Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

House Design and Construction

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Indigenous Environmental Knowledge

  • 958 Accesses

Abstract

Indigenous housing practices are reviewed from the standpoints of the degree of indoor comfort achieved and the effectiveness with which local constructional materials are deployed. Because climatic factors are central to both issues, the account considers each major climatic zone in turn, namely the humid tropics, the tropical highlands, the desert fringe and the temperate zone. Local builders generally bring considerable ingenuity to the task of responding to the challenges confronting them. However residual difficulties arise from declining supplies of traditional building materials, ongoing threats from incursions by disease carrying insects and the problems of water damage to mud brick structures. In all these matters benefit is to be gained from a carful amalgamation of traditional and modern practices.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
eBook
USD 16.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 129.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 199.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Ahmad SS, Rahim S (1986) Response of the drywood termite Cryptotermes cynocephalus (Isoptera: Kalotermitidae) to extracts from five Malaysian hardwoods. Malay For 49:470–475

    Google Scholar 

  • Aradeon SB (1987) The architecture of a Hausa master mason. Nigerian Field 52:3–18

    Google Scholar 

  • Bahadori MN (1978) Passive cooling systems in Iranian architecture. Sci Am 238(2):144–152

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bahadori MN, Haghighat F (1985) Passive cooling in hot, arid regions in developing countries by employing domed roofs and reducing the temperature of internal surfaces. Build Environ 20:103–113

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berlin B (1992) Ethnobotanical classification. Principles of categorization of plants and animals in traditional societies. Princeton University Press, Princeton

    Google Scholar 

  • Berlin B, Breedlove DE, Raven PH (1966) Folk-taxonomies and biological classification. Science 154:273–275

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Blier SP (1987) The anatomy of architecture: ontology and metaphor in Batammaliba architectural expression. Cambridge Univerity Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Bourgeois J-L (1980) Welcoming the wind. Nat Hist 89:70–75

    Google Scholar 

  • Cain A, Afshar F, Norton J, Daraie MR (1976) Traditional cooling systems in the third world. Ecologist 6(2):60–64

    Google Scholar 

  • Carroll RF (1990) Disease reduction by improved house construction. Overseas building note 194. Building Research Establishment, Garston

    Google Scholar 

  • Conklin N (1991) Naga motifs. Sawaddi, Bangkok 37(3):28–31

    Google Scholar 

  • Dayton L (1991) Saving mud monuments. New Scientist 130, 25 May, 38–42

    Google Scholar 

  • Dentan RK (1979) The Semai, a nonviolent people of Malaya. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Denyer S (1978) African traditional architecture. An historical and geographical perspective. Heinemann, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Eitel EJ (1984) Feng-Shui. The science of sacred landscape in old China, (reprint of 1873 edition). Synergetic Press, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Ellis FP (1953) Tolerable and desirable levels of warmth in warm climates, with special reference to men in the Royal Navy. Ann R Coll Surg Engl 13:369–391

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Fathy H (1986) Natural energy and vernacular architecture. Principles and examples with reference to hot arid climates. University of Chicago Press, Chicago

    Google Scholar 

  • Fleuret A (1980) Nonfood uses of plants in Usambara. Econ Bot 34:320–333

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Geiger R (1965) The climate near the ground. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA

    Google Scholar 

  • Gibbs P (1987) Building a Malay house. Oxford University Press, Singapore

    Google Scholar 

  • Good CM (1978) Man, milieu, and the disease factor, tick-borne relapsing fever in East Africa. In: Hartwig GW, Patterson KD (eds) Disease in African history. Duke University Press, Durham, North Carolina, pp 46–87

    Google Scholar 

  • Gunawardene NR, Daniels DAE, Gunatilleke IAUN, Gunatilleke CVS, Karunakaran PV, Nayak KG, Prasad S, Puyravaud P, Ramesh BR, Subramanian KA, Vasanthy G (2007) A brief overview of the Western Ghats-SriLanka biodiversity hotspot. Curr Sci 93(11):1567–1572

    Google Scholar 

  • Hanifi Z (1994) Housing design in relation to environmental comfort – a comparison of the traditional Malay house and modern housing. Build Res Inf 22(1):21–33

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harris WV (1971) Termites, their recognition and control. Longman, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Hickin NE (1975) The insect factor in wood decay. An account of wood-boring insects with particular reference to timber indoors. Associated Business Programmes, London

    Google Scholar 

  • IRRI (1988) Vector-borne disease control in humans through rice agroecosystem management. International Rice Research Institute, Manila

    Google Scholar 

  • Ismail M, Rahman AMA (2008) The possibiity of using a hybrid turbine ventilator (HTV) to improve the air velocity (stack ventilation) in Malaysian building interiors. Arch Malaysia 20:60–63

    Google Scholar 

  • Karyono TH (1996) Thermal comfort in the tropical South East Asia region. Archit Sci Rev 39:135–139

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kettle DS (1984) Medical and veterinary entomology. Croom Helm, Beckenham

    Google Scholar 

  • Kidd J (1982) The influence of arid-zone climate on house design in the Sudan. In: Golany G (ed) Desert planning: international lessons. The Architectural Press, London, pp 113–123

    Google Scholar 

  • Kirkpatrick TW, Simmonds NW (1958) Bamboo borers and the moon. Trop Agric Trinidad 35:299–301

    Google Scholar 

  • Koenigsberger OH, Ingersoll TG, Mayhew A, Szokolay SV (1974) Manual of tropical housing and building. Part one: Climatic design. Longman, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Letts JB (1999) Smoke blackened thatch. A unique source of late medieval plant remains from Southern England. English Heritage/University of Reading, London/Reading

    Google Scholar 

  • Lewcock R, Brans G (1975) The boat as an architectural symbol. In: Oliver P (ed) Shelter, sign and symbol. Barrie and Jenkins, London, pp 107–116

    Google Scholar 

  • Lim JY (1987) The Malay house: rediscovering Malaysia’s indigenous shelter system. Institut Masyarakat, Pulau Penang

    Google Scholar 

  • MacKinnon J, MacKinnon K, Child C, Thorsell J (1986) Managing protected areas in the tropics. International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, Gland

    Google Scholar 

  • Malama A, Sharples S (1997) The performance of traditional and contemporary housing in the cool season of Zambia. Build Environ 32:69–78

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moughtin JC (1982) Settlements and housing in an arid-zone developing country; case study in Hausaland, Northern Nigeria. In: Golany G (ed) Desert planning: international lessons. The Architectural Press, London, pp 145–159

    Google Scholar 

  • Musvoto C, Mapaure I, Gondo T, Ndeinoma A, Mujawo T (2006) Reality and preferences in community mopane (Colophospermum mopane) woodland management in Zimbabwe and Namibia. Int J Hum Soc Sc 1(3):173–177

    Google Scholar 

  • Ngowi AB (1997) A hybrid approach to house construction-a case study in Botswana. Build Res Inf 25:142–147

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nicol JF, Humphreys MA (2001) Adaptive thermal comfort and sustainable standards for buildings. In: McCartney K (ed) Moving thermal comfort standards into the 21st century. Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, pp 45–59

    Google Scholar 

  • Norton J (1986) Building with earth: a handbook. Intermediate Technology Development Group, Rugby

    Google Scholar 

  • Olgyay V (1992) Design with climate. Bioclimatic approach to architectural regionalism. Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Oliver P (1987) Dwellings. The house across the world. University of Texas Press, Austin

    Google Scholar 

  • Palgrave KC (1983) Trees of Southern Africa. Struik Publishers, Cape Town

    Google Scholar 

  • Parodi JL (1988) The use of palms and other native plants in non-conventional, low cost rural housing in the Peruvian Amazon. Adv Bot 6:119–129

    Google Scholar 

  • Rahman AMA (1995) House design in relation to environmental comfort. Build Res Inf 23(1):49–54

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roaf S (1983) The windcatchers of the Middle East. In: Germen A (ed) Islamic architecture and urbanism. King Faisal University, Damman, pp 257–268

    Google Scholar 

  • Robert V, Carnevale P (1991) Influence of deltamethrin treatment of bed nets on malaria transmission in the Kou valley, Burkina Faso. Bull World Health Organ 69(6):735–740

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Rodger A (1974) The Sudanese heat trap. Ecologist 4(3):102–106

    Google Scholar 

  • Roonwall ML, Chatterjee PN, Thapa RS (1966) Effect of leaching out water soluble substances in the bamboo, Bambusa nutans Wall., as protection against insect borers. Indian For Rec Entomol 10:249–257

    Google Scholar 

  • Schreck CE, Self LS (1985) Bed nets that kill mosquitoes. World Health Forum 6:342–344

    Google Scholar 

  • Sdei A (2006) Thermal comfort in the traditional Japanese house. Martin Centre for Architectural and Urban Studies, Cambridge University, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Sharples S, Malama A (1997) A thermal comfort field survey in the cool season of Zambia. Build Environ 32(3):237–243

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith KGV (ed) (1973) Insects and other arthropods of medical importance. British Museum (Natural History), London

    Google Scholar 

  • Sunquist F (1984) New approach to conservation in the third world. Smithsonian 14(12):164–169

    Google Scholar 

  • Symington CF (1974) Forester’s manual of dipterocarps. Penerbit Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur

    Google Scholar 

  • Vellinga M, Oliver P, Bridge A (2007) Atlas of vernacular architecture of the world. Routledge, Abingdon

    Google Scholar 

  • Walton GA (1962) The Ornithodorus moubata superspecies problem in relation to human relapsing fever epidemiology. In: Arthur DR (ed) Aspects of disease transmission by ticks. Zoological Society of London Symposium 6, London, pp 83–156

    Google Scholar 

  • Warren J (1999) Conservation of earth structures. Buttterworth-Heinemann, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Waterson R (1990) The living house: an anthropology of architecture in South-East Asia. Oxford University Press, Singapore

    Google Scholar 

  • Wells J (1995) Population, settlements and the environment: the provision of organic materials for shelter. Habitat Int 19:73–90

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wells J, Haddar F, Uhde M-L, Sy A (1998) Shelter provision in the context of deforestation: some evidence from Mali. Habitat Int 22:463–475

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wright G (1985) The stone villages of Britain. David & Charles, Newton Abbot

    Google Scholar 

  • Yap HH, Tan HT, Abdul Malik Y, Rohaizat B, Loh PY, Chong NL (1990) Field efficacy of mosquito coil formulations containing d-allethrin and d-transallethrin against indoor mosquitoes especially Culex quinquefasciatus say. Southeast Asian J Trop Med Public Health 21:558–563

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Environmental Studies Programme, University of Cardiff, Wales, UK

    John Edington

Authors
  1. John Edington
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2017 Springer International Publishing AG

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Edington, J. (2017). House Design and Construction. In: Indigenous Environmental Knowledge. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62491-4_4

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation