Spatial Analysis of Sade Traditional Hamlet in Lombok Island, Indonesia:
The Alteration of Sasak Tribe’s Traditional Living Space
インドネシアのロンボク島におけるサデ伝統的集落の空間分析研究―ササック部族の伝統的居住空間の変化について―Dini Aiko Subiyantoro
１．Introduction

Sasak tribe has a unique concept in their settlement andHundred years ago, vernacular architecture once

dwellings. Observed deeply, we can see a similar pattern intriumphed. Unfortunately, not so many people could record andtheir traditional settlement. However, because of its limited

studied all of it, so it slowly becomes forgotten and disappears.

record, the cultural values of the settlement are barely

Poverty and low education bring people facing difficulties inunderstood. In this era, many of new settlements are starting

understanding their own culture, building techniques, andvillage management. This problem then leads them to a bigger

to spread along the Lombok Island. Some of the traditional
settlement still trying to keep the authenticity of both of its

issue regarding the alteration of culture and traditional

physical and non-physical value. Sade hamlet is a traditionalarchitecture.

settlement that considered to be one of those which still keeps

Architectural conservation issue in Indonesia was starting

their tradition in their settlement and daily life.

to be concerned pioneered by the archaeologist experts. During
the colonial era in 1901, the first committee, Commisie inEntering 21st century, Sade people starting toconsider the necessity of more space in their house andNederlandsche-Indie voor Oudheidkundige Orderzoek op Javasettlement. The number of traditional houses were rapidly

en Madura, was created to manage Indonesian heritage. After

increase, following the growth of population. On 2000s, Sade

that, Monumenten Ordonnantie no. 238 of 1931, was decreed

hamlet receive some support from government with well andas the first law regarding cultural heritage. It later become thebasis for the establishment of law no.5 of 1992 (UU Cagar

cement. Moreover, on 2015, they also receive revitalization
projects from the government. However, it not yet known if

Budaya no.5 tahun 1992), which then amended to the law

the government understand the appropriate method of

1

no.11 of 2010 . Among Indonesian architect, conservation

revitalization or not, since the local government or the village

issue being more popular as the Old Town Batavia (Jakarta)

does not have policy in terms of traditional house conservation.

revitalized by Ali Sadikin in 1970th. Moreover, many ofinternational experts also support and has deep concern in

Therefore, this research expected to provide a deeper
understanding of the importance of cultural values of Sasak’s

Indonesian vernacular architecture.

living space and settlement. Thus, can help preserve cultural

Indonesia is a home for over 300 ethnic groups and an

heritage along with the values in it.

archipelago of 17,508 islands. It is the world’s largest Muslimmajority nation with a total population of 242 million people.
Among all island in Indonesia, an Islamic ethnic group called

２．Research Purpose
Most of the research about Lombok usually concerned

Sasak, live in Lombok island, struggle in holding theiron the religion aspect or tourism development. Spatial

ancestral heritage and its cultural values. Limited record andresearch usually focuses on the northern or western Lombok.

minimum concern of Sasak culture make it difficult to

A research has been done by Japanese researcher, Yoshihisa

determine an appropriate method in preserving its cultural andWakita2, about space organization in the settlement of Bayanarchitectural heritage. Various sources even obtain diverse

village in North Lombok, and to find the connection between

information about its history of the Sasak tribe.

houses and Berugak. There is also other research by I Made

学位論文梗概集 2018

Wirata3 about Sasak’s tribe traditional house transformation inof the Sasak tribe’s traditional houses is also based on the

Segenter hamlet in North Lombok. Meanwhile, the purposes

direction of Daya and Lauq. As a whole, the traditional housesof this research are:（１）To identify the alteration tendency of Sasak traditional

are avoid facing the Mount Rinjani direction. In traditional
settlement that located in north and south (such as Sade,house and how the Sasak community preserve their traditional

Senaru, and Segenter village), the houses are facing the east

houses in correlation with the customary law;

and west direction, while in the settlement that located in the（2）To provide a deeper understanding of the importance ofeastern part (such as Sembalun village), the houses are facing

cultural values and in-depth knowledge of the value of Sasak’s
living space and settlement;

to the north and south direction. On the interview with thechief of Sade hamlet, there was a customary law called awiq-（3）To analyze the spatial of Sasak traditional house asawiq that prohibited the Sasak people in building their houseintegral parts of the Sasak cultural context.

towards Mount Rinjani.

3．Research Methodology

4．Introduction to Sade Hamlet（１）Literature study from books, journal, and articles;

Sade is a traditional hamlet of Lombok indigenous

To enrich the information about Sade hamlet, the author

Sasak people that located in Rembitan Village, Central

collected some data about the history of the Sasak’s tribe andLombok, Indonesia. This hamlet is located 11 km from airport,

its religion, Sasak’s tribe culture and architecture, and otherlaid between the airport and tourism area in south, Kuta beach.

secondary data. The studies from the previous research areThis is one of the reasons why many tourists come to visit.

also important to enrich the information for this research. The

Sade hamlet located in a dry land with a low number ofauthor also conduct research to some universities in Indonesia

rainfalls with the average of 84 mm3 per year and with theto investigate the related research to verify the authenticity of

average temperature is 24-32 degree Celsius. This dry

this research.

condition causes the difficulties of agriculture in this area. As（2）Site survey and data sampling;Three times field survey on March, July, and September

for the fauna, Sade people raising cattle and goats, and buffalo
as their ritual animal.

2018 were conducted to collect the current data through housemeasurement and interview. 17 sample of the traditional housewill be collected along with the house measurement, data of
the space function, and interview with the house owner about
the house, to record the current detailed data about the space
utilization and the modification that has been done in every
traditional house. This data was analyzed to obtain the spacepattern in the Sasak’s tribe traditional house.
（3）Data collecting from the local government;
Data from the local government and interview also

Figure 1. The location of Sade Hamlet in Lombok Island

Different with another hamlet and village that built onflat area, the settlement in Sade built circular because it was

important to understand the basic information about thebuilt on the hill. It was the habit of the Sasak tribe’s ancestor
in the past to always looking for high place to live, so they canvillage, government’s program from the village development,

be closer to the center point of cosmic. And the closer they are

and how the government supports the village preservation.

to the cosmic, the faster they can reach the spiritual point and（4）Data analysis to identify the house typology and to
identify remain part and/or the modification that has been

the closer they can see moon and starts as their guide indone in Sade hamlet.

by 529 Sasak people (262 men and 267 women)4 and covers
an area of 1.79 hectares with 68 traditional houses. Along with

3．Sasak Tribe’s Settlement
For the Sasak people, Mount Rinjani has been seen as aunderstanding time and direction. Currently, Sade is inhabitedthe houses, there are also other facilities inside the hamlet,

center of spirituality and mysticism. Therefore, the orientation

Summaries of Academic Theses 2018

such as traditional mosque, multipurpose shelter (berugak),built for a newly married couple, with around 4.5m2 area. In

rice storage (alang), shops, and toilets.

Sade hamlet, the newly married couple usually build a small

5．House Typology in Sade Hamlet

house before they can build bigger house like Bale Tani orBale Bontar. While living in Bale Kodong, the couple should

In Sasak language, house means Bale. Bale also

think about what they will do in the future, while collecting

considered as a micro social institution which called Balethe money for build a new house. There are also Bale Kodong

Langgaq (household)5. Generally, bale that located in thethat used by elders because it is too difficult for them to step incoast are different with the bale that located in the mountain or
hills. The land condition of the settlement affects the housethe high elevation of the house.

character and layout. This pattern becomes a reference for us
to interpret the traditional architecture of Sasak tribe as a resultof a society’s creative process in facing natural challenges andthen becomes their identity.

Figure 2. From left to right: Bale Tani, Bale Bontar, and Bale Kodong

In Sade hamlet, the houses are still in traditional form
and material. The bottom part is made from mixed soil, rice

6．Result

husk, and cow dung. The middle part, living space, using（１）Space Utilization of Bale Tani

Timus wood (local strong wood) for the pillars (tekan) and

The traditional house of Sasak people contains a special

woven bamboo for the wall (bedeq). Above it is the roof

concept regarding the spiritual aspect and commending thestructure that constructed from bamboo that tied with tree

women. So here, the mother and the daughter living in the

branch (saot) and covered with rice straw (alang-alang).

higher space. This house is divided into two areas, indoor（１）Bale Tani (farmer’s house)(Langen Dalem) and outdoor (Langen Duah). The indoor area

The first type is the original house of Sasak people inconsists of two rooms, Bale Dalem and Dalem Bale, while theSade hamlet called Bale Tani, which means farmer house. The
floor of Bale Tani built with levels, following the form of theoutdoor area consists of Sesangkok room that divided into thesouth (Sesangkok Lau) and north (Sesangkok Daya) area.

roof. Specifically, the space inside Bale Tani is divided into
two, indoor part and outdoor part. The indoor part consists ofand Bale Dalem room that used as delivery room andunmarried women’s bedroom. From 68 traditional houses in

Dalem
Bale

Bale
Dalem

3200 mmJangkih

Sesangkok
Lau

2600 mm

Dalem Bale room, that used as kitchen and women bedroom,

6500 mm

total, there are 38 Bale Tani houses in Sade Hamlet. 5 of it areconsidered to be the oldest house.
（2）Bale Bontar (round house)

Sesangkok
Daya

modified house that was built starting from 1971, correlated to

Betaran

700 mmBale Bontar, that means round house, is a traditional
the low economic conditions of the Sasak community andspace necessity, as the population were increasing. The
amount of the room in Bale Bontar depends on the occupants’needs. However, the cost is usually cheaper than Bale Tani,
because it needs less thatch for the roof and less soil for thefoundation. As 2018, from 68 traditional houses in total, there

Scale 1 : 150
Figure 3. Floor plan of the typical Bale Tani house (BT4)（a）Bale Dalem
Bale Dalem means ‘a house inside the house’. Thisare 26 Bale Bontar in Sade Hamlet.

room is considered to be the sacred room. Sasak people has（3）Bale Kodong‘kidnapping’ tradition in their marriage system. The girl has to

The third house type is Bale Kodong, a small house that

学位論文梗概集 2018

sleep in the back space of the house, a room without window,and only have one access through the other room called Dalem

functioned as delivery room, valuable storage room, and girls

Bale. This room is also functioned as a valuable storage room;(unmarried woman) bedroom. In Bale Bontar house, Bale

as prayer room; and as a delivery room.
（b）Dalem Bale

Dalem is no longer exist. So, when the mother giving birth,they will use their parents or relatives house, the Bale Tani

Dalem Bale means ‘inside the house’. This room

house. Furthermore, the valuable storage room moved tofunctioned as kitchen (pawon), offerings making room, andanother room, and the girls will have their own bedroom.

bedroom for married woman. Dalem Bale connect the

Although has different floor plan with Bale Tani, Bale Bontar

outdoor area and Bale Dalem room, which can also be said
that this room is the second barrier to protect Bale Dalem.

has room for prepare the offerings.
7000 mm2300 mm2300 mm

2400 mmDalem
Sesangkok

When Sasak people do a ritual, such as Roah Klemak or
Begawe, they prepare the offerings and foods in Dalem Bale

Bale
Dalem

Bale
Dalem

room. To prepare the rice, they pound the rice husk with Alu,

Dalem

7000 mm

Bale

Pawon

ritual and traditional ceremony.

2300 mmjangkih, and traditional cooking utensils that usually used for2300 mm

Inside the room, we can see a traditional stove from clay calledthat used to store the rice husk. After the rice separated with its

Sesangkok Duah

2400 mm

a 2 meters wood stick, and Gendang, a big bucket from wood
husk, the rice cooked with traditional method using traditional
stove called Jangkih. When doing a ritual, Sasak people has todo every process with traditional method and utensils.
（c）Sesangkok Lau and Sesangkok Daya
Sesangkok room is divided into two area, the south andScale 1 : 150

Figure 4. Floor plan of Bale Bontar house (BT1, not typical)（3）Space Analysis

the north. The south area called Sesangkok Lau, whichreferring to the direction of the sea, whereas the north area

This research recorded 68 traditional houses which
includes 38 Bale Tani, 26 Bale Bontar, and 4 Bale Kodong.

called Sesangkok Daya, which referring to the mountain.

Among those houses, 17 sample of houses, which includes 8

Sesangkok Daya functioned as a dining room, livingroom, and receiving room. When the neighbor or guest come

Bale Tani, 8 Bale Bontar, and 1 Bale Kodong, were taken.
（a）Bale Tani

to Bale Tani, they usually enter and gather in this area.
Sometimes, family from another village or house come totheir relative’s house and have a lunch or dinner together alongwith some chit and chat. This Sesangkok Daya considered as

Bale Tani 4Bale Tani 3

a semi-public area.

Bale Tani 5（2）Space Utilization of Bale Bontar

Bale Tani 6

Bale Bontar is a traditional modified house. Some
Bale Tani 2

Bale Bontar also has multilevel space in the inside. However,Bale Bontar has more room than Bale Tani and different spaceorder compared to Bale Tani. In Bale Bontar, there is noBale Tani 1

NORTH (DAYA)

Langen Dalem (indoor area) and Langen Duah (outdoor area).
The space of one of Bale Bontar is different with the other

WEST (BAT)

Bale Bontar house. The number of space and arrangement

Scale 1 : 2500

depends on the house owner.
Different with Bale Tani, there is no Bale Dalem

EAST (TIMU’)

Bale Tani 7
Bale Tani 8

SOUTH (LAU)

Figure 5. Map of 8 sample of Bale Tani in Sade hamlet

inside Bale Bontar. Bale Dalem in Bale Tani house isSummaries of Academic Theses 2018

（a）Bale Bontar

Bale Bontar 1
Bale Bontar 5
Bale Bontar 4
Bale Bontar 3

Figure 6. Floor plan of 8 sample of Bale Tani in Sade hamlet

NORTH (DAYA)WEST (BAT)EAST(TIMU’)

Bale Bontar 2
Bale Bontar 8

SOUTH (LAU)

Scale 1 : 2500

Bale Bontar 6

Bale Bontar 7

Figure 7. Map of 8 sample of Bale Bontar in Sade hamlet

Table 1. Activity in each space of Bale Tani house

Among 8 samples of Bale Tani, all sample havesame pattern for the floor plan. In these past years, the function

Figure 8. Floor plan of 8 sample of Bale Bontar in Sade hamlet

of some rooms already changed, especially the sleeping roomfor each family member.
In Bale Tani house, Bale Dalam used for thedaughter’s bedroom. But currently, among 8 houses, Bale
Dalem in 4 houses used for son’s sleeping room. This
sometimes occur because there is no daughter in the family, or
they already got married. This is allowed because Sasak
people believe if they live in their birth place, they will have astrong connection with their ancestor. However, men cannot
enter this area when there is a giving birth process.
Dalem Bale room still functioned as kitchen andofferings preparation room. However, 2 of the houses notusing this room as kitchen. These 2 houses using Sesangkok

Table 2. Activity in each space of Bale Bontar house

Daya room for kitchen because the woman owner have ahealth problem which make her can barely move to higher

Among 8 samples of Bale Bontar, all sample havedifferent floor plan. However, the function is quite the same.

room. Whereas the other Bale Tani house only occupied byBale Bontar usually has one or more Dalem Bale

one man who rarely cook by himself. Sesangkok Lau room

room. However, Bale Dalem is not exist in Bale Bontar, so

being used as its function as well as Sesangkok Daya room.

there is no delivery room in here. The women who live in Bale
Bontar usually give birth at the Bale Tani that owned by their

学位論文梗概集 2018

family or in the nearest hospital.

most of the houses still use traditional material for structure.

In Bale Tani house, Bale Dalem used as sleeping

In Bale Bontar, almost all rooms can be entered by men. But

room for the girls, Dalem Bale used as sleeping room formother, and Sesangkok Lau used as sleeping room for men.

there is still a room for making the ritual offerings that men
could not enter when it being used for ritual.

Whereas, in Bale Bontar house parents mostly sleep together

Bale Tani could still preserved by the system ofand children sleep in different room. However, according topattern relative. Moreover, there is also awiq-awiq as

the interview, some men also sometimes sleep in the outdoor

customary law that still has a big influence in the traditional

to protect their family.
Although most rooms of Bale Bontar made fromhouse preservation. However, conservation policy isrecommended to be established to create a sustainablecement floor, there is one room that required to be built withtraditional house and preserve the culture from extinction.

traditional materials: the offerings preparation room. Thisroom, also called Dalem Bale, has to be constructed withtraditional floor and built without ceiling. In some houses, it

8．Recommendation
In order to create a sustainable traditional living

separated with the modern kitchen called Pawon.

space, there are some points that should be considered:（4）Pattern Relatives(a) Evaluation and workshops; to understand village’s current

As a Sasak family grows and expand, the children

condition, the cultural values and the problem that occur.

have to move out from their parent’s house and built a new(b) Improve the customary rules or awiq-awiq; changed fromhouse after they got married. After the parents or father passed

unwritten to written agreement.

away, the last son must return to their parent’s house and live(c) Conservation management committee; to create athere with their family. In other words, the house will besustainable traditional house conservation and reflect theinherited to the youngest son in the family. So basically, one

voices of various stakeholders.

house can only be occupied by one household. This system is(d) Building guideline; including the space, material, andone of the methods of how Sasak people preserves theirtraditional house.

visual (building’s height and roof form)(e) Support from government regarding the house restorationand preservation; by giving them their adat forest, so they

7．Conclusion
This research shows that the living space of the
Sasak tribe in Sade hamlet has evolved and transformed dueto the space necessity and financial ability. Since it was firstcan plant their own local material. Giving support withcement and non-local material is not recommended
because the authenticity of the house will fade.

formed, traditional houses in Sade hamlet evolved from Bale

References

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Summaries of Academic Theses 2018