Abstract:
Vernacular architecture is a kind of architecture that have exceptional linkage and meaning to the place where it grounds. This paper is a critical examination on how Sumba Architecture referring itself to the physical, material and cultural relationship between the tectonic aspects of the building and the ground. The research conducted in this paper is an endeavor to approach the living understanding of the means, criteria, methods and tools used to acknowledge and to find out possible approaches to the place. This paper will be focusing on Sumba settlements based on their location characteristics; Weelewo village located in the hill with slope terrain, the surrounding environment and the climate. The analysis of built works will includes documentations and comparative investigations on the foundations' variations, joineries of building elements as well as dimensions and proportions of the buildings elements, their distances, and the overall composed buildings. The research will also unfolds both the logical reason and abstract meanings behind the construction decisions of choosing materials, tools and methods to transform the ground in relations to the buildings. In the end, this paper will contribute to a refreshed and critical approach to understanding on how Sumba people traditionally link themselves to the place itself.
