An open waterway that provides clean fresh water for drinking and irrigational use. Small ones are called “Kau 溝”, big ones are called called “Tsùn 圳”.
Project: Ksôkong Tsùn Irrigation System, Taiwan
Climate: Tropical savanna climate with dry-winter characteristics
An integrated living system of a traditional Sundanese hamlet in West Java, Indonesia.
Ayu Tri Prestasia and Boomi Kim 2019
The spatial organization of Kampung Naga is influenced by its location on the valley. The topographical characteristics of the site defines the vertical zonation of the hamlet, which is closely related to the utilization of the landscape into the water management system.
Kampung Naga floor plan.
Based on its spatial relation to the settlement area, Kampung Naga can be divided into 3 distinctive zones. The “forbidden forest”, the Sacred Area, is preserved at the top of the composition to infiltrate, filter and store the water through its roots. The settlement area, the Inner Area, is located in the middle with terraced soils following its natural topography. At the lowest level, the Outer Area, fish pond system become the location where almost all the water-related activities take place. Bamboo fences are used as the boundary of the settlement area which at the same time clearly separates these three zones.
Strategic position of the areas on the topography.
Kampung Naga maintains the traditional living with nature amidst modernity that develops around the area. No new technology such as the use of electricity and related devices is allowed in the hamlet. The boundary of Kampung Naga is strictly preserved to balance the number of people whose lives can be supported by the food supply and the ability to manage the wastewater inside the village. While maintaining the number of people who live inside, the rest of the family members can live outside the village.
Although almost all water-related activities are located on the Outer Area, water is treated as a major part of their lives. People keep its space to “breathe”, use it wisely, and purify the wastewater before finally being returned to its original place. Centralization of the activities are designed as an integrated system of water and ecological cycle.
Clockwise. Women use the only water found inside the Inner Area at the Mosque to clean food materials; rice husking station is located above the fishpond; rice terraces which are irrigated from the river; man feeding the fishes; woman washing dishes at the latrine building above the fishponds; woman filling container with Nyusu Water.
Circular Stories
Nature works in circular systems. Living with nature, people in Kampung Naga believe that they need to understand thoroughly and preserve this circularity. Water, as one of the main resources of lives, is used wisely to maintain its circularity. The three water sources which are located on the higher parts of the topography are kept clean free from any activities that could contaminate the water quality. People are forbidden to cut trees in the forest on the hill to maintain its ability to absorb and purify the rainwater to the ground water table. In this case, myth and tradition are used by the community as rules that have to be obeyed. After the water is used for daily activities, it is purified by fishpond systems before finally being returned to the river.
Circularity in a house scale, Kampung Naga village.
A traditional irrigation system that set the the foundation of Kaohsiung City.
Man-Chuan Sandy Lin 2020
The growth of Kaohsiung is closely related to its irrigation system. The Ksôkong Tsùn irrigation system is a traditional water management and irrigation system used for the purpose of agriculture. The system dates back in 19th century and it has been claimed as municipal heritage site of the city of Kaohsiung.
Plan showing zoom in detail of Cao-Gong irrigation system.
The Ksôkong Tsùn irrigation system consists mainly four types of elements: dam, inlet, waterway, water retention pond.
Clockwise. Thê (dam), a linear obstacle built perpendicular to a river to guild and direct water to the river water inlet for irrigation ditch; Tsùn-thâu (river water inlet), a gate element that can control the amount of irrigation water intake. In typhoon season, the gate can be closed to protect crops from flooding; farmer used watermill to get water from the waterway.
Circular Stories
In Taiwan, the connection between land and people was once profound and unbreakable, especially in agricultural society before modernization.
Water from river Ko-pin-khe is obtained from a dam, regulated using inlets, to irrigate rice fields following natural topography and weaved an aquatic landscape. Besides the rice fields, water plants production such as taros and water chestnuts, were located in the water retention. This agriculture production, together with aquaculture, formed a circular system that supported one another. On the landscape, Ksô-kong irrigation system accommodated a variety of human activities. At the time people were close to water, scenes like women doing laundry and socializing by the water, children playing in the field, and men fishing on the edge of waterways were common on daily basis.
A story of circularity of a lifestyle that utilizes water resource as irrigation system in southern Taiwan.
Kamalir and Nandur Clearing waterways and planting rice
Kamalir is cleaning waterways from weeds and parasites. It is done by the men in Kampung Naga as part of regular community activities before the planting season. Nandur is the activity of planting rice in the fields. This includes regulating the amount of water collected in each parcel to suit the needs of rice seeds to grow properly.
In Kampung Naga, rice is pounded manually using traditional tools. This activity is carried out at the rice husking station which is built on a fishpond. Rice husks will be thrown into fishpond to feed the fish.
Nyusu air – spring water – is the only source of drinking water in Kampung Naga. The inhabitants collect the Nyusu water from the faucet at a platform on a fishpond.
Project: Kampung Naga
Climate: Tropical – Mild temperate humid
Year: Current
Water Type: Fresh water
Landscape: Plains
Meaning: Utilitarian
Water workers & users: Inhabitants
Material: Concrete & Bamboo
Period: Fixed construction for daily activities
Use or Function : Collect potable water from the spring
In Kampung Naga, toilet units were built above the fishponds in a communal area outside the settlement area. Each latrine has 2 water tanks that separate water from the river and the spring.
In the settlement area of Kampung Naga, the use of water is only found at the mosque, as part of religious rituals before prayer. Besides, sometimes people also use it to wash food materials. This water tub has 2 tanks which are used to separate water from the river or the spring.
Project: Kampung Naga
Climate: Tropical – Mild temperate humid
Year: Current
Water Type: Fresh water
Landscape: Plains
Meaning: Utilitarian
Water workers & users: Inhabitants
Material: Concrete & Stone
Period: Fixed construction for daily activities
Use or Function : Cleaning rituals before prayer, washing food materials
