Professional Documents
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Introduction
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THE first dwellings in the region were probably adaptations of
natural caves for protection against the weather and animals in
a generally hostile environment. These establishments had
their drawbacks; for example, they gave no protection against
insects or humidity. So there was a move from the natural
shelter to the constructed shelter, the essential element of which
was and remains, in South-East Asia, the roof, giving protection from the sun and rain.
These structures not only had a practical aim, they reassured
their occupants. The space that the house delimits is the first
step towards an ordering of the universe. So gradually symbolism was incorporated into the structure which sought to put in
concrete form the arrangement that humans always try to introduce in a place where a house is established. So that the
house would be well placed in space, an attempt was made to
orient it according to the cardinal points. The different elements
of architecture express a cosmogony, albeit with numerous
variations. The same architectural technique could symbolize,
in the Minangkabau region, the horns of a buffalo, in the
Toraja, a boat and in Java, a goddess protecting rice. This
symbolism was only added slowly to the architecture and,
when the old techniques disappeared, only the forms which
they had produced were preserved and built with newer techniques. Simplifying in the extreme, one can say that the techniques of construction created forms which then gave birth to
symbolism but as the techniques evolved, the same designs were
deliberately kept even though the methods of construction did
not justify them, in order to keep the symbolic meaning.
The house expresses, on the one hand, the fantasy of its
SOUTH-EAST ASIA
Location of Places
Mentioned in the Text
MAINLAND
1. Dian (Yunnan)
2. Mandalay
3. Pagan
4. North Vietnam
5. Dong Son
6. Mi Son
7. Nha Trang
8. Chiang Mai
9. Ban Chiang
10. Ban Keo and Kanchanaburi
11. U-Thong
12. Bangkok-Thonburi
13. Battambang
14. Angkor and Siem reap
15. Phnom Penh
16. Trengganu
17. Singapore
SUMATRA
18. Aceh
19. Batak region
20. Minangkabau region
21. Jambi
22. Songsang
23. Upang
24. Palembang
25. Nias
26. Siberut (Mentawai)
27. Engano
FLORES
47. Manggarai
48. Riangkamie
49. Savu
50. Ema region (Timor)
INTRODUCTION
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5 cm
Figure 1. (a) Roof shown in relief on a bowl cover from Dian, Yunnan.
(b) House shown on the top of a bronze drum discovered at Sangeang.
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INTRODUCTION
20.cm
Figure 3. A building shown on the carvings on the first gallery of Borobudur, west side.
INTRODUCTION
flows beyond the foot of the wall (Figure 4, the relief located
in the inside of the balustrade of the temple of Siva, showing
the dwelling of Rawana being burnt by Hanuman).
In Angkor, the model of houses illustrated probably owes its
origin to dwellings similar to those which can be established
from the remains found at Ban Chiang. They are rectangular
constructions on piles, covered with a system of roofs similar to
Figure 5. A building shown on the reliefs on the inside gallery of the Bayon
at Angkor.
INTRODUCTION
10cm
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20 cm
20 cm
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dating from the eighth century, but it was above all used from
the thirteenth century in Java and then later in Bali, with a lot
of invention in details and using different methods giving rise
to new forms, above all on a square plan. It is also in this period
that the use of fl.at terracotta tiles was introduced; they were
sometimes shaped like scales, as in the previous example, but
more often were rectangular, as in the southern relief on the
platform of Candi Teguwangi (Figure 7(b)); on this relief can
be seen on the same plan and in the same group a brick and a
wooden structure, as is the case in Burma.
The temples of Thailand are often decorated with frescos
which have many illustrations of buildings. Those in the
Temple of the Emerald Buddha in the grounds of the Royal
Palace, illustrating the Ramayana, were restored in a somewhat
brutal fashion in 1932, but the restoration nevertheless followed in the main the original designs painted in the reign of King
Rama III (1824-1851). The buildings shown give many
examples of tiered rooflines, as in the fresco on the northern
wall (Plate 2). The construction was in masonry, resting on a
high moulded foundation which is substituted for piles. In the
temple of Wat Thong Thammachat, in Thonburi, built during
the reign of King Rama IV ( 1851-1868) frescos were painted
on a panel on the south side with the main scene showing the
cutting of the hair of the future Buddha. At the bottom of the
fresco is a building showing a house on piles (Figure 8, southern
wall, middle panel); the frames of the doorways are already
raised and the partitions to form the walls and the dividers are
slotted into grooves.
These few elements, even if they do not allow one to reconstruct a history of domestic architecture, howsoever summary, are nevertheless sufficient to show the great homogeneity
of models, varying a lot in detail but still for the most part
remaining close to their originals. In this way, the roof with air
vents, which can be re-established from the neolithic house at
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INTRODUCTION
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