CONSTRUCTION

Minakshi Jain and Inderpal Singh

Sustainability and
Traditional Buildings

Traditional Settlement of Himachal Pradesh.

Sustainable design and ideology which embraces the natural processes of the earth as its reality must replace conventional design practices
- Ar. Didi Contractor

isdom lies not in conquering and exploiting nature, but in understanding and cooperating with nature as we were forced to do in the past. In the olden days, buildings were sustainable as the human activities had to conform to the demands of ecological balance.

Survival and prosperity depended upon sustainability. The builders in the past had to comply with ecological constraints; relied upon the materials from close by and constructed in accordance to local conditions, in tune with the climate and with minimal harm to the regional ecology. The State of Himachal Pradesh has a treasure of traditional architecture. This traditional architecture has stood the test of time. This art and architecture has mostly grown out of age-old cultural heritage, the occupational pattern, climatic conditions, Geological strata and numerous religious beliefs. It commands deep interest and respect as it represents and reveals the several aspects of the

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people living there. The traditional architecture in the hills has always been the expression of attitudes, aspirations and responses of its occupants. The ancient art and architecture of Himachal Pradesh has survived in the form of metal sculpture, wood carvings, stone carvings, paintings, traditionalresidential settlements and temple architecture. The most elementary form of hill architecture is represented by the old temples, which are scattered everywhere all along the mountain slopes and in the valleys. They are of indigenous styles and peculiar to the hills. Traditionally the built environment on the hills is an intelligent response of the people to their knowledge rooted in the vernacular architecture. The hill architecture has successfully incorporated and even exploited the regional climatic conditions by carefully planning and selecting the building materials to create best possible comfort conditions.

centres- a pipal tree on a platform or a mandir. This focal point is usually at the highest point.

TRADITIONAL BUILDING MATERIALS AND CONSTRUCTION TECHNIQUES

Hostile weather conditions and limited supply of building materials has resulted in the usage of mud, stone and wood in the varying proportions. In the vernacular architecture of the Himalayan region wood is extensively used, as the forests of the deodar wood and other mixed forests were easily available. Deodar wood has been used traditionally to impart stability to the tall structures. A mesh of interlocking horizontal cedar (locally, deodar) sleepers is created - and in this dressed or raw stones are packed. The most common type of kathkuni wall is made by laying apart two square section wooden wall beams longitudinally parallel to each other to define the width of the wall. These are lapjointed or nailed by the cross joist. The whole frame work done is known as cheol. With inherent elasticity, the design has an enormous seismic response - there have been instances when tremors have dislodged the stones from the frame, and later, have been hammered back into the intact mesh of wood houses and temples in the style are present in the districts of Shimla, Kinnaur and Kullu. In Chamba and the other places in the interiors of Himachal, where the use of wood is required to be curtailed, the kath- kunni technique is slightly modified by replacing the square-cut massive wooden wall beams with the thick wooden planks placed on edge, so that a box like

TRADITIONAL SETTLEMENTS
The construction of the house or the habitable places usually starts near the resources like agricultural land, water etc. Prior to the construction the due consideration is given to the Terrain and Climate. The traditional house is in the form of a hut, and a hamlet develops when there are more than one hut and a small temple, dedicated to the local deity is gradually added. Thus from a singular structure of a hut a small settlement is developed. A typical mountain village comprises of a compact group of houses arranged along the contours of preferably south facing slope. The focal points of villages were religious

space is formed within. The space is then filled with the hand packed stones. This technique is called farque in chamba. In certain regions, the construction system constitutes the erection of a timber frame work of uprights, beams and braces with dressed stone blocks as an infill material without any cementing material. This wall is popularly known as dhajji wall. Over the walls, a frame of the timber rafters and purlins is laid out for the pitched roof. The roofing on top is with slates as the material. The walls from the interior are usually finished with the mud plaster. The British for making their colonial edifices subsequently improvised the traditional dhajji wall (framed wall) construction mode of the region. The vernacular architecture of hamlets in Himachal Pradesh also varies from region to region, depending upon the climatic factors and the availability of local materials. In the regions, comprising the Kullu valley, Satluj valley and the Ravi valley, a great commonality of styles is visible. In the satluj valley region, the typical house consists of stone and timber walls, an indigenous style of construction, in which the walls are made of alternate courses of dry stone masonry and timber without any cementing mortar. In the hamlets located in the Ravi valley, the walls of the traditional houses are built mostly with the dried masonry, without using any alternate layers of timber. These walls are plastered with mud from both inside and the outside. A very common type of construction technique in the hill areas is to make the lower storey of the house in dry stone masonry withJuly 2007 ARCHITECTURE - Time Space & People 19

out any layer of timber beams and the upper floor exclusively in timber. The upper floor is projected on all the four sides supported by wooden posts and brackets. The main occupation of the hill region people is agriculture and cattle rearing. This has also been reflected in the planning of the habitats. The hill house usually consists of two rooms. One on top of another and is built with mud, stone and timber. Usually the ground floor is used for keeping cattle and storing grain and fodder. The upper floor is the main living area. In some part of the western Himalayan regions comprising Upper Kinnaur, Lahaul Spiti and Ladakh the architectural style has the different statement. Stone remains in use but its usage is restricted to the plinth. The locally available mud is used for the super structure. The mud is used on account of its easy availability, good insulation and the good binding properties. Two types of construction techniques are used here: (i) the rammed earth technique (ii) adobe construction. In the former style, the mud is filled into the wooden forms and rammed into the place slowly building up the wall. In the later sun dried mud blocks are used in the construction of the wall. The roof is kept flat and it is comprised of a closely packed layer of twigs supported on wooden beams and joists and resting on the wooden columns. Building with locally derived, unprocessed materials- materials as simple as soil beneath our feet- is a natural response to sustainable development. It significantly reduces the amount of energy and secondary resources needed for extraction, processing and fabrication.
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Stability of the structures is a much desired quality, required for the hill regions. Lying in the seismic zone 4 and partly in the high intensity seismic zone 5, faced with extreme climatic conditions and steep hilly terrains, the indigenous technology is an appropriate response. To counter the seismic forces, the traditional structures usually stand on a high solid plinth, made up of dry dressed stone masonry. The huge mass serves as a dampener pad to the earthquake forces and the dry construction allows for vibration and hence faster dissipation of the energy. So the traditional building techniques in the hill areas are the perfect examples of the sustainable development.

CONVENTIONAL CONSTRUCTION
Mindless application of conventional construction techniques and indiscriminate standardization of public works have replaced the vernacular materials and construction techniques. The construction style of traditional structures has undergone the gradual change in the hills. The main construction materials being used are conventional bricks, cement, glass, stone, steel and wood like the plains. The extensive use of these non-renewable materials and construction techniques do not harmonise in the hill settings and are unsustainable. Hence they are disturbing the ecology of the region.

PARADIGM SHIFT
It has been proved that sustainable design alternatives are morally, economically, environmentally and ethically superior to conventional design. Sustainable architecture

saves energy, water waste disposal and health costs to name a few. The rationale is simple using technology in concert with the natural processes of nature is more economical than using technology to overpower nature. However in the present context, all the hope is not yet lost. There are certain acclaimed Architects who think much ahead of their times. Architects are beginning to realise that the impacts and influences of their work reach far beyond the exterior walls of the buildings. So the Green Architect or the planner are concerned not only with the buildings but also with the environment, the resources, the local culture and economy, the materials and the environment from which the materials are originated. Ar. Anil Laul, the CEO and Principal Architect at Anangpur Building centre quotes, Traditionally, a considerable amount of importance was given to the choice of materials to ensure conservation of natural resources. It is the incorrect choice of materials that has resulted in the environmental degradation that we have today. Dharamshala based Architect Didi Contractor strongly believes in 3Rs'. These are Reduce, Recycle and Renew. She says, Sustainable design, an ideology which embraces the natural processes of the earth as its reality must replace conventional design practices. The building techniques she has developed and implemented in constructing the various houses and a clinic in the Sidhbari area is the smooth amalgamations of traditional building practices and modern technologies. According to her, as agriculture has been the main source of subsistence for most people in Himachal Pradesh, but

now pressure from the increasing population and globalisation of the monetary economy force more and more men to leave their native villages to compete for employment in the already crowded Indian cities. Labour intensive building methods can provide employment locally. So her buildings are deliberately planned to be labour intensive and serve as training sites for artisans. Didi's philosophy is to draw on traditional techniques and materials as much as possible, enhancing them with ecologically appropriate modern technology wherever necessary. She advocates the sage of renewable materials Bamboo and earth. Mud is a better insulator than cement or brick, an important consideration in Himachal. Another major advantage of using mud is its lesser moisture absorbing capacity than cement. Apart from using Mud and Bamboo, she has also made use of stone, steel, cement in her buildings but in minimal quantity. The use of the stone is till the window sill level in her buildings. As Dharamshala area receives the highest rainfall, the large overhangs have been given in the buildings. Conventional concrete beams and the traditionally used timber beams have been replaced with cement encased treated Bamboo, along with steel rods and minimal amount of cement. The ceiling is set over split bamboo on bamboo rafters at about one foot interval. These are given a protective covering coating and finished in black enamel, to enable them to last indefinitely. According to Didi, Bamboo is as strong as six-mm. iron reinforcing rod but costs far lessboth in terms of monetary and in damage to the environment through

manufacture and transport. The sloped design of the roof, in keeping with the local wisdom, is designed to fall outwards in case of an earthquake, an important consideration in the Kangra valley, which was totally devastated by a quake in 1905. For the wall the split Bamboos in the form of Chattra with chicken mesh and mud plaster has been used. The buildings designed by her are sustainable and close to nature. As in nature there is no waste, in the buildings designed by her water harvesting techniques and the sewerage treatment has been taken care of. She reasons that something built with local style will attract more tourists than the uniform concrete box buildings that already dot the landscape. In the end it is concluded that the traditional and vernacular buildings are are ecological sensitive designs. Any change in these designs should aim for human comfort and aesthetical needs and these sustainable designs help to save culture at the lowest possible ecological cost.

REFERENCES :
1. Balokhra Jag Mohan. (1995) The wonderful Himachal Pradesh. A survey of Geography, People, History, Art and Arch. Culture and Economy. HG Publication New Delhi. 2. Chauhan Ramesh (1992) Himachal Pradesh, Minerava Book House Shimla. 3. Doat P. Hays A. Matuk S. (1991), Building with earth, The mud village society, 4. Elizabeth Lynne, Adams Cassandra (2000) "Alternative Construction Contemporary Natural Building Methods" John Wiley & Sons. New york

5. G.B Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment and Development(1992) "Action Plan for Himalayan" (APH), 6. Ken Yeang (Nov. 2006) "What is Green Design" Architecture plus Design Vol.XXIII No.11 Media Transasia India Ltd. New Delhi P.138,140,142. 7. Khoshoo T.N(1988) "Environmental Concerns and Strategies" P. 3,5,10,37, 127 Ashish publishing house New Delhi. 8. Mcdonald Angus, (October 2003) At home in the Kangra Valley Inside Outside The Indian Design Magazine 220, P. 143-150 9. Meshram, D.S and Chotani M.L (March- April 1994) "An approach to hill area development" Spatio Economic Development Record 1 (1) p 4-8. 10. Ram Mansa (Oct-Nov 2003) "Green Architecture Bamboo House Bangalore" Architecture Plus Design A Journal of Indian Architecture Vol. XX No. 5 P 106-109. 11. Singh Goverdhan (1983) Art and Architecture of Himachal Pradesh. B.R Publishing Corporation, Delhi. 12. Thakur Laxman S. (1996) "The Architectural Heritage of Himachal", Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers Pvt. Ltd. 13. Wattas Rajnish (Nov-Dec 2000) Interventions in Vernacular Himachal Pradesh Architecture Plus Design A Journal of Indian Architecture Vol. XVII No. 6.P 114-118. Minakshi Jain, Asst. Prof. and Inderpal Singh, Asst. Prof. & Head, Deptt. of Architecture, NIT, Hamirpur. Photographs: Courtesy the Author.
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