CHANGES OF QUALITY IN JAVANESE HOUSES

Abstract

One of the most important issues arising from the 2006 Java earthquake is that many of the Javanese houses were easily collapsed or badly damaged due to the quake. The failure of the vernacular houses was also believed to be a principle factor in causing the casualties. As a replacement, the government built reconstruction houses which differ in form, size and structure to the earlier houses. Intensive campaigns were conducted to encourage and support the construction of compacted dwellings with brick walls and concrete frame systems. In view of the fact that the collapsed houses were comprised of many of the various types of Javanese vernacular structures in the area, including the recent well known reinforced concrete frame type, uncertainty in deciding which house is really fulfill the need of the people has emerged. Even though the new houses are thought to be more stable in respect of earthquake safety, the other values in housing should be examined and reassured. The comparative study presented in this paper, is based on a housing quality assessment method, which employs using an adaptation of Maslow's theory. Here, an interpretation related to the housing aspects in respect of the specific grading method is proposed. Following the earthquake, all Javanese house types were examined from the old traditional housing to the newly built houses. Aspects of evaluating the quality are considered according to local requirements and needs in respect of how the houses had been built according to the climate, needs, customs, safety, security, utility and comfort. This was done in order to compare the developments and changes in quality of the various types of housing. The result of the assessment applied to the houses shows that the Javanese housing quality is constantly changing over time for particular reasons. Unfortunately, according to this study, the overall quality of Javanese houses is currently, for some reason, in a downward trend.