works. Last accessed on 31 May 2018. http://www.ifides.com/images/LOCHanjiTest.pdf\n\nPhoto : Korean hanji CCA jaredYear2018NationSouth Korea
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Traditional Samoan faletele to be built in JapanTraditional builders from Samoa are in Japan on a very special mission: to build a faletele, a traditional Samoan house that is circular with one or more central posts. Master Builder Lesā Laufale, who started learning his craft some 30 years ago, leads the crew.\n\nThe Little World Museum of Man, where the faletele will be built, is near the city of Inuyama in Aichi prefecture, southwest of Tokyo. It is an open-air museum celebrating cultures and architecture, with 32 traditional houses from 23 countries and regions represented. Founded in 1983, the museum arranged for 12 builders from the village of Sa’anapu, where the current crew also comes from, to build four Samoan houses over 30 years ago.\n\nThe faletele will be built using traditional techniques and materials. This means using ’afa, a versatile and strong coconut fiber sennit used for lashing the structure together. Over 14,000 meters of the handmade cord is needed, work taking many months to complete. The making of sennit during village council meetings is now rarely practiced. Aiming to rekindle interest in the declining craft and with support from the U.S. government, project manager Galumalemana Steven Percival produced a documentary film and museum exhibit on Samoan sennit in 2013. A stone-floored and sennit-lashed faletele was also built at the Tiapapata Art Centre.\n\nHouse construction is replete with esoteric knowledge, but Lesā explains that there are no schools in Samoa where one can learn the required skills. He studied under Mulitalo Kirifi, a well-known builder from his village.\n\n“I observed Mulitalo working and whenever he asked me to do something and I made a mistake, he would tell me to start over.”\n\nThe passing down of knowledge from a master builder, matua o faiva, to an apprentice is common across cultures but when particular techniques are no longer used or are modified, esthetics can be compromised. Not only is the structure less appealing, but the language is also diminished. The natural environment is also affected by the decline. Building materials come from the forest: various palms and trees and a long coconut known as niu’afa, a species believed to yield the longest coconut in the world.\n\nIn traditional society, the natural environment was protected by tapu, a set of laws forbidding actions that would adversely impact the sustainable supply of resources. Ask a sennit maker about the elongated coconut and he will tell you about the tapu: one is not allowed to burn leaves or other parts that fall to the ground; these must be buried or thrown in the sea. Ignoring tapu, it is believed, leads to a gradual shortening of the husk. A plant that seems to have disappeared completely from the environment is the wild sugarcane known as tolofualau, named after its broad and supple leaf that was preferred for thatching.\n\nLesā remembers seeing beautiful houses thickly thatched with the leaf. “We now use the courser leaf of the sago palm niu o Rotuma because when we stopped protecting the wild sugarcane, pigs had a feast,” he says. But the environmental story is not all bad. There are invasive species now used in house construction such as the togo vao, a type of mangrove tree that grows no thicker than a finger but is tough and flexible, a perfect combination for the many hundreds of aso (listels) used to tie thatching. \n\nThe Japan faletele provides a unique opportunity for the crew to deepen and apply their knowledge. It is a place of learning for an important piece of intangible cultural heritage that will help assure a future for traditional house building in Samoa.\n\nPhoto 1 : The roof structure of the faletele at the Tiapapata Art Centre. No nails have been used in this construction ⓒ Galumalemana Steven Percival\nPhoto 2 : In Japan, Master Builder Lesā Laufale (front right), stands next to Little World Museum of Man Curator Takao Miyazato. ⓒ Galumalemana Steven PercivalYear2019NationJapan
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Badal Mahal Museum: Promoting Vagad Cultural Heritage and EcotourismDungarpur is in the southwestern part of Rajasthan, India. The region is also known as Vagad, where inhabitants are mostly tribal communities. Along with great cultural diversity, Vagad is also known for its natural beauty and traditional craftsmanship like stone sculpture, wooden dolls, and toy making. Communities like Sompura and Tirgar from Dungarpur and nearby areas have learned craftsmanship from their ancestors. Stone sculpture and wooden crafts by Sompura and Tirgar artists, respectively, are perceived as intangible cultural heritage of the region. Old palaces and heritage buildings like Badal Mahal Museum (BMM) are living relics of traditional stone architecture and sculptures.\n\nThe Municipal Corporation of Dungarpur has transformed the BMM building into a unique cultural display to preserve and promote tribal and rural lifestyle, history, and crafts. The museum has been designed by heritage expert Monish Paliwal and intangible cultural heritage researchers Lokesh Paliwal and Dinesh Kothari.\n\nAn open stone sculpture gallery including Mother Nature Park showcases a Sompura stone sculpture and features traditional and modern subjects. The scenes of rural and tribal kitchens and shrines explore the simple lifestyle of rural communities. BMM has set up a royal lifestyle on the top floor of the building, which includes a collection of weaponry, vessels, turbans, and other articles.\n\nAveraging a thousand visitors per month, BMM is helping to promote cultural heritage and ecotourism while providing exposure and a market for local arts and crafts, a significant contribution in a time when traditional heritage needs a larger role in public life.\n\nPhoto : Badal Mahal Museum exhibit © Lokesh PaliwalYear2018NationIndia
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Revitalizing the ICH of a Million Village Goddesses in IndiaVisually imposing sites often catch the imagination of the public. But there is often more than the monumental that informs local’s and visitor’s experiences. Few realize the importance of local civic spaces that demonstrate community benefits from safeguarding heritage in all its manifestations. Engagement with the local primary stakeholders and their spaces reveals deep knowledge for pilgrimage, tourism, education, and recreation. Safeguarding intangible cultural heritage (ICH) requires benefit analysis and integrated local area planning through a bottom up praxis for sustainability.\n\nA promising development in Amaravathi Heritage Town, Andhra Pradesh, birthplace of Mahayana Buddhism, is a major program for safeguarding its tangible and intangible heritage. Known to the outside world for its famous Amaravathi School of Buddhist Art, recent systematic cultural mapping revealed 2,900-year layers of history and a rich inventory of intangible heritage. Significant is the first Government Order for safeguarding the Balusulamma Thalli Gudi or temple. Its archaeological and historical importance is amplified through the collective memories and living heritage of Balusulamma as the village patron goddess of the ancient Dharanikota.\n\nTwo hundred years ago, local king Raja Vasi Reddy Venkatadri Naidu used to dismount his elephant on returning home from other villages and make offerings to Balusulamma. Last month, his direct descendants on an annual pilgrimage visited the place during the harvest festival and conducted vermillion or Kumkuma Puja for Balusulamma. They are now sponsoring an onsite educational room built strictly according to traditional architecture and in partnership with the Amaravathi Heritage Centre and Museum.\n\nThe priest or pujari, potter Sambayya, is reviving famous Dharanikota pottery traditions. Scaled drawings of the cultural space were prepared by the School of Planning and Architecture, Vijayawada. Local farmers are assisting with documentation and the use of the cultural space for revitalizing the diversity of intangible heritage. The landscape has been carefully fenced. Five solar lamps, a water tank, and boring pump have been installed. A gateway has been constructed and landscaping is preventing soil erosion.\n\nThe rachhabanda or traditional meeting place under the large 200-year-old Banyan tree has been renovated with smooth granite. It is being used by the local village administration, school groups, and families. Everyone loves the ambience of the place, irrespective of caste, faith, age, and other cultural affiliation. The access road to the temple, along with drainage, has been completed. Festivities that have revived the intangible heritage of the place are once again bringing back people from the surrounding twenty-three villages. The Village Vathavaranam or village ambience is revitalized. It is a concept that is rarely addressed in critical heritage discourse.\n\nBalusulamma Thalli Gudi is an illustration of locating culture in development in safeguarding intangible heritage through integrated local area planning. There are about 14,000 villages in the state and an estimated 100,000 shrines to a high number of village goddesses across its thirteen districts—perhaps a million of heritage-rich sites in India. They are the bedrock of Andhra and Telugu culture and Indian heritage. They provide the essence of what it is to experience village atmosphere in the face of rapid urbanization and globalization.\n\nBalusulamma signifies culture as an essential component of human development as it is a source of identity, innovation, and creativity for the village life in India. UNESCO emphasizes that many people, especially the poor, depend directly on ecosystems for their livelihood, and, in effect, their economic, social, and physical well-being, including nonetheless their cultural heritage. Balusulamma Gudi is also a good representative example of the UNESCO 2011 Recommendation on Historic Cultural Landscapes and the 2003 Convention on Safeguarding Intangible Heritage. The value and role of community cultural reclamation and responsible tourism through safeguarding and promotion of heritage landscapes is better understood in Amaravathi Heritage Town.\n\nPhoto : Local folk theater revitalized © Amareswar GallaYear2018NationIndia
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Intangible Aspects on Vernacular Architecture Between Joglo Pencu Kudus (Java Traditional House) and Hanok (Korean Traditional House): Comparative Study about Philosophies and Local Insights of Traditional HousesThis research discussed the intangible aspect such as philosophy and local insight that lies in the traditional house of Joglo Pencu Kudus from Indonesia and Hanok from Korea. Based on the result of research found that both traditional houses have the philosophy to respect nature and can adapt to the environment around them. Hanok can adapt to two extreme seasons (harsh winter and humid-hot summer) while Joglo Pencu Kudus can adapt to two seasons (rainy and dry). \nMoreover, the materials used in both traditional houses are natural and originate from the environment. Some constructions support sustainable development and it can be developed or combined further with the recent necessity. Some of its constructions can deal with the earthquake and heavy storm. Even some local insights can be applied directly such as natural waterproof from Hanok and natural substance for the preservation of wooden houses from Joglo Pencu Kudus.Year2019NationIndonesia