Traditional Fijian Bure

Cultural Heritage Climate

Architecture

Created at: 17 Nov 2022

Description

The Navala Village was deeply impacted by the Tropical Cyclone Winston. The traditional Fijian Bure provides an architecture which the people living in the Village could trust, repair, and have smaller negative impacts when destroyed than other contemporary homes made of concrete and sheet metal roofing. The Navala Village was deeply impacted by the Tropical Cyclone Winston. The traditional Fijian Bure provides an architecture which the people living in the Village could trust, repair, and have smaller negative impacts when destroyed than other contemporary homes made of concrete and sheet metal roofing. “One year later, the villagers have already started repairs on the houses without receiving outside subsidies. Furthermore, they have decided to start the reconstruction of 14 bures in April 2017 of the homes that were destroyed. They can repair and reconstruct their bures quickly, because they have been maintaining them consistently over time. In addition, the loan system of reconstruction can be a safety net for affected villagers after a cyclone…The field survey results indicate that Fijian traditional houses, or bures, are resilient to disasters. Navala village has an effective governance system wherein the village committee coordinates rehabilitation activities after a disaster, because the houses (bures) are maintained through community work (solesolevaki). The villagers regard bures as safer than modern houses when they are maintained and properly reconstructed. In addition, bures can potentially avoid the risk of injuries, because they have ample inner space” (Miyaji, M. 2017, pages 170-171) The Bure provides a familiarity and independence to the Navala Village as construction processes are self-contained, affordable and accessible. The people of Navala Village could utilize traditional architectural methods and reconstruct their homes and communities independently and affordably

Reference: MARIMIYAJI, A. F., Waqalevu, S. V., & KOBAYASHI, H. (2017). Challenges for self-recovery from cyclone disasters in a traditional Fijian village: the case of Navala village after tropical cyclone Winston. Disaster Management and Human Health Risk V: Reducing Risk, Improving Outcomes, 173, 161.

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Aaliyah Sulikosky

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