What is a Samoan fale used for?
What is a Samoan fale used for?
A fale tele, or big house, is used within a village as a meeting house for chiefs, for family gatherings and for ceremonies such as funerals. It’s normally sited in a prominent position within the village. The afolau is a longer oval (also called a long house) that is normally used as a family home or guest house.
Who builds Samoan fale?
carpenter
On an ordinary dwelling house about three thousand sections of thatch are laid. No levels or plans are prepared by the carpenter who builds the fale; he relies solely on his judgment and past experiences.
What are Samoan homes called?
fales
Most Samoans live in villages in traditional Samoan houses called fales. A fale is usually round or oval, with pebble floors and a thatch roof. It has no walls, being supported on the sides by posts.
What is a Polynesian house called?
A beach fale is a simple thatched hut in the architecture of Samoa. The word fale (pronounced fah-leh) is the Samoan word for any type of building. A similar word is used in other Polynesian languages, for example whare in the Māori language. In the Samoan language, these simple huts are called faleo’o .
What is a fale made of?
The fale is lashed and tied together with a plaited sennit rope called ʻafa, handmade from dried coconut fibre. The ʻafa is woven tight in complex patterns around the wooden frame, and binds the entire construction together.
What causes fale?
description. Traditional structures are called fale; they are rectangular in shape and have thatched or corrugated tin roofs and sides made of woven coconut leaves, reeds, or timber. Some Tongans reside in South Seas colonial-style wooden homes with gingerbread trim and exterior walls in pastel shades.
What causes Fale?
What is a Tongan fale?
In Tonga: People. Traditional structures are called fale; they are rectangular in shape and have thatched or corrugated tin roofs and sides made of woven coconut leaves, reeds, or timber. Some Tongans reside in South Seas colonial-style wooden homes with gingerbread trim and exterior walls in pastel shades.
What is a Samoan fale made of?
What does Fale mean in Samoan?
Faleis the Samoan word for all types of houses from small to large. In general it is characterised by an oval or circular shape, with wooden posts holding up a domed roof. There are various forms of the faledepending on its uses.
What are the characteristics of traditional Samoan architecture?
The spaces outside and inside of traditional Samoan architecture are part of cultural form, ceremony and ritual. Fale is the Samoan word for all types of houses, from small to large. In general, traditional Samoan architecture is characterized by an oval or circular shape, with wooden posts holding up a domed roof. There are no walls.
How sustainable is the Samoan fale?
The Samoan fale has much to offer in terms of sustainability and climate resistance that has been embodied within its design.
What is the significance of the Samoan Afa?
ʻAfa has many other uses in Samoan material culture, including ceremonial items, such as the fue fly whisk, a symbol of orator status. This lashing technique was also used in other parts of Polynesia, such as the magimagi of Fiji.
