Small wooden house of Arfak tribe in Kwau village of Arfak mountains

The small wooden house below is a typical traditional dwelling place of Hatam people. Hatam is one of the indigenous tribes who live in Arfak mountains of Manokwari regency in West Papua province of Indonesia. The house was built on a slope in Kwau village. I went there on 14 April 2011 with Ad Rappange - a tourist from Switzerland. Two crews from TOP TV - Nadia Siregar and Edo also went with us. Most of the traditional wooden houses have similar designs. The interior is not divided into smaller rooms like what we have in the city. The walls were made of bark reinforced with wooden sticks. The floor is made of bamboo supported by a lot of wooden posts. The Papuan do not use nails to join the wooden posts and beams. They tight them with split rattan. The houses do not have windows.

This traditional wooden house does not experience a lot of changes both in the design and method of construction. The only noticeable change that we can see in most of the houses is the roof material. In the past, the Hatam tribe used pandanus leaves as roofs. Now most of them have been replaced by corrugated metal roof called seng that is more resistant to rain. Because the houses do not have ceilings, the temperature inside the house is usually high during sunny days. 

The Hatam people like to grow flower around their houses. Although there is a high demand for fresh flowers in Manokwari city, they don't consider it as market or business opportunity. For them flowers are decorative plants that can beautify their houses and their Kwau village. The cool temperature in Kwau village makes the flowers grow well without any need of fertilizer. 

In recent years, villagers have constructed concrete houses in Kwau village. The concrete house actually is not suitable for them because the interior temperature will be colder at nights. However, they build the houses to show to other people that economically they are not poor. In most cases, I see that although they already have got a new concrete house, they still live in their traditional wooden houses that are warmer at nights. Kwau village is located on a slope in Arfak mountains some 1350 meters above sea level. by Charles Roring

Also read:  

Ceiling and windows of a wooden house

Wooden house frame from Minahasa;

Wooden house and alleyway of Kyoto

Wooden houses in Senopi

Wood as house construction material is still abundant in West Papua especially in District Senopi. From church, to villagers homes and from school to priest house, most of them were built with wood. The most popular tree for home building in District Senopi is Kayu Besi and Kayu Matoa. In the past, when chain saw and wood working machinery had not entered Senopi village, the indigenous Papuan built their traditional homes that were called rumah kaki seribu manually. The walls of these houses were made of barks whereas the floors were made of bamboo. For the roofs, they used thatched palm leaves. Today, we cannot not see that kind of rumah kaki seribu anymore. Most of the timber houses have been constructed from wooden blocks and panels that were cut using chain saw and other wood working tools.

The windows that we do not see in the traditional kaki seribu house design have been installed in the modern timber houses in Senopi. Many households in Senopi receive solar panels from the government as power resource for their radios and lamps. Unfortunately, the quality of these panels is low. Many of them cannot produce enough electricity anymore.

Although the houses are now using panels and blocks cut from big tree, their designs are not the same as the wooden houses that we usually see in Manokwari city. Most of the wooden houses in the city have floors made directly on the ground. Floors of Senopi houses are still around 1 meter above the ground adopting the traditional style of Rumah Kaki Seribu. The space under the floor allows air to flow freely and provides natural cooling for the house.  Wooden house is relatively an eco-friendly home. In addition, the empty space is mostly allocated for animals such as pigs, and chickens. So, it is not surprising if we hardly ever see any pigpens in Senopi. by Charles Roring
Also read: wooden house and alleyway of Kyoto

Wooden House Frame from Minahasa

Wood has been used as home construction materials since ancient times. Wooden house frame that you can see in this article is typically from Minahasa. The species of wood that is chosen for pillars is aliwoswos, besi (iron wood) and other hardwood that is available in the timber market. The walls are usually made of Cempaka wood (Elmeralia ovallis). People in the mountainous region of Minahasa choose wooden houses because they are more resistant to earthquakes which sometimes hit the region that is surrounded by several active volcanoes. Posts are strengthened or stiffened using braces that are bolted or nailed to the beams of the house to ensure that it will not collapse when hit by strong earthquakes.

Before the house is erected on certain location, its posts, windows, and doors have to be manufactured by builders in their workshops. They will build the house to check whether all the construction parts of have been made according to the request from the owner. When the house is complete, it will be dismantled and shipped to where it will be erected.
Because the wooden house from Minahasa has attracted a lot of buyers from various different islands in Indonesia and abroad, the length of the frames and other parts of the house has been shortened to fit the standard size of a big container. Customers who want to buy a wooden house from Minahasa have to make sure that the frames of the house have been cut from hard wood material such as iron wood or merbau. In addition, the wood panels should be from old timber. by Charles Roring
Also read: Wooden house from Kwau village in Arfak mountains

Wooden house from Kwau village of Arfak mountains

The wooden houses that you see in this post were photographed when I was guiding tourists in Manokwari regency. This is a typical wooden house in Arfak mountains. The walls are made of tree barks that are strengthened by wooden sticks to create rigid structure. The indigenous people who live in the house make fire near their feet to keep them warm at night. This house was located around 1400 meters above sea level in the middle of the tropical rainforest of West Papua. This house is an eco-friendly home construction because it only uses organic materials for building it. Although the houses look very basic in their design and construction, they are more resistant to earthquake than the ordinary concrete houses that I usually find in Manokwari city.

The floor of the house is made of bamboo panels that are supported by small wooden pillars and beams below it. The space below the house is usually allocated for pigs. Hens and cocks fly to the nearby trees to sleep there at nights. In the past, the roofs of the wooden houses in Arfak mountains were made of palm leaves that had been arranged and woven together to protect the interior of the houses from wet weather. Today, the villagers prefer to use corrugated metal roofs that are more resistant to wet weather and will only need replacement after 10 or 15 years of use.

Under the free housing program from the social department, local government of Manokwari regency construct semi-permanent wooden houses whose design and types are not the same as the original design of the houses which the indigenous people of Arfak mountains usually build. Most the houses are not built above the ground. As a result, they are not suitable for the climate in the slopes of Arfak mountains that is very cold at night. The Arfak tribes still say that their traditional timber houses are warmer than the ones constructed by the contractors of the government's project. If you are interested in traveling to Arfak mountains in West Papua province of Indonesia, and need a guide to accompany you, please, contact me Charles Roring via my email: charlesroring@gmail.com
Also read:
Wooden house design of Losmen Amberimasi
Wooden house from tropical village of Senopi

Wooden house in mountains of Arfak

The traditional wooden house in Arfak mountains is called rumah kaki seribu or a thousand feet house. It is not a modern wooden house whose interior is well varnished and insulated to create a comfortable dwelling place for its owner. The house has a lot of small pillars below to support it some 1 to 2 meters off the ground. Timber, bamboo, and tree bark are used as the main construction materials for the house. They are all renewable resources in tropical rainforest of West Papua. At the present time the exploitation of wood has destroyed vast areas of tropical rainforest in the region. This timber industry is not expanded to meet the demand of the one-thousand feet house but modern timber-framed house construction and furniture industry that are growing exponentially in Manokwari city, the capital of West Papua province. The traditional wooden house in the mountains of Arfak does not consume a lot of logs. However, improvements in the designs need to be done to make them more comfortable to the indigenous Arfak tribes who develop them.

When most of the villages in Arfak mountains were still isolated, modern home building materials could not be supplied into those villages. Now with the construction of new roads between the Manokwari city and the Arfak mountains, villagers can easily go to the city to buy nails, corrugated metal roofs and portland cement to build their houses. Unfortunately, what I see is not improvements in the design of the Arfakkers wooden house but the adoption of new style house which the indigenous people see in the coastal region of the city. Manokwari city is located along area of Doreh bay. The traditional "kaki seribu" wooden houses with a lot of supporting pillars are now being abandoned with the construction of timber framed concrete houses that are built directly on the ground. Portland cement is used to make foundation and floor. Because the air temperature in Arfak mountains is quite cool, such houses are actually not suitable for the moutainous tribes.
In my opinion, people from Arfak tribes can still make their kaki-seribu wooden houses more comfortable to them by making some improvements in the designs. The the addition of windows the allow sunlight to enter the rooms and adjustable ventilation holes to allow air to circulate into and out of the rooms, and finally chimney as an exhaust pipe to direct the smoke  out of the wooden houses are needed to make them a good comfortable living place. Lastly, corrugated metal roofs have widely replaced the palm leaves that were not resistant to water. The palm leaves could easily burn and endanger the villagers who live inside the such house.

I hope that the traditional wooden house in the mountains of Arfak can still be preserved as one of the most important cultural heritages that the Papuan people can give to their future generations. by Charles Roring
Also read: Old wooden house of Minahasa
 

Wooden House Air Conditioning System

Wooden house in tropical region needs an energy efficient air conditioning system. Most of the energy used in buildings is for air conditioning. In other words, the half of the green house gases that cause global warming come from the CO2 emissions that modern buildings produce every day. An environmentally friendly house needs to tackle this problem. Because the temperature of the tropical islands are high, between 29 to 32 degrees Celsius, wooden houses that are built in this region must have good ventilation holes that can let air to circulate naturally.  The following photograph shows how the owner of wooden house of Minahasa use green plants and flowers as natural air conditioning system to cool the air temperature that circulates into and out of the house.

People usually plant trees around their houses to filter dirty air and at the same time lower the temperature of the air before it enters the house through ventilation holes that are made above the windows and doors of the wooden houses. Besides planting trees that provide shades to the roof of the house, home owners can grow plants as fence for their houses. Live plants will significantly reduce the amount of ash that fly together with the air when cars or motorcycles pass in front of their houses. Another natural air conditioning system that can be done to substitute the man-made AC machine is by constructing fish pond at the front yard of the house. Besides the pond can be considered as decoration, its water vapor greatly reduces the temperature of air that circulates into and out of the house.
With this natural AC system, home owners can reduce the electrical bill that they will likely to pay if they install man-made AC machines in their wooden houses. This kind of arrangement may not be applicable to wooden houses in the United States and Europe where insulation is very important to keep the indoor rooms warm during winter season. The natural air conditioning system for such houses can be done by the application of passive solar system to warm up the air that circulates inside the house without the need of a lot of electrical energy.
In a book entitled, Ecohouse: A Design Guide by  Sue Roaf, it says that architects in Oxford of the UK have done extensive research in developing an energy efficient house that only emits 140 kg of CO2 per year. Houses in Oxford whose sizes are similar to the Oxford Eco-house emit 6500 kilograms of CO2 per year. So, it is still possible to develop an energy efficient or eco-friendly house in Europen countries where energy consumption during winter is relatively high.
We all know that most of the architects in the past 30 years have shut-off the indoor climate from the outdoor one. Such decision has systematically stopped the use of natural air circulation and heating system with man-made heating and AC machines. In eco-friendly wooden house design approach, the indoor and outdoor climate still connects to each other and carefully adjusted to create ideal temperature to people who will live inside it. The use of natural material such as timber and clay will reduce energy consumption. by Charles Roring

Wooden house an eco-friendly home

Wooden house should be part of an eco-friendly living habitat. We cannot see buildings which are made of wood only as "work of art" or as "products" that appear on colorful pages of glossy architectural magazines. In big cities, modern houses are constructed using steel frames, ceramic tiles, and expensive bricks and  pre-fabricated wall panels. The production of such materials consumes a lot of energy. The maintenance of the houses is also expensive due to the use of air conditioning equipment in every room. Although these concrete houses look luxurious and comfortable, they are not environmentally friendly. I remember watching a program in NHK which describes how the wooden houses in Japanese cultural city of Kyoto attract a lot of tourists (please, read: Wooden House and Alleyway of Kyoto)

An eco-friendly house, as a matter of fact, should be a dwelling place that closely connected to its surrounding environment - a house that is united with the society and the climate where it is built.  It does not need a lot of heating or cooling equipment to make itself as a comfortable home.

Last December 2010, I traveled with some Dutch tourists by car from Arfak mountains to Manokwari city. Along the way, I saw various types of houses. Many are made of concrete whereas some are constructed of timber. Timber framed or wooden houses in this city is now becoming more and more popular following several big earthquakes that hit Manokwari city in the last 5 years. The indigenous Papuan people have already built their own wooden houses known as rumah kaki seribu meaning "home with one thousand feet." This traditional wood house from Arfak mountains has a lot of pillars that supports it around 1-2 meters above the ground. Because the type of this house is a stage house, it is cool during the day due to free circulation of air that passes through the pillars under the floor of the house.

Although these kaki seribu wooden houses are more resistant to earthquake, they do not have good ventilation. I can understand why the kaki seribu house does not have adequate number of windows. This type of house is mostly built in Arfak mountains at the heights between 1,500 to 2,000 meters above the sea level. The air temperature in such heights is very cool. Perhaps that is the reason why people in Manokwari city prefer to have houses that are different in design from the Kaki Seribu house. When such house is built near the coastal region whose climate is hot, the indoor air quality is bad due to the lack of windows and other ventilation holes.

 Wooden houses with Minahasan design are more popular now because they have been modified to hot climate of tropical region. In addition, the workmanship of the interior has been adapted to modern lifestyle. Some carpenters from Woloan and Leilem in Minahasa regency have moved to Papua to work as home builders in a number of cities and towns in Papua. With the experience and building skills that, as well as the wood working tools, that they have, they can easily sell Minahasan wooden houses in Manokwari city. It is my personal concern that the kaki seribu house is gradually being forgotten by Papuan people in Manokwari city of West Papua province.
But I still believe that the Kaki Seribu house can still be modified to adapt with the warm temperature of the coastal region. The addition of windows, the improvements in the building methods and the rearrangements of living room and bedrooms will make this kaki seribu house regain its position again as an eco-friendly dwelling place in Manokwari city and its surrounding areas. by Charles Roring

Also read: Traditional Wooden House Competition in Manokwari

Earthquake resistant houses

Most home builders in Manokwari city of West Papua must take into account earthquake resistant structures when constructing houses. The use of steel profiles or steel rods for pillars for multi-story buildings is highly recommended. Although metal buildings are strong and suitable for earthquake region, they are not fully popular due to aesthetics consideration. Home owners in Indonesia still prefer wooden framed houses with concrete walls as the most affordable and beautiful constructions.  The department of public works (called DPU or Departement Pekerjaan Umum) stipulate that all houses with two floors and above must have structural strength calculations done by architects and civil engineers who design the buildings when submitting their works to the department for obtaining their approval.
For small one floor homes, the use of hard wood for house frames is a common practice in this city. To hold the concrete walls, the construction workers hammer big nails along the wooden pillars and girders along the sides where the bricks of the concrete walls will be built. When earthquake hits the city, these nails will hold the walls from falling onto the ground and hit the occupants of the houses. The distance of the pillars has also been reduced to a maximum of 4 meters for family homes with two or three bedrooms.

Building materials for the foundation of the houses are granite stones or hard corals that are mined from the mountains. The mining of corals from the coastal area has been banned due to its destructive impact on the marine environment.
Although Papua is rich of timber, some home buyers in Manokwari still orders prefab building or wooden houses from Woloan village in North Sulawesi. These earthquake resistant wooden house of Minahasa, after being dismantled and shipped to Papua, will be reassembled and constructed on sites that have been cleared for them.

For Papua and Indonesian islands in general, wooden houses or concrete houses whose pillars are made of wood are the most recommended constructions. The use of wood is cheaper than steel frames. To prevent the wooden blocks and planks from deteriorating or decaying due to the changing weather, anti termite and base paints have to be applied on their surfaces. These kind of coatings will protect the wood for tens or even hundreds of years to come.
I used to study Archicad, a BIM modeling software for architects and home designers. This is a very powerful software for designing homes and big buildings. Although it has the ability of calculating the number of materials needed by the designed houses, it lacks features for strength calculation that is very important for houses that will be built in earthquake region such as Indonesia. Architects still need other software such as SAP 2000 to do the structural strength analysis. by Charles Roring
Also read:
Tropical wooden houses
Archicad and Home Design
Houses in earthquake zone
How to design roof with Archicad

Wooden houses near the beach of the Dorey bay

While I was traveling to Numfor island with a ferry boat, from the sea, I saw rows of wooden houses constructed along the beach up to a slope in the Dorey bay of Manokwari city. These type of wood construction is common in this region because wood is more durable in withstanding strong earthquake. Wooden houses of the Papuan tribes in coastal region are different from the ones that I usually see in the mountainous region of West Papua. Houses that are built near the sea often have pillars that stand from the bottom of the beach to two meters above the sea surface to allow for space for high tide. The wood that are used for the house pillars have been chosen from the species that will not easily rot when soaked in the salty water for longer time.

In recent years, some Minahasan people from Woloan village migrated to Papua and introduced prefabricated wooden houses that can be dismantled from the place where it was first constructed and displayed and reassembled in a new place for the new owner of the house. Although timber as the construction material of the house is abundant in this city, the Minahasan type of the wooden houses cannot easily penetrate the local market that has already had its own indigenous model which is Rumah Kaki Seribu or "a thousand leg house" which is the typical wooden house from Arfak mountains. 

The wooden houses made by carpenters from Woloan who have now lived in Manokwari are more modern and fine in their fabrication. The carpenters use modern machine to make blocks and panels of wood that will form the house.

The big earthquake that hit Manokwari city in 2008 had reminded the city dwellers that having houses with wooden frames is more safe that building houses only with concrete materials. I personally believe that wooden houses whether they are traditional or modern in design will always be attractive in Papua because of the frequent earthquakes that hit the island.
Corrugated Metal Roof for Wooden House Construction
Most of the wooden houses in West Papua are now using corrugated metal roof called "seng" or zinc (Zn) This type of roof is very popular not only in West Papua but also in Indonesian and even all over the world. In the past, Papuan people usually use sago palm leaves as the roof cover for their houses. These leaves can only be used for 2 years. They have to be replaced  Although the corrugated metal roof is called zinc, actually it is made of layers of iron, aluminum and zinc. The zinc metal roof has a range of thicknesses from 0.2 to 3.8 milimeters. There are some possible combination that we can find in corrugated metal roof that we usually find in the housing materials shop in Indonesia:
Fe coated by seng = 1.50%
Pb coated with seng = 0.90%
Al coated with seng = 97,25%
Zn coated with seng = 97.25%
I got the chemical compositions of the corrugated metal roof from this website: http://www.adimas.co.id/ind/senggalvanis.htm
Another material that is now getting more attention from home builders is Zincalume G-550. It is alloyed steel plate protected with metal layers whose composition is 55% aluminum and 45% seng. This is Zincalume layer is twice up to six times more resistant to corrosion that other galvanic steel plate for similar application as roof deck. When there is a fire in a wooden house, the chemical composition of the metal roof plates change significantly due to overheating. As a result they cannot be used for rebuilding the house anymore.

Tens of years ago, the roofs of the wooden houses in Indonesia were from palm leaves. These materials had to be replaced every two years. In addition, they were not fully watertight. With the improvement in the home building technology in Indonesia and the availability of more durable materials, now most of the wooden houses have been protected by corrugated metal roofs that can withstand rain and sunlight for tens of years. by Charles Roring

Also read: 

• Earthquake resistant wooden house of Minahasa
• Wooden house and alleyway of Kyoto
• How to design roof with Archicad
• How to add column and beam to a house in Archicad
• Creating a rounded corner wall with Archicad 12

Wooden house design of Losmen Amberimasi

The wooden house that you see below is located in Amberimasi village of Numfor island, the Republic of Indonesia. This small house has three bedrooms, with one kitchen at the back of the house. I stayed in this losmen (or you might call hostel) from 23 to 24 November 2010. I really like its surrounding area which is still covered with green vegetation. The house is supported by wood pillars to protect the whole construction from wet ground. Because it is just a stone throw away from the beach, the ground where the house is built will always be wet from the intrusion of sea water. I don't know who designed the house but the architect or the home designer of this losmen probably did not use sophisticated BIM software such as Archicad and Revit.

I think he designed this house manually by drawing some sketches of the floor plans and then drafting one of the best floor plans into a final blue print. The house builder in Numfor island did not use teak wood which are mostly used by contractors in Java. Here in Papua, the most famous wood or timber for home construction is merbau. House made of wood such as what you see in the photograph is quite cool during a hot sunny day. Wooden house is the most recommended home construction in tropical island of Papua whose climate is hot and whose land is regularly hit by strong earthquakes.
Although today's architects have used Archicad and home design solution in modeling their design ideas into a 3D model, architects living in a small island such as Numfor still manually use pencil and sketch pad to visualize the house which they have imagined into a 2D concept house on a piece of paper.

Wooden House for Sale in Manokwari Regency

The wooden house which you see at this blog post belongs to a Dutch family who lives near the Asai beach in Manokwari regency of West Papua. This house was designed and constructed by the owner himself, Mr. (Solke) Munneke, an engineer who used to be a teacher in Engineering school in the Netherlands. Its living room is located on the second floor. Facing the Pacific Ocean.

In my previous posts, I discussed about wooden house from tropical village of Senopi and wooden house from Arfak Mountains. Both of them are totally different from this one. Mr. Munneke accurately cut and assembled the panels, beams and blocks. High quality varnished was applied to the surface of the wood to provide protection against wet climate and termites of the tropical region of West Papua. In addition, the wood which was used in Mr. Munneke's house is the high quality one with high density and strength. After the big earthquake hit Manokwari in 2007, high rise buildings that are being or will be built in this city use steel frames. Steel building is considered stronger than ordinary concrete one. The use of wooden frames for to reinforce the structural arrangement of ordinary concrete houses is also encouraged both by the agency of public works and by the architects who design houses. This is learned from the old buildings and houses that had been left by the Dutch in 1962. Their steel and wooden frames have been very effective in preventing the buildings from collapsing during the earthquake. 

Different from the ground floor of the the wooden house which I had seen in Senopi village, which is used as pigpen, Mr. Munneke's house also has ground floor but that space is used for storage and bed room. Small space is also provided for motorcycle parking lot. The Asai beach that is located not far from and just below the slope is very beautiful and often becomes a favorite destination for town dwellers especially on Sundays. In general, the design of this wooden house is not a conventional one. It is not a rectangular at all. It looks like a hexagon but with slight modification at the back and front sides. Corrugated metal roofs cover the first and the smaller second floors to protect the occupants from extreme weather.

Personally, I am very impressed by brilliant idea of Mr. Munneke who fully applied the natural cooling system in his house. We all know that the air temperature in the tropical region is quite hot during the days (around 31-33 degrees Celcius). He built a small fish pond at the back of the house and made the living room as an open space to allow air from the sea and the hill behind the house to flow freely. Additional natural cooling for the house is enhanced by various plants that he and his wife grow around the house. Mr. (Solke) Munneke told me that he wants to sell the house because he wants to live closer to Manokwari city so that his children can have access to good school. If you are interested in buying this house you can contact him via this email: sajmunneke@hotmail.com
Also read: House for sale in Manokwari

Wooden House from Arfak Mountains

Below is the traditional wooden house of Arfak tribe. Local people call this house Rumah Kaki Seribu or a thousand-feet house. I took the picture of this house when I was on the way to Mokwam village with Rhett Butler founder of mongabay.com. All the materials, except the roof, are taken from the nature or the rainforest. The metal corrugated roof has replaced the palm leaves due to its better resistance against heavy rain or damp weather. It is not surprising to see that this house looks different from the tropical house in Senopi. The next or second house in this blog post is not a traditional one. It was built by a contractor as part of a free housing project from Dinas Sosial or Social Agency of the local government of Manokwari regency.

The rumah kaki seribu which you see in this post is located around 1,500 meters above sea level. It means the climate of the region in general is always cool. When I spent two nights in Syiobri village that is located some 1,400 meters above sea level, I felt that it was very cold especially after 3 a.m. Perhaps this cold weather is the cause why the Arfak tribe does not create ventilation system or holes in their traditional wooden house of Kaki Seribu. This house has two doors but no windows. I cannot show you the interior of the house because I did not have the chance to enter it. When I took the photograph of the above house, the occupants were not there, perhaps they were working in the garden. Below is a similar house which has been constructed by Zeth Wonggor as a base camp for tourist located at around 2200 meters above sea level in the Arfak Mountains. Two Arfak boys in the photograph worked as birdman and porter.

My other analysis goes to the arrangement of walls. The walls are not made of thick wooden plank. We all know that wood is a good thermal insulation. Thin plank or bark is able to stop heat from flowing out of the house. If we look closely to the wall structure of the Kaki Seribu house, the main materials that compose walls are wooden sticks or beams and tree bark. The structure is enormously rigid. The cross joints of the wooden round beams which strengthen the wall arrangement are able to prevent the house from collapsing when big earthquake hit the region. Strong earthquakes (the last one was up to 7.6 scale richter) hit the bird's head region of West Papua nearly every year. I have never heard that during the earthquakes the traditional wooden houses of Kaki Seribu are destroyed. 

When I ask some of the local Papuans about the complicated wooden bars and barks on the walls of the Arfak tribe's house, they give various different answers. One interesting answer was that the cross-joints wooden bars assembly or construction are meant to stop suanggi from attacking the occupants of the house. The people in Arfak and many other areas in Papua are afraid of suanggi. Suanggi men are thought to have magical power to kill anybody. These wicked or satanic men are believed to be the cause behind most of the deaths in West Papua.Because the main purpose of this post is not for discussing the

The introduction of free housing project in Arfak Mountainous region will gradually reduce the number of kaki seribu wooden house. I think in the next ten years such houses will finally become extinct from their original birthplace.

Wooden house from tropical village of Senopi

The tropical wooden house which you see in this blog post is located in District Senopi, a small village in the Tambrauw Mountainous region of West Papua province, the Republic of Indonesia. This is actually not a traditional wooden house of the indigenous Papuan. It has just been constructed as part of free housing project from the Dinas Sosial or Social Agency of the local government of Manokwari regency. It is interesting to see that above the corrugated metal roof of this house, a photovoltaic panel has been installed. This panel supplies electrical energy for lighting and some electronic appliances such as radio and perhaps a small television.

While walking around the Senopi village, I saw that the design style of these free wooden houses is the same. Unlike the earthquake resistant wooden house of Minahasa whose ground floor area can reach up to three meters to allow for more rooms to be created for the family members, every wooden house in senopi, besides having large opening on the front walls for glass windows, has low empty space below its stage floor. The architect who designed the house really knows the need of the villagers for this empty ground space. Besides it enables the air to freely flow or circulate under the floor thus providing a cheap passive cooling system for the tropical wooden house, the space below the house is also used as pigpen.

Yes, the villagers in Papua usually let their pigs go around their houses freely. When it rains, the pigs will go back to their master's house and rest under the floor of the house which is a perfect shelter for them. Dogs and chickens also sleep there. Because Papuan men are great hunters, more often they prefer their dogs to live inside the house. This tropical house is strong enough to resist strong house.
Wood as construction material is better than concrete in earthquake region. The extraction of wood from the nearby tropical rainforest will not endanger the ecosystem as long as the housing project is carried out professionally meaning that the surfaces of the can be prolong to tens or even hundreds of years in order for the rainforest to have enough time to restore itself before being extracted again. by Charles Roring contact e-mail: peace4wp@gmail.com
Also read: Wooden House from Arfak Mountains

Tropical Wooden Houses

Tropical wooden houses in Minahasa have been around for hundreds of years. Most of the Minahasan people live in houses that are constructed from wood. Cempaka, Merbau,  and Natoh (Latin: Micelia celebica) are the main types of wood used in the house construction due to their hardness and durability in resisting wet climate of the tropical weather. In addition, they are more resistant to termite attack. Most of the earthquake resistant wooden houses of Minahasa are single and two floors constructions. Besides they are more suitable to hot and high moisture climate, wooden house are more resistant to earthquake. All of the rooms in a traditional wood house of Minahasa have ventilation holes. They enable the air to flow freely in and out of the house. Most of the ventilation in bedrooms are covered with mosquito nets. 

 Minahasa is a regency in the province of North Sulawesi of the Republic of Indonesia that is surrounded by several active volcanoes such as Mount Lokon, and Mount Soputan. In addition, it is located within the ring of fire of the Pacific Ocean where tectonic earthquake frequently occurs.

If we explore wooden house thoroughly, we will see that ladders are installed one at the front of the house which enables guests to come up directly to the second floor (where the living room is located) and the other at the back of the house connecting the second floor with the kitchen (which is located at the ground floor). The ground floor is usually allocated for the storage of agricultural produce (such as clove, rice, peanuts, and coffee), parking area for cars, and kitchen. Typical Minahasan wood houses have large yard area where the owners (whose profession as farmers) dry their agricultural commodity under the sun. Minahasan people like to grow clove and coconut trees in front of their houses. They also grow various flowers at the front yard as decoration that beautify the outside appearance of the house. The second floor is usually allocated for bedrooms and living room. These ladders stiffen and strengthen the construction of the wooden house against horizontal movements caused by tectonic and volcanic earthquakes. Read: Earthquake Resistant Wood House.
In the past the roof of the wooden houses are made of palm leaves. Because of frequent fire incident, today's wood houses have roof made of metal sheets which in Indonesia are called daun seng. Ordinary thin corrugated metal roof is actually not suitable for house construction in Minahasa whose atmosphere is often filled by sulphur emitted by the volcanoes but the local people there do not have other option. Actually the manufacturers of the metal roof need to produce metal roof sheets that are more resistant to corrosion caused by high sulphur content in air. 
Today the Minahasan wooden houses are being exported in the form of knock-down package that can be ordered directly from the internet and shipped in containers. House builders will be sent to help the buyer of the house construct the package.

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The Ceiling and Windows of Wooden House

Earthquake Resistant Wood House

Wooden house is now seen as the best and the most affordable earthquake resistant construction for home owners. Wood has been used as construction materials for thousands of years. The recent news about earthquake in Haiti shows how concrete building are severely damaged after being hit by 7 magnitude quakes. In the contrary most of the wooden house can still stand without suffering bad destructions. Wood is more resistant to quakes due to its properties. It is more durable against vibration due to its fiber. Although wooden house is the perfect solution in earthquake region, it has to be protected against termite and bad weather. I just wrote an article in my Englishland's website explaining several precaution steps that home owners or home builders should do to make their houses more safe not to the violent earthquake but to the surrounding environmental conditions that are not friendly to wood as construction material.

The earthquake resistant wooden house of Minahasa enter the internet world

The traditional house of Minahasa has been recognized in Indonesia as one of the best earthquake resistant home construction that is suitable for tropical region. It looks beautiful especially when constructed in a village that is still fully decorated with flowers and green plants. In recent days, these wooden houses are increasingly being exported to other regions in the country and even abroad.

With the availability of internet connection in Woloan village, a major place where the traditional home builders can be found, traders of this earthquake resistant wooden houses try to expand their market by promoting their products on the internet. There are some websites that already offer these wooden houses. Potential buyers can choose the designs that they like based on the ones presented or can request custom designd to the housing company which ire more suitable to their needs and climate condition where the houses will be erected.

The science of design and construction of Minahasan traditional wooden house has evolved over hundreds of years through trial and error of experiments that continues to improve the craftsmanship of the designers and builders. As a matter of fact, most of the wooden house design is not created by professional architect who got their expertise from college, not either by the use of Archicad home design software. Instead, the skills in designing and building of the houses have been passed on from generation to generation among the families of the house builders. Although the export of this type of wooden house is rising, there are concerns among the home builders to the availability of the raw materials.

The wooden house of Minahasa is mostly made of Cempaka, Lingua and Jati (tectona grandis) woods. Wood as home materials are getting scarce in the region. Home builders there now order planks and blocks from southern and central region of Celebes island. Some times they order wooden blocks from Kalimantan. This creates sensitive environmental issue such as illegal logging or irresponsible deforestation.

This wooden house business can still survive if the local villagers are asked to plant trees that will become the housing materials after 30 years. By Charles Roring in Manokwari of Papua

The Ceiling and Windows of a Wooden House

When designing a ceiling whether manually or automatically using such software as Revit Architecture or Archicad of Graphisoft, an architect must think both the function and aesthetic appearance of the ceiling. Ceiling is an integrated part of every house.

It can be made of wood, metal sheets or composite and other fiber material. On the ceiling, we have lamps, fan, loudspeaker and fire fighting equipment. The following pictures are ceiling of a wooden house. The surface of the ceiling is not flat. It is made of many smaller wooden boards that are artistically arranged.

To balance the dark color of the wood, the surrounding side of the ceiling and the walls are painted with leaving the contrast look of the house. The exterior of the house is also similar to the interior one. The ceiling and the windows are made of wood. The owner of the house does not apply brighter painting to them. Instead, he painted the wall white to balance the dark brown color of the wood.

To protect the house from theft, steel frames are installed at the window openings separating the interior and exterior of the house without blocking the sunlight from entering the interior. This house was designed and constructed by the owner alone in Manokwari of West Papua following the typical design of the Minahasan wooden house in North Sulawesi.

The use of wood as the main material of a house will not threat the tropical rainforest as long as the practice is done in sustainable way. It means that after cutting the trees, people have to replant them with new trees. Tropical rainforest is important not only for the animals living inside it but also for human beings who need clean air and water as well as coral reef that lies deeper under the sea. by Charles Roring in Manokwari of West Papua - Indonesia Also read:

The Old Wooden House of Minahasa

by Charles Roring in Manokwari of West Papua - Indonesia

You might wonder how long a wooden house construction can stand. Wood is one of the most versatile materials for housing. It can withstand frequent stress and strain to the changing live loadings. The main factor that deteriorates its strength is weather. Water can trigger the growing of moulds on the surface of wood panel.

Besides water, termites, coming from underground, can eat the wood and cause massive destruction on pillars, beams and wall panels of the house.

If properly dried and constructed wooden house can stand on the ground for hundreds of years. One of the wooden house constructions which has stand for hundreds of years can be seen in Japan. Even in tropical region with frequent rain and high humidity, wooden house can have lifespan that is long. One of the good examples is the main building of Pinabetengan Resort in Minahasa. This multi storey wooden building was built several hundred years ago.

Wood as the raw material has to be mature enough and properly dried to be used home building. The older the wood, the stronger will be its fiber in resisting loads, water or termites.

For generations to come, wooden houses of Minahasa will still play important roles in providing shelters to the people and will still be the only viable sustainable construction materials that are suitable and affordable for every body. Also read: Special treatment for wooden house construction and How to buy a good wooden house

Special treatment for wooden house construction

by Charles Roring in Manokwari of West Papua - Indonesia

Wooden house is a favorite construction for an earthquake zone. It can withstand frequent ground shocks without failures. Although wood is strong, it will decay if continuously exposed to water. When the wood is wet or damp, mould will grow on its surface.

There are some treatments which can be applied to the wood surface to protect it from decaying. The most common treatment is applying wood paint or varnish to all exposed panels of the wooden house. The paint has to be of water resistant material. Every two or three years, carpenters must clean the wood surface again and apply protective coating.

We have to remember that to obtain the best wooden house construction, the wood as the main material has to be adequately dry. If it is still wet or contains high percentage of water, mould will grow and destroy the painting or coating which has been applied to its surface.

In Japan, experienced home builders apply a unique treatment to the panel surfaces of wooden house. They burn the surface of the wooden wall until it is wholy covered with cinder. By then, mould will not grow. This cinder layer is more weather resistant compared to conventional wood painting or varnish. Also read: How to buy a good wooden house and Earthquake resistant wooden house of Minahasa

How to buy a good wooden house

by Charles Roring in Manokwari of West Papua of Indonesia

The demand for wooden house in earthquake zone is increasing at the present time. People have known that wooden house is strong and sturdy construction that can withstand ground shocks and wind blowing. Besides having light weight construction, wooden house looks beautiful and well blended with nature.

If you want to buy a good wooden house, you must pay attention to some of aspects that are related to wooden house design and construction.

The type of wood - In tropical region, wood such as Cempaka, Merbau and Jati are some of the best types of wood that determine the quality of the end products whether they are furniture or house.

The age of wood - wooden material for house construction should be at least 30 years old. At that time, the wood fire is mature and strong enough to withstand stress or loads.

The dryness of wood - the drier the wood fiber the better will be the wood material for housing. If the water content is the wood is high, when the wooden has been constructed, after several year the wooden board, pillars or panels will buckle due to the drying process of the wood itself.

Wood is a versatile material for house construction. If wisely used, it can be one of the best renewable resources that continues to serve human needs for housing, furniture and any other needs. Also read: Earthquake resistant wooden house of Minahasa