The Design of Earthquake Evacuation Spaces Based on Local Wisdom: A Case Study of Traditional Houses in South Sulawesi

Abstract

Indonesia is situated on the Ring of Fire, which causes a lot of earthquakes. On the 28 September 2018, there was an earthquake in Palu, Sulawesi Island, Indonesia, which was one of the strongest shakings since 1980. Surprisingly, most traditional houses in Sulawesi survived. There has been some research on adapting traditional house structures to modern residential buildings. The limited availability of wood and complicated construction make adapting wood structures to current conditions challenging. The purpose of this study is to analyze space organization in ten traditional South Sulawesi house designs. A possible evacuation route can be found through the analysis as the first space for expeditiously escaping from an earthquake. In addition, modernizing the layout of a traditional South Sulawesi house and introducing it to local people was easy since they were familiar with the design. A deep analysis of spatial organization and its interrelations can help develop realistic designs, plans, and knowledge, thus improving the quality of residential projects. A descriptive qualitative method was used as a research method. Data were collected from field observations, brief interviews, and literature reviews. In order to analyz thee data, ORA-LITE was used to redraw the data and create the charts. It was found that different cultures have different evacuation spaces, in this case the Bugis tribe and the Toraja tribe. A corridor and kitchen were the most strategically located areas that could possibly be used for evacuation. Considering the differences in culture among tribes, designing evacuation spaces based on local culture was important. A recommendation based on this finding can also be made to the government of South Sulawesi in the design of residential houses.