Bali Artilce

The structure of Balinese buildings can be considered in terms of the local tri angga classification system, which assumes that everything in the natural world can be divided into the three components of nista, madya and utama.

These categories are hierarchically ordered in terms of a sets of spatial coordinates-high, middle and low – that in the case of Balinese buildings are identified with the stereobate or base (nista), timber house posts and curtain walls (madya), and the roof (utama).

Streobate

The base typically consists of four low walls of brick or stone, in-filled with stamped earth. In unimportant or humble buildings, this packed earth surface will also be the floor, but where finances allow, it will be paved. Similarly the walls of the base may be plain, profiled or carved with relief depending on the nature of the building and the status and wealth of the owner.

Timber Frame

The main load-bearing elements of the building consist of a timber post-and-beam framework. This structure supports the hipped roof, which is formed from a coconut wood and bamboo (alang alang) or, in the case of more affluent households, clay tiles.

The height of the posts (adegan) is determind by measurement taken from the house owner`s body, and the dimensions of the house posts in turn determind the proportions of the building. The standard unit of measurement for house posts is a rahi, the length of a line drawn between the end of the lifeline at the base of the thumb, and the tip of the index finger. Optimal heights are 20, 21 or 22 rahi.

A measurement of the 19 rahi is expressly avoided, the explanation being that it would expose the occupants of the house to disease, crime and other misfortunes. The latter measurement is sometimes referred to as buta dengan milara and it is said to be the cause of unhappy love affairs.

The posts rest on masonry or stone column bases called umpak, and the rigidity of the structure is established by tie-beams which are stiffened at the joints by shores or brackets. Individual components are joined by mortise and tenon, or lap joints, and are secured by a wedge or wooden peg.

The Asta Kosali prescribes what kinds of timber should be used for particular building requirements. Traditionally, the preffered materil for house posts is teak, which ideally should be cut from a living tree growing locally, although teak imported from Kalimantan or Java is considered to be superior.

Offerings must be made before the tree is felled and, when the posts are ready to be raised into position, care must be taken to ensure that they are erected according to the direction of growth of the tree trunk from which they were cut, with the root end being placed in the foundations and growing tip end supporting the roof. On no account may posts be erected `upside down`, that is to say, with the direction of growth inverted.

Walls

The walls of Balinese houses are made from stone, brick or even simply mud. They do not carry any load, being completely detached from the timber structure that supports the roof.

The favoured building material is paras, a kind of soft sandstone that is cut into uniform brick-sized block and then gently baked in the sun.

Using muddy water for mortar, these bricks are rubbed back and forth on preceding course until they stick. When the mud is still wet, it provides an element of adhesion, but subsequently the wall is held together simply by its weight and the near–perfect fit between courses. Paras is a very plastic material, which can be easily carved, but is not very durable and soon deteriorates when expose to the elements, hence the ancient appearance of many Balinese building, despite the fact that most structure are no more that a few years old.

The Balinese also employ adobe as a building material. This is made locally from wet earth kneaded into balls and placed in the sun to dry.

Walls are constructed by placing these mud balls in parallel rows and then filling the crevices with more mud. Another layer is added on top and the process repeated until the desired elevation is achieved.

Adobe is even less durable than paras and always has a protective coping of thatch that is usually made from rice straw. Rice-straw thatch does not itself last very long and is usually renewed after each harvest.

Roofs

Since the materials used to make walls are not very durable, care is taken to ensure that the walls are well protected from the elements by widely overhanging eaves. The main framework is made of bamboo with the roof ridge supported by king posts, girders and columns.

The usual roofing material used in ordinary buildings is a thick thatch at is made from alang alang grass (Imperata sp.). The grass is gathered in bundles which are doubled over the midrib of coconut fronds and stitched in place. These sections of thatching are lashed onto the bamboo framework of the roof using red-dyed rattan cords or ties made from the natural fibre of the sugar palm (Arenga pinnata), with extra thatch along the ridges.

Lastly, the roof is combed with a special type of rake and bottom edge is trimmed with a knife. Such a roof, which may be up to 50 centimetres in thickness, can last for many years.

More important structures may employ locally made clay pantiles, or even modern Marseilles tiles, while split bamboo shingles are a popular choice for roofing material in mountain regions.

In the case of the religious structures and family shrines, black thatch (ijuk) from the sugar palm is used instead of alang alang.