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COLLEGE OF ARCHITECTURE
University of Santo Tomas

HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE 4
3rd Semester AY 20154-2015

PRE-COLONIAL ARCHITECTURE, Lecture 2

BAHAY/BALAI

Bahay evolved from the word BALAI- which means house

Southeast Asian type of domestic architecture

Hill, sea, mountain, river, field, plains, etc.

BAHAY KUBO, Nipa Hut/House

Prototype in the lowlands all over the Philippines and even in the uplands which varies according to location,
regional and ethnic lines of the people.
Kobo Tagalog
Kubu (balungbung) - Kampangpangan word for hut, cabin or lodge
Dangpa, cuala, saung shepherds hut
Kubo- Spanish word for cube
Height of the walls is equal to its width - gives a boxy appearance or a cube-shaped housed.

Structure of light materials supported by posts elevated from 2.5 m. to 5.0 m. from the ground.
moist ground and the flood
protection from vermin and other animals of the low ground
Built close to each other as a community and to serve the defensive need of the inhabitants.
Construction method and features:
1. Assembling is like basket making
2. Parts are woven, fitted, inserted, coiled, tied or basket stitched together using nearly the same materials in
producing a basket.
3. Consists of various kinds of wood, rattan, cane, bamboo, palm, nipa, bark or cogon.
4. Roof can be assembled on the ground
5. Steep roofs either of gable (dos agues) or hip (quarto agues) type made extensively of nipa shingles or
cogon thatched
6. Molave is the favored wood for house post (haligi)
7. Posts stand in a variety of ways:
Holes may be dug and posts inserted in, sometimes kept firmly in place by a circle of buried rocks
Mount the posts on flat on stone slabs
8. Floor is of bamboo slats or timber spaced from each other at regular intervals
Light and air to pass through even if the windows are closed
Vegetables to ripen
Conducive for sleeping
Even to throw waste matter out through the gaps
9. Wall sidings are assembled on the ground and are made of:
Flattened split bamboo woven together into herringbone patterns to form sawali
In Papangkol two panels of vertical-split bamboo are clamped together for the panels to grip each
other, keeping the rain from coming in
Samil refers to several layers of nipa leaflets that have been combed lengthwise over bamboo slats
Coconut leaves, cogon grass and anahaw palm leaves
Wall sidings surround the house posts and stand independently.
Sidings of the walls are kept in place with the help of the rattan lashings, horizontal bamboo studs
clamp the sidings together on both sides and at the same time, the studs enter through holes into the
sidings vertical support: the bamboo poles that stand between the roof beams and the floor sill.

C.L. AVENDAO - HOA 4, 3rd sem AY 2014-15

10.
11.
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Silong, the space underneath the house is an airy siding woven by passing bamboo strips that are long
and thin over and under horizontal studs in alternate sequence, called sal
Doors are of sal and are attached to a post with rattan hinges
Windows of the awning-type have nipa or buri-palm window coverings that can either slide from side to
side or pushed out by a pole that serves also as support when at rest.
Usually no ceilings nor room divisions, however when required, room partitions are low and do not reach
the underside of the roof or the ceiling to allow the circulation of air within the house.

Terminology:
Gililan floor sills run around the outermost periphery of the soleras to support the walls
Halige house posts
Kahab-an connects the bottom ends of the rafters together
Kilo rafters
Palatpat bamboo strips tied on to the rafters with rattan vines as the mainsupports of the roofing
Palupo ridge pole
Patukuran beam laid over the yawi at right angle, thus completing the perimeter.
Pawid nipa shingles made by stripping leaves from the petiole and bending them
Sahig slatted floor. Rattan or bamboo strips tie the different parts to each other.
Sikang poles which cross the rafters halfway down the slope
Soleras - floor joists are laid
Tarugo wooden peg over a narrow bamboo slats
Yawi- master beam which runs from one post to the other and is lashed to with rattan

Bahay Kubo is single room with an open plan which can be transformed into different spaces at different times
of the day, but later partitions where added. The Bahay Kubo has evolved during the Spanish Period and at
present.
Parts of the House:
1. Bulwagan (Living Room)
The custom was to sit on mats spread out on the floor, sometimes around the dulang, low table. Chairs
and tables were still unknown.
2. Silid (Sleeping Area)
Sawali partition divides the bulwagan and silid where chests and woven trunks (tampipi) keep clothes and
personal belongings. Some houses have no furnishing except for a few papag or built in bed, dulang, a
low table, bangko or bench,
3. Paglutuan or gilir which may sometimes be a separate structure where food is prepared
Dapogan consists of table, river stones and a shoe-shaped stove (kalan)
4. Bangahan or banguerra pots, dishes and other utensils are kept
5. Batalan porch which opens from the paglutuan
6. Silong - Lower part of the house is used as an enclosure for keeping domesticated animals such as
swine and fowl and storage for household implements, goods, crops and is some cases as burial grounds
for the dead
7. Kamalig separate storehouse on stilts where unhulled rice is kept

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Alarcon, Norma I. Philippine Architecture During the Pre-Spanish and Spanish Periods. UST Publishing
House. 1998
CCP Encyclopedia of Arts Vol. III. Manila,Philippines/1994

C.L. AVENDAO - HOA 4, 3rd sem AY 2014-15

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Fernandez, Honrado. The Architecture of the Philippines Traditions and Changing Expressions
Transforming Traditions. Asian Studies Publication Series. 2001 p.115-160
Hila, Ma. Corazon C. An Essay on Philippines Ethnic Architecture. CCP 1992
Klassen, Winand. 1986. Architecture in the Philippines Filipino Building in a Cross-Cultural Context.
Cebu City, Philippines: University of San Carlos.
Lico, Gerald. Arkitekturang Pilipino. A History of Architecture and Urbanism in the Philippine.University
of the Philippines Press, Quezon City.2008.
Tiongson, Nicanor, ed. Tuklas Sining Essays on the Philippine Arts. CCP, Manila 1991
Turalba, Maria Cristina V. Philippine Heritage Architecture before 1521 to the 1970s. Anvil Publishing
House. Pasay City. 2005
http://www.filipinoheritage.com/arts/architecture/early-shelters5.htm
http://historyofarchitecture.weebly.com/vernacular-houses.html
Other Internet sources

Prepared by:

AR. CLARISSA L. AVENDAO

Revised - June 16, 2015

C.L. AVENDAO - HOA 4, 3rd sem AY 2014-15