The Lucretius Plan: Built on rock

Our neighbour, the infamous Pak Minggus, has decided to restore his depleted resources by renting out his house. To make this possible, he is building a new house on some spare land, and by way of making a virtue out of necessity, he is building a 'rumah adat', a traditional dwelling. This consists of a stone foundation, upon which one builds a wooden superstructure. The wood is from just eight coconut trees, which is an efficient use of a strong an versatile material. It is also fairly environmentally sustainable as coconut grows quite quickly.

Pak Minggus reports that this sort of house is a much better bet in the event of a Tsunami, not because it is any stronger that a concrete house, but because as it is so much cheaper you are less destitute when you become a victim, which I suppose has a kind of weird logic. Furthermore, in the event of an earthquake concrete houses collapse, whereas the inherent pliability of a coconut house enables it to roll with the punches, as it were.

Read on, and see the pictures...

The 'tukang kayu' (carpenter) has been making all the mortice joints over the past couple of weeks, working round the clock in stifling heat, using the most rudimentary tools. He has not used any kind of written plans, but has a picture of the house in his head, and has mentally calculated all the necessary joints and angles, preparing all the wooden frames in abstract before constructing anything.

The carpenter assured me that this seemingly random pile of wood, sporting various mortices and rebates, would become the frame of a fairly substantial house. This process, he reckoned, would take only a few hours. So, last Saturday I arose early to witness this event and take some pictures, which can be found at the end of this article.

Some friends and family of Pak Minggus turned up, and following the carpenter's instructions they gradually assembled each frame, laid them out on the foundations and erected the house. The whole process took about six hours, and there is not a single nail nor screw in the entire structure: the joints are all held together by handmade dowels.

In a few days time, the roof trusses will be added, coconut panelling attached to the walls, and finally coconut leaves fastened to the roof frame. The total cost of the house, including parts and labour, is 7m Rupiah, which is around 500 pounds sterling.

Here are the pictures:
A simple clamp mechanism.