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1 In each of the regions, Nias and Yogyakarta, we se-lected two rather small areas that had been affected by the earthquakes. In each area, three neighbouring settle-ments with particular charac-teristics were finally selected. These were the settlements where we conducted most of our field research.

Journal of Comparative Cultural Studies in ArchitectureJCCS-a

Gabriele WEICHART and Karl VALENT

The Material and the Social: Vernacular Architecture in Transformation

1. INTRODUCTION

A house is more than a mere shelter. Its space is structured according to sociocultural norms and world views. The house, thus, can facilitate or re-strict social exchange among its inhabitants as well as between them and the outside world, the com-munity, acquaintances and strangers. It is both a physical entity as well as a cultural category; it offers continuity and a home for its residents (Fox 2006; Weichart 2007). Anthropologists, as cultural experts, are equipped with the tools and qualitative methods, such as participant observation and long-term fieldwork, to connect the strings that combine both the material, social and symbolic character of homes and people.

A thorough understanding of vernacular architecture and its transformation requires a multidisciplinary approach. Architects, belonging to a discipline rooted in both art and science, are best suited to investigate building technology, material, struc-ture and shape from a comparative perspective. Neighbouring disciplines, like Geodetic Surveying and Engineering Geodesy, can assure the exact documentation of buildings and set the foundation for future conservation and reconstruction. Urban planners contextualise the building in the larger physical and built environment. But it is anthro-pology, positioned between the social and cultural sciences, which endow the house and its elements with meaning beyond purely technical or aesthetic expressions.

Nonetheless, modern anthropology of the twentieth century paid relatively little attention to architec-ture. While Lévi-Strauss (1982) has been credited to having re-awakened an interest in houses, as an essential unit of analysis for understanding hu-man societies and their reproduction (Carsten and Hugh-Jones 1995; Howell 2003), he has also been criticised for neglecting the material aspects of houses which are significant for a holistic approach to the subject (Rieger-Jandl 2006). Exceptions within the discipline were, for instance, Horowitz (1967) and Mauss (1950) who dedicated parts of their work to describing and typologising indige-nous building types and techniques (Allen 2014). About the same time, architects became interest-ed in traditional ‘architecture without architects’ (Rudofsky 1977) and set the foundation for the sub-discipline of Architectural Anthropology (Buchli 2013; Egenter 2006).

Most anthropological research in this field has dealt with vernacular architecture. Since the turn of the century, a growing interest has been on trans-formation processes in architecture provoked by world-wide trends to modernisation and globalisa-tion (Vellinga 2006). This will also be in the centre of our paper demonstrated by two examples of ver-nacular architecture from Indonesia: in the Special Region of Yogyakarta in central Java and on the island of Nias at the west coast of Sumatra. Despite their geographical, socio-economic and cultural differences, both regions show a number of similar-ities. Furthermore, both were been hit, in 2005 and 2006, respectively, by strong earthquakes which caused severe damage to the built environment followed by many years of reconstruction.

2. METHODOLOGY

From 2011 to 2014, an interdisciplinary team of social and cultural anthropologists, geodesists, architects and urban planners from Austria and Indonesia investigated the reconstruction processes and the interconnectedness of architecture, space and society in selected villages affected by disasters.

The field sites1 were selected together with our Indonesian partners with whom we conducted the joint field research in 2011 and 2012 (three to four months each). During these periods, re-searchers from the Vienna University of Technology, the University of Vienna, the Gadjah Mada University and the University of North Sumatra worked closely together in gathering comprehensive data. These included a detailed layout of buildings and settle-ments, information about the reconstruction process and the significance of vernacular architecture before and after the earthquakes. While the architects and engineers used techniques such as geotagging/geo-referencing, measuring as well as analogue and digital visualisation, the anthropologists focused on quali-tative methods like semi-structured and narrative interviews, informal conversations and participant observation (Bernard 2006; Fontana & Fey 2005). The bulk of anthropological data concerned people’s experiences during the disaster and reconstruction phase, their knowledge, views and interpretation of what had happened and how they themselves and their communities were coping with the practical and psychological demands in a changing physical, social and cultural environment. Furthermore, we learned about the values, traditions and rituals in relation to vernacular and modern architecture.

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AbstractThis paper presents two case studies in Indonesia where the traditional vernacular architecture is in the process of being transformed, adapted and often substituted by modern building styles. Many of these architectural transformations are closely related to sociocultural, economic and environmental changes in the regions. Furthermore, natural disasters and subsequent reconstruction measures have had a great impact on building developments. While the paper describes some of the main changes in form and material of houses in rural areas, it also offers explanations from an anthropological perspective and highlights the connection between architecture, society and culture. The authors argue that the socially constructed division between the material and the immaterial is no longer valid. In order to gain a thor-ough understanding of the complexities involved in social and material processes, anthropologists and architects need to work in close cooperation and in interdisciplinary research projects.

Keywords: vernacular architecture, anthropology, transformation, reconstruction, natural disaster, in-terdisciplinarity, heritage, modernisation, Java, Nias, Southeast Asia

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Fig. 1 The 3 main types of traditional Javanese wooden houses. (Source: Bonneaud, Depecker, Peneau & Prianto 2000: 82)

2 Preferences for certain types of timber differ from re-gion to region, and sometimes even within a radius of a few kilometres. This was also the case in our research site, where sometimes teak and sometimes jackfruit wood was favoured. The reason for this can probably be linked to the difference in the natural occur-rence and growing conditions of these materials in distinct locations.

3 Both materials are fre-quently used in temporary post-disaster housing due to their availability and afford-ability. Indonesian architects show an impressive mastery of these materials, both in static performance and aesthetics, and they have designed vari-ous low-budget solutions for temporary/semi-permanent houses, which can be built easily and quickly with a lim-ited amount of locally available tools.

The Material and the Social: Vernacular Architecture in Transformation

Architectural transformation and building modifi-cations that had been carried out as part of the reconstruction works were the focus of our study. We were particularly interested in the economic, social and cultural reasons behind the physical changes as well as in the roles and positions of the owners and residents in these developments and in which ways they affected people’s every-day lives.

In our collaboration with architects, we learned to appreciate the significance of the physical struc-ture and its influence on the social environment. It coincides with a reinvigorated anthropological preoccupation with material culture and materi-ality. Major concerns in this ‘new wave’ are the relationships between materiality and immaterial-ity and between subjects and objects, as well as the notion of agency and consumption (Drazin and Küchler 2015; Miller 2005; Tilley et al. 2006).

In the following chapters, we can only give a sum-mary of our findings. We will present the main characteristics of the physical transformation of the vernacular architectures in Yogyakarta and Nias. Additionally, we will provide brief explanations about the underlying reasons for implementing those changes and/or the effects they had on the peo-ple and societies. Although the transformation had started long before these fairly recent earthquakes happened, the latter did have a severe impact by accelerating the process and forcing people to make quick decisions at a specific time in their lives – a traumatic challenge for some and an opportunity for others. The aim of this paper is not only to show the changes in the built environment in relation to natural disasters but also the complexity involved in efforts of preserving this cultural heritage.

Throughout the paper, we will repeatedly use the term ‘traditional’ with regard to vernacular archi-tecture. By this we refer to local building types that dominated vernacular architecture from the mid nineteenth to the mid twentieth centuries and that have acquired the status of ‘traditional architec-ture’ among Indonesian experts as well as common people.

3. VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE IN YOGYAKARTA

Focusing on the three main types of traditional Javanese wooden buildings in Central Java, name-ly joglo, limasan, and rumah kampung (Prijotomo 2006; Santosa & Krisnany 2004), our research team investigated the roles of these building types in the daily life of the respective villages, the sym-bolism and status attached to it, as well as the changes and transformation certain buildings ex-perienced (Fig. 1).

As masonry buildings were preferred, all three tra-ditional wooden building types witnessed a decline by the 1980s at the latest (Idham 2011). The earth-quake in 2006 and the following reconstruction led to an intensification of this development and a further marginalisation of traditional architecture in the villages under investigation. However, the ongoing strive for modernisation within Javanese society has only been one reason for this trans-formation in the built environment. Other relevant factors are the availability and price of construc-tion materials, as well as the proposed, or rather imposed (by government organisations and NGOs), reinforced concrete (RC) buildings (see Fig. 4) as the best house type with respect to its performance under seismic shocks. This assessment might be true under optimal circumstances of workmanship and used materials, but global experience tells us that, in reality, the model does not live up to its promise (IFRC 2014).

At the same time, traditional Javanese architecture has continued to be valued and has even gained appreciation within some sectors of Javanese so-ciety. This trend becomes most apparent among the middle and upper classes and in the tourist industry, which seem to have rediscovered the aesthetics and comfort of Javanese architecture. At the same time, it became evident in our study that a transformation towards modern buildings as prevailing architectural form had already started before 2006 and was a continuing development. Despite this change, people’s sentiments for the traditional building types of joglo and limasan were consistently positive, praising their spaciousness and resilience during earthquakes. Why then have traditional buildings increasingly vanished from semi-urban and rural landscapes? We detected three main reasons for these developments, name-ly the price of building materials and the costs of maintenance, the changes in family structure and aspirations for ‘modernity’.

Well-made and maintained limasan using high quali-ty timber, such as teak or jackfruit wood, are objects of prestige and, thus, have a positive effect on the status of their owners (see Fig. 5).2 On the other hand, a poorly maintained limasan, or one built of palm wood or bamboo wall elements, are usually perceived of lower quality and as a sign of limited resources characteristic of low economic and social status (see Fig. 6).3 At the same time, the use of low quality timber triggers a vicious cycle that leads to higher maintenance costs due to faster natural decomposition and the buildings’ higher vulnerabil-ity to infestation by termites and other parasites. In comparison, modern houses made of brick and mortar require significantly less maintenance.

With the increase in high quality timber exports, the prices of such materials at the local market

Figure 1

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4 The vanishing of these traditions is, at least partially, related to the ongoing decline of the animistic beliefs and practices of Javanese religion/philosophy (kejawen) within a society that increasingly tries to implement a purified version of Islam. Without the belief in kejawen, which as a cultural and religious reference system demands certain traditions to be performed, these cultural particularities related to house building become obsolete.

Fig. 2 & 3 Different kind of limasan de-sign. Left + centre traditional wooden limasan with hard wood and woven bamboo wall elements. On the right side, we see a limasan with a new masonry framing. (Photo: Va-lent 2012)

Fig. 4 Typical post-disaster masonry RC buildings. (Photo: Valent 2012)

increased too. The lower acquisition and mainte-nance costs are largely responsible for building masonry houses. Nowadays, it is common practice for rural or semi-urban households to sell the pre-cious parts of their limasan or joglo and use the money to build a masonry house. This has been made possible by the growing interest and appre-ciation of second-hand house parts (like pillars, wall elements, but also furniture) by new consumer groups – politicians and other wealthy Indonesians who revalue and reappraise the cultural architec-tural past they once left behind in their villages; by the tourist industry which has discovered the exotic potential and attraction of ‘tropical’ architecture; and by expatriates who appreciate the comfort and aesthetics of an architecture that developed over centuries, perfectly adapted to the local climatic conditions.

The trade with Javanese architecture and antiques is currently on the rise and has clearly contributed to a repositioning and revaluation of this cultural product. This has led to positive developments, yet at the same time it has resulted in a removal of traditional architecture from the village scene and its transfer to more private or commercial contexts. Thus, a traditional Javanese house is no longer a unit of social and cultural reproduction, but it has become a commodity that is dissociated from its traditional and ritual context.

In the villages where we conducted our research, the numbers of limasan vary, but everywhere they have declined over the past decades. Many

traditions that once had accompanied the construc-tion and maintenance of the house, are no longer practiced. These include, for instance, stomping the floor as a communal activity, accompanied by the respective offerings and prayers before erecting the house’s foundation, or the carpenter’s fast-ing before starting with the construction. It seems that today hardly any master carpenters (tukang kayu), future house owners or other members of the communities request the performance of such specific rituals before and during the construction works. However, slametan, a communal gathering and prayer, continues to take place throughout dif-ferent stages of the building process. While many people are still proud of the vernacular architecture which dominated the local landscape until less than 30 years ago, we heard few expressions of regret about the loss of the intangible cultural phenomena related to the building process. Neither did we see any of these intangible traditions being applied to masonry buildings.4

In the Indonesian national discourse, joglo and limasan are understood as valuable expressions of national heritage, worthy of protection and conservation. The Jogja Heritage Society is one organisation that has invested much effort in the conservation of these traditional buildings, espe-cially after the devastating earthquake of 2006. The attention, however, is largely given to the built heritage, whereas the intangible culture, which en-dows the material with meaning beyond aesthetic appreciation and breathes life into the physical structure, has become marginalised.

Figure 4

Figure 2 Figure 3

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Fig. 5 Pak U. in front of his limasan in the Bantul regency. This house endured the 2006 earthquake with just minor damages. (Photo: Valent 2012)

Fig. 6 Limasan with wall elements made of palm wood and woven bamboo. (Photo: Valent 2012)

The Material and the Social: Vernacular Architecture in Transformation

But as much as daily life in Javanese villages has changed, so too have the demands and require-ments for contemporary housing. With the core family gaining importance, family sizes have changed, as well as personal preferences and the wish for privacy – an aspect not accounted for in the traditional limasan. On an island with one of the highest population densities of the world, land has become an increasingly contested resource. The new common house type, which is usually smaller than the old family houses, can be also seen as an adaptation to this circumstance.

The transformation and changes in the rural ar-chitecture, which were prevalent in Javanese villages over many decades, can be understood as adaptations to new requirements regarding building costs, family structure and availability of land. However, on an island as well-connected as Java with mass media reaching every remote corner, global ideas of modern masonry houses have influenced peoples’ choices and desires for decades. The transformation we have identified in our research has, doubtlessly, been accelerated by the earthquake of 2006, but the development

was nothing new. This process of transformation also left people highly vulnerable to the seismic shocks of the 2006 earthquake. At that stage, many limasan had their wooden walls replaced with much heavier masonry infills than it had been the traditional practice. Sometimes it was a mixture of clay, sand and stones which was only loosely connected to the static structure of the building (Idham 2011) (Fig. 8, 9 & 10). Modern pre-2006 masonry buildings were similarly of poor workmanship, materials, and frequently lacked the implementation of building codes for earthquake-resistant construction (ibid.).

The reconstruction after the 2006 earthquake was both a challenge and an opportunity to ‘build back better’ and to make communities more resilient. The wide introduction of reinforced concrete (RC) building techniques promised an improved perfor-mance during seismic events. While the idea of RC implementation was taken up and implemented in the research areas, we observed significant differ-ences in technique and quality. Whether the new and reinforced buildings will perform better during future earthquakes is a matter of future research.

Figure 5

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Fig. 7, 8 & 9 Limasan with masonry infills of different quality in workman-ship. (Photo: Valent 2012)

Fig. 10Row of traditional-style houses in North Nias. (Photo: Weichart 2011)

Fig. 11Traditional-style house with annexe and staircase, North Nias. (Photo: Weichart 2011)

4. VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE ON NIAS

The traditional vernacular architecture on the island of Nias, like on Java, shows unique characteristics. Among them we find the pitched roof constructions which stand out, especially if the old houses are situated among a group of modern houses with low roofs. But, contrary to Java and other regions of the archipelago (e.g. Sumatra, South Sulawesi and Sumba), the roofs are not the main denominators of the Nias houses. The middle parts, which are the living areas and function like wooden ‘boxes’ with slit windows, as well as the large piles which sup-port the whole construction of the house are even more outstanding.

From an architectural point of view, Nias is com-monly divided into three zones with distinguished building styles. While the difference between the north and the south is most pronounced and easily noticeable even for the untrained observer, the cen-tral region is a kind of ‘buffer’ between them and, consequently, has developed a hybrid building type. In this chapter, we will only consider the differences between the north and the south.

The most obvious differences are the layout of the houses and the settlements. Both features are re-lated to each other. In the north, houses are oval shaped and solitary buildings with rounded, apsidal

endings, scattered along a path or road and thus forming a very open village structure. In the south, the houses are square shaped and the settlements consist of two dense rows of houses that leave no gap in-between each other except for a narrow wooden stairway to access each house separately (Viaro 2008).

Traditional houses were made of wood and the roofs were covered with sago palm leaves. For the big diagonal struts and piles that carry most of the weight, large stems of hard wood had to be used. Due to its scarcity today, high quality tim-ber has become very valuable and often has to be imported from other islands. We still find many new houses built of wood even today, but most of them are rather small and the timber is of lower quality. Thus, they cannot be built in the tradition-al style. In the traditional villages of South Nias, such houses show a mixture between the omo hada (= traditional house) and the rumah melayu (= Malay house) in their outside appearance as well as in the layout of the rooms. However, most houses built in the last few decades are of concrete and/or bricks. The change in materials used for the roofs has become even more radical. Metal tiles or corrugated iron are commonly used for new build-ings and even at most older houses the original thatched roofs have been replaced by these cheaper and longer lasting materials (Weichart et al. 2012).

Figure 7–9

Figure 10 Figure 11

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Fig. 12 & 13Construction details with diag-onal struts and piles. (Photo : Weichart 2011)

Fig. 14Mixture of materials and styles. (Photo: Weichart 2011)

Fig. 15Modern-style house in North Nias. (Photo: Weichart 2011)

Changes in materials go hand in hand with changes in construction and building style and, consequently, with changes in living habits, social relations and values. Masonry houses look very different from most wooden houses and certainly from the tra-ditional-style ones. While the latter consist of one floor built on stilts above the ground and have high roofs, the former are built directly on the ground and consist of one to two floors and generally have lower and less steep roofs. Instead of the original window slits at the upper front part of the living area, non-traditional houses are equipped with windows with wooden shutters or glass. A further important feature of distinction is the division of space. Old-style houses have usually been divided into two large rooms which have served as living, dining, guest or bed rooms for all residents and their guests. Most modern-style houses have more and smaller rooms, for sleeping, storage, eating and socializing, which correspond better to the resi-dents’ increasing need for individuality and privacy even in fairly remote communities.

Traditional-style buildings themselves have also undergone radical transformation additionally to the type of roof covering. All over Nias, it is com-mon now to enlarge these houses by attaching new constructions of various materials on any side of the buildings, wherever it is possible. The often randomly chosen mixture of materials and styles give some of these houses a rather peculiar ap-pearance. This is especially noticeable in the north, where the singular oval-shaped houses offer more possibilities for extensions, make them more visible and highlight the contrasts between the old and the new. On the other hand, many traditional houses in South Nias have undergone a radical transformation in building and usage through the closure of the ground level with masonry walls. When doing this and adapting the ground floor to a living area with divided spaces, central beams have to be removed and windows are cut out. This inevitably affects the stability of the building and, therefore, probably also its earthquake resistance (Gruber 2009).

These features are not only of technical and aes-thetic relevance, but they equally influence the usage of the building and its spaces, their value to the owners, residents and visitors, as well as people’s physical and emotional well-being. A very noticeable transformation closely relat-ed to the materials, the arrangement of spaces and the ventilation system is the level of tem-perature and humidity inside the houses. While the old houses were relatively cool and airy and, thus, very comfortable, the more closed-in buildings with, often shut, windows, smaller spaces, concrete walls and metal roofs are hot, sticky and experienced as rather uncomfortable. However, they offer more individual spaces for people and goods and, therefore, more privacy which has increasingly become a valuable ‘good’ (Weichart et al. 2012).

A house is also an economic asset. The costs of its construction or the price of its purchase de-pend, among other factors, on the materials used. Beside their monetary value, the building materials also have a symbolic value which extends to the whole house and the status of its owners and ten-ants. Thus, well maintained houses built of high quality expensive timber, still have high prestige in Nias society, whereas those of low quality cheap wood also have little symbolic value. Houses built of cement, concrete, bricks and metal are con-sidered more modern than wooden houses. They were first erected by western people but, following the trend to modernisation introduced by the New Order regime since the 1970s, they have spread and become standard in the building sector all over the archipelago. The Indonesian government has contributed to this development by propagating them as ‘healthy’ houses (Thülen 2007). In the reconstruction programmes, only ‘modern’ houses were built or funded by the donors. Except for a few minor initiatives, no traditional-style wooden houses were repaired despite the fact that they had shown greater resilience during and after the disaster.

Figure 12 Figure 13

Figure 14 Figure 15

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Fig. 16Street scene with traditional-style houses in South Nias; while some houses have still retained thatched roofs, the majority is covered with cor-rugated iron sheets. (Photo: Weichart 2011)

Fig. 17Street scene in South Nias; mixture of building styles and materials. (Photo: Weichart 2011)

Fig. 18Omo sebua, a chief’s house. (Photo: Weichart 2011)

These developments over the past hundred years, together with other influences in the wake of glo-balisation, like mass-media etc., have influenced the symbolic value attached to the houses, its shapes, styles and materials. Large and ornate, and conspicuously expensive modern houses enjoy the greatest prestige today. The status of traditional houses is rather ambiguous. Among them, too, size, appearance but also the social status of the owners, play a crucial role. In South Nias, mainly the few remaining large and impres-sive chiefs’ houses (omo sebua) are considered most valuable and worthy of conservation.

The earthquake of 2005 and the subsequent re-construction period had negative but also positive effects on the old buildings and their preserva-tion. Unfortunately not much effort was made to repair or rebuild damaged or destroyed old-style houses. On the other hand, building and heritage experts and researchers, who visited the area af-terwards, showed appreciation for these houses as representatives of a unique architecture and precious objects of the cultural heritage of the ono niha, the Nias people. The recognition by outsiders, together with the good performance of the traditional houses during the earthquake, has contributed to local people’s positive perception of their houses and architectural traditions.

Furthermore, the western concept of cultural heritage, as stipulated by UNESCO, ICOMOS and other organisations, has become a driving force in Indonesian cultural politics and in na-tional as well as local policies (Fitri et al. 2015; Salazar 2007). Although many of these initiatives focus on the island of Java, where the cultural

‘centre’ of the country is thought to be located, they have reached, to a lesser extent, even re-mote areas like Nias. During the past decade, in particular, international and Indonesian organisa-tions and NGOs have directed their efforts towards the preservation and revitalisation of tangible and intangible cultural heritage.

In Nias, the houses have been a main target. One of the old villages in South Nias, Bawömataluo, has even aimed at achieving the status of a ‘World Heritage site’, and initiatives in the promotion of tourism have discovered ‘traditional culture’ as an economic asset. The idea expressed by one village head to give the wooden houses in his settlement a more traditional appearance by re-introducing thatched roofs, and, hence, ‘sell’ his village more successfully as a heritage and tourist site, is only one example that proves that materiality plays an important role in conceptions of heritage among different stakeholders.

However, not only tourism has put heritage on its agenda. Like in Java, the middle and upper classes have discovered the value of traditional architecture as a means to increase their cul-tural and social capital. They either invest in old houses or build new ones in the traditional style, either with ‘authentic’ materials or new ones. However, many of these houses are not the owners’ main dwellings but rather used for rep-resentational purposes. Thus, the houses have not only changed their appearances and material properties but also their significance to the own-ers, to those who use them, live in and with them and to those who only look at them or visit them (Herbig & Weichart 2012).

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Fig. 19Street view from a chief’s house in South Nias. (Photo: Weichart 2011)

Fig. 20In traditional villages in South Nias even new houses have to adapt in size and style to their older ‘neighbours’. (Photo: Weichart 2011)

Fig. 21Houses erected as part of the government’s reconstruction programme and individual adaptations in South Nias. (Photo: Weichart 2011)

5. CONCLUSION

In the previous chapters, we gave examples of vernacular architecture and its transformation in two distant regions of Indonesia, one of them (Yogyakarta) representing the political, economic and cultural ‘centre’ of the country, whereas the other one (Nias) being located in the margin-alised periphery. The transformation has taken place on various levels. The most obvious are the physical appearance and materiality of the build-ings. They, however, are closely connected to the economic, social and cultural conditions and aspi-rations of the local communities and individuals. Despite great geographical, political, economic and socio-cultural differences between both research sites, which have influenced the reconstruction pro-cesses, we have noticed many similarities in the valuation of local architectural traditions, the local populations’ efforts and difficulties to preserve the building traditions and individual houses, and their expectations of new buildings.

In both areas, large numbers of houses were destroyed by earthquakes. Although the tradi-tional-style wooden buildings performed better, most of them have subsequently been replaced by modern standard masonry houses. Responsible for this development are, beside the desire and pressure for ‘modernisation’, the fairly high costs of building and maintaining traditional-style houses and the scarcity of good quality timber. Nonetheless, many people in the communities still value their vernacular architecture, a trend that has increased with the rather recent discovery of cultural heritage as an economically and socially valuable asset.

Our research has also shown the relevance of an-thropological study of the materiality of architecture and houses. The building materials, together with the standard of maintenance of its physical structure, influence a house’s economic value throughout its ‘lifespan’. Apart from size and form, it is the material body that gives a building its characteristic appear-ance which enables classification regarding its region and culture of origin and the social and economic sta-tus of its owner/s. Materiality is a determinant factor for assessing a house as ‘traditional’ in both of our re-search regions. Owning a large and well-maintained traditional house is an object of prestige and it adds to a person’s social capital. The functionality of a building depends on its structural and material com-ponents. And finally, people often have an emotional attachment to their houses, which are containers of individual and family memories, social and ancestral relationships and events. These are ‘embodied’ in the house and in its physical components.

By concluding this chapter, we would like to em-phasise the need for and value of interdisciplinary engagement and research in the fields of archi-tecture and cultural heritage, in building and reconstruction processes and in (post-)disaster management. As anthropologists and researchers, we strive for a holistic approach that overcomes the socially constructed division between the ma-terial and the immaterial, between tangible and intangible culture. In order to grasp a thorough understanding of the complexities involved in mate-rial and social processes, like changes in building traditions, we need to combine perspectives and methodologies from different academic disciplines. We need to search for the material in the social and the intangible in the physical environment.

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Gabriele WeichartDr. Gabriele Weichart is Sen-ior Lecturer at the Department of Social and Cultural Anthro-pology at the University of Vi-enna and Adjunct Researcher at the University of Tasmania. From 1997 to 2002 she worked as assistant professor at the Institute of Ethnology at the University of Heidelberg, from 2006 to 2007 as assistant cu-rator at the Museum of Eth-nography in Vienna and from 2004 to 2005 as research fel-low at the Maison Asie-Paci-fique in Marseilles. Since 1990, she has carried out extended fieldwork in Australia and In-donesia and has been a vis-iting researcher and lecturer in various institutions of both countries. Her current research interests include the anthro-pology of material culture, especially vernacular archi-tecture; environment, disaster and social/cultural resilience; as well as food and consump-tion. From 2011 to 2014, she co-coordinated the interdisci-plinary research project “AS-SIP – Architecture, Space and Society in Post-Disaster Built Environments in Indonesia” which was sponsored by the Austrian Science Fund.Contact: gabriele.weichart@univie.ac.at

Karl Valentis currently a PhD candidate at the Department for Social and Cultural Anthropology at the University of Vienna.

His research focuses on the epistemologies of disaster, adaptations to environmen-tal hazards and community-based risk reduction. Within this context he developed a special interest in the ver-nacular architecture and built environment of Indonesia and its adaptation to environmen-tal conditions and risks, as well as its ritual and sociocultural embeddedness as centre for family, community and re-production. He draws upon extended fieldwork in Indone-sia on topics such as disaster resilience and post-disaster re-construction, vernacular archi-tecture and transformations, neighbourhood development, smart cities, urban culture and political Islam.Contact:valentk55@univie.ac.at

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AcknowledgementThe research for this project was funded by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF): P22898. We would like to thank all members of the ASSIP team as well as our colleagues from the Gadjah Mada University, the University of North Sumatra and the Museum Pusaka Nias for their support and valuable contributions in numerous discussions.