Structural Performance and Constructional Phases of Rumah Gadang of West Sumatra, Indonesia

Abstract

Considered as an ideal representation of the vernacular architecture of the South-East Asian region, ‘rumah gadang’ (big house) of West Sumatra, Indonesia, is regarded as a thoughtful indigenous design responsive to various contextual demands. One of these is structural aspects, particularly due to the widely known seismic activities of Indonesian lands. To ensure the fulfillment of certain procedures and technical standards required for the adequate structural performance, the constructional phases of ‘rumah gadang’ are traditionally systematized in specific manner, not only according to certain technical considerations bus also cultural requirements as well. In this regard, to evaluate the structural performance of this vernacular house, this paper presents structural analysis of ‘rumah gadang’ in different constructional phases, both under normal circumstance and under seismic activities, conducted by simulations. The results show that, under various loads including earthquake, the structure of the house experiences only minor deformations, particularly in the roof area, and that the structural stability increases along with the development of the construction phases. The research also give insight on how the society of West Sumatra incorporate spiritual values into the structural design and construction process of ‘rumah gadang’.

Keywords

• Indonesian vernacular architecture
• rumah gadang
• structural analysis
• earthquake modelling
• wooden house

References

1. CHING, F. D. K., ONOUYE, B. S. and ZUBERBUHLER, D., 2014. Building structures illustrated. 2nd ed. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons.
2. FRICK, H., 1997. Pola struktural dan teknik bangunan di Indonesia. Yogyakarta: Kanisius.
3. HASAN, H., 2007. Rumah adat minangkabau—falsafah, pembangunan, dan kegunaan. Jakarta: Yayasan Citra Pendidikan Indonesia.
4. LEHNER, E., 2016. Roots of architecture—building traditions in non-european cultures. Vienna: IVA–ICRA Publishing.
5. MEIER, E., 2015. Wood! Identifying and using hundreds of woods worldwide. United States: The Wood Database.
6. OLIVER, P., 2006a. Built to meet needs, cultural issues in vernacular architecture. Oxford: Architectural Press.
7. RAPOPORT, A., 1969. House form and culture. New Jersey: Prentice Hall Inc.
8. SCHODEK, D. L., 1991. Struktur. Bandung: PT. Eresco.

9. WATERSON, R., 1990. The living house: an anthropology of architecture in South-East Asia. Great Britain: Oxford University Press.
10. DOMENIG, G., 2002. Teknik konstruksi. In: G. TJAHJONO, ed. Indonesian heritage: arsitektur. 6th ed. Jakarta: Grolier International. pp. 16–17.
11. OLIVER, P., 2006b. Afterword: raising the roof. In: L. ASQUITH and M. VELLINGA, eds. Vernacular architecture in the twenty-first century. New York: Taylor & Francis. pp. 262–268.
12. PRIJOTOMO, J., 2017. Nusantara architecture: the architecture of shade and ‘liyan’ architecture. An architectural reading of the architecture of the ‘society without-writing’. In: A. KUSNO, ed. Gunawan tjahjono & josef prijotomo, postcolonial traditionality. 2nd ed. Delft: TU Delft Open. pp. 59–85.
13. SCHEFOLD, R., 2004. The Southeast-asian type house: common features and local transformations of an ancient architectural traditions. In: R. SCHEFOLD, P. J. M. NAS, and G. DOMENIG, eds. Indonesian houses: tradition and transformation on vernacular architecture. Singapore: Singapore University Press. pp. 19–60.
14. WATERSON, R., 2002. Ciri umum: pemanjangan bubungan atap (Common characteristic: elongated ridge). In: G. TJAHJONO, ed. Indonesian heritage: arsitektur. 6th ed. Jakarta: Grolier International. pp. 14–15.
15. AGUS, E., 2006. Kajian topologi, morfologi, dan tipologi pada rumah gadang Minangkabau. Proceedings of International Conference on Construction Industry (ICCI), 21-24 June 2006, Padang. Padang, Indonesia: Universitas Bung Hatta.
16. IDHAM, N. C., MOHD, M. and NUMAN, İ., 2010. Why the Javanese houses have failed in the 2006 Jogjakarta earthquake. Proceedings of ICSBE 2010, Enhancing Disaster Prevention and Mitigation, 27-29 May 2010, Yogyakarta. Indonesia: Universitas Islam Indonesia. pp. 121–128.
17. MENTAYANI, I., IKAPUTRA and MUTHIA, P. R., 2017. Menggali makna arsitektur vernakular: ranah, unsur, dan aspek-aspek vernakularitas. Proceedings of Temu Ilmiah Ikatan Peneliti Lingkungan Binaan Indonesia 6, 14-15 October 2017, Lhokseumawe. Lhokseumawe, Indonesia: Ikatan Peneliti Lingkungan Binaan Indonesia. pp. 109–116.
18. PRANATA, Y. A. and WILLIAM, K. M., 2013. Sistem base isolation pada rumah kayu tradisional Ammu Hawu, Pulau Sabu, Nusa Tenggara Timur. Proceedings of Seminar Nasional Scan#4: 2013, 17 May 2013, Yogyakarta. Yogyakarta, Indonesia: Department of Architecture Faculty of Engineering Atma Jaya University. pp. 101–108.
19. PRIJOTOMO, J., 2010. Arsitektur Nusantara arsitektur naungan bukan lindungan, sebuah reorientasi pengetahuan arsitektur tradisional. Proceedings of Seminar Nasional Arsitektur Nusantara, 21 June 2010, Ternate. Indonesia: Universitas Khairun.
20. WONGSO, J., 2014. Understanding the elements of nagari as an approach for urban heritage conservation in the historic cities of Minangkabau. Proceedings of International Conference on Urban and Regional Planning, 9-11 May 2014, Johor. Malaysia: Universiti Teknologi Malaysia.
21. ABDULLAH, M., ANTARIKSA, A. and SURYASARI, N., 2015. Pola ruang dalam bangunan rumah gadang di kawasan alam surambi sungai pagu, sumatera barat. Student Journal Universitas Brawijaya. 3 (1), pp. 454-462.
22. HĂRMĂNESCU, M. and ENACHE, C., 2016. Vernacular and technology. In Between. Procedia Environmental Sciences. (32), pp. 412–419.
23. HARTAWAN, B. S., PRADIPTO, E. and KUSUMAWANTO, A., 2015. Perubahan sistem struktur bangunan rumah Bugis Sulawesi Selatan (Changes in the structural system of Bugis vernacular house in South Sulawesi). Forum Teknik. 36 (1), pp.1-12.
24. IDHAM, N. C., 2019. Indonesian architecture and earthquake vulnerability: the development of building safety through the civilization. MATEC Web of Conferences. (280), pp. 47-56.
25. MANTANI, K. and FAUZAN, M., 2019. Design and analysis of West Sumatera indigenous building structure against the durability on earthquake. Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering (JSIL). 4 (1), pp. 25–36.
26. PRIHATMAJI, Y. P., KITAMORI, A. and KOMATSU, K., 2013. Traditional Javanese wooden houses (joglo) damaged by May 2006 Yogyakarta earthquake, Indonesia. International Journal of Architectural Heritage: Conservation, Analysis, and Restoration. 8 (2), pp. 247–268.
27. TAVIANA, D. and SIMBOLON, R. H. T., 2018. Pengaruh tiang bracing pada struktur rumah tradisional Nias Selatan (The effects of bracing columns on the structure of the Southern Nias traditional house). Buletin Utama Teknik. 14 (1), pp. 48–55.
28. WASILAH, W., 2019. The structural effectivity of bent piles in Ammatoan vernacular houses. Buildings. 9 (42), pp. 167-177.
29. PUSKIM DEPARTMENT of PUBLIC WORKS of INDONESIA, 2011. Desain spektra Indonesia 2011 [online]. Available from: http://puskim.pu.go.id/Aplikasi/desain_spektra_indonesia_2011/ [Accessed 16 September 2020].
30. WONGSO, J., 2020. Arsitektur Minangkabau (Minangkabau Architecture) [online]. Available from: http://ppv.uho.ac.id/content.php?read=191 [Accessed: 15 September 2020]. Thesis / Dissertation
31. AL FURQONI, H., 2010. Analisis rumah panggung sederhana terhadap gempa bumi. Unpublished undergraduate thesis. Department of Civil Engineering Universitas Indonesia.
32. NATIONAL STANDARDIZATION BUREAU, 2013. Beban minimum untuk perancangan bangunan gedung dan struktur lain (Minimum load for designing buildings and other structures). [manuscript] Badan Standardisasi Nasional, Jakarta.
33. DEPARTMENT of PUBLIC WORKS, 1987. Pedoman perencanaan pembebanan untuk rumah dan gedung (Guidelines of load planning for homes and buildings). [manuscript] Yayasan Badan Penerbit PU, Jakarta.
34. PEMERINTAH KABUPATEN SOLOK SELATAN, 2012. Rencana tata ruang wilayah Kabupaten Solok Selatan 2012-2032 (Regional plan of the District of Solok Selatan). [manuscript] Pemerintah Kabupaten Solok Selatan, Sumatra Barat.