The báhay kúbo, kubo, or payág (in the Visayan languages), is a type of stilt house indigenous to the Philippines.Lee, Jonathan H. X., Encyclopedia of Asian American folklore and folklife, Vol. 1. Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO, 2011. 369. It is the traditional basic design of houses among almost all the lowlanders of the entire Philippines, and also frequently seen in Philippine Provinces. Often serving as an icon of Philippine culture, its design heavily influenced the Spanish colonial-era bahay na bato's architecture.
The English term nipa hut is also usually used interchangeably with , although not all use nipa materials or are huts. Both "nipa hut" and are also used incorrectly to refer to similar but different vernacular architecture in the Philippines.
Etymology The Filipino term báhay kúbo roughly means "country house", from Tagalog. The term báhay ("house") is derived from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *balay referring to "public building" or "community house"; while the term kúbo ("hut" or "[one-room] country hut") is from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *kubu, "field hut [in rice fields]".
The term "nipa hut", introduced during the Philippines' American colonial era, refers to the hut version of bahay kubo. While nipa leaves were the thatching (pawid) material often used for the roofs, not all bahay kubo are huts or used nipa materials.
History
Classical period (pre-Hispanic era)
Distinction between each tribes and cultures' style may have been more visible during the pre-hispanic period. Different architectural designs are present among each ethnolinguistic group in what is now the Philippines and throughout the Southeast Asia and Pacific as part of the whole Austronesian architecture.
They were designed to endure the climate and environment of the Philippines. These structures were temporary, made from plant materials like bamboo. The accessibility of the materials made it easier to rebuild when damaged by a storm or earthquake.
Hispanic era
The advent of the Spanish colonial era introduced the idea of building more permanent communities around church and government centers.
Christianized peoples such as the Tagalogs, Visayans, Ilocanos, Kapampangans, Bicolanos, Cagayanons, Zambals, Pangasinenses, Ivatans, Mestizos, Criollos, Chinese and Japanese were sent to live in the lowlands. This established a community with most population of Austronesian origin, each having their own distinct traditions of Austronesian architecture, dating back even before the Hispanic period. They collectively evolved a style of construction that soon became synonymous with the christian lowland culture architecture known as bahay kubo.
Appearance varies from simple huts, later known by the Americans as nipa huts, to mansions like bahay na bato. Architectural designs and furnishings varied from standard Filipino, Chinese, Americas, European to eclectic.
The new community also setup made construction using heavier, more permanent materials desirable. Some of these materials included bricks, mortar, tiles and stone.
Finding European construction styles impractical in local conditions, Spanish and Filipino builders quickly adapted the characteristics of the bahay kubo and combined it with Spanish architectural style.
Bahay na bato
Bahay na bato developed from the bahay kubo with noticeable Spanish influence. Its design evolved throughout the ages but maintained its nipa hut architectural roots. Its most common appearance is like that of stilt nipa hut that stands on Spanish style stone blocks or bricks as a foundation instead of wood or bamboo stilts.
The bahay na bato, followed the nipa hut's arrangements such as open ventilation and elevated apartments. It was popular among the elite or middle class and integrated the characteristics of the nipa hut with the style, culture, and technology of Spanish architecture. The differences between the two houses were their foundational materials. The bahay na bato was constructed out of brick and stone rather than the traditional bamboo materials. It is a mixture of native Filipino and Spanish influences.
During the 19th century, wealthy Filipinos built houses with solid stone foundations or brick lower walls, and overhanging. Wooden upper story/stories with balustrades. The ventanillas and capiz-shell sliding windows were both native Filipino influences on the design. The thatched nipa roof (pawid) is often replaced with Spanish-style curved clay tiles known as teja de curva. Today these houses are more commonly called ancestral houses.
Characteristics Bahay kubo were typically made of local building materials such as wood, bamboo, palms (nipa, anahaw, coconut) and cogon grass. The bahay kubo was elevated above ground or water on stilts as protection from pests, predators and floods, and usually consisted of one room where the whole family would dine, sleep and do other household activities; thus, access to the hut was by ladder. The roof was made of palm leaves smoked for waterproofing and consisted of long steep eaves to allow water to flow down more easily. The windows to the hut were large to allow cool air in. Similar conditions in Philippine lowland areas have led to characteristics "typical" of examples of bahay kubo.
Overall structure
The bahay kubo, like most Austronesian houses, is raised on house posts ("stilts") known as , which are typically made from whole bamboo or hardwood logs and extends from the ground to the top of the walls. There are two general types of : the refers to which are buried directly on the ground; while the refers to that are simply placed on top of a flat stone slab.
The main purpose of being raised on stilts is to create a buffer area for rising waters during floods and to prevent pests such as rats from getting up to the living area.
The are connected to each other by horizontal bamboo beams known as the . The in turn are overlaid with secondary bamboo beams known as the ; these in turn are fitted to the , which are bamboo beams laid down apart as joists to support the bamboo slat floor. Depending on the size of the house, these beams can be a single bamboo pole, or multiple tied together.
The cube shape distinctive of the bahay kubo arises from the fact that it is easiest to pre-build the walls and then attach them to the wooden stilt-posts that serve as the corners of the house. The construction of a bahay kubo is therefore usually modular, with the wooden stilts established first, a floor frame built next, then wall frames, and finally, the roof.
are traditionally built using only shaped and fitted wood or bamboo and lashings, with no use of nails whatsoever.
Walls
The walls () are traditionally composed of individual wall panels that are securely attached (via rattan bindings) to additional beams known as the which connect the around the perimeter of the house. These can easily be replaced when damaged. Modern and colonial-era versions of built with nails can also feature more permanent walls made from whole or split bamboo poles or wooden planks.
The wall panels can be made from a variety of light materials. The most common is woven bamboo strips known as or . They can also be thatched panels known as , which are made from cogon grass, anahaw, or nipa palm leaves, like the roof. Certain areas can also be made from loosely woven bamboo latticework known as , which grants a degree of privacy while still allowing inhabitants to see outside.
In temporary shelters, the walls can also be made from simple panels made from halved coconut palm fronds whose leaves are then woven together. This type of panels are known as and is somewhat a combination of and in functionality, but are much more perishable.
The wall panels let some coolness flow naturally through them during hot times and keep warmth in during the cold wet season.
Windows
Bahay kubo are typically built with large windows (), to let in more air and natural light. The most traditional are large awning windows, held open by a wooden rod. Sliding windows are also common, made either with plain wood or with Capiz shell-panes which allow some light to enter the living area even with the windows closed. In more recent decades inexpensive jalousie windows became common.
In larger examples, the large upper windows may be augmented with smaller windows called ventanillas (Spanish for "little window") underneath, which can be opened for ventilation to let in additional air on especially hot days.
Roof
The roof () of the bahay kubo is built on a skeletal framework called the . This is made from bamboo or wood tied or fitted together. The eaves of the roofs are known as . These may further be extended with the , which are long sloping sections of the roof that extend over the (usually to provide shade for a porch area).
The roof itself is typically thatch, made from either cogon grass, nipa palm leaves, or anahaw leaves. Another traditional roofing material is known as (Philippine Spanish: ). are halved bamboo sections that are fitted together alternately, similar to Spanish clay roof tiles. Though unlike clay tiles, each section spans the entire slope of the roof. The curving surfaces of the bamboo halves serve as channels for rainwater.
The traditional roof shape of the bahay kubo is tall and steeply pitched, with an apex called the "angkub" and long eaves descending from it. A tall roof creates space above the living area through which warm air could rise, giving the bahay kubo a natural cooling effect even during the dry season. The steep pitch allows water to flow down quickly at the height of the monsoon season while the long eaves give people a limited space to move about around the house's exterior when it rains. The steep pitch of the roofs is often used to explain why many bahay kubo survived the ash fall from the Mt. Pinatubo eruption, when more 'modern' houses collapsed from the weight of the ash.
Living space
The main living area is the raised (second) floor of the bahay kubo known as the (also , lit. "interior"). It is accessible via the , a bamboo or wooden ladder that extends from the ground to the door or to a small open porch. When a porch is present, it is bordered by a waist-level railing of bamboo known as a .
The contains the living, dining, cooking, and sleeping areas of the house. It is traditionally a single multi-purpose open room. The is designed to let in as much fresh air and natural light as possible. Smaller bahay kubo will often have bamboo slat floors (known as the ) which allow cool air to flow into the living space from the silong below (in which case the silong is not usually used for items which produce strong smells). A bahay kubo may be built without an atip (ceiling) so that hot air can rise straight into the large area just beneath the roof and out through strategically placed vents.
For daily activities like sleeping, sitting, or eating, the are overlaid with mats made from woven pandanus or sedge leaves (among other materials).
Kitchen The kitchen functions of a are provided by two substructures of the main floor: the and the .
The (lit. "ash area") is an elevated area of the floor packed with soil. This area contains the fireplace with clay or stone trivets on which various cooking wares (like the and the ) are placed to cook food. The also features various open shelves for storing firewood and cooking implements, as well as racks above the cooking area for smoking and preserving fish or meat ( or ) or drying herbs.