HOT AND

DRY
CLIMATE
 Hot & Dry
regions:
Ahmedabad,
Rajasthan,
Kutch.
 • Orientation and placement, to minimise sun exposure in summer.

• Form, compact to reduce surface areas of heat gain.

• Shade for maximum sun protection in summer.

HOT AND DRY • Allow adequate heat gain in winter by movable shading devices.
CLIMATE

• Ventilation, for regulation of air movement.

• West orientation is the worst for the construction

• The larger building dimension should face north and south.

ORIENTATION
AND
PLACEMENT
ORIENTATION
AND
PLACEMENT
 Opening and windows
• Openings and windows are necessary for natural light
and vegetation.
• More windows should be provided in the north façade
of the building as compared to the east, west and
south as it receives lesser radiation throughout the
year.
• Windows should be shaded either by shading devices,
roof overhangs or by deciduous tress.
• The size of the windows on the west and the east
should be minimalized in order to reduce the heat
going into the house in the early morning and late
afternoon
 ROOFS AND NATURAL VENTILATION
Roofs
• The flat roof is a good reflector and re-
radiates heat efficiently, especially if it consist
of a solid, white painted material.
• High solid parapet walls along the edge of the
roof could provide daytime shade and privacy

Natural ventilation
• The principle involved is to catch an
unobstructed breeze at a high level and
channel it to areas in the bottom parts of
the building
GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF •Hot dry weather in summer and cold in winter.
THE HOT AND DRY CLIMATE :
KUTCH, GUJRAT.
•Very little rainfall.

•Very low humidity.

• Sandy or rocky ground with very low vegetation cover.

•High temperature Difference between night and day.

•Clear sky most of the year

• High solar radiation

•In hotter regions above 40 and up to 50°C.

•High summer day time temperatures(32-36° C)

•Hot winds & frequent dust storms

Case Study of a
Traditional
House

•BUNGHA
HOUSE
“Architecture
without
Architects”
 WHAT IS BUNGHA HOUSE
•
•
Bhungas? are located in the gulf of Kutch region.
A circular space enclosed by mud walls is the most typical dwelling
construction in the Kutch district of the Gujarat state & Rajasthan in India,
which has a very high earthquake risk, is called a Bungha.
• Construction has existed for several hundred years.
• This house is quite durable and highly appropriate for hot & dry conditions.
• Due to its robustness against natural hasards as well as its pleasant
aesthetics.
• Thia house is also known as “Architecture Without Architects.”
 CHARACTERISTICS OF BHUNGA HOUSE

It has a conical roof supported by

cylindrical walls

• Consists of a single cylindrical shaped room. 3m to 10m

• It has only one door and two windows opening. Diameter
 LAYOUT OF BUNGHA CLUSTERS

• There are circular houses on a platform around

the central street acting as a space for
community interaction which is placed next to
the Bhunga.
• There is usually a small rectangular building,
called chowki, which presents small variations.
• The largest chowki are used as living spaces
and smaller as kitchens
• Smaller units, about one and a half meter high,
not very well shaped and devoid of roof are
sometimes set against Bunga.
• These units are used as functional spaces for
The platforms are closely places and the residual
spaces between them act as pathways for storage or bathrooms
movements.
CONSTRUCTION : STAGES

1 A trench 30 cm deep and 45 cm wide is dug. The process

of laying the blocks is locally called chanter.

Walls are raised on foundations, using cow dung plus

2 local mud mortar, mixed with water to make the
compound workable.

Lintels and doors and window frames are inserted where

3 necessary,

A platform-otla is then built using rubble stone and earth,

up to a height of about 45cms. This is completed by a thin
4 layer of mud, called Lipan =, which is applied also on the
walls of the Bhunga for protection
CONSTRUCTION
CONSTRUCTION

• This constuctions are carried out by local

village masons.
• The entire construction process, which is
carried out by the mason with very few
unskilled laborers , can be completed within
30 days
• Typically, the building is originally designed
for its final constructed size.
• The construction technique is such a way that
improves seismic resistance of the inertia
force generated in the roof.
 CONSTRUCTION : FOUNDATION AND WALLS

REINFORCED WALL

Clay soil and rice husk

for earth blocks
Cement mortar used for
foundations FOUNDATION
Earth sourced from BANNI, cow
dung and local earth for plaster.

MUD BRICK WALL

CONSTRUCTION : ROOF
• The conical roof of a
Bhunga is supported at its
crest by a vertical central
wooden post, which rests
on a wooden joist.
• The base of the roof and
the wooden joist are
generally directly
supported on Bhunga
walls.
• Sometimes, the roof load
on wooden joist is
transferred to
diametrically places
timber posts adjacent to
cylindrical walls.
• This reduces the roof-load
on the walls.
PLINTH
 MATERIALS USED
In the construction of Bhunga house, they used raw
materials that were easily available in Kutch Locally  available timber and
The materials are such that they are earthquake resistant
The local soil is used for mud mortar and to make adobe bamboo are used for roof.
blocks. The roof is made of wooden top
dome where bamboo sticks are fixed
with a thick layer of grass put on roof
and tied together.

Their conventional wall is made of:

Primary materials – mud, stone,
water ,cow dung , mud brick
Secondary materials –cement
The  locally available soft stone can
easily be cut or chiselled into
rectangular blocks, which are used
Traditional roof consists of light- for wall  masonry.
weight conical roof, while some
recent constructions have used heavy
Manglore tiles on roofs
 The materials used by the Kutchchhi people to
build Bhunga define the textures. The walls of
Bhunga gets the rough and hard finish with folk
art over it.
Vibrant colours are used to paint the outside as
well as the inside of the Bhunga. These are the
traditional colours which are bright, earthy and
composite.

COLOURS
AND
Traditionally
TEXTURE Lippan is
made by
adding mud
and cow dung
and done on
The form of Bhunga is an extrovert the walls. I
form as the people use various
bright colours and decorative items .
which in turn attract people.
 Thatched roof constructed of straw and timber, the
roofing materials are generally very light weight
and develops low intertial forces

• Bhungas are never "designed"  in the  modern

context.
• However Bhunga architecture is a very unique
aspect of traditional desert architecture of Kutch
region in which the size, location and orientation 
CLIMATE AND of the Bhunga are planned for very good structural
CALAMITIES and functional results. 
• The circular mud house is an integration of exact
geometry and property of materials for the climate
conditions to evolve a perfect form of the house.
• Thomy bushes envelop the settlement and act as a
fence or protective shield against the hot winds
and dust storms.
 Thick walls for
A diagram showing thermal insulation,
flow of wind according
to Venturi Effect along high plane stiffness
the central shaft of a which provides
Modern Bhunga
excellent performance
under lateral roads

CLIMATE AND
CALAMITIES The thick walls, made of mud, keep the interior
cool when the temperature rises to 40 degrees
Celsius in summer and warm when it beam and
posts drops to 10 degrees in winter.

Due to circular shape of wall in

plan, inertial forces developed in
wall are resisted through shell
action providing excellent
Flow of air acc. To Bernoulli’s principle of pressure resistance to lateral forces.
differences
 RAIN

SOLAR RADIATION
PROTECTION
FROM CLIMATE
AND CALAMITIES CRACKS

EARTHQUAKE

WIND
 INTERIORS AND EXTERIOR DECORATION
For the design of wall decorations, the walls of the Bhungas are covered
with a paste made of donkey dung, earth and Fevicol (glue). Decorative
patterns are incorporated onto this surface, For colours, minerals are
Roof patterns
extracted from a dame near Khavda. ranges from
These offer a range of live colours : ochre, red, brown, white and dark
grey. The minerals are milled, mixed with water and used to paint the simple to
walls of the Bhungas.
ornate

Functional
elements such
as niches and
shelves
Often the wall is decorated with small mirrors.
These mirrors that decorate the walls inside the
bhunga also serve to multiply the light.

Folk painting art on

elevation of walls as
exterior decoration