Location: West Sumatra -2.2024915,101.03241
Location: West Sumatra -0.5151097,100.24322
The watermill is rarely found across the Indonesian Archipelago. However, the Minangkabau people who inhabit the highlands of Sumatra are found to have developed the technology of a water wheel for irrigation and building integrated with a watermill for pounding rice called ‘kincia lasuang’. Several watermills still used by the people can be found in West Sumatra. The ‘kincia lasuang’ which is made of wooden material has lost its worth in rivalry with modern machinery, and the number has decreased drastically. The rapid development of technology and the high cost of wooden materials threaten the existence of these vernacular architecture. Therefore, it is necessary to document the architectural objects as the representation of the agricultural society of Minangkabau people in West Sumatra. This project has documented a series of watermill buildings used by the community in agricultural activities in West Sumatra by combining the method of digital documentation and the Vernacular Documentation (VERNADOC) technique to produce high-quality drawings with precise measurements. The result of documentation can be developed into various forms of digital representations. This method is chosen to raise the community's perception of the building's significance so that the buildings can continue to be used and promote their value. This project has also investigated the technical knowledge, process, and relationship between buildings and the community in daily lives.
