Traditional Korean roof construction

Last updated

Giwa Korean.Folk.Village-Minsokchon-17.jpg
Giwa

Traditional Korean roof construction has traditionally used many kinds of natural materials. They are made of neowa (shingle), giwa (tiles), byeotjib (rice Straw), stone giwa (tiles), eoksae (eulalia) and goolpy (oak bark)

Contents

Neowa (Shingle) roof

Neowa house in Samchuck, Gangwon province Korea-Samcheok-Neowajip-Shingled house-02.jpg
Neowa house in Samchuck, Gangwon province

Neowajib (a shingle-roofed house) can be seen in mountain villages (for example, in Gangwon-do), since these are places which are hard to get materials, such as Giwa and rice straw. Instead, it is made with the pieces of thick bark of about 200-year-old red pine trees which are easy to get. The size of neowa is not fixed, but it is usually about 20–30 cm wide, 40–59 cm long and 4–5 cm thickness. Usually 105–140 of neowa used to complete a roof. To protect neowa from the wind, heavy stones or logs were put on the roof. The air can be changed through the gaps between neowa, since there was no smokestack. When it rains, the wood with moisture can have a waterproof effect. In common, neowa's durability is around 5 years. However, it is not true that all of neowa changed at the same time. If there's rotten one it was replaced by new one. Neowajib has rooms, a kitchen and a cow shed under one square roof, to protect domestic animals from mountain beasts, and to keep warm in winter. As red pine trees disappear, neowajib disappear gradually. Finally there are only 3 neowajib in Korea.

Giwa (Tile)

Looking down on hanok rooftops, Samcheong-dong. Korea-Seoul-Hanok rooftops.jpg
Looking down on hanok rooftops, Samcheong-dong.

Giwa is a construction material for put roofing. It is also called gaewa. One of the basic forms of giwa is amkiwa (flat giwa) and sukiwa (round giwa); one giwa can be made by putting together two of these. Roofs are generally made by this way. Clay is kneaded and is spread thinly. Then amkiwa is extended upward and downward, and sukiwa cover joints at right and left side. By classifying giwa through materials, there are togiwa made by kneading and baking clay, cement giwa-made by mixing cement and sand, and metal giwa made by cutting and making form with metal plate. There were stone giwa and bronze giwa at the ruins of Rome, and marble giwa was used at Greek temples. In addition, there are cheonggiwa, ozigiwa, etc. glazing by various kinds of glaze. As a matter of form, we call original giwa bongiwa and Japanese giwa "geolchimgiwa". There are giwa in many countries.

Byeotjib (Rice Straw) roof

Chogajiboong (a straw roof) is made with byeotjib (rice straw), eulalia or reed, but generally made with byeotjib. Byeotjib protects residents from the sun in summer and keeps them warm in winter, because it is empty inside. Moreover, rain falls down well and hardly soaks through a roof because it has a relatively smooth surface. So, a thick roof is not needed. Warm and soft feeling is given by chogajiboong, because of the original properties of byeotjib. It is put over another byeotjib every year, and it shows clean and new feature without any special effort. The gentle roof is used like a farm for drying crops like red pepper and planting pumpkins or gourds.

Stone Giwa (Tile) roof

Flat layered stone roofs are called argillite (germpanam), on the roof in the much coal produced area; it takes a role of giwa. Giwa is formed in this way. Bluestone (cheongseok) is so smooth as to control raindrops gently. Its system is not different from giwa's. The bluestone is put at the bottom, and then largely different bluestone is put on it. By this way the process is continued. It can endure for a long time. These roofs can be seen commonly in the argillite zone. But it was possible to put this roof only for certain social classes because of the difficulty of purchasing and transporting the materials. Nowadays it can be seen at some areas of Gyeonggi-do and Gangwon-do.

Eoksae (Eulalia) roof

Korea has ten kinds of eulalia. The eulalia leaf is good for waterproofing and durability. It is a strong material that will last for ten years after covering the roof with eulalia once. The straw rope twisted with eulalia is not only strong and elastic but also good for waterproofing. It is used in weaving rain-gear (rainwear) or straw sandals. The material should be dried with dew for a week. Then it is put in a shady pot for good airing.

Goolpy (Oak Bark) roof

This is a kind of roof material used usually in mountain villages. [1] The oak bark is over 20 years old. At first, the oak bark is peeled at the time of Chuseo (one of the 24 seasonal divisions, about August 23). Next it is put into water. After that, it is dried and a heavy stone is placed on it to flatten it. Bark made this way is commonly about 1.3 meters wide. If the air gets dry, the bark shrinks and obtains many holes. However, if it rains or its humidity is increased, holes get smaller and smaller. At last they disappear quickly. The stone between the joint is not to blow the bark. The life of the oak bark is so long that there is a saying, "Giwa exists for ten thousand years, and the Oak Bark for one thousand years."

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roof</span> Top covering of a building

A roof is the top covering of a building, including all materials and constructions necessary to support it on the walls of the building or on uprights, providing protection against rain, snow, sunlight, extremes of temperature, and wind. A roof is part of the building envelope.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Straw</span> Agricultural byproduct of cereal crops

Straw is an agricultural byproduct consisting of the dry stalks of cereal plants after the grain and chaff have been removed. It makes up about half of the yield of cereal crops such as barley, oats, rice, rye and wheat. It has a number of different uses, including fuel, livestock bedding and fodder, thatching and basket making.

Rice paper is a product constructed of paper-like materials made from different plants. These include:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wigwam</span> Type of tent or dwelling used by Indigenous North Americans

A wigwam, wickiup, wetu (Wampanoag), or wiigiwaam is a semi-permanent domed dwelling formerly used by certain Native American tribes and First Nations people and still used for ceremonial events. The term wickiup is generally used to refer to these kinds of dwellings in the Southwestern United States and Western United States and Northwest Alberta, Canada, while wigwam is usually applied to these structures in the Northeastern United States as well as Ontario and Quebec in central Canada. The names can refer to many distinct types of Indigenous structures regardless of location or cultural group. The wigwam is not to be confused with the Native Plains tipi, which has a different construction, structure, and use.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flat roof</span> Type of roof

A flat roof is a roof which is almost level in contrast to the many types of sloped roofs. The slope of a roof is properly known as its pitch and flat roofs have up to approximately 10°. Flat roofs are an ancient form mostly used in arid climates and allow the roof space to be used as a living space or a living roof. Flat roofs, or "low-slope" roofs, are also commonly found on commercial buildings throughout the world. The U.S.-based National Roofing Contractors Association defines a low-slope roof as having a slope of 3 in 12 (1:4) or less.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tar</span> Dark viscous organic liquid

Tar is a dark brown or black viscous liquid of hydrocarbons and free carbon, obtained from a wide variety of organic materials through destructive distillation. Tar can be produced from coal, wood, petroleum, or peat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Waterproofing</span> Process of making an object or structure waterproof or water-resistant

Waterproofing is the process of making an object or structure waterproof or water-resistant so that it remains relatively unaffected by water or resisting the ingress of water under specified conditions. Such items may be used in wet environments or underwater to specified depths.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roof shingle</span> Overlapping plates for covering a roof

Roof shingles are a roof covering consisting of individual overlapping elements. These elements are typically flat, rectangular shapes laid in courses from the bottom edge of the roof up, with each successive course overlapping the joints below. Shingles are held by the roof rafters and are made of various materials such as wood, slate, flagstone, metal, plastic, and composite materials such as fibre cement and asphalt shingles. Ceramic roof tiles, which still dominate in Europe and some parts of Asia, are still usually called tiles. Roof shingles may deteriorate faster and need to repel more water than wall shingles. They are a very common roofing material in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wood shingle</span> Tapered pieces to cover building roofs and walls

Wood shingles are thin, tapered pieces of wood primarily used to cover roofs and walls of buildings to protect them from the weather. Historically shingles, also known as shakes, were split from straight grained, knot free bolts of wood. Today shingles are mostly made by being cut which distinguishes them from shakes, which are made by being split out of a bolt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Metal roof</span> Roofing system featuring metal pieces or tiles

A metal roof is a roofing system featuring metal pieces or tiles exhibiting corrosion resistance, impermeability to water, and long life. It is a component of the building envelope. The metal pieces may be a covering on a structural, non-waterproof roof, or they could be self-supporting sheets.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Domestic roof construction</span>

Domestic roof construction is the framing and roof covering which is found on most detached houses in cold and temperate climates. Such roofs are built with mostly timber, take a number of different shapes, and are covered with a variety of materials.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Asphalt shingle</span> Type of shingle

An asphalt shingle is a type of wall or roof shingle that uses asphalt for waterproofing. It is one of the most widely used roofing covers in North America because it has a relatively inexpensive up-front cost and is fairly simple to install.

A roof coating is a monolithic, fully adhered, fluid applied roofing membrane. Many roof coatings are elastomeric, that is, they have elastic properties that allow them to stretch and return to their original shape without damage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Korean paper</span> Traditional Korean craft

Korean paper or hanji (Korean: 한지) is the name of traditional handmade paper from Korea. Hanji is made from the inner bark of Broussonetia papyrifera known colloquially as paper mulberry, a tree native to Korea that grows well on its rocky mountainsides, known in Korean as dak. The formation aid crucial to making hanji is the mucilage that oozes from the roots of Hibiscus manihot. This substance helps suspend the individual fibers in water.

<i>Hanok</i> Traditional Korean homes

A hanok or joseonjip, is a traditional Korean house. Hanok were first designed and built in the 14th century during the Joseon dynasty.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sod roof</span> Traditional Scandinavian type of grass roof

A sod roof, or turf roof, is a traditional Scandinavian type of green roof covered with sod on top of several layers of birch bark on gently sloping wooden roof boards. Until the late 19th century, it was the most common roof on rural log houses in Norway and large parts of the rest of Scandinavia. Its distribution roughly corresponds to the distribution of the log building technique in the vernacular architecture of Finland and the Scandinavian peninsula. The load of approximately 250 kg per m2 of a sod roof is an advantage because it helps to compress the logs and make the walls more draught-proof. In winter the total load may well increase to 400 or 500 kg per m2 because of snow. Sod is also a reasonably efficient insulator in a cold climate. The birch bark underneath ensures that the roof will be waterproof.

Alternative natural materials are natural materials like rock or adobe that are not as commonly in use as materials such as wood or iron. Alternative natural materials have many practical uses in areas such as sustainable architecture and engineering. The main purpose of using such materials is to minimize the negative effects that our built environment can have on the planet while increasing the efficiency and adaptability of the structures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roof tiles</span> Tile designed to keep out rain

Roof tiles are overlapping tiles designed mainly to keep out rain or snow, and are traditionally made from locally available materials such as clay or slate. Later tiles have been made from materials such as concrete, and plastic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ice dam (roof)</span>

An ice dam is an ice build-up on the eaves of sloped roofs of heated buildings that results from melting snow under a snow pack reaching the eave and freezing there. Freezing at the eave impedes the drainage of meltwater, which adds to the ice dam and causes backup of the meltwater, which may cause water leakage into the roof and consequent damage to the building and its contents if the water leaks through the roof.

<i>Choga</i> (architecture) Thatched-roof housing style in Korea

Choga is a term for traditional Korean houses (hanok) with thatched roofing. The main building materials used to build these houses are straw, wood and soil.

References

  1. Jeon, BongHee (2016). "3: Hanok: The Formation of the Traditional Korean House". A Cultural History of the Korean House (PDF). Seoul: Seoul Selection. p. 49. ISBN   978-89-97639-63-2. The gulpijip (oak-bark-roofed house) and neowajip (shingled house) are found in the northeastern part of the Korean peninsula, as well as in Korea's more mountainous areas. ... Gulpijip uses roofing made with the bark of trees such as cone-fruit platycarya, sawtooth oak, and cedar, which all have relatively thick bark.