Rural Houses of Bhutan

Should the “modernisation” of urban housing learn from the pattern of shifts of the traditional housing in rural Bhutan?

A house only holds value when taken into consideration its adjacencies, its affordances, its effects on the environment. The rural houses of Bhutan become an anchor to study the habitation patterns of people, and how various factors affect the built form of the house. The rural houses have been able to adapt to the climate of Bhutan very well, while also manipulating microclimates and humanizing built form. The study also looks at shifting and changing ideas of habitation observed in the nation.

In the landlocked mountain nation

Bhutan's geography plays a very important role in its geopolitical relations with the world. Bhutan is a completely landlocked nation, surrounded by China and India, it does not enjoy a port hence it does not have a trading presence on a larger global scale. It remained in isolation until 1960 after which it opened its doors to the outside world. As a result it is heavily dependent upon its natural resources as it becomes very difficult to import goods and resources from other countries without a port. The people living there have created a sustainable relationship with nature, making Bhutan the world's first carbon negative nation. 

Bhutan experiences mild summers and harsh winters with cold strong winds blowing throughout the year. It is also an earthquake prone region. Monsoon starts from June as the Indian monsoon winds hit Bhutan. To break down the strong cold winds the people build their houses in clusters creating a larger agrarian community. A total of 57% of the total population depends upon agriculture, livestock and forests for their livelihoods. (WALCOTT and American Geographical Society of New York 2009, p81-83)

Information: (WALCOTT and American Geographical Society of New York 2009, p82)

Image: Author

Settlement as an extension to the house 

The lack of extensive flat land has resulted in the formation of smaller clusters of settlements connected through roads built along various points of pilgrimage. Early settlers looked for agricultural land to cultivate which was mainly found between river valleys and mountains. Each settlement had a Dzong or Lakhang. They were usually located at a higher elevation as it acted as a fortress during attack, storing food grains and other emergency resources. They also formed important institutes for the settlements as they were multi purpose spaces being used as a space to pray, collect taxes, farmers to unionize etc. The fields and settlements are kept separate with a narrow road connecting them. The houses in the settlement occur in clusters in order to break the strong cold winds, which has resulted in a dense network of houses and an agrarian community getting established. Due to the strong presence of community in these rural settlements, many houses pool in resources, for example - sharing a common water tank or toilet between many houses. 

Spatial Configuration

Traditional house type

Each house in the village is made for a single family, which also includes the livestock they own. They are 2-3 storeyed structures with ground floor used as animal shelter and other floors for residence and religious purposes. The scale of the structure and its ratio to the open spaces allow more communication between people. The front yard, prayer room and kitchen form the semi-public spaces, the bedrooms and storerooms form the private spaces. The thick earth walls with very minimal and small openings on the ground floor allow heat released by the livestock to get trapped inside the building and slowly dissipate, while retaining most of it. The upper floors are enclosed with mud walls and timber frame structure. This floor is where living spaces are and where guests are invited. It includes the kitchen, prayer room and living room.

The first floor is projected from the lower ground level shear wall and has bigger openings to allow more light to enter these living spaces. The kitchens do not have chimneys due to which the smoke goes through windows and leaves a layer of soot over everything, which protects the wood from insects. The top floor has a guest room and bedroom for the family. The attic is an open space through which wind blows freely. It serves the purpose of storage and drying of vegetables and winter feed for cattle. The roof is pitched for quick water discharge during excessive rainfall during monsoon. The slope of the roof is normally 15 degrees or less with a large overhang to protect the mud walls from rains. The toilet is constructed separately from the house and sometimes even the kitchen. 

“Modern” Shifts 

Over the past century, exodus of the youth and working population from the country has been a large issue as Bhutan is not able to offer its youth a variety of jobs. 72% of the population of Bhutan works in the primary sector while there have been very few options in the tertiary (Wangzom, n.d., p54). To tackle the issue of land scarcity and huge dependency on urban settlements to provide jobs, the government wants to lift the building up and decentralize urban cities to create other self-sustaining settlements. The Bhutan National Housing Policy lays its strategy of housing based on factors like finance, land use, safety and construction material but the form of the building is not taken into consideration. The livability and social constructs that it will create are not taken into account when introducing a new typology of buildings for the lower and middle class. (MINISTRY OF WORKS AND HUMAN SETTLEMENT 2019, p7-11)

Apartment type has been adopted in the urban context with multiple families living in one building. With the introduction of new materials such as concrete, steel, galvanized iron sheets, glass the newer houses observe taller buildings of 4-6 storeys losing their relationship with the outside. The facade has large glass windows able to span longer lengths allowing more heat to enter the house. The cornices which used to expand the living space to allow more light are being used to beautify the facade. The central staircase and corridor as well as an internal toilet and kitchen have been introduced, making the houses more and more private. More energy is consumed as the buildings are not able to adapt to the climate where the traditional houses remain cool in summer and warm in winters. 

Conclusion 

While Bhutan faces a lot of pressure to “modernize” itself as a new emerging country, it is essential to look at the form of the building as it dictates social constructs, dependency on active energy systems, and work environments. It is important to understand the process of developing traditional rural architecture and the tools used during the process as they can be applied to the present and future strategies for deriving built form. 

References 

1. Dorji, Wangzom. 2019. “TRADITIONAL FARMHOUSE AND CONTEMPORARY DWELLINGS OF BHUTAN- A TRANSFORMATION.” Journal of Urban and Landscape Planning, 54-65.

2. People Of Bhutan. n.d. https://www.tourinbhutan.com/people-of-bhutan/#:~:text=The%20main%20occupation%20of%20people,migrated%20from%20the%20Tibetan%20plains

3. pbs. n.d. “Bhutan, a rich history.” https://www.pbs.org/edens/bhutan/Bhu_people2.htm.

4. National Biodiversity Centre Ministry of Agriculture and Forests. 2015. The history of the introduction and adoption of important food crops in Bhutan. https://nbc.gov.bt/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/History-of-the-introduction-adoption.pdf.

5. WALCOTT, SUSAN, and American Geographical Society of New York. 2009. “URBANIZATION IN BHUTAN.” The Geographical Review, 81-93. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/287003909_Urbanization_in_Bhutan/link/586c243808ae329d62121a53/download?_tp=eyJjb250ZXh0Ijp7ImZpcnN0UGFnZSI6Il9kaXJlY3QiLCJwYWdlIjoicHVibGljYXRpb24iLCJwcmV2aW91c1BhZ2UiOiJfZGlyZWN0In19. 

6. DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SETTLEMENT. n.d. Settlement Study of Khoma.

7. Lefaivre, Liane, and Alexander Tzonis. 1983. Critical Regionalism.

8. MINISTRY OF WORKS AND HUMAN SETTLEMENT. 2019. National Housing Policy. https://www.moit.gov.bt/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/National_Housing_Policy.pdf. 

9. Mason, David. 2019. “As Bhutan urbanizes, its farmers become landlords.” End Poverty In South Asia. https://blogs.worldbank.org/en/endpovertyinsouthasia/bhutan-urbanizes-its-farmers-become-landlords.