Noemi D Brena Tropical Design

Arc 1208

The Pros and Cons of "Pre-colonial Bahay Kubo" as a Structure for Tropical Design .

The bahay kubo was the indigenous Filipinos' typical dwelling. Emerging
from the caves our ancestors imitated the first architectural revolution with the
invention of stone tools for cutting fibrous materials from plants and use the materials
around them in building a heritage for the archetypal house consists of an
architectural system of raised wooden structure , elevated on posts with a thatched
pitch roof and decorative gable finials .
The kubo or hut design is appropriate for the country's tropical
environment, as it is intended to resist high heat and severe rains. It was simple and
easy to create, and the resources required were plenty. This made it simple to rebuild
the house if a typhoon or other natural calamity damaged it. It is a magnificent
structure of response to nature during pre-colonial times. However, there is pros and
cons of the pre-colonial bahay kubo as a structure for tropical design.

Pros of Pre – Colonial Bahay Kubo

Made of renewable materials

Most of the bahay kubo are made of renewable materials such as bamboo,
hut, wood, coconut and anahaw leaves. One of the aims of tropical design aims the
sustainability of materials and lessening the carbon foot print such as importations of
materials. During the pre-colonial era using the materials around them is the best
option as it’s easy to find if they ever need any reconstruction in their houses. Today
these materials still exist today and science discover a much more benefits of these
materials.
Bamboo is a high renewable plant as compared to hardwoods. Bamboo
can reach full growth between 5–7 years as compared to other hardwoods which
can take up to 20 years to mature. It is thus a high renewable resource and thus
more environment friendly from a home building standpoint.
It is also resistant to pest. Bamboo is highly resistant to pests with proper
treatment to it. Which means issues such as termites can be safely discarded if you
are using good quality bamboo.
 Cheaper compared to hardwoods .Not all can afford stone and bricks in their
houses , gong to the cheaper choices most of the time sacrifice the quality of
material but bamboo wouldn’t burn a hole in your pocket as a square inch of
bamboo costs anywhere between 100 to 500 and is thus a cheaper proposition.
In my opinion these materials that they use in the pre-colonial era are still
abundant in the Philippines. It shows a lot of promising structure and potential in
the Philippine construction. With further research and studies, it can be promising
structure and potential in the Philippine construction and we should take
advantage of it.

Resist High Heat

Philippines is a tropical country and one of the challenges in living is how to

lessen the heat in the houses naturally. Pre-colonial bahay kubo shows a lot of
features that reduce heat in houses. These features are large windows, high
ceiling, open planning, flooring.

Large windows are the features of bahay kubo that provide natural lighting
and fresh air ventilation. Windows are strategically positioned to provide for cross
ventilation and continuous air movement. Instead of wide awnings like in a hut,
big glass windows that open out can be used in modern applications.

The typical bahay kubo is a single room shared by everyone. Depending on

what the family is doing, the open space can be used for a variety of purposes. It
might be a dining room, a living room, or a sleeping area. It may give a
impression that bahay kubo is small but it’s not, during pre-colonial times bahay
kubo is a interconnected structure of other kubo .

High ceiling because a bahay kubo mainly consists of a single room, having
a high ceiling is the solution to lowering the warmth within the house. The high
ceiling's function is to allow hot air to climb as it circulates throughout the room.
Gable and hip roof patterns are used in many bahay kubos. The common
materials too used in bahay kubo is anahaw and coconut leaves weave in a
pattern leaving small holes in it that makes it breathable or the air pass through
it.

One of the things that I notice nowadays that these heat resistant features
of bahay kubo are aren’t applies nowadays in residential houses as artificial
ventilation is more preferred. In learning tropical design hopefully, these features
will be used again in most houses, as an architecture student slowly I’m seeing
the important of tropical design.
Flood Resistance

Bahay kubo is usually built with wooden post as it’s framework the four
posts of the Ifugao house which is both granary and home is distinctives for
circular rat guards while the Maranao Toragan stands on stout blog posts resting
on round stones. The space underneath the flooring is there so that
floodwater and mud wouldn’t destroy the structure. This is also to prevent
wild animals from getting inside the house. This can also be a place where
the family can store their food and belongings. 

This features that allow flood water to flow underneath the house. I
think it is a great tropical design structure. For many years Philippines is
always devastated by the hit of typhoons ever year. It is not a thing that
cannot be avoid but why we are always surprise that typhoons damage our
houses. Shouldn’t we be thinking more about it? We cannot control the
typhon and other natural disaster but we can control how we build our
houses. Th typhoon will never adjust to us but we can adjust to it.

Cons of Pre-Colonial Bahay Kubo

Combustible

Bahay kubo is made of woods and leaves that can easily catch fire.
During pre-colonial times fire is a weapon to destroy villages. Nowadays that
houses are adjacent to each other, these materials will not be applicable and
it is not allowed by national building code.

Being sustainable also includes investing on long term materials

that can withstand a lot of natural disaster.

Structural Integrity

Bamboo and leaves are light weight. There is also a cultural

tradition of “Bayanihan “where people carry Bahay Kubo to move it to
another place. An evidence that it is not heavy enough. People have more
things in their houses now compared in pre colonial times. It is not guarantee
that bamboo can withstand the load of the house and natural disasters.

In general , Bahay Kubo is a great reference of tropical design .We

can learn a lot from it and with further research and studies it is not possible
the cons of bahay kubo can be it’s strength too in the near future.
The materials and design of the bahay kubo also inspired American architect and
engineer William Le Baron Jenney to build the world’s first skyscraper in 1884
using a frame made of iron and steel to support the whole structure instead of
load-bearing walls that were popular during the era. 

It is also known as payag or kamalig in other languages of the Philippines. There is even a popular
song about it. Bahay kubo was designed to endure the typical tropical climate of the country.

Pros of Bamboo Housing

1. High renewable plant as compared to hardwoods

 Bamboo can reach full growth between 5–7 years as compared to other
hardwoods which can take up to 20 years to mature. It is thus a high renewable
resource and thus more environment friendly from a home building standpoint.
2. Resistant to pests

Bamboo is highly resistant to pests which means issues such as termites can be
safely discarded if you are using good quality bamboo.
3. Cheaper compared to hardwoods
Bamboo wouldn’t burn a hole in your pocket as a square inch of bamboo costs
anywhere between $5-$8 and is thus a cheaper proposition if you are looking for a
hardwood flooring option.
4. Great variety
Bamboo comes in both plank and tile form and additionally you can choose from
several types of material and colour shades. This in turn gives you great aesthetic
value when furnishing your home.

Now moving on to the cons

Cons of Bamboo Housing

5. Can easily get dents or scratches

Heavy furniture dragged along the floor, pets scratching the floor can easily lead
to scratches.
6. Humidity issues

Bamboo develops a problem commonly known as cupping due to high humidity

and moisture levels. This cause the bamboo to bloat and look unnatural. Bamboo
flooring should therefore be avoided in bathrooms where water can seep in to the
flooring.

Pros

1.Bamboo is affordable, durable, and easily replenishable.

2. The aesthetics of bamboo dwellings are excellent.

3. Bamboo doesn't have knots, making it easy to deal with and cutting doesn't require any
specialised equipment.

4. Bamboo is tough because it is naturally covered in silica.

5. It has termite resistance by nature.

6. Because of their light weight and relatively elastic construction, bamboo homes can also
endure earthquakes.

7. Processing bamboo uses half as much energy as processing steel.

8. Bamboo has a high tensile strength and is thought to be as robust as wood.

9. Bamboo homes might be up to 20% less expensive than conventional dwellings.

10. Bamboo building materials are inexpensive and readily available.

Cons

1. The wear and tear that comes with bamboo housing is one of its main drawbacks. Since
bamboo softens when heated, the structure is unstable. For more protection, lighter colors
must be applied to the bamboo because darker colors deteriorate more quickly.

Are you referring to using bamboo as your framing structure? The positives are that
bamboo has really great tensile and compressive strength. The negatives to that design
would be the difficulty in finding an engineer to design it to your local building code and
finding a building skin that would work with it may be complicated.

As far as a interior finish building material or as an exterior skin material, bamboo is a

rapidly renewable resource and is a very sustainable product The negatives are different for
each product type and application.

 Pros; amazing sustainability, bendable, flexible in its use, workable raw as well as
processed, cheap, sounds amazing, smells quite nice, easy to work, light, looks natural
and cool.
 Cons; light, not the strongest material ever.