Rakit House

Musi River is the pulse of the city of Palembang, South Sumatra, Indonesia. In the Dutch records, in the early 19th century, the city was called the "Venice of the East" or city water, because more than 100 rivers and creeks flowing in this city. According to statistics the city of Palembang, covering 52.24 percent of the area are the waters. With such natural conditions, many people make use river transport as a means of transportation both in the city or to connect with other regions.

The number of rivers not only affect the transportation, but also on the architecture of the building for shelter residents. The choice of location for residence, for example, usually considers several factors, including proximity to water sources, food sources, and the location of their livelihoods. For the people of Palembang, where the rivers serve as sources of food, livelihood, and especially water resources. In the architectural concept that has built environment, buildings are always influenced by environmental conditions. In other words, natural conditions will directly affect human behavior, including in designing the architecture of his house.

One of the buildings that are characteristic of people living in the river area is home rafts. Raft house is home to a fixed (not moving) are floating. These types of homes made of wood and bamboo with a roof awning (palm), shingles and more recently using a tin roof (materials that are lighter). Raft Houses built on a Raft, both made of a series of wooden blocks or from bamboo. The door to the raft houses usually have two, one overlooking the river and the other facing the mainland. Window, typically, are on the left and right side walls of the house rafts, but there is also located on the right and left of the entrance of the house. Raft home not just emergency shelter. Rafts are a number of home-lasting legacy across the generations inhabited for decades, although the underlying bamboo rafts and mooring poles need to be replaced periodically.

Raft building in order not to move where, four corners mounted a sturdy pole. There are times to strengthen the position of the Raft house, the building was tied with ropes made of rattan, and fastened on a solid milestone in the riverbank. The existence of the rope in case a milestone in the fourth corner of the house damaged or decayed rafts.
home raft
Raft house is the oldest form of home in the city of Palembang and may have existed at the time of the kingdom of Srivijaya. In the days of the Sultanate of Palembang all foreign nationals must be settled on the rafts, including British, Spanish, Dutch, Chinese, Champa, Siam, and even the first Dutch Trade office is above the rafts, complete with a warehouse. Raft house as a residence is in addition also serves as a warehouse, and economic activity.

Because of the changing patterns of human thought and the limitations of materials to make home Raft, Raft number of homes are getting less. This condition is exacerbated by the emergence of the notion of local authorities that the existence of rafts made rundown house river views. In addition, the raft houses are also considered as sources of river pollution because residents dispose of trash and debris directly into the rivers. The existence of the opinion that the raft house is a symbol of squalor and pollution sources not infrequently a reason for evicting the existence of rafts home.

In fact, if managed properly, the existence of the home can be a crutch Raft regional economy, such as tourism commodities. It's just something to think about is how the original inhabitants of the house so that rafts can also enjoy the benefits. If not, the development of a tourism commodity Raft house will only cause the expulsion of the native inhabitants of the house rafts. Not impossible, with reasons to support regional tourism, houses Rakit evicted and destroyed, its inhabitants were expelled and replaced with the business. The existence of rafts will shift ownership of the house due to global tourism issues

Rebuilding homes Rakit by local governments to support regional tourism is certainly a strategic move to preserve the Raft house, only if the original inhabitants were not included in the motion of tourism development, not impossible, for the construction of a disaster for the natives.
home raft
Raft house not only served as a residence, but also for economic activities.