Rondavel

An undecorated rondavel

A rondavel is a traditional African-style house.

They are usually round in shape and is traditionally made with materials that can be locally obtained in raw form. The rondavel's walls are often constructed from stones. The mortar may consist of sand, soil, or some combinations of these mixed with dung. The floor is finished with a processed dung mixture to make it smooth. The roof braces of a rondavel are made out of tree limbs, which have been harvested and cut to length. The roof itself is made out of thatch that is sewn to the wooden braces with rope made out of grass. The process of completing the thatch can take one weekend or up to a year with a skilled artisan, as it must be sewn in one section at a time, starting from the bottom working towards the top. As each section is sewn, it may be weathered and aged in so as to form a complete weatherproof seal.

The roof of a rondavel from the inside.

Rondavels can be found in the countries of Southern Africa, including: South Africa, Lesotho (where the hut is also known as a mokhoro), Swaziland, Botswana, and others. Small variations exist in different areas in the height of walls and pitch of roofs as well as how the rondavels are finished. Some people elaborately carve, paint, or decorate the outside wall that has been finished off with dung. In other places, people leave their rondavels undecorated.

In recent times, with the availability of modern construction materials, the appearance and construction of rondavels have changed. They may have concrete foundations, be built with cement blocks or brick, mortared with cement, and/or roofed with corrugated tin. While the traditional rondavel did not have running water, electricity, and/or other modern amenities, many are now equipped with, or have been adapted to accommodate these.

Nowadays, if traditional black people build a rondavel they use traditional methods. However, Black people who have migrated to the cities never build it. The rondavel has been adopted by white pioneers in Southern Africa (most likely in the 18th century) and adapted to western building materials and building methods. Today complete homes for White people built in the rondavel architecture is uncommon, but rondavels are fairly popular as outbuildings on commercial farms (eg. a toolshed or a milk room). Rondavels are quite common as holiday cottages. They are sometimes "africanised" to appeal to overseas tourists. Apart from pre-fabricated rondavels, roofing material is always thatch, because it is difficult to make a neat conical roof out of other materials.

From a structural engineering point of view the roof of a rondavel is quite interresting. No internal struts are required. The principals (wooden poles running radially out from the apex of the roof to the top of the rondavel's wall) are fully supported by the circular purlins: Firstly, the principals do not sag in the middle, because sagging only puts the purlins near the middle of the principals under compression. Secondly, the principals do not splay at the bottom (push the top of the walls over to the outside) because splaying only puts the purlins near the bottom of the principals under tension. Thus it is possible to build a large rondavel without internal bracing for the roof. Traditional black african rondavels are quite small because long, straight poles are hard to find from indiginous trees on the African savannah.

External links

• Rondavel at Addo, ZA.
• Rondavel (African dwelling) -- Britannica Online Encyclopedia

Gallery

• Examples of rondavels
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  A rondavel with a smooth painted finish
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  A decorated hotel rondavel at Khutse Kalahari Lodge, Botswana
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  Two rondavels in Mafekeng, Lesotho
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  Inside of a rondavel for backpackers
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  Outside of a rondavel for backpackers