Encounter with a rondavel

Architecture is one of the most important aspects of not only folklore, but life in general. Buildings are used for a number of uses running from the very practical use of providing shelter or a place of business, to providing a unique form of art for people to admire. Vernacular architecture deals with buildings that are built in a specific way according to a culture’s traditions. There is a “recipe” for building a certain style of building, and the steps to do so are rooted in a culture’s past. One example of vernacular architecture is the rondavel. A rondavel is a traditionally built style of house common in the southern parts of Africa. It is a relatively small, circular house that is constructed from materials easy to find in their raw form. The walls of the rondavel are made from stone and stacked up in a circle about five to six feet high. The mortar, which is used to hold the stones in place, is made up of either dirt or sand which is then mixed up with dung to keep the mortar thin and smooth. The floor of the rondavel has to be made very smooth so a different mixture of dung and sand is made the make the floor. Branches from nearby trees are cut down into equal lengths and set-up in a conical shape on top of the stones to make a skeleton of the roof. The actually roof is made out of a thatch of grass that is tied down to the branches with the use of rope. The thatch is the most difficult part to make and is usually made by a talented artisan who has done this for years in order to master the skill. The thatch has to be waterproof, so depending on how talented the thatch-maker is, this process could take as little as a couple of days, or as long as a year. This specific type of vernacular architecture found in the southern parts of Africa is very interesting. Many skills and talents are passed down from family members to children at a young age so they can master the skill and teach it later on in their lives. The skill of building a rondavel is learned more on an apprentice-master basis in which one learns under a teacher until they eventually become the teacher. The rondavel, along with many other types of vernacular architecture, are very unique traditions that would serve no purpose or sentimentality if people began to use modern machines to make the labor easier. It is the labor and unwillingness to change that make this one style of house special to a culture, and different from all others. For anyone interested in more about rondavels, I got most of my information from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rondavel as well as www.britannica.com/eb/topic-509086/rondavel.
This is my post for the second encounter assignment for F-121.