Rumah adat are traditional houses built in any of thevernacular architecture styles ofIndonesia, collectively belonging to theAustronesian architecture. The traditional houses and settlements of the several hundredsethnic groups of Indonesia are extremely varied and all have their own specific history.[1]: 5 It is the Indonesian variants of the whole Austronesian architecture found all over places where Austronesian people inhabited from the Pacific to Madagascar each having their own history, culture and style.
Ethnic groups in Indonesia are often associated with their own distinctive form ofrumahadat.[2] The houses are at the centre of a web of customs, social relations, traditional laws, taboos, myths and religions that bind the villagers together. The house provides the main focus for the family and its community, and is the point of departure for many activities of its residents.[3] Villagers build their own homes, or a community pools its resources for a structure built under the direction of a master builder or carpenter.[2]
The vast majority of Indonesians no longer live inrumah adat, and the numbers have declined rapidly due to economic, technological, and social changes.
With few exceptions, the peoples of the Indonesian archipelago share a commonAustronesian ancestry (originating in Taiwan, c. 6,000 years ago[4]) orSundaland, a sunken area in Southeast Asia, and the traditional homes of Indonesia share a number of characteristics, such as timber construction and varied and elaborate roof structures.[4] The earliest Austronesian structures were communallonghouses on stilts, with steep sloping roofs and heavy gables, as seen in theBatak rumah adat and theTorajanTongkonan.[4] Variations on the communal longhouse principle are found among theDayak people of Borneo, as well as theMentawai people.[4]
The norm is for a post, beam and lintel structural system that take load straight to the ground with eitherwooden orbamboo walls that are non-load bearing. Traditionally, rather than nails, mortis and tenon joints and wooden pegs are used.Natural materials - timber, bamboo, thatch and fibre - make uprumah adat.Hardwood is generally used forpiles and a combination ofsoft and hard wood is used for the house's upper non-load bearing walls, and are often made of lighter wood orthatch.[5] The thatch material can becoconut andsugar palm leaves,alang alang grass and rice straw.
Traditional dwellings have developed to respond to natural environmental conditions, particularly Indonesia's hot and wet monsoon climate. As is common throughoutSouth East Asia and the South West Pacific, mostrumah adat are built onstilts, with the exception of Java, Bali, and other houses of Eastern Indonesia.[2] Building houses off the ground on stilts serve a number of purposes: it allows breezes to moderate the hot tropical temperatures; it elevates the dwelling above stormwater runoff and mud; it allows houses to be built on rivers and wetland margins; it keeps people, goods and food from dampness and moisture; lifts living quarters abovemalaria-carryingmosquitos; and reduces the risk ofdry rot andtermites.[6] The sharply inclined roof allows the heavy tropical rain to quickly sheet off, and large overhangingeaves keep water out of the house and provide shade in the heat.[7] In hot and humid low-lying coastal regions, homes can have many windows providing good cross-ventilation, whereas in cooler mountainous interior areas, homes often have a vast roof and few windows.[3]
Examples ofrumah adat include:
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The numbers ofrumah adat are decreasing across Indonesia. This trend dates from the colonial period, with the Dutch generally viewing traditional architecture as unhygienic, with big roofs that sheltered rats.[8] Multi-family homes were viewed with suspicion by religious authorities, as were those aspects of therumah adat linked to traditional belief.[8] In parts of the Indies, colonial authorities embarked on vigorous demolition programmes, replacing traditional homes with houses built using Western construction techniques, such as bricks andcorrugated iron roofs, fitting sanitary facilities and better ventilation. Traditional craftsmen were retrained in Western building techniques.[9] Since independence, the Indonesian government has continued to promote the 'rumah sehat sederhana' ('simple healthy home') over therumah adat.[10]
Exposure to the market economy made the construction of labour-intensiverumah adat, such as the Batak house, extremely expensive (previously villages would work together to construct new homes) to build and maintain. In addition,deforestation andpopulation growth meant that the hardwoods were no longer a free resource to be gathered as needed from nearby forests, but instead a too-expensive commodity.[9] Combined with a general appetite for modernity, the great majority of Indonesians now dwell in generic modern buildings rather than traditionalrumah adat.[citation needed]
In areas with many tourists, such as the TanahToraja,rumah adat are preserved as a spectacle for tourists, their former residents living elsewhere, with design elements exaggerated to the point that theserumah adat are considerably less comfortable than the original designs.[11] While in most areasrumah adat have been abandoned, in a few remote areas they are still current, and in other areas buildings in the style of therumah adat are maintained for ceremonial purposes, as museums or for official buildings.
During the colonialDutch East Indies period around the first half of the 20th century, the typical style and elements of vernacular Indonesianrumah adat were often used as the inspiration, recreated and replicated intentionally to represent the cultural diversity of the colony, also intended to create a festive atmosphere with fantastic architecture. The annualPasar Gambir for example — a fair held between 1906 and 1942 inBatavia, was known to have gates, stages, towers and pavilions constructed inrumah adat style drawn from all over the archipelago. Each year, these uniquely designedrumah adat pavilions were created and constructed anew using locally available materials, thus also become the attraction of the fair.[12]
This period also saw the pride and desire to showcase the cultural diversity of the colony through showcasing the vernacular architecture of the archipelago. In 1931, duringParis Colonial Exposition, the Netherlands presented a beautiful cultural synthesis from their colony — the Dutch East Indies. The Dutch colonial pavilion was located on exhibition lot as wide as 3 hectares and was built based on the combination of manycultural elements of theNusantara (Indonesian archipelago), a combination of Indonesian vernacular architecture. It has walls consisted of 750,000 pieces of ironwood from Kalimantan (Indonesian Borneo). As the centerpiece, the front part is decorated with twin 50 metres-tall BalineseMeru towers. The pavilion's roof was done intumpang ortajug style, a signature of Javanese mosque, completed with carved wooden door ofkori agung typical towering portal ofpuraBalinese temple, combined with arched roof of Minangkabau'satap bagonjong typical ofrumah gadang. This fusion ofIndonesian vernacular architecture presented a splendid and majestic palace-like pavilion.[13]: 42 However, on 28 June 1931, an enormous fire burnt down the Dutch pavilion, along with all cultural objects displayed inside.[13]: 43
Buildings are sometimes built with modern construction techniques that include stylistic elements fromrumah adat, such asThe House of the Five Senses in theEfteling, a building modeled on the Minangkabau rumah gadang. In the colonial period some Europeans constructed homes according to hybrid Western-adat designs, such as Bendegom, who built a 'transitional' Western-Batak Karo house.[14]
In numbers of places, elements or ornaments ofrumah adat has become the regional identity of provinces or regencies (kabupaten). Thus the construction of government and public buildings are encouraged to include or feature this native architectural elements. Despite technically the new buildings are constructed in contemporary technique with concrete frames and brick walls, instead of traditional timber carpentry. Most often the result is the implant of traditional roof sit on top of modern buildings. This tendency can be seen in West Sumatra and Tana Toraja, where the typical Minangbagonjong (horned) roof and Torajatongkonan roof are implanted in almost any public buildings; from airports to hotels, restaurants and government offices.
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It has been noted that the traditional wooden houses are generally more earthquake-resistant than modern brick designs, although they are more vulnerable to fire. The construction of modern concrete framed and brick walledrumah adat has undermine the very characteristic of traditional wooden house, which is its flexibility to absorb shock-waves generated by an earthquake. These concreterumah adat-style building often can not withstand earthquake and collapsed, like those buildings collapsed in2009 Padang earthquake. In some areas, a 'semi-modern'rumah adat concept has been adopted, such as among someNgada people, with traditional elements placed inside a concrete shell.[10]
