Designing Ecological Habitats - Gaia Education

Designing witH Deep respect: Deep ecology in a karen village 191
Village Zoning
The village lies at the very heart of the agriculture and forest zones. The
center is an open space surrounded by houses on the hillsides. An open
space with a fire set in front of each cluster of houses is the meeting point
for each neighbor group. The open space and fire set in front of the elder’s
house is the meeting point for the community as a whole.
In Soblan, Uncle Daeng is the elder who is most highly respected. He is
not a political leader, but a story teller. People of all ages in the village like
to come and spend time around his house. Every morning in winter, Uncle
Daeng lights a fire in front of his house. His neighbors join him around the
fire shortly after sunrise to warm themselves before heading for the fields.
Almost the entire village will come to the fire at night for story-telling and
poems about the Karens, Spirits, and Nature. When a leader wants to call
villagers for a meeting, Uncle Daeng lights the fire and blows the horn to call
the people. They all sit around the fire for the meeting.
Uncle Daeng’s house is situated at the entrance of the village. As people
are leaving, they like to stop at this meeting point and converse with friends.
They also like to stop here when they come back, to share news from outside
before returning to their homes. (It’s not easy to travel between the village
and the main town, which is 18 kilometers distant over many hills, so there is
always lots of news to share when somebody does make the trip.) Outsiders
who visit the village will meet first with the elders gathering around Uncle
Daeng’s house before they are permitted to walk freely around the village.
As far as house design, Karen traditional style is a modest, one-room
structure. They build the roof low to harmonize with the mountain winds.
In the single room, they have a hearth for cooking and warming. The
Construction of
building materials
using local resources:
the body as a tool.