Sustaining the Arctic: Sami Architecture and dwelling planning
Kautokeino Commune Winter Pastures
Kautokeino Commune Spring Pastures
Kautokeino Commune Summer Pastures
Kautokeino Commune Autumn Pastures
Reindeer pastures area covers almost 100% of Kautiokeino Kommune 造 Maps above show, in what seasons do pastures occupy wich part of the municipality. If you bring all four seasons together you may sea, that overlapping areas occupy almost all the surface of Municipaluty. This fact has without any doubt influenced the development of the Kautokeino city and Municipality. This land, tightly connected with Sami and Reindeer herding culture has been developing in tight influence of these facts and ways of activities. Kautokeino Commune Pastures land (all seasons)
The map of Kautokeino’s Urban Area. We can see, that city has quite a dens scheme: it is widely spread along the landscape and the area.
Only the buildings of Kautokeino. We can see, how distantly and far the buildings stay aside each other. This style of city planning has certainly its roots in old seminomadic Sami life traditions, when every family or Siida lived in a piece of a land, temporary or constant, not too far from others, but still on a certain destance.
The drawing of Kautokeino city. This sketch is done in a manner of typical European postacards with city view, and the proportions and distance between houses are a bit wrong, but even here we can see, that houses stand aside each other, and most of the houses are actually dwellings, like farms, with some other technical buildings belonging to a household. In some places we even see Lavu and other traditional elements of Sami houses.
Lavvu
Luovvi
Simple wooden european-alike house
Goathe This long ago Sami people have always been a seminomadic people. Up till the XX century they used not to settle constantly. They lead a nomadica herding way of life, settling down only at winter periods (December - April/May) in their Siida settlements. For their nomadic life and constant movings with the gerd, they used to stay in Lavvu - a special mobile tent, with wooden carcass, and deer skin as “walls”. For their settled life they used “Goathe” - round wooden dome-like houses. This type of building is designed to sustain winter period - had better thermoisolation, had a bigger inside area, than Lavvu, and its round shape helped to stand the winter winds better. In the center of such a buildind was a hole for fire place and smoke drainage. For their Technical needs, Sami used Luovvi - a smaller building to store mostly food, and other goods. Luovvi could also be mobile, made from several wooden sticks, and could be more stable, made in a better way. Luovvis usually stand on tall legs-columns, that prevents of animal breaking in and steeling the food. In the XX century more Sami people settled in more european-alike houses. Such houses in the beginning usually had two rooms and the structure as shown in the left picture.
Luovvi
Water
small harbour and a boat
Sauna Main house
Food storage Building for tools
Fence
Fence for drying fish or clothes
Scheme of a typical and classical Sami settled dwelling. In this Area we can see main house, some other buildings fo technical needs, a pierce with a boat. The territory is embraced by a fence. Certain point for this “farm� is that it is strictly zoned, though, at first sight it looks like a mess. The Building stays apart from techincal buildings, and technical buildings are brought together, tight up with a certain part of area, that would be needed for the activities related to.
Sami settled housing in Kautokeino
Few dwellings in the South of Kautokeion. Here we can see, that the old-style structure remains: Main building, and few technical buildings near it for their certian purpose.
The same exact place, from Space-View. Here we can see one big house, where the family probably lives, and fewer smaller buildings near it.
Welcome to Nilutluodda street, Kautokeino
GIS and Google Map view of the Nilutluodda street in Kautokeino
Google street view
Here we can see the same logics - Main building + smaller buildings for technical needs. Plus, almost as a rule and as a big goal - situation by the river bank.
This how such settled housings do look like from inside the street. Agains - the same law - Main house+smaller buildings that are used as a garage, as a warehouse for tools and a workshop, again the boat on the shore. This is a modern Sami dwelling, made with all the comforts of modern European civilization, but even here we can evidence the certain remains of old dwelling plan. With this i came up with the idea, that this structure of place is not a random mess, but has it’s certain purpose, so that this structure goes through ages. This structure brings the idea of zoning: zone for living and recreation, zone for repairing the motors, zone for slaughtering the animals, zone to keep the boat and a space near it to maintain it, zone for sauna and activities near it.
Vulnarebility and protection of life style. The Sami Language
The Sami Culture
“A UN report examining the human rights situation of Sami people in Sweden, Finland and Norway calls on the Nordic states to provide Sami parliaments with more funding to help boost general knowledge of the indigenous Arctic people, their language and their culture.”
“ In the rhetoric of cultural policy as well the theme has long been to preserve and develop Sami culture”
The Sami Rights
“A marked development in the legal position of the Sami people took place during the 1980s. New Norwegian substantive law was adopted, and it is now more widely recognized that the Sami people have a right to special cultural protection under international law.”
The Sami Architecture
“ ...”
Most of Sami life aspects are being under protection: Sami language has become official in Sami territories, it is widely used and being tought in Universities and Sami schools anf kindergardens; Sami rights as well have a protection, as indiginous people they have some extra rights and their special Sami Parliament; Sami culture and Duodji are as well protected, quite popular these days and are have already become comercial and touristic polints of interest, Reindeerherding has also wide range of rights and protection and economical support from the state. But what about Sami Architecture? Does it have any future, and a chance to survive in its primordial form? While this project, I got an impression, that Sami architecture is not only case of their culture, but also brings some unwritten knowledge, and has not been studied well yet. Surviving through centuries, their way of living can certainly bring us some knowledge,that can be hidden, this clandestine knowledge will be very shamefull to lose.