Types of houses around the world

Houses can be built in a large variety of configurations. A basic division is between free-
standing or Single-family housesand various types of attached or multi-user dwellings. Both sorts
may vary greatly in scale and amount of accommodation provided. Although there appear to be
many different types, many of the variations listed below are purely matters of stylerather than
spatial arrangement or scale. Some of the terms listed are only used in some parts of the English
speaking world.

Ondol (Heated Floor during Winer)
Suwon, Korea
Ondol is the traditional under floor heating system which
has been used in Korean peninsula where the winter is
very severe. The heat from the stove in the kitchen goes
through the pathway under the floor. They used to use the
firewood or straw for the stove. The entrance of the house
is made smaller to prevent cold air coming into tht house.
They sleep on the warm floor with the mat and they do not
need to wear room shoes. In the modern Korean house,
Ondol is still used by hot water instead.
Gel
South Gobi Desert, Mongolia
Gel is the Mongolian transferable nomad house. They
move the house when their domestic animals have eaten
the grass in that area. The main 2 poles in the center
support the house with the framework. They cover the
framework with the white cloth filled with wool and
hair of the domestic animals. In the center, they place
the stove and the ceiling can be opened for the smoke.
During the severe winter, they make double cover on
the ceiling.
 Complex Houses of Hakka Fanmily

Stone Houses of Miao Tribe Guizhou, China
In Miao village, the houses are built with stones. There
are many lime stone caves in this area. The topographical
feature here is called ‘Karst' where the stones contain a lot
of calcium carbonate.
Fujian, China
In dry Fujian area, the houses are built with the hard
solid soil walls. The houses were built about 300 years
ago. Hakka family was moving from the Yellow River
area in 12 th to 13 th century. They build the many
town houses surrounded by the hard walls to protect
from the outsiders. The houses are 4-storied and
hundreds of people are living together. One townhouse
is for the whole family who has the same last name.
The other family or not Hakka family are not allowed to
live.

Houses
on the
Water

Sabah,
Malaysia

Tree House of Bagobo Tribe

Mindanao Island, Philippines
 The people in the south of Philippines used to
live in the tree houses. From the tree houses,
they could find the enemies, the poisonous
snakes and wild animals. They also could get
the cooler and drier air. The houses are needed
to rebuild as the trees grow. The tree houses are
now used for the meeting and resting.
House of Lafu Tribe
Norhern Region, Thailand
In the Village of Lahu Tribe, nearly 5,000 people
live in the houses on the steep land 1,000 meters
above sea level. The floor of the house is 2
meters high and under the floor, they keep cow,
pigs and chicken. They made house with the
wood panels crossing each other.
The fishermen in Saba of Borneo Island live
on the water. In the water village, there are so
many houses still now. They use the timber
of mangrove tree which has the durability
against the sea water to build the water house.
The water houses are officially issued the
addresses and the family registrations.
Sun Dried Brick House of Berber Trib
Merzouga, Sahara Desert, Morocco
In southern part of Morocco, the houses are
made of the bricks. They mix some water
with clayey soil and put them into the mold to
dry under the Sun. They use the clay to paste
bricks one by one and then, paste the clay over
the bricks to build the house. The bricks can
keep the room temperature at comfortable
level, even the outside temperature is changing
drastically during a day. However, the houses
are not strong for earthquake.
 Nomad Dome-shaped House of Atr Tribe
Anuak Tribe Village
Eritrea
Omo Valley, Ethiopia
Afar people are nomad living in Great Rift
Anuak people are living in northwest part of
Valley. Their house is called Bulla which is
Omo valley. They build their own houses by
transferable compact dome shaped house.
family and gather in the village. In the center of
The house is made of straw which is easy to
the village, they grind corn into flour to cook rice
carry.
porridge.

Ndebele Tribe Doorway

South Africa

Old Town
 Sana'a, Yemen
The name of this building means rock castle
which was build in 1930. This tall building is
made of bricks and painted white on the window
frames. The bricks are made from the mixture
of clay, soil and straw which could be kept for
over 500 years.
Reed Houses of Uros Tribe
Titicaca Lake, Peru
Lake Titicaca is nearly 400 meters above sea level.
About 2,000 Uros people live on about 50 artificial
reed Islands made of floating reeds in the lake. They
make living by fishing and tourism. The island,
boats and houses are all made of reed. They have to
pile fresh reed over them every several months as the
old reed is decaying. They started to live in this way
as they escaped from Spanish army about 500 years
ago.
Ndebele women paint colorfully with the
original geometrical pattern on the wall of
their houses. These beautiful patterns of
paintings are their own expression and handed
down from a mother to a daughter. They have
a keen artistic sense of beauty which shows in
their traditional cloths as well.
Tepee (Native American's Tent)
Alberta, Canada
Tepees are the transferable cone shaped house
of Native American who move to live for
hunting. When they move, they carry the
poles on the horses. The house is 3.5 to 5.5
meters high and there is the exhaust pipe in the
center of the house. The house is covered by
buffalo hide. In these days, they use campus
cloth in stead. They only use them when the
festival is held.
 Wooden Frame Houses
Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany
The wooden frame houses are very popular in
Germany. They use the bricks for the wall and
paint over the bricks which become very strong
and last for hundreds of years. The wooden
frames make them possible to have many
windows.
Cueba (Underground Houses)
Andalucia, Spain
In Andulucia of south Spain, the underground
house, ‘Cueba' could keep cool inside even it is
over 40 degrees outside and keep inside warm
during the winter.
White Houses
Santorin Island, Greece
The entrance of the Island is fully filled with
the white houses on the cliff. The Island used
to be an active volcano and the eruption
around 1500 B.C. created this unique shape of
the Island.
Sami (Lap Tribe) House
Rovaniemi, Finland
Sami people of North Norway are nomad and
they move their houses in summer and in
winter. In their winter houses which are made
of wood and clay, they use fire to keep them
warm. In summer, they live in transferable
houses looks like the ones of Native American.