International Journal of Architecture, Arts and Applications

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Appraisal of Vernacular Stone Housing Typology of Tigrai, Ethiopia

Received: 15 December 2018    Accepted: 14 January 2019    Published: 31 January 2019
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Abstract

Tigrai vernacular housing mainly characterized by a stone architecture called hidmo, which is an astonishing feature of the country and the region. The hidmo house does not only mean a flat roofed vernacular house, but it is becoming an architectural style since thousands years ago at the beginning of Aksumite civilization. The objective of this paper is to appraise the vernacular housing typology and their spatial relationship in Tigrai, Ethiopia. Using field visit, observation, non-structured interview, cross-checking different data sources are used for qualitative data collection and the collected data are synthesized and categorized. According to the research study the Tigrai vernacular housing has mainly three housing typology namely, the Tigrai farmer house commonly called hidmo house, Tigrai chief house that is housed for the rich, clerks and leaders and the third is Agudo dwelling unit a house for common people. In the Tigrai farmer house we could have variations and labeling such as Merebae and Sekela house. All the housing typology have rectilinear shape, form and use the same building material that is a stone wall, mud and timber roof, but Agudo dwelling unit and Tigrai chief house have circular plan and conical thatched roof. The very nature of the Tigrai housing typology has the potential to respond the sustainability of the climate and the availability of abundant materials, mainly stone and the ‘Monkey head construction’ system.

DOI 10.11648/j.ijaaa.20190501.11
Published in International Journal of Architecture, Arts and Applications (Volume 5, Issue 1, March 2019)
Page(s) 1-9
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Ethiopia, Hidmo, Housing, Stone Architecture, Tigrai, Vernacular

References
[1] Diane E. Lyons,(2007) Building Power in Rural Hinterlands: An Ethnoarchaeological Study of Vernacular Architecture in Tigray, Ethiopia, Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory, Vol. 14, No. 2 (June, 2007), pp. 179-207.
[2] Doerr Architecture, (2011). Definition of Sustainability and the Impacts of Building.
[3] Gebremedhin, N. 1977: “Some traditional types of housing in Ethiopia”.
[4] Lawrence, R. J. (2006) "Learning from the Vernacular: Basic Principles for Sustaining Human Habitats", in Asqiuth, L. and Vellinga, M. (eds) Vernacular Architecture in the Twenty-First Century: Theory, Education and Practice. Taylor and Francis, New York.
[5] Marino luigi, lodino michele, 1999, la casa tradizional nei villaggi della giordania, cierre edizioni, Italy.
[6] Million Eyob 2012 Asmara: Hub of Ancient and Contemporary Architecture (Part II).
[7] Nobuhiro Shimizu (2016) An Analysis of the Construction Method of Emperor Yohannes IV’s Buildings in Tigray Region, Ethiopia
[8] Oliver, P. (2006b) Built to Meet Needs; Cultural Issues in Vernacular Architecture. Elsevier Ltd, London.
[9] Rapoport, A. (1969) House Form and Culture. Prentice-Hall: Englewood Cliffs, NJ.
[10] Rumi Okazaki 2014, A study on the formation of an imperial city in Tigray, Ethiopia, at the turn of the 20th Century: Mekelle during and after the region of Yohannes IV pp. 1-7
[11] Jill last (1987) Ethiopians and the house they live in.
[12] http://www.ethiopia.gov.et/statetigray.
[13] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tigray_Region.
[14] https://archiabyssniya.wordpress.com/art-architecture/artthought/artarchitectureafrican-art/traditional-house-tigray/.
[15] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venturi_effect.
[16] https://www.flickr.com/photos/geobulga/sets/72157623700872119.
Author Information
  • School of Architecture and Urban Planning, Ethiopian Institute of Technology, Mekelle University, Mekelle, Ethiopia

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    Samuel Bekele Jetie. (2019). Appraisal of Vernacular Stone Housing Typology of Tigrai, Ethiopia. International Journal of Architecture, Arts and Applications, 5(1), 1-9. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijaaa.20190501.11

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    Samuel Bekele Jetie. Appraisal of Vernacular Stone Housing Typology of Tigrai, Ethiopia. Int. J. Archit. Arts Appl. 2019, 5(1), 1-9. doi: 10.11648/j.ijaaa.20190501.11

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    AMA Style

    Samuel Bekele Jetie. Appraisal of Vernacular Stone Housing Typology of Tigrai, Ethiopia. Int J Archit Arts Appl. 2019;5(1):1-9. doi: 10.11648/j.ijaaa.20190501.11

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijaaa.20190501.11,
      author = {Samuel Bekele Jetie},
      title = {Appraisal of Vernacular Stone Housing Typology of Tigrai, Ethiopia},
      journal = {International Journal of Architecture, Arts and Applications},
      volume = {5},
      number = {1},
      pages = {1-9},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijaaa.20190501.11},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijaaa.20190501.11},
      eprint = {https://download.sciencepg.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijaaa.20190501.11},
      abstract = {Tigrai vernacular housing mainly characterized by a stone architecture called hidmo, which is an astonishing feature of the country and the region. The hidmo house does not only mean a flat roofed vernacular house, but it is becoming an architectural style since thousands years ago at the beginning of Aksumite civilization. The objective of this paper is to appraise the vernacular housing typology and their spatial relationship in Tigrai, Ethiopia. Using field visit, observation, non-structured interview, cross-checking different data sources are used for qualitative data collection and the collected data are synthesized and categorized. According to the research study the Tigrai vernacular housing has mainly three housing typology namely, the Tigrai farmer house commonly called hidmo house, Tigrai chief house that is housed for the rich, clerks and leaders and the third is Agudo dwelling unit a house for common people. In the Tigrai farmer house we could have variations and labeling such as Merebae and Sekela house. All the housing typology have rectilinear shape, form and use the same building material that is a stone wall, mud and timber roof, but Agudo dwelling unit and Tigrai chief house have circular plan and conical thatched roof. The very nature of the Tigrai housing typology has the potential to respond the sustainability of the climate and the availability of abundant materials, mainly stone and the ‘Monkey head construction’ system.},
     year = {2019}
    }
    

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