Study on Methodology of Repair by Disassembly: The Case of Buyi Ethnic Construction Techniques of a Timber Granary in Guizhou Province, China

ABSTRACT

Timber granaries are found in numerous ethnic minority settlements in the southeast and south of Guizhou Province in China. A timber granary is a unique type of vernacular building in rice-farming villages. Most of these granaries adopted the stilting architectural form and column-and-tie framework to provide a safe and cool inner space for the storage of grains, prevent rats, and enhance natural ventilation. This is a case study on the repair project of a timber granary in Yaogu village. The granary was disassembled into timber components and reconstructed for conservation, which is called ‘Repair by Disassembly’ in the east Asian tradition of wooden architecture. Through in-situ surveying, participant observation of the construction process, and interviews with local craftsmen, this study analyses the repair methodology and Buyi ethnic construction techniques applied in the timber granary. This work suggest guidelines for the conservation and restoration of similar wooden architectural heritage.

KEYWORDS:

• Buyi ethnic minority
• column-and-tie framework
• granary
• repair by disassembly
• repair methodology
• wooden architectural heritage

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to express special thanks to CHEN Guodong, the lead architect in the MUME Design Atelier in the southeast Guizhou Province. This research started with his invitation and his efforts contributed to making the vernacular architecture in Yaogu village can be known. We express much gratitude to Li Boyi, the holder of the granary, and his warm reception was helpful for us in the field investigation work in the Yaogu village. The authors also need to thank all the members who participated in the reconstruction of the granary and villagers in Yaogu village for their help in the field investigation and surveying measurements work. Before the publication of the article, two reviewers’ comments enhance the paper a lot.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. Buyi ethnic group is a minority in China: According to the rules of standard Chinese pinyin Romanization, we use the ‘Buyi’ to translated“布依”, and another translation in English is Bouyei, but it is not formal and common. Therefore, the paper adopts Buyi in Romanization.

Additional information

Funding

This research is funded by the Chinese National Social Science Funding Project “Visual Image Cluster Analysis and Atlas Composing of the Chinese Nation” (20VMZ008) and “Research Results of National Social Science Foundation of China”(22BMZ073). And if there is still any problem, please just use the funding project (20VMZ008) and delete the invalid one, no need to confirm with the authors.