Tongkonan Construction, A Case Study
In Collaboration with Lazo Gitchos
Scales of Design with Bimal Mendis
Spring 2022
Drawings
This section drawing explored the layered process of building the Tongkonan hut. Starting with the foundation of wood stilts woven into one another, establishing varying heights for the three distinct areas inside.
Sectional Model
This sectional model of the Tongkonan housing typology explores structure, construction technique, and materiality in the traditional house of the Toraja people. Construction of the buildings, which are relatively uniform along structural and formal dimensions, is represented through time by the length-wise halves of the model.
On one half, the builders have yet to assemble the roof, and the structure that allows the curved shape of the building is visible. Through the skeletonized walls, the structure of the foundation and the joinery of the post-and-beam construction are apparent; the house rises in distinct layers that correspond to elements in the physical and spiritual worlds, and the construction reflects human ecological relationships in Toraja society.