SITE

SITE CONTEXT

THESIS PROJECT SITE

4.1 SITE SELECTION

Ziro lies in the Lower Subansiri District of Arunachal Pradesh, which has derived its name from the river Subansiri, a tributary of the river Brahmaputra.

Site is located on the existing Concert Area in Ziro which is Situated 4-5 km away from the main city helping in avoiding the blocking of view.

Land Use Plan

Development Controls

4.2 ABOUT ZIRO

It presents a picturesque landscape where the rice fields are surrounded by thickly forested mountains on all sides. They plant trees on private land even though they live in the middle of forests to support the expanding population, where planting follows cutting which has been a sustainable practice.

These forests are not only the source of fuel, fodder, food, and timber, but also a part of socio-cultural and ritualistic purpose.

Ziro valley comprises of the seven main historic villages namely Hong, Hari, Bulla, Hija, Dutta, Bamin-Michi and Mudang Tage, as already stated. Besides the seven traditional villages,recently some new settlements have been made by the Apatanis in places like Tarin,Hakhe-Tari, Siro, Manipolyang, Dilopolyang, Sibe, etc.

Fig 4.3 view of Ziro Fig 4.4 view of Ziro

Fig 4.5 view of Ziro

Fig 4.6 Map of Ziro

The emphasis of ethnic tourism, such as visits to native homes and folk villages to observe and/or participate in native customs, rituals, ceremonies and other traditional activities has a profound impact on the host culture and environment”.

The place is great for adventure seekers too; whether one is looking forward to a soul-captivating trekking experience, a jungle camping fun or wildlife exploration

4.3 SITE ANALYSIS AT MACRO LEVEL

Ziro has a humid subtropical to temperate type of climate with an average annual temperature of 16.8 °C. The climate may be divided into four seasons in a year, namely, the cold weather season December to February, the pre-monsoon season from March to May, the south-west monsoon from June to the middle of October and the post monsoon season from the second half of October to

November. December and January are the coldest months of the year, while July and August are warmest months in the valley.

Climate, temperature and rainfall patterns of a destination play an important role in determining the tourist flow and availability of tourism products. Like any other region of North East India, Ziro is also challenged by the seasonality aspect in tourism development resulting from the heavy monsoon season, which disrupts the accessibility through the hilly terrains causing landslides and road blockages.

Cloudy, sunny, and precipitation days

Maximum temperatures

Precipitation amounts

Wind rose

Drainage

Ziro is drained by the small river named Kile, which flows to the south for about 40 kms and meets the river Panior, near Yazali (Subansiri District Gazetteer). The river Kile acts as the main source of irrigation system in the Apatani plateau.

Soil type

The Apatani valley has humid black and reddish colored soil which has originated as a result of older alluvial deposits. The top soils are sandy loam to clayey loam in texture.

Forest Resource

Bamboo plantation of the Apatani tribe is yet another attraction, which is almost owned by every individual household. It serves the purpose of house construction, fencing, firewood, and also used as edible shoot consumption. It is the proper maintenance of these cane and bamboo gardens that has always helped the Apatani community to rebuild a house within two to three days in case of a fire breakout, which is an easy possibility for the closely packed villages. The bamboo plantation is dominated by a single species, Phyllostachys bambusoides (Giant Timber Bamboo), popularly known as bije bamboo.

Analysis

Sunny days in Ziro is very less, major days have pleasant weather which leads to design elements in buildings which leads to natural light in the space.

Rainy days is much more in jun.

Aug. month which reduces the tourist foot fall, By designing a building which provides proper facilities of stay, it will increase the tourism of Ziro.

4.4 SITE ANALYSIS AT MICRO LEVEL

4.5 AREA PROGRAMME

4.6 ABOUT APATANIS

The Apatanis, like the many tribes of Arunachal Pradesh, have no written script depicting their historical evidences from the past. It is only in the oral traditions, performances of rituals and beliefs and the material culture that the stories relating to their origin and migration is reflected.

Physical features of the Apatani tribe

The members of the Apatani tribe stand distinct in their physical appearance in comparison to their neighboring tribes. They have features which are somewhat not typical Mongoloid type.

The history behind this unusual facial feature is that the Apatani women were considered to be the most beautiful among other tribes and were constantly kidnapped by men of other tribes, especially the Nyishis. Therefore, in order to protect themselves by making them look less attractive, they started to wear nose plugs which were replaced every year, progressively increasing their size until it reached up to 5 centimeter in diameter. Further typical tattoos were marked over the face in blue lines running along the nose and chin. However, this brutal practice was stopped in the 1960s when the truce was signed between Apatani and Nishi tribes.

Fig 4.8 Apatani tribe Fig 4.9 Dance of Apatani tribe

Religion

From the earliest period of time, most of the Apatani tribes are followers of Donyi Polo faith Donyi means sun locally called Ayo Danyi and Polo for moon called as Atoh Piilo.

Food and beverages

The Apatanis have a very simple cuisine, where rice is the staple food besides maize and millet and take it with pork and beef or fish and vegetables mostly in boiled form. Supplementary diet consists of wild roots and shoots, herbs and shrubs. Rice beer is very much common among this tribe which is prepared in every household, served with local herbal salt known as tapyo and boiled meat as well as some herbs.

Fig 4.10 Facial feature of Apatani tribe Fig 4.11 Apatani tribe women

SOCIAL LIFE, FAIRS AND FESTIVALS

The Apatani society is traditionally divided into two classes; Mite and Mura, meaning the rich and the poor respectively. The upper class hold the larger part of land and are believed to have more power and influence in administrative decisions.

The tribe is known for their colorful culture with various festivals, intricate handloom designs, skills in cane and bamboo crafts, and vibrant traditional village councils called bulyañ.

Fairs and Festivals

Fairs and festivals play an integral role in the life of every Apatani. It is an expression of their culture and tradition. Although there are many ceremonial fairs and festivals in the Apatani society, the three important and focused are Murung, Myoko and Dree festivals, celebrated in the month of January, March and July respectively.

Fig 4.12 Apatani tribes dance Fig 4.13 Apatani tribes in ziro festival

Dance and Music

The Apatani tribe has many popular dance forms and music which are mainly performed during the festival time. One of the most popular dance and music performance is Daminda, which is performed during the celebration of Dree festival

Art and Craft

Fig 4.14 Crafts of Apatani tribe The Apatani tribe is known for making many items made of bamboo (bije) and cane (tarpi) for their daily requirement. These traditional products have now become craft items with attractive designs sold as souvenirs

4.7 Housing Characteristics of Apatanis

Apatani’s believed in living together. Oral history says that they always lived in a colony together as a family. Apatani’s live in middle altitude region. They follow Row housing system. Walls of all the adjacent house are attached. The planning of house is done in continuous pattern in a row until or unless there is a breakage like a road or any other obstacle in between.

Plan is divided in two parts, first part of the house is used as storage space, hen coop. The second part of the house is the main living area, where almost all the activities are done like cooking, sleeping, resting, changing, chit-chatting, house hold work, practicing handicraft, seaving. At the center of the living area is the fire place called ‘Oogu’. The fire usually burns throughout the day, especially during the cold season. It is not only for cooking and warmth but also to keep insects away. The area of the house is adjusted according to the size of the family. The Fire Place is defined by placing wooden logs in a rectangular form called ‘Piri’. The wood and meat which is to be used is placed right above the fireplace in two levels. The place where it is kept is called ‘Darake’.It is made of wood and hang with the help of jute or cane rope tied to the ceiling.

The houses are on Silts and are called ‘Chang Ghar’.The height of the slit varies from 1.5-2m.The reason for using Slits: • Protection against disaster (Arunachal is landslide prone area). • Space of the stilts are used as pig pit. The main stairs ‘Abya’, leads to the veranda called ‘Simbya’ leading to the entrance to the house.

Fig 4.15 Typical house of Apatani tribe

Fig 4.16 Inside house of Apatani tribe

Fig 4.17 Inside house of Apatani tribe

Elements of Apatani House

Abya (Staircase):

Abya is the Staircase leading to the veranda of the house. It varies in size and shape. Materials from which it is made may also vary from house to house

Simbya (Veranda)

Simbya is a veranda leading to the entrance of the house. In most of the houses there are two Simbya one in the front and other at the back of the house. The size of the Simbya may vary from house to house. A parapet is made covering the Simbya. The design, height and the material used to make the parapet may vary from house to house.

Aangya,Babo (Totem)

It is a post made of bamboo, which can be seen outside every house. It is believed

Fig 4.18 Fig 4.19 Fig 4.20

Fig 4.21 Fig 4.22 Fig 4.23

to be sacred for the Apatani’s. These are of two type ‘Aangya’ and ‘Babo’. Aangya is the shorter post which is decorated with cane, egg shells and bird feather. Babo is more like a pole that is decorated using thin strips of cane and bamboo. It is placed outside their house throughout the year. These are changed during the festival of Myoko. Their design may vary from house to house.

Fig 4.24 Fig 4.25

Aai jiri (Pig pit)

The houses being built on the stilts have space below them. This space is used for the pigs and is called ‘Aai jiri’. The Aai jiri serves as a space for the pigs to eat and stay. All the waste from the house, the vegetable waste, meat waste and human excreta are discarded into the Aai jiri. There are openings given in the Aai jiri for proper air circulation for the pigs staying there. The main material used to make the Aai jiri is bamboo or timber. The design and size may vary from house to house according to their requirements and needs.

Fig 4.26

Window

There are no windows in a typical Apatani house. The only source of light and ventilation were the doors.

Aaiye (Door)

Aaiye is made of bamboo or timber. The standard door size for an Apatani house is 750X1800 mm. Since, the Apatani people are short so the standard size is different in their style of Architecture. The design of the door may vary from house to house.

Fig 4.27 Door of Apatani House

Tarsi (Walls)

The Tarsi are made of bamboo or timber.

The main supporting columns for the walls are long bamboo or wooden logs. And the walls are mainly made of bamboo weaved together in different patterns or wooden planks.

Fig 4.28

Myopii (Floor) and Reke (Ceiling)

Myopii and Reke are made of bamboo or timber placed in different pattern and style accordingly. For supporting the Myopii and Reke bamboo or timber joists are used.

In the image we can see that bamboo is used in the ceiling which is supported by another bamboo member, wooden planks are used for the wall which

is also supported by bamboo, and bamboo weaved is used for flooring which is supported by floor joists.

Nengka (Toilet)

In the old Apatani house no proper space for Nengka was defined. In some of the houses there was just a partition in one corner of the house and a hole was there in that space. The waste from that hole was

discarded into the Aai

jiri (pig pit). In the below image the bamboo platform we see is used to sit facing towards the wall and the waste is disposed into the pig pit.

Fig 4.30

Malo (Roof)

Malo is made of bamboo supported by bamboo or timber purlins and rafter. Image shows the use of bamboo in the roof which is supported by long bamboos.

Fig 4.33

Storage space

There are two storage space. First one is the space is between the ceiling and the roof of the living area of the house and the other one is the first part of the house All the regularly needed things are used in the first part of the house, it is also as hen coop. All their extra things like utensils, wood, food,their local drink (Apong) is also left for fermentation there.

Fig 4.34 Fig 4.35

MATERIALS

Materials used are:

• Bamboo • Wood • Stone • Dry paddy straws, thatch grass, cane leaves, banana leaves.

Bamboo:

Bamboo, known as ‘Green Gold of Arunachal Pradesh’. Bamboo used for construction are Bambusa tulda,Dendrocalamus hamiltonii,Dendrocalamus hamiltonii, Bambusa tulda. Bamboo is the most commonly is used in every elements of architecture like roof, floor, ceiling, wall, and stairs.

Fig 4.38 Fig 4.39

Wood

Woods used are Pine and Teak wood. As these are very easily available in the jungle. It is used for wall, flooring, stairs, door, as supporting members.

Stone

Stone is used for steps. Dry paddy straws, thatch grass, cane leaves, banana leaves, Chinese palm They are used for rope for tying the joints in constructions. It is also used for decorating, basketing.