09.CASE STUDIES+URBAN - Assam Type House - A Tradition That Withstands Change

2/22/2021 Assam Type house: A tradition that withstands change
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Assam Type house: A tradition that

withstands change
by SAZZAD HUSSAIN , October 17, 2020 8:08 am
Gossainbaree House. Image credit: Avinivesh Sharma
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Capt. HJ Pitt, Personal Assistant to the Commissioner of Assam, in Circular No. 8, Dated 20 th
January 1870 wrote to Deputy Commissioners of all districts that “I’ve been ordered by the
Commissioner, reminding me about the instructions given by the government for the preservation
of some of the old structures and materials considered historically and aesthetically beautiful.”
Capt. Pitt was referring to the distinctive housing patterns adopted by the people of Assam in that
early phase of the colonial period of the nineteenth century that earned the government’s attention
for preservation.
He was not only mentioning the housing pattern alone but also the materials used for constructing
that type of houses.
Twenty-seven years later Assam was rattled by a massive earthquake in 1897 in which all the
modern structures constructed by the British were damaged or destroyed. But the traditional
houses, as referred by Capt. Pitt stood tall amidst the ruins.
Again five decades later, the state experienced another massive earthquake in 1950 in
independent India. This time too, all the traditional houses in Assam remained unaffected.
Now almost one and a half-century later, the official circular of the colonial British East India
Company remains to be extremely relevant as the world struggles to live with sustainable housing.
With global warming taking a toll everywhere in the world due to climate change, energy-efficient
housing like the Assam Type can offer a lot of solutions.
The Type:
Assam Type houses are a type of designs developed by the colonial British administration in
Assam after the massive earthquake of 1897.
The British started constructing buildings and housing structures with thick walls in colonial Assam
from 1826 onwards as they did elsewhere in India. But the earthquake at the turn of the century
destroyed all those structures making them think in constructing earthquake-resistant houses.
They modified the traditional Assamese houses made of thatch roof with bamboo walls plastered
with mud mixed with fresh cow dung to make Assam Type houses with wood, reed, mud plaster
and hay after studying the climate and topography of the entire region.
These houses and buildings were not destroyed in the massive earthquake of 1950 in Assam. High
roofed, parallel widened doors, parallel windows, walls and ceilings made of knitted weeds in
wooden frames plastered with mud—prepared from the sticky earth dug from wells, cow dung and
outer skin of mature beetle nuts, parallel wide sky windows at the upper portions of walls—
facilitating cross ventilation inside marked the minimum features of the Assam Type houses.
Cities like Shillong, Guwahati, Dibrugarh and Jorhat are dotted with such Assam Type buildings
and bungalows that distinctively fall to one particular type of house style.
Significantly, all the government buildings—administrative blocks, judicial courts, hospitals,

educational institutes residential quarters in Assam were designed on this pattern from the
beginning of the twentieth century till the early 1980s.
After that multi-storied RCC structures began to appear in both public and private uses in the state
leading to the present day urbanscape.
Well known Assam Type houses
Many Assam Type houses across Assam are still proudly standing tall amidst the changing real
estate landscape telling the unique tales of civil engineering matched with indigenous knowledge,
materials available locally and of a golden heritage that today be boasted as essentially one of
being Assamese.
Besides their aesthetic dynamics, these cottages, bungalows and mansions are an amazing
testimony to the eco-friendly setup and sustainability for present-day home decorators and
architects that struggle hard to provide energy-efficient, climate-resilient and comfortable housing
in the age of global warming.
The house of Keshab Kanta Borooah in Guwahati:

Completed by 1928 this almost century old house in Chenikuthi, Guwahati is a typical Assam Type
house with its columns of steel joists made by Tata Steel Co. and brick walls upto door level (7
feet) and above that upto 14 feet is of Eekara (wattle), mud-plastered on both sides.
The ceilings are also Eekara and mud plastered on the bottom side. As told by
SashiKantaBorooah, son of Keshab Kanta Baruah, the roof structure is of mature Sal wood and all
door and window frames are also made of that timber. The doors, windows and ventilators are of
Burma Teak Wood.
The roofing is of thick gauge CGI Sheets imported from the UK. The house has withstood the
massive earthquake of 1950.
Keshab Kanta Baruah’s House (1928)-Image credit: Arijit
The Gohainbaree House in Majkuri
Built by Muktinath Sarmah Barua in between 1927-1934, the Gohainbaree House in Mejkuri, Teok,
30 km away from Jorhat town, is still gloriously standing to the test of time.
Made from seasoned timbers (Nahar, Cham, Mango), its walls are made of Eekara and the
positioning of the windows and doors are such that it ensures better cross ventilation.
Rail scraps were added to the pillars after the earthquake of 1950.
The ceilings of the older segments are made of wooden members, placed closed to each other
(mango timber) and the later additions have sackcloth covered with slaked lime.
This historic house which was the rendezvous of various freedom fighters during India’s
Independence Movement presently has fourteen rooms.
Gossainbaree House. Image credit: Avinivesh Sharma
The House of Ruplal Bordoloi in Dibrugarh
Built by Ruplal Bordoloi in 1923-1925 in Chowkidinghee, Dibrugarh, this Assam Type house has
ceilings consisted of bamboo slats that had been kept in water for a year and covered with
GubarMati (Mud with cow dung) and then Markincloth.
The timber used in this house, as told by Ruplal Bordoloi’s grandson Ranjan Dutta, was hundred
years old when dressed in the sawmill at that time.
House of Ruplala Bordoli. Image credit: Ranjan Dutta
The Bunglow of Tahzeeb Soukat Ali
Built by his grandfather Izmal Ali in 1932 the bunglow of Tahzeeb Soukat Ali in Puranigudam in
Nagaon district is a fine example of an Assam Type house with a bamboo roof which dates back to
even a long past.
According to TahzeebSoukatAli, there was another bunglow at the same place built by his great
grandfather Rahmat Ali long before 1932. It was brought down by Izmal Ali in 1932 and the present
bungalow was raised retaining the original bamboo roof with hay.
Sadly, however, this majestic house has to be razed to make way to four-lane highway extension
of NH-37 in the coming days.
House of Izmal Ali
All these and many more houses of Assam Type design and pattern, constructed mostly of locally
available material using indigenous engineering have been withstanding the ravages of time and
many natural calamities including earthquakes.
These can be models and sources for new architectures, designers, planners to develop new
housing technologies to provide sustainable housing solutions to people in the midst of climate
change and scarce natural resources.
(The story is being published as part of CMS-BEEP Media Fellowship Program)
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2/22/2021 Assam Type house: A tradition that withstands change

HOME NORTH EAST  NEIGHBOURS  BUSINESS ENTERTAINMENT SPORTS

Assam Type house: A tradition that

Gossainbaree House. Image credit: Avinivesh Sharma

 Share on Facebook  Share on Twitter  

Significantly, all the government buildings—administrative blocks, judicial courts, hospitals,

Well known Assam Type houses

The house of Keshab Kanta Borooah in Guwahati:

Keshab Kanta Baruah’s House (1928)-Image credit: Arijit

The Gohainbaree House in Majkuri

Gossainbaree House. Image credit: Avinivesh Sharma

The House of Ruplal Bordoloi in Dibrugarh

House of Ruplala Bordoli. Image credit: Ranjan Dutta

The Bunglow of Tahzeeb Soukat Ali

even a long past.

House of Izmal Ali

(The story is being published as part of CMS-BEEP Media Fellowship Program)

With only 1 COVID-19 death, Bhutan is world’s pandemic success story

Arunachal Assembly speaker bats for preservation of mother language

Governor RN Ravi call for improvement in healthcare delivery in Nagaland

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