User:MichaelJLowe/Rumah Gadang
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The rumah gadang (Minangkabau, "big house") is the traditional house (Indonesian: "rumah adat") of the Minangkabau. With the Minangkabau society being matrilineal, the rumah gadang is owned by the women of the family who live there - ownership is passed from mother to daughter. One of the larger examples of the rumah gadang architectural style is the Pagaruyung Palace near Batusangkar.
A rumah gadang is a long house with multiple gables and upsweeping ridges, forming buffalo horn-like ends. Unlike the Toba Batak homes, where the roof essentially creates the living space, the Minangkabau roof rests on conventional walls. The front and side walls contain shuttered windows and display floral carvings. The colours are mainly red and white (favoured by Chinese) with the motifs similar to those of the Minangkabau songket. The roof is a a truss and cross-beam construction and is thatched with ijuk (sugar palm fibre).
The rumah gadang mirrors the culture and values of the Minangkabau. The architecture, construction, internal and external decoration, and the functions of the house reflect adat precepts. A rumah gadang serves as a residence, a hall for family meetings, and for ceremonial activities. The symbolic function
The construction of a house is subject to specific regulations, laid down by the ancestors and formalised in adat, that need to be observed if the house is to become a beautiful and pleasant building. The construction and maintenance of a rumah gadang is the responsibility of ninik mamak, the elder male blood-relatives of the matrilineal descent group that owns and builds it.
- gonjong, hornlike roof structure
- singkok, triangular wall under the ends of gonjong
- pereng, shelf under the singkok
- anjuang, raised floor at the end of one style of rumah gadang
- dindiang ari, the walls on the side elevations
- dindiang tapi, the walls on the front and back elevations
- papan banyak, front facade
- papan sakapiang, a shelf or middle band on the periphery of the house
- salangko, wall enclosing space under a house that has been built on stilts
Each of these elements has its own symbolic meaning, which is frequently referred to in adat speech and in adat amphorisms.
The rumah gadang is built in one of two basic designs: Koto Piliang and Bodi Caniago. These forms reflect different two variations of Minangkabau social structure. The Koto Piliang design reflects an aristoctatic and hierachical social structure, with the house containing anjuang (raised floors) at each end to permit elevated seating of clan leaders during ceremonial events. The Bodi Caniago design reflects a democratic social structure, with the floors being flat and on one level.
[edit] References
- Dawson, B., Gillow, J., The Traditional Architecture of Indonesia, 1994 Thames and Hudson Ltd, London, ISBN 0-500-34132-X
[edit] Notes
- ^ Summerfield, Anne, John Summerfield (1999). Walk in Splendor: Ceremonial Dress and the Minangkabau. UCLA. ISBN 0-930741-73-0.
- ^ Vellinga, Marcel (March 2004). "A family affair: the construction of vernacular Minangkabau houses". Indonesia and the Malay World 32 (92): 100-118. DOI:10.1080/1363981042000263480.
- ^ Kartikawening, Dyah (2002). "Public Space Dynamic in Minangkabau Rural Area Indonesia". 2002 American Planning Association National Planning Conference Proceedings.
