Anthropometric Dimensions in the Architectural Design of Guol Community Houses of the Katu People in Vietnam
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
Local knowledge concerning human body-based units of measurement exists across all societies and has been recognized as a key part of traditional architecture. Among the Katu ethnic group in Central Vietnam, this knowledge was historically applied in constructing the Guol, a traditional communal house. The Guol was dimensioned using 18 distinct body-based units, including arm spans (A-1), hand spans, and body heights passed down orally through generations. However, with the onset of modernization, traditional building techniques have gradually faded, and Guol structures have almost entirely disappeared from areas such as Nam Dong District in Thua Thien Hue Province.
Fieldwork involved interviews with 25 elder Katu informants across 25 hamlets, each recalling a Guol they had participated in building. Through comparative analysis of verbal accounts, it was found that key structural dimensions, height (H ≈ 7.26m), depth (D ≈ 6.01m), and width (W ≈ 11.06m) were determined predominantly by the A-1 unit (≈ 1.59m). The resulting average ratios, H/A-1 ≈ 4.6, D/A-1 ≈ 3.8, and W/A-1 ≈ 7.0, reveal a consistent anthropometric logic underpinning the spatial form, even with physical variation among individuals. The findings show that body-based units were used to determine structural components rather than to define abstract spatial concepts. The finding provide not only a record of intangible heritage but also a human-centered design framework relevant to contemporary architecture. This study contributes to rethinking measurement systems by drawing attention to embodied spatial cognition and the cultural foundations of proportionality.
Downloads
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
References
Århem, Kaj. The Katu Village: An Interpretive Ethnography of the Avuong Katu in Central Vietnam. Göteborg: School of Global Studies /Social Anthropology, Göteborg University, 2010.
Bayrak, Mucahid Mustafa, Tran Nam Tu, and Paul Burgers. “Restructuring Space in the Name of Development: The Sociocultural Impact of the Forest Land Allocation Program on the Indigenous Co Tu People in Central Vietnam.” Journal of Political Ecology 20, 1 (2013): 37-52.
Bh’Riu, Liec. P’rá Cơtu Tiếng Cơtu [Cotu Language]. Hanoi: Hoi Nha Van Publishers, 2018.
College of Agriculture and Forestry, Hue University and Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies, Kyoto University. Participatory Construction of Traditional Community House in Mountainous Village of Central Vietnam. Hanoi: National Political Publisher, 2008.
Cooperrider, Kensy and Dedre Gentner. “Where Do Measurement Units Come From?.” Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society 40 (2018): 238-243.
Dang, Nghiem Van, Thai Son Chu, and Hung Luu. “The Cơ-Tu.” In Ethnic Minorities in Vietnam. Hanoi: The Gioi Publishers, 1993.
Duc, Ta. Understanding Katu Culture, edited by Barbara Cohen. Translated by Ta Duc. Hue: Thuan Hoa Publishers, 2002.
Gupta, S. V. Units of Measurement: Past, Present and Future. International System of Units. Berlin: Springer, 2009.
Ho, Viet Hoang. “Krung Điêng của người Cơ Tu ở tỉnh Thừa Thiên Huế [Krung Dieng of the Co Tu in Thua Thien Hue Province].” Ph.D. Dissertation, Hanoi National University, 2017.
Hoang, Nam. “Cơ Tu People.” In An Overview of Traditional Cultures of 53 Ethnic Groups in Vietnam. Hanoi: The Gioi Publishers, 2019.
Iizuka, Akiko. “Traditional Community House of the Co-tu Ethnic Group in Central Vietnam.” Sansai: An Environmental Journal for the Global Community 6 (2012): 97–114.
Ingold, Tim. Making: Anthropology, Archaeology, Art and Architecture. London: Routledge, 2013.
Kaaronen, Roope O., Mikael A. Manninen, and Jussi T. Eronen. “Body-based Units of Measure in Cultural Evolution.” Science 380, 6648 (2023): 948-954.
Kobayashi, Hirohide and Akiko Iizuka. “Indigenous Construction Technology of Cotu Minorities in Central Vietnam - Case Study of the Traditional Community House in Hong Ha Commune, Thua Thien Hue province.” Journal of Architecture and Planning 75, 653 (2010): 1679-1686.
Kobayashi, Hirohide and Ayako Fujieda. “Research on Indigenous Building Technology of Fijian Traditional Wooden House-Bure-Case Study in the Bure Construction Project of CATD.” Journal of Architecture and Planning 81, 724 (2016): 1303-1313.
Kobayashi, Hirohide, Ngoc Tung Nguyen, and Duc Sang Tran. “Research Report of Indigenous Building Techniques of Katu Ethnic Minority in Nam Dong District in Thua Thien Hue Province, Central Vietnam.” In Sustainability of Traditional Community House in Modern Contexts, edited by Ngoc Tung Nguyen, Hoang Phuong Truong, Miki Yoshizumi, and Hirohide Kobayashi. Hue: Thuan Hoa Publishers, 2020.
Le Pichon, Jean. “Les Chasseurs de Sang [Blood Hunters].” Bulletin des Amis de Vieux Hué 25, 4 (October- December 1938): 353–409.
Luu, Hung. A Contribution to Katu Ethnography, edited by Kaj Arhem. Translated by Luu Doan Huynh. Hanoi: The Gioi Publishers, 2007.
Merleau-Ponty, Maurice. Phenomenology of Perception. Translated by Donald A. Landes. London: Routledge, 2012.
Monsinee Attavanich and Hirohide Kobayashi. “The Construction Project of the Moklen Ethnic House, Sea Gypsy Architecture in Southern Thailand.” In Vernacular Architecture: Towards a Sustainable Future, edited by C. Mileto, F. Vegas, L. Garcia Soriano, and V. Cristini. London: CRC Press, 2015.
National Assembly of Vietnam. NGHỊ QUYẾT Về việc thành lập thành phố Huế trực thuộc Trung ương [Resolution on the Establishment of Hue City under Central Authority]. 175/2024/QH15. November 30, 2024.
Nguyen, Huu Thong, Phuoc Bao Dan Nguyen, Anh Tuan Le, and Duc Sang Tran. Katu kẻ sống đầu ngọn nước [Katu: The People Living at the Water-head]. Hue: Thuan Hoa Publishers, 2004.
Nguyen, Ngoc Tung, Hirohide Kobayashi, Hoang Phuong Truong, Miki Yoshizumi, Anh Tuan Le, and Duc Sang Tran. “Reconstruction Process of Traditional Community House of Katu Ethnic Minority - Case Study of Aka Hamlet in Nam Dong District, Thua Thien Hue Province, Vietnam.” In Vernacular and Earthen Architecture Towards Local Development, edited by Shao Yong, Gisle Jakhelln, and Mariana Correia. Shanghai: Tongji University Press, 2019.
People’s Committee of Nam Dong District. Báo cáo chính trị dự thảo tại đại hội đại biểu các dân tộc thiểu số huyện Nam Đông lần thứ IV - năm 2024 [The 4th Draft Political Report at the Representative Congress of Ethnic Minorities, Nam Dong District- 2024]. 17/BC-BCD. June 12, 2024.
Price, Michael. Why Human Societies Still Use Arms, Feet, and Other Body Parts to Measure Things. Accessed December 2, 2025. Available from https://www.science.org/content/article/why-human-societies-still-usearms-feet-and-other-body-parts-measure-things
Schliesinger, Joachim. “Ca Tu.” In Hill Tribes of Vietnam, Volume 2 Profile of the Existing Hill Tribe Groups. Bangkok: White Lotus Press, 1998.
Special Operations Research Office (SORO). “The Katu.” In Ethnographic Study Series: Selected Groups in the Republic of Vietnam. Washington, D.C.: The American University, 1965.
Standing Committee of the National Assembly of Vietnam. NGHỊ QUYẾT Về việc sắp xếp đơn vị hành chính cấp huyện, cấp xã của thành phố Huế giai đoạn 2023–2025 [Resolution on the Administrative Rearrangement of District- and Commune-level Units in Hue City for the 2023–2025 Period]. 1314/NQ-UBTVQH15. November 30, 2024.
Statistical Office of Nam Dong. Year Book 2022. Nam Dong: Statistical Office of Nam Dong, 2023.
The Encyclopedia of Vernacular Architecture of the World, Volume 1 Theories and Principles, edited by Paul Oliver. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997.
Tran, Tan Vinh. The Cotu in Vietnam, edited by Marianne Brown. Translated by Hoang Trung Hieu and Do Minh Thu. Hanoi: Vietnam News Agency Publishing House, 2009.
Tran, Thi Mai An. Tổ chức xã hội truyền thống của người Cơ Tu ở huyện Nam Đông tỉnh Thừa Thiên Huế [Traditional Social Organization of the Co Tu in Nam Dong District, Thua Thien Hue Province]. Hanoi: National Political Publishers, 2014.
Truong, Hoang Phuong. “Conserving Traditional Community House of the Katu Ethnic Minority - A Case Study in Nam Dong District, Thua Thien Hue Province, Central Vietnam.” Ph.D. Dissertation, Kyoto University, 2015.
Vernacular Heritage and Earthen Architecture: Contributions for Sustainable Development, edited by Mariana Correia, Gilberto Carlos, and Sandra Rocha. Boca Raton: CRC Press, 2014.
