Bajau Laut Architecture as Inspiration for Green Movement

Bajau Laut are famous for their stilt houses that are built meters above the sea level. Islands like Maiga, Denwanan and Pulu Gaya in Semporna attracts thousands of tourists every year for their fascinating houses and people.

This architecture can be a great source of inspiration for the green movement, as described in ArchDaily and their article 5 Architectural Secrets of the Badjao: 21st Century Sea People (though it contains some minor errors regarding Bajau Laut’s history and geographical expansion).

The key words in Bajau Laut architecture is adaptibility.  In west, we generally aspire for solidity, thick and immovable construction, and maximum fortification. We don’t build with the elements, but in order to master them, to control them. The Bajau Laut, on the other hand, have learned how to live with the elements and to adapt their construction to the natural environment.  Hence. waves, floods and erosion will be a minor problem for Bajau’s settlements – but at the same time thay will have a closer access to sea life than anyone else.

Bajau Laut build short term, and live long term. They continuously replace older materials and they use whatever they can find in their natural surroundings. They have simply accepted the fact that they can’t change the flow of water.