Vernacular Architecture: Bhunga Houses, Gujarat

VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE
BHUNGA HOUSES ,
GUJARAT

-BY DEEPAK KUMAR VERMA
CONTENTS
• INTRODUCTION
• CLIMATE TYPE
• BUILT FORM
• CULTURAL BACKGROUND
• ECONOMICAL BACKGROUND
INTRODUCTION
• THE PLAINS OF GUJRAT ARE VERY HOT AND DRY IN
SUMMER AND COLD IN WINTER .
• SUMMER IS MILDER IN HILLY REGIONS AND THE
COAST.
• THE AVERAGE DAYTIME TEMPRATURE DURING
WINTER IS AROUND 29 °C (84 °F) AND IN NIGHTS IS
AROUND 12 °C (54 °F) WITH 100 PERCENT SUNNY DAYS
AND CLEAR NIGHTS .
BUILT FORM
• BHUNGAS ARE FUNCTIONAL , CYLINDERICAL IN SHAPE
AND HAVE RELATIONSHIP TO STREETS AND OPEN SPACES.
• THE CENTRAL , WESTERN AND SOUTHERN COASTAL AREA
WITH HOT AND HUMID CLIMATE HAS LONG ROW TYPE
HOUSES WITH NARROW STREETS NETWORK AND DENSE
POPULATION.
• THE STREETS OF BIDADA VILLAGE HAVE A STREETSCAPE
OF A UNIQUE PATTERN .
• THEY ARE CONSTANTLY TURNING IN CURVES , NEVER
REMAINING STRAIGHT , IN A PARTICULAR DIRECTION
THROUGH SMALL CHOWKS OF Y SHAPE– WHERE IT
BRANCHES OUT IN 2/3 DIRECTIONS AND AGAINKEEPS
TURNING.
• THE ENTIRE VILLAGE IS A MESH OF THESE
CURVILINEAR STREETS WHUCH CONNECT THE
CHOWKS.
• IT IS LIKE WATER STREAM LINE FLOWING
SMOOTHLY IN VARIOUS DIRECTIONS AND AS THEY
GO AHEAD THE WIDTH GOES ON DECREASING ,
FORMING ALLEYS.
• BREEZE CAN BE DISCREETLY FELT ON ANY STREET
IN THE VILLAGE JUSTIFYING THE CURVED STREET
PATTERN .
• IT IS AMAZING THAT STREETS ARE
PREDOMINANTLY ORIENTED ALONG THE
SOUTHWEST DIRECTION, AS IS THE WIND
DIRECTION FOR MOST PART OF THE YEAR.
CULTURAL BACKGROUND
• THEY MAY BE CLUSTERED FOR MAKING INTERACTION OF THE LOCAL PEOPLE
POSSIBLE AND OTHER LOCAL ACTIVITIES CAN ALSO BE CARRIED OUT EASILY .
THE CULTURAL ACTIVITIES OF THIS PLACE INVOLVES INTERACTIONS WITH
THEIR NEIGHBOURS .
• THE ‘KUTCHHA HOUSES’ HAVE GOT COMMON FORMS IN KUTCH REGION DUE
TO MICROCLIMATE DIFFERENCE AND CULTURAL BELIEFS.
• BHUNGA HOUSES ARE THE REAL IDENTITY OF KUTCH DESERT AREAS .AFTER
THE DEVASTATING EARTHQUAKE OF 1819 , THE PEOPLE OF KUTCH CAME UP
WITH AN INNOVATIVE CIRCULAR DESIGN OF BHUNGAS TO MINIMIZE THE
DAMAGE TO THEIR LIVES AS WELL AS PROPERTIES. THE REWORKED DESIGN OF
BHUNGAS THAT IS ABOUT 200 YEARS OLD STOOD VERY FIRM DURING THE
EARTHQUAKE OF 2001 WHEN IT WAS VERY CLOSE TO THE EPICENTRE.
• THE ARCHITECTURE OF KUTCH REGION RELATES TO THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC
SETUP , THE CULTURAL IDENTITIES AND A GOOD CLIMATIC RESPONSIVENESS.
ECONOMICAL BACKGROUND
• THE COST COMES OUT TO BE LESS GENERALLY AS THE MATERIAL

USED FOR CONSTRUCTION IS CHEAP AND READILY AVAILABLE.
• THEY REFLECT THE ECOLOGICAL , SOCIAL AND ARTISTIC
ASPECTS OF BANNI.
• THEY ARE ELABORATELY DESIGNED AND HAVE ARTISTIC
ELEGANCE . BOTH MEN AND WOMEN ARE INVOLVED IN THE
CONSTRUCTION OF BHUNGAS.
• THE HUTS ARE CIRCULAR AT THE BASE AND HAVE DOME SHAPED
, BAMBOO THATCHED ROOF. THE WALLS ARE PLASTERED WITH
MUD , TWIGS AND DUNG WHICH ARE CHEAP MATERIALS AND
CAN BE USED BY THE LOCAL PEOPLE EASILY.
SUSTAINABILITY
• ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY –THESE HOUSES ARE
ESENTIALLY MADE FROM ORGANIC RENEWABLE RESOURCES
SUCH AS MUD , GRASS , COW DUNG CANE ETC. HENCE THESE
HOUSES ARE SUSTAINABLE ENVIRONMENTALLY.
• ECONOMICAL SUSTAINABILITY
• SOCIO-CULTURAL SUSTAINABILTY
• POLITICAL SUSTAINABILITY These houses essentially made from
organic renewable resources such as mud, grass, cow dung cane etc. The
plinth and the foundation consists of consolidated earth with stone and
bamboo posts, the walls consists of mud wall, split grass, earth, cane etc., and
the roof is thatched, made of wheat or maize straws.
CONSTRUCTION, MATERIALS AND
TECHNIQUES
• THESE TYPES OF HOUSES ARE MOSTLY CIRCULAR IN SHAPE WITH MOSTLY ONE MULTIPURPOSE ROOM.
• THE PLANS AND SIZES OF TYPICAL KUTCHHA HOUSES SAME AS PER LIMITATIONS OF MATERIAL
AND CONSTRUCTION TECHNIQUES.
• TYPICAL LAYOUT OF A HOUSE CONSISTS OF AANGAN, ROOM, COOKING AREA, OTTA, VERANDAH, BACKYARD.
• THE AANGAN OR FRONT YARD IS A PUBLIC SPACE FOR GATHERING, OR MEETING RELATIVES
OR VISITORS.THE HOUSE UNIT IS TYPICALLY DEFINED BY THE PLATFORM- OTLA – THAT IS ALWAYS RAISED
ABOVE THE GROUND , FROM A FEW CENTIMETERS UP TO ONE METER.
• THE OTLA DEFINE THE DOMAIN OF THE HOME AND THE PLACE FOR OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES. ON THIS PLATFORM
REST VARIOUS STRUCTURES COMPOSING THE HOUSEHOLD ONE OR MORE BHUNGAS (GENERALLY UP TO THREE),
CIRCULAR HOUSES WITH DIAMETER RANGING BETWEEN 3 TO 6 METERS, COVERED BY A CONICAL THATCHED
ROOF.
• A TYPICAL BHUNGAS HAS A DOOR AND THREE OR FOUR SMALL AND LOW WINDOWS SYMMETRICALLY
ARRANGED AROUND THE DOOR. IN FRONT OF THE DOOR AND AGAINST THE WALL, LIES A LOW PLATFORM,
CALLED PEDLO, ON WHICH TRADITIONAL FURNITURE PLACED. IMAGE 5: SHOWING THE CONSTRUCTION OF COB
• • CONSTRUCTION TECHNIQUES GENERALLY USED “COB”. IN THESE METHODS A LARGE LUMP IS ROUGHLY
MOLDED INTO THE SHAPE OF A HUGE ELONGATED EGG.
SPACES
• A Bhunga house with a courtyard.
• A Bhunga house has low windows for
cross ventilation.
• A cluster of Bhunga houses.
• Painted exterior walls of the house in
the Bhunga cluster.
• Painted walls of a Bhunga.
• Low hanging roof shields the walls
against the sunlight.
VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE

Vernacular Architecture: Bhunga Houses, Gujarat

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VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE

• THE COST COMES OUT TO BE LESS GENERALLY AS THE MATERIAL

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