The
Study
INTRODUCTION Little
has been known about the Ivatan people or the province of
Batanes. The isolation of the province, in fact, made it
difficult to be so known in so long a time and that did slow down
its progress, too.Batanes has been repeatedly used as a point of
reference byt the weather bureau, when a typhoon hits the country
to the north direction, but in actuality, only two out of ten
typhoons forecasted would hit the province. The province had its
share of exposure on some magazines, some of which is Jaime
Zobel's photographs of the seascapes, beaches, and some barrio
folks way of life featured in one of the popular newspaper
supplement magazine, Panorama. From these pieces of information,
people would begin to wonder what really is the way of life in
Batanes in spite of the typhoons that occasinally hit. They,
probably, would wonder what kind of shelter the Ivatan people
have to protect them from these devastating typhoons and
isolation.
It is therefore my objective to give an account on the type of
structures or shelters the Ivatan People have from the primitive
past to the modern present, from the barrios to the towns. To
determine what kind of structure would survive its depressing
factors. Perhaps, to come up with probable solutions that would
help the province achieve a total progress and to help them
survive in spite of the many depressing factores. BACKGROUND
The geography,
seasons and weather, the people and its government, religion, as
well as the social background will be presented briefly by the
past and present times. SCOPE
AND LIMITATION This
study will cover the period from the legendary past to the
present. The influencing factors such as geographical, political,
climatic, religious, and social, that affected the Ivatan type of
housebuilding will be discussed before the primitive types of
housing. The methods of constructions and materials used will be
discussed on the last part of the study. CONCEPTUAL
FRAMEWORK This study rests upon the historical accounts to provide
facts of the past events which leaves a profound imprint upon
culture and the people. The periodical accounts with alien
cultures and the dominion of these on the Ivatans will be so used
to serve as a means by which we can deduce the development of the
types of houses / housebuilding. METHODOLOGY The study is essentially dependent upon the phases of
development of housebuilding. Accounts and other materials will
be integrated to cover the subjects suggested. Historical events
which may have profounded on the study will be pieced together to
provide a descriptive profile of the Ivatan houses. DATA /
REFERENCES Materials
on the history of the islands and a study made on the profile of
the Ivatan culture are both made use of. The accounts provided by
my father for the most of the pertinent materials have been used.
Personal observations during the time of the study complete the
whole concept.