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Procedia Environmental Sciences 28 (2015) 804 808

The 5th Sustainable Future for Human Security (SustaiN 2014)

Seismic vulnerability on structural proportion of traditional

Javanese wooden houses (Joglo)
Yulianto P. Prihatmajia*, Akihisa Kitamorib, Kohei Komatsub
a

Department of Architecture, Islamic University of Indonesia, Jalan Kaliurang km 14, Yogyakarta, 55584, Indonesia
b
Research Institute for Sustainable Humanosphere, Kyoto University, Gokasho Uji, Kyoto, 611-0011, Japan

Abstract
Due to major recent major earthquake, many traditional Joglo buildings have been damaged. In order to preserve Javanese
wooden house against earthquake attack, as tangible culture, an evaluation and improvement of timber structures is
indispensable. Joglo is the most complicated and sophisticated roof type in terms of the construction and techniques of Javanese
wooden houses. The Joglo use teak wood as the primary construction material for both the buildings structure and the
ornaments. The house is use a knock down construction method, using mortise and tenon. Joglo-style for high-class society e.g.,
sultan place. The Joglo structure consists core and side structure. In term vertical and horizontal direction, they have different
proportion and performance against lateral force. Structural proportion has role with seismic vulnerability. Here, investigation of
the structural proportions of Javanese wooden house was carried out associated with earthquake structural damages. It shows the
level of vulnerability of Joglo buildings against earthquake attack. A total of 29 Joglo buildings were estimated; the estimation
can be used for earthquake mitigation in the future. In this paper, we report the results of investigation and objective to verify the
contribution of structural proportion to the damage level of Joglo.
2015
Published
by Elsevier
B.V This

2015The
TheAuthors.
Authors.
Published
by Elsevier
B.V.is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Peer-review under responsibility of Sustain Society.
Peer-review under responsibility of Sustain Society

Keywords: Seismic vulnerability ; structural proportion ; traditional Javanese house ; wooden house

1. Introduction
In this study, twenty-nine Joglo buildings were observed through purposive random sampling method. Twentyfour Joglos were representing common houses and five Joglos represented royal houses [1]. Four types of damages

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +62-0274-896440; fax: +62-274-895330

E-mail address: prihatmaji@uii.ac.id; prihatmaji@yahoo.com

1878-0296 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Peer-review under responsibility of Sustain Society
doi:10.1016/j.proenv.2015.07.095

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of Javanese wooden house were categorized according to the degree of damage: damage on the base joint, damage
on the side-structure, destroyed main structure, and totally collapsed main structure [2]. Figure 1 shows degrees of
damages of Javanese wooden houses. The first degree of damage involved broken mortise of columns, and slip
between columns and stone foundations. In the second degree, joints between outer ring beam and column deformed
or broke, and joints between inner ring beam and rafters broke. In the third degree severe damage on core structure
were observed besides second degree of damage. The main structures were totally collapsed including roof
structures in the fourth degree [3].

a) First level of damages.

b) Second level of damages.

c) Third level of damages.

d) Fourth level of damages.

Fig. 1. Levels of Joglo damage

From Figure 1.b. it can be seen that the core structure inclined due to lateral force, but still standing. The
condition shows that the joint at core structure is very important and significant to secure human life when
earthquake come. Figure 2 shows detail the mortise tenon joint at the core structure of Joglo building.

Fig. 2. Inclined core structure (left), status of the joint (centre), detail of the joint (right)

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2. Result and Discussion

Structural proportions of Joglo type are investigated based on the comparisons of structural dimension.
Figure 3 shows the subjects of measurement on vertical dimensions on core structure (a) and horizontal
dimensions on plan (b) of Joglo house.

Fig. 3. Vertical and horizontal dimensions of Joglo house

From structural proportion as described at Fig. 3, it can be obtain the result of dimension measurement of
structural component of thirty-one Joglo houses performed and the proportion of the ratio of structural
elements. Fig. 3 in left shows the relationship between the ratios of the main columns dimension and short
span of the core structure and level of damage.
Fig. 4a-b shows a pretty linear relationship between main column dimension (a) and beam height (b), as
well as between height of main column (c) and height to center of beam (d).
The later data verify earlier result. This indicates that the carpenter have followed a common rule in
construction to determine the dimensional proportion of the joints on the main column and its position in
height. The proportion of the joints at the main column is about 1 to 1, and is located at almost 92% of the
height of the column. A minor relationship between the ratio of the beams height and the short span of the
core structure and the levels of damages. There is no apparent relationship between ratio of height-to-beam
center and span of side structure and the levels of damage.

Fig. 4. Vulnerability estimation of Joglo buildings

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Fig. 5 in left shows a declining tendency, which indicates that the smaller the ratio becomes, the more
damaged the structure is. The ratio of the vertical area of the main column and the horizontal area of the core
structure could give better correspondence on the level of damage (Fig. 5 in right). Therefore the ratio of the
vertical section area (height of the main column) of the main column and horizontal area of core structure is a
reliable indicator to estimate the earthquake resistance of Joglo structures. It can be used for self-checking the
Joglo structures (e.g. by the owner).

Fig. 5. Vertical and horizontal dimensions of Joglo house

Figure 6 shows vulnerability of Joglo building against earthquake. Vulnerability of Joglo buildings is
mainly estimate on second level of damage. From the estimation, the Joglo buildings need some structural
improvement to strengthen it againts the future earthquake attack.

Note: No. 1, 2, 3 and 4 are types of damage. No. 0 is no damage.

Fig. 6. Vulnerability estimation of Joglo buildings

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3. Conclusion

The dimensional proportion of the joint at the main column and its position in height follows traditional
carpenters common rule. A strong relationship exists between the ratio of the vertical section area of the main
columns and horizontal area of the core structure and level of damage; the smaller the ratio, the more extensive
is the damage.
These samples of earthquake damaged wooden houses verify that structural proportion significantly
contributes to simple estimation of earthquake-resistance performance of Joglo buildings. Structural proportion
will affect seismic vulnerability. From the estimation, Joglo buildings are most vulnerable at second level
damage. Hence, Joglo buildings need some structural reinforcement to counter against future earthquake
attacks.
References
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2.

3.

Arya R, Soeleman S, Muhammad S. Joglo building: A Study of Construction, Proportion and Structure of Royal Houses in Yogyakarta.
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Yulianto P. Prihatmaji, Akihisa Kitamori, Kohei Komatsu, 2014. Traditional Javanese Wooden Houses (Joglo) Damaged by May 2006
Yogyakarta Earthquake, Indonesia. International Journal of Architectural Heritage (IJAH), Volume 8, Issue 2, 2014
(DOI:10.1080/15583058.2012.692847), http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15583058.2012.692847
Revianto B. Santosa, Yulianto P. Prihatmaji, 2011. Investigations on Earthquake Damages of Trajumas Hall in the Sultans Palace
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