Pile dwellings around the world
Even today, there are pile dwellings in every country on earth. Wherever houses are threatened by floods or earthquakes, you will find pile structures made of wood, concrete or steel. Some pile dwellings function as luxury apartments or slum settlements. They are a solution for extreme habitats such as the Antarctic or the rain forest of New Guinea. Furthermore, they are being built in the sea and in urban centers. Perhaps in times of climate change and a growing world population, pile dwellings may be a viable architectural solution.
Do you have any nice pictures of modern pile dwellings?
If so, please send them to mail@pfahlbauten.deusing the subject line >>pile dwellings around the world<<.
Each year, the best picture is awarded!
Picture 1
SULAWESI | Mobile pile construction
In Indonesia and the Philippines it is customary to move pile dwellings if necessary. This tradition is called “Bayanihan” in the Philippines. If a house needs to be relocated within a community’s habitat for agricutlural reasons, the entire collective helps carrying the building.
Photo: W. Imber
Picture 2
MALAYSIA | In the water
The Bajau people of Southeast Asia have always been connected to the sea. They live as “sea nomads”, whose fields of work are fishing and trading. They build their always shifting homes on stilts in the ocean.
Photo: cn0ra|Alamy
Picture 3
NEW GUINEA | In the jungle
Until recently, the majority of the indigenous people on the island of New Guinea lived a Stone Age-like life largely untouched by modernity. Military conflicts and head hunts were a reason to settle in a protected location high above the ground.
Photo: A. Gudkov| shutterstock
Picture 4
THAILAND | In the rice field
In Thailand, the pile dwellings are located in close proximity to the cultivated areas. They often serve as storage and thus protect the harvested crop from moisture, animals and pests.
Photo: RooM the Agency | saravutvanset |alamy
Picture 5
BENIN | On the waterway
The pile dwelling settlement of Ganvié is located in an extensive lagoon in Lake Nokoué (Benin). The residents originally came from the hinterland of the lake. The newcomers were assigned the unattractive floodplain between the arable land and the sea. To this day, the basis of life is fishing and trading on water markets. The location also used to offer a certain level of protection from slave hunters. Today around 25,000 people live in the largest pile dwelling village of Africa.
Photo: C. Hopkins | alamy
Picture 6
BRASILIEN | In the slum
Poverty forces some people of densely populated cities into slums. Peripheral areas along bodies of water outside the urban infrastructure are used out of necessity. Entire pile dwelling settlements are created from collected and recycled building materials – without electricity or water connections.
Photo: J. Wiedel Photolibrary | alamy
Picture 7
USA | Defying the floods
Tropical storms and flooding have caused several residents of New Orleans to raise their homes above the danger zone.
Photo: E. Cowand Jr. | shutterstock
Picture 8
USA | From the 3D printer
For thousands of years, pile dwellings were built from naturally grown materials such as wood, bamboo or coconut palms. Today they are also made from concrete using 3D printers.
Photo: Hannah Design Office
Picture 9
AUSTRALIA | Better prospects
The view from the shore is far-reaching. The curvature of the earth alone limits visibility. But every meter in height is a gain: If the horizon is five and a half kilometers away at two meters altitude, it is already 9.6 kilometers away at six meters. It’s good to built on stilts!
Photo: A. Cimbal | shutterstock
Picture 10
JAPAN | Modern and earthquake-proof
On the densely populated and earthquake-prone island of Japan, a new architecture with flexible support piles is being tested. The open space under the house can be used as a playground or garden.
Photo: T. Yano
Picture 11
ANTARCTIC | In the eternal ice
Hydraulic steel stilts on skis enable safe research and work under extreme conditions. Meter-high snowdrifts and moving ice sheets cannot harm the German research station Neumayer III. The building can be adapted horizontally and vertically to changing environmental conditions.
Photo: Alfred Wegener Institute
Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research