Local Climate Identity in the Architecture of Traditional Mosques in Warm Humid Tropics: The Case in Lowland and Mountainous Regions of Aceh, Indonesia

Abstract

Climate plays an essential role in creating a thermally comfortable living. In warm humid tropics, the relative humidity is high which needs the airflow to decrease it hence minimizing the thermal comfort dissatisfaction felt by the building users. Mosque as a place for Muslims to perform prayer frequently five times a day also needs to be comfortable. In the old time when everything was still limited, the traditional mosque was designed to be comfortable naturally. Therefore, in this study, traditional mosques are investigated in terms of adopting the local climate into the architectural elements to provide comfort. The case studies are the mosques located in the low and mountainous region of Aceh which is warm humid but varied in air temperatures. The evaluated mosques are Indrapuri and Tengku Dipucok Krueng mosques in the lowlands; and Tue Kebayakan and Asal Penampaan mosques in the highlands. The study was carried out qualitatively through observation and documentation by redrawing the mosques. The parameters investigated were floor plans, façades, apertures, and building materials. An adaptation to the climate naturally is essential to save energy use and be friendly to the environment and is therefore called sustainable. Thus, this study would be beneficial in finding the difference in traditional mosque design between the lowland and mountainous areas in Aceh which performs the local identity for being an alternative in today’s mosque design to be naturally friendly to the environment.