Identification of Application of Biological Architecture in the North Nias’s Traditional House “Omo Hada” in Indonesia

Abstract

The Indonesian archipelago has a wealth of traditional house with the uniqueness, each of them is corresponding with geographical location, which one of them is the traditional house of North Nias, located to the west of the island of Sumatera, Indonesia. This traditional house is a stage house with a sloping roof, which has a circular plan. The house has a wood frame construction which all materials of building were made from biological materials obtained from the natural surroundings. The building was strongly influenced by the environment and its inhabitants, where it is in harmony with the principles of biological architecture. Biological architecture is architecture according to its residents and local climate. Particularly in the traditional house of North Nias, was found some aspects that reflection of applications of biological architecture identified in this research. This research uses qualitative content analyze, which is a research method with deeply conceptual integration [2]. Environmental (climate, site, vegetation, soil, and water) and human/occupant (basic human needs, culture, belief/religion, and livelihood) are important indicators and as well as because factors are born traditional house of North Nias. These factors will be analysed to determine the impacts (architectural design, material, construction) on the building, that contain genius locus of North Nias’s ancestor.