CORDILLERA HOUSES

ISNEG
Boat forms appear to have inspired the Isneg house. The bamboo roof suggests an inverted boat, and
wooden floor joists have the profile of a boat. The Isneg house has two sets of posts: the inner set
supporting the floor and the outer set supporting the roof. As in the Kalinga house, the floor can be
rolled up. The walls are vertical boards set into grooves that are cut into beams at floor and roof-eaves
level. A window is created by simply taking out a few boards. All the wall boards can be removed to
make the house a roofed platform for village celebrations. The Isneg house is the largest among the
Cordillera houses, since the entire family, and even married offspring, could live in it.
KALINGA
Some of the Kalinga live in octagonal houses. The central portion of the octagonal house rests on a four-
post-two-girder-and-three-joist structure. Beyond this frame eight posts are added to form the eight
sides of the house. Wooden laths resting on joists support the runo floor, which can be rolled up like a
mat and taken to the river for washing.
IFUGAO
In Mayaoyao the Ifugao house is distinguished by its classic simplicity. Its roof is high and steep. Low
stone walls and a pavement form the setting of this house. In Mayaoyao the Ifugao house is
distinguished by its classic simplicity. Its roof is high and steep. Low stone walls and a pavement form
the setting of this house. The Sagada house resembles the Bontoc house but is fully covered. It is a
wooden box with a steep thatch roof as a lid. With the granary within, the Sagada house is a house
within a house.
KANKANAY
The Kankanay house is still another variation of the Ifugao prototype. The roof is higher and wider,
thereby providing a spacious loft above the living space. On the ground level wooden planks are laid to
provide additional livable space.
BONTOC
This move to the ground floor is completed in the Bontoc house (v. Fig. 7), where the roof is so extended
both downward and outward as to require more support and stability than is provided by the central
four-legged structure, so its outer edges are lashed to eight auxiliary posts set in the ground. Between
these outer posts is run a continuous waist-high wooden wall, with a door on one side, clearly defining
the ground-level living space where eating and sleeping as well as working take place, the elevated
wooden chamber and attic above being relegated to the status of granaries. Since the floor of this
granary_ with the usual three joists on two girdersis only about four feet above the eathern floor of
the house proper, headroom for such tasks as rice-pounding is sought under the roof off to one side and
increased by digging a shallow pit for the mortar, chaff, and person threshing. To both left and right the
dirt floor gives way to plank storage and working spaces, the fireplaceand a bedchamber in a tight
wooden box into which the parents retire after building a fire in it, the spaciousness of the Bontoc house
having been bought at the price of such chill dampness as blows freely in and out between the low-
hanging eaves and low outer walls. Even this inconvenience is removed in the Sagada house, 2,000 feet
higher than Bontoc on the western shoulder of the Cordillera, where the architectural trend is carried to
its logical conclusion by closing in the ground floor completely with a tight wooden wall. The fact that
the second story in Bontoc is literally a granary is accentuated in the Sagada style of house known as
innagamang (literally, granary-style) (Fig. 3). The central granary (agamang) stands on the four posts
(tokod) carryingtwo girders (kiling) and three floor joists (desa) characteristic of the Southern Strain, but,
inasmuch as the whole house is now in contact with the ground at so many points that ratguards on the
posts would be useless, the granary is made truly rat-proof by replacing the reed ceiling which would
form a third-story attic with a gabled roof of solid planks mortised and rabbeted together (ka-ogkog, ta-
eb, etc.). This whole structure is known as the heart (poso) of the house, and on it stand two kingposts
(dawis) which support the short ridgepole (pamobbongan) which receives the upper ends of the rafters
(bogso). Short light posts under the eaves carry the lower ends of the rafters, and to these posts
horizontal planks are lashed (dingding or diding) and chinked with mud to enable the house to be
comfortably heated by the cooking fire. The rice-pounding space is most typically at the back of the
house opposite the door, with the fireplace on The opposite side from the plank platform which serves
as the parents bed (although some older people prefer to sleep in the second-story granary in cold
weather). Typical of the Sagada house, too, is an adjoining stone-lined pig-pen excavated outside the
doorwith a bedroom for this important domestic animal extending for warmth under the house itself.

BATANES
IVATAN
Houses take an entirely different form in the Batanes, the northernmost islands of the archipelago. With
the frequency of high winds and strong rain, the Batanes house is built to hug the ground. Thick stone
walls and a thick grass roof withstand the severest storm. The roof is supported by posts encased in the
stone walls. Stone and mortar construction was introduced in the Batanes islands during the Spanish
regime.
Being an isolated and wind-frequented area, the Batanes Islands, exhibit the most different of all
traditional architecture in the Philippines. The Ivatan`s rakuh is built solidly on all sides, made of a meter
thick rubble work covered by thick thatch roofing to withstand gales which frequent the area.
Most of the Ivatan houses are built with limestone walls, reed and cogon roofs, strong enough to
withstand the numerous typhoons and earthquakes that visit the island on an average of eight times a
year. Some houses have roof nets which allow the roofs to last from 25 to 30 years. These nets serve as
the roofs' protection against strong winds during typhoons. Only three walls of the house have
windows; the fourth wall faces the direction of the strongest typhoon winds. The inside is relatively cool
during summer and warm during the rainy season.
There are different types of Ivatan houses.
Sinadumparan
The sinadumparan or maytuab is the most common type. It is a one-storey structure with a partially
submerged basement that functions as a storage area. It has thick stone and lime masonry with walls
topped by either a dos aguas or a cuatro aguas roof which is made of an elaborately crafted wood truss
system with bamboo, reed rattan, and thatch cover. It has a distinct roof system built with a meter thick
cogon bundles done by by no less than twelve persons at the same time. The roof nets, called panpe,
are made of strong ropes thrown over the roof and fastened to the ground.
Rakuh.
Compared to the sinadumparan, rakuh has bigger floor area with a lower level which functions as the
storage area. The walls are made of lime mortar that binds the stones of different sizes. It has two doors
and three windows.
Jin-Jin
Instead of thick stone and lime mortar walls, the jin-jin house has walls made of woven cogon thatch
with bamboo or wood framework. The roof is made with the distinctive Ivatan multi-layered cogon
system.

MINDANAO HOUSES
MARANAO
The Maranao torogan, on the other hand, is designed for royalty and thus built with much
ornamentation and elaborate details.
TAUSUG
The Tausug of Sulu, one of the Muslim peoples of the Philippines, are known as seafarers, but they build
their houses on land, away from the shore. A site is considered lucky if it is flat and dry or if it gently
slopes westwardtowards Mecca. The traditional Tausug house rests on nine posts, each signifying a
part of the bodythe neck, navel, groin, left and right sides of the shoulders, ribs, and hips. Basically a
one-room house, the Tausug dwelling includes a porch and a separate kitchen. A distinguishing feature
of the house is an elaborately carved wooden finial, called tajuk pasung, placed at one or both ends of
the roof ridge.
BADJAO
The Sama and the Badjao are people of the sea. The sea is their source of livelihood, the link to other
people, and the place for celebration. It is also home. The Sama build their houses on stilts over the
water, along the shore or farther out, grouped together in villages, and connected by bridges and
catwalks. Unlike the Sama house, the Badjao landhouse stands alone on an expanse of water and is
reached only by boat. It is not joined by bridges or catwalks to the shore or to other houses. It is an
island made by humans.


BAHAY KUBO
For all the variety of design and construction, Cordillera, Mindanao, and Sulu houses are basically one-
room dwellings covered by steep roofs and raised on stilts. They are all related to the bahay kubo (nipa
hut) which in its simplicity is regarded as a prototype. Largely of bamboo and thatch, and with parts
woven, fitted or tied together, the bahay kubo might be described as less of a building and more of a
basket. While posts, beams, and joists are assembled, the roof is put together separately and later fitted
on top like the lid of a basket. The bamboo floor, with its slats set slightly apart, is like the bottom of a
basket and makes for incomparable ventilation. With air coming in through windows and floor and the
crevices in thatch and bamboo walls, the bahay kubo is a house that breathes.
The bahay-kubo (nipa hut) is a typical traditional house found in most lowlands all over the Philippines.
Originally built as a one-room dwelling, the nipa hut changed as family needs become more diverse.
Construction of rural native huts has changed little in the centuries. Design vary by region, but common
features include steep roof over a one-or-two room living area raised on posts or stilts one to two
meters above the ground or over shallow water. Some huts have balconies. Floors may be of split
bamboo to allow dirt and food scraps to fall through to pigs and poultry. The space beneath the hut may
be used for storage or as a workshop; it also allows air to circulate andsafeguards against flooding,
snakes, and insects. As families become more affluent, they frequently replace the thatch roof with
galvanized iron which lasts longer but makes the house hotter and aesthetically more mundane.
Morphologically, the house is constructed using wooden structural components configured in the
post and lintel framework, which supports a steeply pitched thatched roof. The dwelling is distinguished
by a living floor raised on sturdy stilt foundations with a voluminous, well-ventilated roof cavity above,
providing a straight forward solution to the environmental problems imposed by the humid tropical
climate coupled with seasonal monsoon rains.