INDIGENOUS HOUSING CONSTRUCTION TECHNOLOGY FOR EARTHQUAKE RESISTANCE: THE CASE OF TEMBE HOUSES DODOMA

Abstract

A good number of indigenous houses in different countries have remained intact despite the regular earthquake incidents that occurred. However, earthquake resistance technologies embedded in these houses are disappearing while no exhaustive studies have been done to preserve these treasures. The purpose of this paper is to investigate inherent characteristics making the  Tembe houses resistant to earthquake incidences. A Case study approach was employed in pursuing this study, whereby Kondoa district in Dodoma Tanzania was selected as a study area. Kondoa is among the prone earthquake-prone areas in Tanzania where people live in traditional houses called TEMBE some of which have shown good performance to withstand earthquake calamities. Interviews with elders, households and artisans and non-participant observations were used to collect data on earthquake-resistant indigenous technologies and NVivo 12 plus was used to carry out a thematic analysis of the datasets prepared from interviews. The findings of the study show that inherent characteristics making indigenous houses in Dodoma resistant to earthquakes involve the design, materials and methods of construction which are embedded in foundations, walls and roofs elements. This study provides an insight on technologies used in the construction of earthquake resistance indigenous houses for the construction industry practitioners to rethink incorporating the same in modern houses.

Keywords: indigenous technology, earthquake, housing, construction