Amakan, also known as sawali in the northern Philippines, is a type of traditional

woven Woven fabric is any textile formed by weaving. Woven fabrics, often created on a loom, are made of many threads woven in a warp and weft. Technically, a woven fabric is any fabric made by interlacing two or more threads at right angles to one anot ...

split-

bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of mostly evergreen perennial plant, perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily (biology), subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family, in th ...

mats used as

wall A wall is a structure and a surface that defines an area; carries a load; provides security, shelter, or soundproofing; or serves a decorative purpose. There are various types of walls, including border barriers between countries, brick wal ...

paneling Panelling (or paneling in the United States) is a millwork wall covering constructed from rigid or semi-rigid components. These are traditionally interlocking wood, but could be plastic or other materials. Panelling was developed in antiquity to ...

, or wall cladding in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. They are woven into various intricate traditional patterns, often resulting in repeating diagonal, zigzag, or diamond-like shapes. The term "sawali" is more properly defined as

twill Twill is a type of textile Textile is an Hyponymy and hypernymy, umbrella term that includes various Fiber, fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, Staple (textiles)#Filament fiber, filaments, Thread (yarn), threads, and d ...

ed weaving patterns. The term can also be applied to baskets and banig (soft woven mats made from pandan leaves, buri palm straw, abaca, or sedges), which also use the same weaving patterns. Amakan panels are commonly confused with ''pawid'' ( nipa panels), which are made from

thatched Thatching is the craft of building a roof with dry vegetation such as straw, water reed, sedge ('' Cladium mariscus''), rushes, heather, or palm branches, layering the vegetation so as to shed water away from the inner roof. Since the bulk of ...

leaves. Amakan are used as walls in the traditional

nipa hut The ''báhay kúbo'', ''kubo'', or ''payág'' (in the Visayan languages), is a type of stilt house indigenous to the Philippines. It is the traditional basic design of houses among almost all lowlander and coastal cultures throughout the Ph ...

s (''bahay kubo'') of the Philippines. They are lightweight and porous, allowing air circulation to keep buildings cool in the hot tropical climate. The porosity also balances pressure inside the house during strong winds, minimizing roof damage. Amakan needs to be treated before installation. They are soaked in seawater, dried, and then usually (but not always) varnished. They are usually affixed to a wooden framework, then battened with bamboo or coco lumber. Amakan is associated with lower income rural housing because it is inexpensive and easy to replace. It is not uncommon for amakan to also be used as a design element (usually as cladding or paneling) in modern Filipino architecture to portray a rustic, traditional and tropical aesthetic. It also

ecologically sustainable Ecologically sustainable development is the environmental component of sustainable development. It can be achieved partially through the use of the precautionary principle; if there are threats of serious or irreversible environmental damage, lack o ...

because it is made with bamboo.

Similar traditions

Pawid

A simpler method of making panels from leaves is called ''pawid'', which is simply

thatching Thatching is the craft of building a roof with dry vegetation such as straw, water reed, sedge ('' Cladium mariscus''), rushes, heather, or palm branches, layering the vegetation so as to shed water away from the inner roof. Since the bulk of ...

. It predominantly uses

nipa palm ''Nypa fruticans'', commonly known as the nipa palm (or simply nipa, from ) or mangrove palm, is a species of palm native to the coastlines and estuarine habitats of the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the only palm considered adapted to the ...

leaves, and is the origin of the name of the

. But it can also use other materials like

coconut The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family (biology), family (Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, ...

leaves, anahaw leaves, and even cogon grass. They are made by simply folding the leaves once around a split bamboo stick and then sewing them together near the base. They are most commonly used as roofing, with the panels layered over each other so the water runs down the leaves and away from the inner roof. They are constantly replaced as the panels get damaged.

Sulirap

A similar weaving tradition is called ''sulirap'', ''surilap'', or ''salirap'' among

Visayans Visayans ( Cebuano: ''mga Bisayà'' ) are a Philippine ethnolinguistic family group or metaethnicity native to the Visayas, to the southernmost islands south of Luzon, and to a significant portion of Mindanao. They are composed of numerous d ...

; and ''sulirap'', ''selirap'', or ''sayrap'' among the Tausug, Yakan, and

Sama-Bajau The Sama-Bajau include several Austronesian ethnic groups of Maritime Southeast Asia. The name collectively refers to related people who usually call themselves the Sama or Samah (formally A'a Sama, "Sama people"); or are known by the exonym ...

people. It uses an entire

coconut palm The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family (biology), family (Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, ...

leaf split lengthwise along the midrib (

rachis In biology, a rachis (from the [], "backbone, spine") is a main axis or "shaft". In zoology and microbiology In vertebrates, ''rachis'' can refer to the series of articulated vertebrae, which encase the spinal cord. In this case the ''rachi ...

). Then both halves are positioned with the leaflets in between them. The leaflets are then intricately woven into various patterns and designs to join the two split parts together. This results in a lengthwise woven panel with the split midrib providing the upper and lower border. It is used similarly as amakan and sawali: as cheap walls, roofs, awnings, or temporary shade. This method, modified slightly, can also be used to make traditional baskets.

Gallery

File:Stilt house at Kalibo, Aklan, Philippines.jpg, A rural house in

Aklan Aklan, officially the Province of Aklan, is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Western Visayas region of the Philippines. Its capital and largest town is Kalibo. The province is situated in the northwest portion of Panay, Panay Islan ...

with plain amakan walls File:FIlipino amakan house.jpg, A rural house in

Leyte Leyte ( ) is an island in the Visayas group of islands in the Philippines. It is eighth-largest and sixth-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 2,626,970 as of 2020 census. Since the accessibility of land has been ...

with amakan sidings woven into diamond patterns File:Susing's Guitar gift shop.jpg, A gift shop in

Bohol Bohol (), officially the Province of Bohol (; ), is an island province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas Regions of the Philippines, region, consisting of the island itself and 75 minor surrounding islands. It is home to Bohola ...

with amakan walls File:Sangat Resort in Busuanga.jpg, A modern resort guesthouse in Busuanga,

Palawan Palawan (, ), officially the Province of Palawan (; ), is an archipelagic province of the Philippines that is located in the region of Mimaropa. It is the largest province in the country in terms of total area of . The capital and largest c ...

with plain diagonally-woven sawali walls File:Traditional house with amakan walls (9278032260).jpg, A traditional Filipino house with amakan walls in

File:Apolinario Mabini House 8.jpg, Sawali interior paneling in the Mabini Shrine, a traditional Filipino house (''

bahay kubo The ''báhay kúbo'', ''kubo'', or ''payág'' (in the Visayan languages), is a type of stilt house indigenous to the Philippines. It is the traditional basic design of houses among almost all lowlander and coastal cultures throughout the Phi ...

'') File:Amakan open-type weaving style used as grilles in Bukidnon, Philippines.jpg, Amakan open-type weaving style used as grilles File:Lucio Quezons house at Baler, Aurora.jpg, Preserved traditional house of President

Manuel L. Quezon Manuel Luis Quezon y Molina (, , , ; 19 August 1878 – 1 August 1944), also known by his initials MLQ, was a Filipino people, Filipino lawyer, statesman, soldier, and politician who was president of the Commonwealth of the Philippines from 1 ...

's parents in

Baler, Aurora Baler (, , , ; ), officially the Municipality of Baler (; ), is a municipality and capital of the province of Aurora, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 43,785 people. History Spanish colonial period In 16 ...

. It uses ''pawid'' (nipa thatch) as both roofing and walls. File:Pawid panels (nipa palm leaf thatching) from the Philippines 04.jpg, Thatched

leaf panels (''pawid'')

References

External links