Three Methods of Wall Construction among the Kyrgyz
When starting to describe the types of houses and estates, it is necessary to first provide a general overview of the building material and some basic technical methods used by the southern Kyrgyz. In the comprehensive work of A. K. Pisarchik, all the main data on the techniques of house construction in Fergana are presented. Similar methods are observed in the construction practices of various regions of Southern Kyrgyzstan.
The main building material, as everywhere in Central Asia, is loess. However, in many foothill areas, it is used together with natural inclusions of small stones. Sometimes there are quite a large number of them, as in the western parts of the Frunze district.
In some villages (for example, Sogondy, Terek, Kyzyl-Kiya in the Aylai district), the color of all houses has a reddish or dark red hue, which is explained by the presence of colored natural loess. Usually, such loess is sticky, fine, and has no foreign impurities.
Three methods are used for wall construction: they are made from crushed clay (paxa), from lumps of clay (guvalyak), or from bricks (kysh).
In the past, a building material called kesek (amorphous fragments of a destroyed adobe wall) was also used.
Adobe walls ("paxa") are very widespread in the region. They serve as walls for dwellings, outbuildings, and were built around estate plots and gardens. Most of the old buildings have adobe walls. In the mountain gorges of the Batken and Aylai districts, they are still made today. The advantage of adobe walls is that no preliminary preparation of building materials is required for their construction. The building material is prepared by mixing loess with water until a mass of fairly thick consistency is formed. The mixture is made in small quantities, as the mixed clay must be used immediately; otherwise, it will harden. The mass is usually mixed with feet. A special iron shovel (bel) of triangular shape, mounted on a long handle, is also used for this purpose. This same shovel is used to deliver the clay mass to the craftsman who is forming the wall. If there is no shovel, the clay is delivered by hand.
Adobe walls are usually laid in layers. The next layer is laid only after the previous one has dried. On average, the height of one layer is about 50 cm. When laying walls for a residential house, the width of the lower layers reaches 65-70 cm, gradually narrowing to 40-45 cm at the top. However, the inner side of the wall in houses is made smooth.
"Guvalyak" refers to clay lumps that are round or slightly elongated in shape. They are shaped by hand (often without the use of straw), after which they are thoroughly dried. When constructing walls, guvalyak is laid either flat on the wide side or on edge, slightly diagonally. A regular clay mortar (loy) is used for binding. "Guvalyak" is used for building walls of dwellings, outbuildings, and much less frequently for constructing fences. More often, "guvalyak" is used in the western part of the region.
Bricks are made from raw clay, sometimes straw is mixed in. They are made using a wooden mold (kalyp) that has no bottom. The dimensions of the brick are 28X14X7 cm. As a building material, bricks have been increasingly used recently for constructing houses in collective farm villages.
For building houses, well-dried bricks are used. The walls of the house are laid with 1.5 to 2 bricks, bonded with clay mortar.
Houses are usually plastered, but the quality and method of plastering (shyvak) vary. In the past, rough plastering of walls with clay mortar mixed with samanu was practiced, and only on the inner side of the room (especially concerning houses of the pre-Pamir type). Houses built in the early 20th century were plastered on both the inside and outside. Modern houses differ in the careful leveling using sand.
Among wood materials, juniper, willow, and poplar are most commonly used in construction. The Kyrgyz use naturally growing juniper in the mountains and highly value it for its resistance to decay; willow and poplar, on the other hand, are always grown artificially. This was noted by A. P. Fedchenko as well.
Four Kyrgyz Types of Settlements