سنج Senj: Afghan Wood Framing Technology

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A model of the Senj wood framing technique.

Senj: Afghan Wood Framing Technology. 1’/1.5” scale. Pine, earth, and poplar
Senj: Afghan Wood Framing Technology. 1’/1.5” scale. Pine, earth, and poplar

سنج Senj: Afghan wood framing technology

سنج Senj is a traditional Afghan wood framing technique. It is a lightweight, flexible, and modular system designed to be placed on upper levels of structures within earthquake prone regions of Afghanistan.

"Amin House Restoration", Kabul, Afghanistan 2004-2005. https://www.archnet.org/sites/5585
Amin House Restoration, Kabul, Afghanistan 2004-2005. archnet.org

Filling of timber parapet frame frame with mud-bricks. "Amin House Restoration". https://www.archnet.org/sites/5585
Filling of timber parapet frame frame with mud-bricks. Amin House Restoration. archnet.org

The frame is constructed with poplar poles on a flat surface and is joined together to create square or rectangular walls. The horizontal poles are around 15-20cm in diameter, and the vertical/diagonal poles around 10-15cm.1 They are joined by mortise and tenon about 1m apart, where they are then lifted and filled with sun-dried bricks, placed at a diagonal relationship between the vertical and diagonal poles.

Sourcing poplar poles, from "Poplars in Afghanistan" by May, Silvio
Sourcing poplar poles, from Poplars in Afghanistan by May, Silvio

In the photo above, we see a group of men sourcing poles from a poplar stand.2 The poplar species commonly used in Afghanistan is the populas alba, or white poplar, سفيدار (safaidaar). The poles are commonly referred to as دستك (destak), a beam, round in cross section.3

Drawing showing سنج Senj build with foundation and roofing, from "Afghanistan: An Atlas of Indigenous Domestic Architecture" p.153
Drawing showing سنج Senj build with foundation and roofing, from Afghanistan: An Atlas of Indigenous Domestic Architecture p.153

The infilled brick frames are then plastered with a mud and straw mixture on both the interior and the exterior facades. Itseems that over time, however, the diagonal poles have been integrated into the complete frame, plastered over and completely hidden. Notice this drawing:

Drawing showing the exposed poplar diagonal pole, from "Traditional Architecture of Afghanistan" p.187
Drawing showing the exposed poplar diagonal pole, from Traditional Architecture of Afghanistan p.187

The diagonal bracing pole is left exposed outside of the plaster, as seen in these photos:

"Vernacular Housing of Kabul", 2006. https://www.archnet.org/sites/5610
Vernacular Housing of Kabul, 2006. archnet.org

"Vernacular Housing of Kabul", 2006. https://www.archnet.org/sites/5610
Vernacular Housing of Kabul, 2006. archnet.org

"Amin House Restoration", Kabul, Afghanistan 2004-2005. https://www.archnet.org/sites/5585
Amin House Restoration, Kabul, Afghanistan 2004-2005. archnet.org

Here on the left side wall, all poles have been plastered over and no remnants of the structure are exposed. Could the strength have increased by having the diagonals be integrated into the frame, rather than existing on the exterior of it?

In Afghanistan: An Atlas of Indigenous Domestic Architecture, the authors state that diagonal poles are nailed at the exterior corners to stabilize the frame, not integrated within the frame itself. It is beautiful to witness the underlying structure with the poplar poles exposed as such in the older buildings, and saddening to see that design decision disappear over time. Even more so it is a shame the patterning that the bricks create are also plastered over and disappear. We wonder how senj technology can be re-contextualized contemporarily to become a textural, aesthetic, modular device while also supplying firm, structural integrity to a design.

Model

Model Drawing
Model Drawing

Scale studies
Scale studies

The سنج Senj model is constructed with pine dowels, a poplar base, and sun dried bricks. These sun dried bricks were made in my garage, using soil sourced by Professor Rael.

Me collecting the earth for brick production
Me collecting the earth for brick production

Brick mold
Brick mold

Brick mold print
Brick mold print

Bricks drying in the sun
Bricks drying in the sun

Bricks drying in the sun
Bricks drying in the sun

Unlike most traditional and indigenous earthen architecture of Afghanistan, سنج Senj is the only to incorporate wood as a structural support. Earth and wood come together as literal Earthen materials to define a hybrid material culture; whereas the Earth gave structure and support to the growing roots of the Poplar, the Poplar now returns the favor and provides a framework for the Earth.

Senj: Afghan Wood Framing Technology. 1’/1.5” scale. Pine, earth, and poplar
Senj: Afghan Wood Framing Technology. 1’/1.5” scale. Pine, earth, and poplar

This research was conducted in at the UC Berkeley College of Environmental design in the course ‌Earthen Material Practices in Contemporary Art and Architecture, taught by Professor Ronald Rael. This research and model is just the beginning of many projects in regards to the earthen, indigenous, and traditional architecture of Afghanistan and its surrounding regions that I hope to design and research.

Thank you so much to Professor Rael for opening the doors of knowledge, wisdom, research, and discovery of ancestral design within the context of architecture at UC Berkeley, and thank you to my project partner Monica Leslie for all of the guidance and support.

Omar Mohammad
Berkeley, November 2024


Footnotes

  1. Szabo, Albert, and Thomas Jefferson Barfield. 1991. Afghanistan: An Atlas of Indigenous Domestic Architecture. Austin: University of Texas Press, p. 153.

  2. May, Silvio. Poplars in Afghanistan, Unasylva, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Vol. 31 - No. 124, 1979.

  3. Hallet, Stanley Ira, and Rafi Samizay. 1980. Traditional Architecture of Afghanistan. New York: Garland STPM Press, p. 189/199.


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