The P.u.s.h effect People.urban.society.heritage
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Master Thesis by Rakshya Rayamajhi(4053690) Master in Monumental Heritage Hochschule Anhalt Anhalt University of Applied Science SS 2012 With Thesis Advisors: Prof. Dr. Omar Akbar
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Prof. Dr. Rudolf L端ckmann
Abstract. “The inner historic cities are increasingly ghettoized, with the middle-class and economic activities either fleeing the historic core or actively destroying its very fabric. In the developing world, the crisis of identity is manifest in the choice of architectural vocabularies. These tend to either reject the contemporary and repeat the iconic forms of the past-a position charged with ideology by a type of architectural traditionalist fundamentalism-or they try to break out of the locale and import the westernized modern as an expression of 'progress". Both of these approaches tend to be heavy handed and devoid of sensibility to either time or space.� - Ismail Serageldin, Vice-President, the World Bank, Washington, DC
The main research agenda of this project is to research on the urban pattern of the historic core city and the aspects which are threatened because of urbanization. Case focus is on Patan which is the second largest urban enter of Kathmandu valley, Nepal. The city origin dates back to 3rd century and has a very rich heritage .The main problem is the historic traditional houses which reflects the rich architecture of Nepal being demolished or in a state of decay. This research is an attempt to identify the values and importance of these traditional buildings in this least urbanized with fast urbanising city. It attempts to answer questions like why these buildings should be saved and conserved? Why just a restoration project is not enough and what we as architects, conservers and urban planners can propose as strategic interventions to revitalize the losing heritage.
Table of Contents: Abstract Content Page Urban Population vs Heritage Cities
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Traditional buildings importance
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Example:Kathmandu valley
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form and design
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Timeline
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Function
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Case focus:Patan
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Building materials
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Myths and legends
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Construction
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Urban Character
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Urban Hierarchy
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Urban Pattern
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Building types
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Actions and measures
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Role of the City Centre
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Conservation in patan
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Literacy and Economy
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Conservation recommendation and initiative
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Religion
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Fastivals
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Alternative approach
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UNESCO monument zone
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Present scenario Problem:Erodation of traditional buildings
Population
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Climate
Information Layers
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Proposed interventions
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Conclusion
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On city scale
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Biblography
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On house hold scale
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Urban Population vs Heritage Cities. The current estimate for world population as of starting 2012 is 6,984,895,594. The birth rate is 20 births per 1,000 populations whereas death rate is 8 deaths per 1000 population. Put simply, 245 births each minute and 102 people die each minute. The rate at which the world population is growing each year is about 1.3 percent. Around 60% of this world’s population lives in Asia1. Urban areas in Asia are under enormous pressure to industrialize and maximize their economic potential. Cities are busy expanding to accommodate the emigration of people due to which heritage places may be overlooked and compromised. , The continent with large number of developing countries has a great proportion of 100 historic cities and nearly 200 sacred sites listed on the World Heritage List.
Developing countries Industralised countries fig 1:population growth of developing countries and industralised countries.(Source:the sustainable scale project )
One of those historic cities is Patan in Nepal where traditional buildings are demolished or decaying every single day. There is an Urban-Rural population shift in Nepal, and rural communities are shrinking.Urban cities in developing countries are more affected by this shift as resources and opportunities are limited compared to developed cities. Nepal is not a rich country and like most developing countries is affected by rapid social and economic change, Which puts pressure on traditional environments and lifestyles, especially Since most of the world heritage sites forms part of living cities.
national location
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Kathmandu valley Kathmandu valley has become an important issue in context of population growth in Nepal. The bowl shaped valley in the central part of Nepal is surrounded by hills. It is stretching municipal boundaries and is rapidly converting open spaces and agricultural fields into a brick and concrete jungle The agriculture land has decreased from 62% to 42% between 1984 and 2000(figure-2).It has been estimated by different sources that if this trend continues there will be no agricultural fields left in the Valley by 2025². Among 58 municipalities in the country, Kathmandu Valley has five of them with 30% of the total urban population. There are three main historic urban center in the valley: Kathmandu, lalitpur(popularly known as patan) and Bhaktapur which are surrounded by a number of smaller towns. As of 2011 census, total population of the valley was estimated to be around five million 1,107,370 in 1991 to 1,647,092 in 2001(Kathmandu valley:Wikipedia).
1967
1978
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fig 2: change in landuse (kathmandu valley)
Kathmandu Bhaktapur
The 3 urban centers
The valley which alone has 7 monument heritage sites out of ten in Nepal is on the verge of turning in to brick and concrete jungle without a clear vision of development. Cultivated lands are being developed and the cost of living in the city is escalating. The infrastructure is limited and the numbers of occupant are increasing. This imbalance is degrading not only the quality of life for people living in the city but also causing a threat to the heritage and monuments.
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fig 3:architectural timeline of kathmandu valley
Timeline As the valley was ruled by different kings and rulers, they had their own style of architecture which were displayed in temples,stupas,monuments and houses. there was a blend of different styles .Patan is supposed to be the ancient among the three cities since The Kirats who are the first documented rulers of the Kathmandu Valley; the remains of their palace are said to be in Patan near Hiranyavarna Mahavihara (called “Patukodon�) (Kathmandu valley:Wikipedia).
Eventually the city was ruled by Licchavi Dynasty,the malla Dynasty,shah Dynasty .The malla era is supposed to be the most important period in architecture.This period is also known as golden era. We can find innumerous and beautiful architecture from this period among which the typical newari house is also one of them.Most of ancient Nepali architecture was destroyed during the earthquake of 1934
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kathmandu valley was declared world heritage site in 1979.it was later listed in endangered list in 2003.Recently in 2007 it was able to opt out from the endangered list.
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legend: 1.swayambu temple 2.kathmandu durbar square 3.patan durbar square 4.Pashupatinath temple 5.boudhanath stupa 6.changunarayan temple 7.bhaktapur durbar square
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fig 4: seven world heritage sites in kathmandu valley a
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Patan Myths and legends: With a rich past and a history that speaks of gods and goddesses mingling with mere mortals, one can find a story behind every temple, monument, locality or festival. The valley of Kathmandu abounds in tales and legends, stories that have been handed down from generation to generation.Lalitpur which literary meaning means the city of fine arts (patan) has many legends after its name. The most popular one is the legend of the God Rato Machhindranath, who was brought to the valley from Kamaru Kamachhya, located in Assam, India, by a team of three people representing three kingdoms of the valley. One of them is called Lalit, a farmer who carried God Rato Machhindranath to the valley all the way from Assam, India. The purpose of bringing the God Rato Machhindranath to the valley was to overcome the worst drought in the valley. There was strong belief that the God Rato Machhindranath would make rain in the valley. It was Lalit's effort that the God Rato Machhindranath was settled in Lalitpur. Many believe that the name of the town is kept after his name Lalit and Pur means township in Nepal.
to kathmandu to India
to bhaktapur,Tibet
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An animated Sadhu shares stories of Hindu myth and legend at the holy Pashpatinath Temple near Kathmandu
fig 5: patan’s(green shaded area) route context
Lalitpur Sub-metropolitan City popularly known as patan is the second largest city in Kathmandu Valley after kathmandu(the capital city)encompassing 15.43 square kilometre area. It is Located about 5 km south of Kathmandu in the Kathmandu Valley, on the southern side of the Bagmati River and is dated back more than two centuries (Tiwari, S. R. 2001). MMH _SS_2012.
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urban pattern of kathmandu and patan in 1975 AD
urban pattern of kathmandu and patan in 1995 AD
fig 6: change of urban pattern(kathmandu and patan) drawings-Niels gutschow and Hermann kreutzmann MMH _SS_2012.
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Urban character: Patan’s plan has been compared to the chakra,the symbolic wheel,and it is clearly organised around a cross of two intersenting main roads that not only serve as practical links to the rest of the valley and its ancient trade routes but also ritually tie the city into a greater cosmic context. The north south more exactly NNE/SSW(axis in its continuation not only leads to the most important ancient sites but beyond perhaps to the direction of the highest mountain called shivapuri of the valley³ The urban boundary of the then Lalitpur city was defined by the four stupas located at four cardinal directions, at Pulchowk, Lagankhel, Imadol and Sankhamul, separating it from the surrounding fertile agricultural land. In addition to this these stupas said to have been erected by Ashoka the Great, a Mauryan king, in the 3rd century. there is no evidence fig 7: The four stupas as boundary supporting Ashoka’s visit, but history has that the up p stupas probablyy do date to that century.4 Urban hierarchy: City based on madala form The city of Lalitpur is one of the three main cities of Kathmandu valley which also consist of several other small satellite settlements like Lubhu, Khokana, Bugamati, and there existed close socio-economic and cultural linkages between. The city like other cities in the valley shows distinct urban settlement and land use pattern. The settlements were compact in nature and within them were hierarchy of spaces depending upon the social position held by the people especially during the Malla period.
fig 8:The Paramasukha Chakrasamvara Mandala
The town as a mandala.The king is represented in the centre, surrounded by highcaste toles and then middle caste and low caste eventually within the boundary. MMH _SS_2012.
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fig 9. The Malla settlement plan of Lalitpur.The black roads were added to theexisting white roads. The dotted linerepresents the town boundary
fig 10. The twenty-four toles in Lalitpur
The royal palace or Durbar Square with series of courtyards and big open spaces with temples in it occupied the central position within the city. The immediate area surrounding the palace was allocated for the priests, noblemen and people belonging to the high castes. Next to this were people of the business community, craftsmen, farmers and workers. To the outermost boundary or the periphery of the city were the lower caste
fig 11. The relative position of the dalit communities(untouchables)
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fig 12: distribution of communities in patan
According to recent survey,it was seen that they people still maintained their community eventhough the hierarchy system is not in practise anymore.
Urban pattern: Patan City was planned in bahals and Bahils. Out of 295 bahals and Bahils of the valley 56% of them are in Patan6 so the urban pattern is heavily dominated by courtyard system houses.( bahals and bahils:bahal is a monumentalised courtyard house and at times next to bahal a larger courtyard is formed known as nani around which the houses of individual families are arranged.)
fig 13: urban fabric of patan urban core
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NEWARS Population(The People) The population of patan, as per census 2001, is 1,62,991 and is constituted by 84,502 males and 78,489 females living in a total of 68,922 households with an average family size of 4.66 persons; and a male-to-female ratio of 1.08. In 1854 AD, the population of the city and the suburban area was estimated at 29,964.(LSMC website) In the 1991 census, the total population of LSMC was 1,15,865, with a growth rate of 3.79 per cent per annum from the previous census year of 1981. Therefore, in the intervening ten years, between 1991- 2001 the population increased recording a growth rate of 3.47 per cent per annum, which is much higher than the national growth rate of 2.24 per cent per annum, but somewhat lesser than the previous decade figure. The major contributing factor to this situation was the migration of the people from other parts of the country. At 2011 the population was recorded to be 229,852.(LSMC)
162,991
2001 78,489
350
84,502
female
300 250 200
68,922 households
150 3.47%
100
3.7%
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average family size of 4.66 Persons.
0 1981
1991
2001
2011
2021
fig 14:population in patan The inhabitants of the city are called the
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male
NEWARS
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ARTISTIC Climate:
literacy and economy:
Patan lies within warm temperate climate zone of Kathmandu valley, with typical monsoonal two- season year. Yearly average temperature in the city is 15-20o Celsius and receives yearly average rainfall of 2000-2400 mm. There's the dry season from October to May and there's the wet season, the monsoon, from June to September. It has hot, dry and warm season from mid April to mid October. Dry and cold season occurs from mid October to mid January and cold and wet season from mid January to mid April.(LSMC)
The literacy rate is 80.9% resulting to only 5.2 % of people being unemployed.more than 70 percent of people belong to the poor and lower medium categories. Since historic times economy has been relying on trade, commerce and agriculture. With its once fertile agricultural land being transformed for urban use, today agriculture forms only a small part of its economy.The city is known as city of fine arts.So most of the people are skilled craftsman whose work can be seen on temples, soveniers, monuments etc. Business and service sector is the largest contributor to its economy.(LSMC)
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FAITH Religion: The newars follow both buddhism and hindusim.In the present context around 75% in patan follow Buddhism.However,the religion is fused in a way where both participate in some of eachother rituals so there is this harmony between this two religion and so can be seen in architecture of temple,house and culture as well.
The ritual dance of Astamatrika i. e. Eight mother goddesses, tutelary deities of Hindus performed by Buddhist newar men(no woman)
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Festivals
CULTURAL
The city observes many large and small festivals that occur throughout the year.The chariot procession known as Rato (Red) Machhendranath is the biggest event in Patan. The festival honors Machhendranath, the god of rain and plenty, who is worshipped by both Hindus and Buddhists in different incarnations, and has shrines at both Patan and in the village of Bungamati, a town few miles south of Patan. The festival, held when the monsoon season is approaching, is a plea for plentiful rain.
The image of the god, a carved piece of red-painted wood, is taken from the shrine in the Pulchowk area at the start of the festivities and paraded around the city in several stages on a wheeled chariot. The chariot is a huge wooden wagon that is towed by hundreds of devotees which is being hauled about a month through streets The Kumari, who is considered a living goddess, also attends the event.
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PROUD UNESCO
monument zone : The most
important monument of the city is Patan Durbar Square, which has been listed by UNESCO as one of seven Monument Zones that make up the Kathmandu Valley World Heritage Site. The square, situated in the heart of the city, consists of enchanting melange of palace buildings, artistic courtyards,temples with beautiful wood, metal and stone carved structures and graceful pagoda temples. The former royal palace complex is the center of Patan's religious and social life.the square is a living museum where all walks of life socialize for a chat ,tea or share gossips.
fig 15: UNESCO Monument Zone.
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Present Scenario
fig 17.Elevation of houses in Patan. Source:student’s project work 1
Historic Core is turning in to a jungle of Concrete slums. In this process traditional buildings are being demolished.
fig 16.landuse change
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Buildings in transformation.
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Problem:Erodation of traditional buildings
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On city scale: The things which make the traditional style of architecture in the patan (unique balance, proportion and quality) are missing from modern structures being built. It is understandable that people want new things and better standards of living. Also, that people are more interested these days in rebuilding their old houses using 'modern' materials and methods. Many buildings are being ripped down due to the scarcity of accommodation. Buildings which are rebuilt often have minimal walls structures, more storeys and illegal cantilevers out over the main streets or public courtyards. The cantilever is also an encroachment into the public spaces, which is potentially dangerous as earthquake safety factors have rarely been considered. In the narrow lanes, streets are very dark owing to tall,multi-storey buildings with illegal cantilevers. The upper storeys are also built dangerously close to electricity poles.
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On house hold scale: Everybody wants to have modern facilities and renovations to their houses. Families in newar community are extended and are dynamic, so more living space is required. Most people are not able to afford new land or larger houses so will try to accommodate the growing family in the same house somehow. The only solution, homeowners think, is to rebuild in new modern materials with minimal wall thickness.in Nepal there is a tradition by a father to give his house to his son.so,if he has three sons then he divides the house vertically to his three sons.later is there is conflict between them then it is clearly seen from the division of the house. This is a great risk to old houses. For this reason, many important historical elements have been lost. Once the house is divided vertically, the requirement for a stairway partition walls and lobby in each home means wasted space. This makes the living space more smaller.
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Traditional buildings importance Form and Design: Newari culture, temples and traditional houses in the Kathmandu Valley tell stories of richness, ingenuity and creativity of people. Traditional beliefs, life style and rituals of people are deeply associated with values, love of God, respect and humbleness . A Newari house is characterized by the use of natural materials, the intricate wood carving and brickwork, low ceilings and welcoming
fig 18: The eighty-one square vastupurusa mandala.
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Small entry doors that require the visitor to bow when entering a Newari home signifies a symbolic offering of respect to the place where they dwell.
The loci of the place is represented as the cosmic man superimposed on the mandala. The cosmic man lies in yogic pose, face down,with his head in the northeast (most auspicious) corner. The various parts of his anatomy - head, body, and limbs represent the diviniti es with which they share squares. For example, all the cosmic man's vital organs, including his heart, are placed on the square of Brahma. Brahma is thought to be in every dwelling, responsible for the good and bad fortune of the owner. Brahma's heart, limbs, and head are the heart, limbs, and head of the house, and must be treated well during construction. In theory, the floor plan of the Newar house is laid our according to the models of various concentric diagrams called the mandalas, which indicate the location and orientation of courtyards and built-up spaces. Since the dwelling is laid out according to the vastupurusa mandala, each part of it is associated with a divine being. This is made clear by the various offerings and images that are placed in niches beside doorways and at other strategic places.7 MMH _SS_2012.
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The four sides of the house ideally face the cardinal points and in the center is usually a square courtyard, sometimes reduced to little more than a light shaft. Often several houses belonging to members of an extended family will be grouped around a common courtyard, in the center of which, in the place corresponding to the square of Brahma, will be placed the family shrine, dedicated to the principle deity of the household7′′ 5
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fig 19. Plan of a Newari traditional house
The traditional newari house is usually of rectangular plan shape and developed over three storeys. The depth of the plan is usually about 6 metres with facades of various widths but most commonly between 4 to 8 metres7′
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Function The traditional Newar house is three to four stories high and maintains a vertical as well as horizontal hierarchy. The intricacy of its facade is an indicator of the social status of its occupants8 . With a spine wall running through the height, creating front and back rooms. At the upper storey the spine wall is sometimes replaced by a timber frame system so as to create a larger continuous space. The staircase is usually a single flight to one side of the plan. The typical inter storey height is quite modest, between 2.20 and 2.50 m., including the floor structure. The lowest floor (cheri) normally serves as a storage place for agricultural implements and goods, and sometimes may contain a small shop. The second floor (matan) is the private sleeping room. The next level (chota) contains the room for public entertaining as well as housework, and usually opens to the street through large, exquisitely carved windows.(A feature of the older buildings is the SanJhya window, a richly decorated window that takes most of the facade at the third story level.)
fig 20:SECTION(legend) 1-cheri, 2-matan, 3-chota, 4-bhaigah
The top-most floor (bhaigah) serves as the kitchen. This is the most private and most sacred part of the house, and it is off limits to those who might pollure it by being of unclean caste or by behaving improperly. It makes sense to have kitchen on the top floor when people use firewood for cooking, so smoke doesn't go through the whole building. On this level may also be located other family shrines that are used for religious ceremonies.9 This ascending vertical order, from the profane to the sacred,is similar to the concentric order built into the layout of towns.
Ritual strongly influences social life as well as movement in both The urban design of the old city was dominated by courtyard system. Buildings were built around interconnected courtyards large and small. Often the buildings in a courtyard are owned by people belonging to a single caste, which also determined the occupation of the people in those days. Courtyards were an essential element of the urban fabric serving the multiple needs of its inhabitants ยน0.These provided vital open spaces within the compact settlements where cultural and religious activities that dominated the social life of the people were performed. In addition they also provided space for economic activities and recreation. MMH _SS_2012.
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Building Materials and Construction Environment, materials and crafts activities have all had an important role in the development and recognition of so called ‘Nepali’ architecture, otherwise known as the ‘Newar’ style. A distinguishing factor of the style as a whole is the way in which the two principal materials, wood and brick, are used. They are used to make up building elements using technological processes that have evolved over many centuries to create a distinctive style of architecture. The material that unifies this architecture with its environment is the clay soil of the Valley. The soil was and still used for the fabrication of bricks and the tiles for the roof¹¹. The construction of each unit is usually independent so that the facades are not continuum over party walls but each unit forms a separate cell. In such cases connection between facades and sidewalls are usually very good. The most interesting characteristic of these buildings both from an architectural and seismic point of view is the presence of the timber frame. Usually at ground floor, on the facade, to provide an open space for workshops or shops. It is also found internally at the upper storeys¹². In some cases the masonry only forms the outer shell while the internal structure is all made of timber elements. In the better built example of this typology there are a number of construction details, usually made of timber, which, coupled with the brick masonry walls, substantially improve the seismic performance of the overall structure. These features are best preserved in older examples. Currently these buildings are substantially being altered by use of western materials and technology, typically adding concrete frames as upper storeys.
fig 21. Section of a traditional house.-N.Gutschow,
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A Typical Newari House
Elevation
Section
fig 22. section and elevation of typical urban house,an example of traditional architecture with their local names,drawing:N.Gutschow,newari towns and buildings
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Building Types c. Rana (from 1867 to the earthquake of 1934): a.MallaPeriod(from 1200 to 1768):
b.Shah Period (from1768 to 1867):
Buildings during this period are the old traditional buildings. Wherever possible symmetry was the main design issue on the facades. When the ground floor is not used as shop front or a workshop, this section of the facade remains quite simply executed with a low narrow door and one or two window on either side.Any irregularities in the ground floor facade due to a door or row of columns are not repeated in the upper storeys, which are arranged independently
In the beginning of this period most of the houses were still built in Malla Period style, but enlarging in proportion. Only sanjhyah, now less ornate, was retained in its original location on the faรงade. By the middle of this period there was the influence of Mughal architecture, which may have introduced stucco plaster in the valley for the first time.
Most of the outside influence arrived in the valley in this period. Before the turn of the century the trend towards lighter, larger and simple windows was introduced. These window are vertical in proportion, sized about 914.4mmx1524mm( 3'x5'). Sanjhyah was also replaced by the same type window, but in some cases three of them were put together to give the same appearance as sanjhyah. The faรงade took on a vertical appearance, but still an uneven number of windows per storey was retained whenever the length of the house permitted it.
fig 24. Shah period house
fig 25. Shah period house
fig 23. malla period house 13
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fig 26. transformation facade showing typical changes from malla to rana periodDrawing:W.Korn.the traditional architectural of the kathmandu valley
During these period the building may have changed its facade but they were propotioned in height and respected eachother. These houses formed a kind of collage which blended with the environment and created harmony .However, this unique tradition of traditional buildings and land use gradually diminished not just in Lalitpur but also in the whole of Kathmandu Valley with the advent of Rana rule in Nepal. The noble Rana rulers built several mansions exhibiting their power and supremacy at several locations .
Eventually with the introduction of new technology and materials,the traditional buildings were starting to lose their importance .(extract from: The heritage homeowner's preservation manuals for UNESCO world heritage sites-Keshav Mangal Joshi-2006)
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Actions and Measures Role of City Centre: Tourism has become like a culture in Nepal. It has even been considered as the basis for the development of the country itself and thus is promoted by the local as well as the international organizations. Patan has been a conglomerate of diversities. The city featured the fusion of Buddhism and Hinduism, indicating the religious diversity nature of their ruling. Festivals and ancient rituals depicted the cultural side of the city and then there were different people from different castes working together reminding of the social harmony. Losing such diversity would lead to a disastrous end.
Conservation in Patan: There were more than a hundred projects on conservation alone implemented by the municipality each year. The focus was mainly on socio-culturally important monuments of both national and international level. They were of temples, shrines, rest houses, the traditional stone spouts, rehabilitation of historical ponds, brick and stone pavings in the historical monument zone. The Sub-Metropolitan City Office was successfully implementing the projects on the conservation of monuments and public buildings. The national and international agencies and organizations were also supporting technically and financially in this endeavour. The work was quite satisfactorily being performed.
It would result in the disappearance of the city’s potential of being a tourist center. It would bar them from the economic as well as the cultural growth. Thus, it should be noted that priority should be taken at organizing local activities and enhancing the cultural aspect of the society, and tourism actually should be a means to support these activity. But then, different measures should be applied to avoid the erosion and corrosion of the traditional dwellings in the city of arts and achieve sustainable development.
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Degutaleju temple dating back to 16th century including other different monuments in world heritage site are restored and are still under resoration projects.
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Kulima Narayan Temple Ruined early 18th century temple was dramatically restored to its original configuration.
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Pimbahal pokaria traditional pond which was rehabilitated on the basis of old sketch records. fig: patan durbar square palace(source:KVPT) MMH _SS_2012.
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But since the conservation was more focused on the monuments, the private houses were being overlooked. Due to modern movements and technology many new buildings were constructed either on open spaces or agricultural lands or by demolishing old buildings. This trend of change was noticed in the important historic streetscape of many places within and outside the monument zone. The construction of non compatible buildings were considerably changing the historical setting of patan and their daily lifestyle.
Conservation recommendation and initiative: (extract:conservation in developing countries: Patan world heritage site in the list in danger-Rita Carraro, Francesca Cipolla, Lila Rubi Oriard-2003/2004) In 1993 UNESCO committee expressed deep concern over the state of conservation of the site and considered the possibility of placing this site on the List of World Heritage in Danger. Due to the continued deterioration within the World Heritage site, the World Heritage Committee at its 27th session in 2003 decided to inscribe the property on the List of World Heritage in Danger .
fig 27. Urban age of the patan monument zone.
Following this decision, an international technical workshop on the Kathmandu Valley World Heritage Site in Danger was organized in May 2004 and a numbers of conclusions were drawn.
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This workshop concluded with recommendations to strengthen and capacity building of the Patan heritage unit to manage conservation work within monument zone.As per the recommendation, the SubMetropolitan City upgraded its Heritage Unit to Heritage Conservation Section. Culture and Archaeology Unit was established. Different strategies were proposed and once again The Sub-Metropolitan City office worked vigourously on safe guarding the cultural heritage. It started to make inventories of the buildings within the World Heritage Site. The inventory of street facades were prepared . The works were basically to enhance the visual aspect of the historic street scape. But the tasks were not still effective. Cases of erodation of traditional buildings done by the research shown in the diagram. If the demolition rate goes on as it went in the last decades, by 2025 there will be no more traditional houses left in Patan.
fig 28. patan monument zone with heritage value buildings.
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Alternative approach Traditional buildings function as the fabric, which holds together Patan’s traditional patterns of life and its cultural heritage. At present the concepts of Adaptive re-use of traditional buildings such as Rajbhandary house and shrestha house have been very positively considered by the Submetropolitan City Office.but according to research it shows that this has been also not been that satisfactory. 16
The owner states that the business is only at break even point. The main sustainable way for running the business is depended upon the restaurant. The Apartment business is not sustainable. The guests nowadays go to modern housing apartments in modern housing project areas for accommodation. Enough spaces for car parking, sufficient drinking water supply, electricity, security guards, etc are not attractive and perfect in this traditional house. There are some disturbances of noise from the surrounding residential houses. It is costly to maintain old buildings and there are lack of expert masons. It is costly to repair a traditional house compared to RCC buildingš³. In a situation where UNESCO has just removed the City from endangered list the Municipality and all the related line agencies have to be very careful about sustainability matters. The most important step will be to introduce some more intervention not only to improve the building condition but to aware the local people who would actually feel proud of
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Traditional house
occupants importance
Information layers
characteristic
unmaintenance
Keeping all the important analysis in consideration,this research will be executed by proposing a list of strategic tools that will help to stop the erodation of the traditional buildings of patan.
neccessity erodation findings
access
economy
historical significance
Data
awareness
Data
form and design
building materials
function
building types
Data people
Urban characteristic
sustainability
urban hierarchy
Importance
urban pattern
cultural identity
conservation measures role of city centre conservation recommendation and initiative
Strategy
new interventions
upgrade
awareness
Program
define streets
workshops commercial provision
heritage walk
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Lack of awarness about restora!on concept and recogni!on of cultural/economic value of tradi!onal buildings.
Poor knowledge about poten!als of restored tradi!onal buildings
Local people consider new requirements incompa!ble with restora!on.
Lack of technical assistance
Lack of facili!es to maintain or restore Lack of adequate infrastructures for local people Actual role of city not defined
Lack of economic assistance
Lack of incen!ves for the owners of tradi!onal buildings
People has a nega!ve percep!on of tradi!onal buildings
There are not loans for f r fo restora!on of tradi!onal houses
Tradi!onal buildings have less value
Owners of tradi!onal buildings prefer prefe f r to invest money in new buildings ngs instead of maintain their th heir old proper!es
Bank assign loans for f r fo modern buildings
Lack of disincen!ves to incompa!ble transforma!on of the houses The erosion of tradi!onal tradi!o onal buildings increase Owners of tradi!onal houses lprefer to move outside and rent their houses
Problem tree:
Create awarness about restora!on concept and recogni!on of cultural/economic value of tradi!onal buildings. Local people will consider new requirements compa!ble with restora!on.
knowledge about poten!als of restored tradi!onal buildings
DEMOLITION OF TRADITIONAL BUILDINGS
People have posi!ve percep!on of tradi!onal buildings
technical assistance
Owners of tradi!onal buildings prefer prefe f r to invest money in old buildings gs instead of construc!ng construc!n ng new ones
economic assistance
Actual role of city defined
“Familiarity breeds contempt”.The citizens get adapted with their environment and step by step become less aware of it. The city becomes a habit. Here in lies the need to make the citizens aware of the significance of their built environment and to assist them develop a harmonious and contemporary relationship with it. In a sense, urban revitalization does not just rebuild the city, it rebuilds people’s relationship with the city. Their lies a need that the old buildings and older areas of the city should be looked upon as assets rather than as liabilities because they represent the history of communities, embodying their tradition, heritage and culture through architecture and the urban form¹4. Now a days the Municipality is focusing the activities based on this modality.And it is also important to bear in mind the problem tree and the objective tree as worked out by the research work.
oans for f r restora!on of fo tradi!onal houses
Improved facili!es to maintain or restore adequate infrastructures for local people
Tradi!onal buildings have more value
Proposed Interventions
incen!ves for the owners of tradi!onal buildings
Bank assign less loans for f r fo modern buildings
disincen!ves to incompa!ble transforma!on of the houses
fig 29. the problem and objective tree module(source:conservation in developingcountries:patan world heritage site in the list in danger-Rita Carraro, Francesca Cipolla, Lila Rubi Oriard-2003/2004) (redrafted)
The erosion of tradi!onal tradi!o onal buildings decrese Owners of tradi!onal houses will not lprefer to move outside and rent their houses
Solu!on tree:
STOP DEMOLITION OF TRADITIONAL BUILDINGS
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Tool 1: Local people
SCOPE.To trigger some causes in problem tree which would help to complete the objective tree:
Building materials
These interventions are proposed not only within the monument zone boundary but in the streets and alleys outside the zone as well.
workshop
Their values in market
Fund by local management maintenance
Tool 1: Problem cause: Lack of awareness about restoration concept and recognition of Cultural/economic value of traditional buildings. Intervention: Workshops should be organized. The targeted audience should include the local citizen, expert technicians, people related to the heritage line. This workshop should be based upon building materials, their maintenance technique and their values. This workshop should be more pronounced by means of media, by advertising them through students to the citizens, local radio station and pamphlets. The lessons learned and practiced in this workshop should be distributed in the form of small booklet which would include the maintenance technique.
Technicians and experts
media
workshop
Lesson learnt from these workshop should be documented and later distributed to the par!cipants.
Example:
Water leakage from roof
Algae plants on walls and roofs
Clean scrub the roof,repair cracks which cause leakage
Remove plants and apply chemicals needed
Yearly before the rainy season
Every six month
The house owner
The house owner
Dampness on wall
Termites aected !mber
Wash away salt content
Apply insec!cides
Yearly before rainy season
yearly
The house owner
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Tool 2 Problem cause: Lack of incentives for the owners of traditional buildings .
Tool 3: Problem cause: Actual role of space not defined Intervention: Streets in the city do not have name. They are referred as `near ram‘s house or shop next to some pond. So name of the street should be maintained.-street signage is also very important.
Intervention: Heritage awards should be organized. This award should be targeted not to the department or NGOs but to the local citizen who is actively involved in maintaining his private house. For example; his courtyard. Its highly likely people to get motivated to see award in a simple farmer’s house and be proud of it.
-these streets should be paved and with the community participation and meetings, it should be made clear they are solely responsible to maintain and clean.
Heritage award should be introduced
NGOs /organisa!on
!
Local person who is ac!vely involved in maintenance of his house. For example:its highly likely people to get mo!vated to see award in a simple farmers house
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streets need to be paved
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Tool 4: This intervention is via the heritage walk which can help the local people in terms of economic aspect. Normally the people owning these old houses are poor and so called untouchables. Heritage walk: For 25 years, Mr. Anil Chitrakar has worked to improve the very fabric of Nepalese society. He strongly believes that social projects should be designed for economic, social and environmental sustainability. He also believes that systemic change happens only if local communities embrace and drive it themselves. He is a noted architectural heritage expert, social entrepreneur, and cultural historian.
Instead of traditional building only serving as guest houses only, these can serve as a medium where local community can participate by means of: Providing service to the programme. For example: small cafes, sublets for travelers . The local people should be encouraged to participate in this kind of programme. There are chances the local people to get motivate by such programme. A tourist or a group of guest coming to their courtyard for some tea and food would help not only them to clean their surrounding but be benefited as well.
employment
As a well-respected scholar, speaker, and writer on social, political, and environmental issues in Nepal, He is the man behind the heritage walk in Kathmandu valley. He has been organizing a couple of heritage walks in Patan as well.
Heritage walk
This heritage walk can be linked to other Programme as well which can help to raise awareness to local people. trade
par!cipa!on
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Muncipal corpora on Spreading awarness
Empowering the system
Intervention tools
Workshops
heritage walk
Heritage Awards
Trainings
Define Streets
Media
How to make these Interventions work?
financial support
To make these intervention actually work, there needs to be participation of almost all the concerned organization. The main role should be played by the communities which should be powered by the municipality by spreading awareness and financial support. This can empower the system which will be responsible to create all the interventions to execute successfully.
Provide loans
Communities
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Conclusion:
The historical analysis of the traditional buildings and its values in patan in Kathmandu valley of Nepal indicates that present scenario of conservation of only the monuments needs to take a radical change. Along with the monuments, the protection and revitalization of our cultural heritage is an essential part of protecting a sense of identity, a sense of who we are. Traditional buildings actually reflect that. In a least developed country like Nepal which has a rich cultural heritage, the historic core especially faces many challenges and problems ultimately leading to loss of sense of the place.
Any intervention can only prosper if the local citizens participate as a strong communities and patan has that. it has strong inner network of communities.The proposed interventions try to convey a message. A message that it is the owners responsibility to maintain his buildings and surroundings. For that he has to be aware and to make them happen we need architecture to play with their physcology rather than architecture play with buildings only by safeguarding or restoring them.
This thesis tries to explore that against these mounting problems ,a response is possible. A response starting from safeguarding the traditional buildings which was built with such rich values and skill.
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Notes: ¹-Statistics Population Wholesome Words Christian. http://www.wholesomewords.org/missions/greatc.html#worldpop(accessed February 7, 2010). ² Bleak Outlook for Environment in Kathmandu Valley. United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). http://www.unep.org/documents.multilingual/default.asp?documentid=498&articleid=5500&l=e n (accessed February 17, 2010). ³ Stadt und ritual/ am biespiel der newars/stadt kirtipur in N.gutschow and T.sieverts ed.urban space and ritual,Darmstadt[technische hochschule]october 1977.17 4 D.L.Snellgrove.buddhist himalaya.oxford{Cassirer 1957.103}extract from the patan file,monumentumpatan 5 Ritual movement in the city of lalitpur/Mark A.pickett.julz 2005 6 Lalitpur sub municipality city official website/ http://www.lalitpur.org.np 7 G. Tucci, The Theory and Practice of the Mandala (London, 1961), as referred to in Pieper, "Three Cities of Nepal." 7′ Korn, Wolfgang The traditional architecture of the Kathmandu valley1976 7′′ Slusser,Nepal mandala,p.133 8 Auer and gutschow,domestic architecture of nepal 9 Slusser ,Nepal mandala,pp 133/134.if a familz is hindu,then the shrine in the courtzard is dedicated to shiva and incase of Buddhist house,the courtzard chrine is in a form of stupa. ¹0 N.R. Banerjee, Nepalese Architecture, Agam Kala Prakashan, Delhi, 1980, p. 81. ¹¹ Traditional materials and construction technologies used in kathmandu valley-caterina bonapace and valerio sestina ¹² Housing report on Traditional Nawari house in Kathmandu Valley-Dina D'Ayala, Samanta S. R. Bajracharya ¹³ Report on Preservation and Maintenance of Rajbhandari House-Prabin Shrestha,kathmandu,nepal ¹4 Getting the City Back to the People Municipal Initiative in Heritage Conservation - The Case of Ahmedabad,Thiru Debashish Nayak,Gujarat,India
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Figures: Fig 1.Population growth of developing countries and industralised countries.(Source: the sustainable scale project) www.sustainablescale.org/areasofconcern/population/populationandscale/quickfacts) Fig 2.Thapa, R.B.; Murayama, Y. Spatial structure of land use dynamics in Kathmandu Valley. In The International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences,Proceedings of Commission VIII, ISPRS Congress; Chen, J., Jiang, J., Peled, A. Eds.; ISPRS:Beijing, China, 2008; Volume XXXVII (Part-B8), pp. 11-16. Fig 3.Architectural timeline of kathmandu valley (information source:kathmandu valley world heritage site history and architecture-UNESCO-2004 Fig 4.Seven world heritage sites in kathmandu valley(information source:kathmandu valley world heritage site history and architecture-UNESCO-2004 Fig 5: Patan’s(green shaded area) route context(information source: http://mappery.com/maps/Patan-Lalitpur-Nepal-GuideMap.gif Fig 6. Niels gutschow and Hermann kreutzmann>urbanization requires brick production.2002.pg 21. Fig 7. Monument Zone: conservation in developing countries: patan world heritage site in the list in danger-Rita Carraro, France -sca Cipolla, Lila Rubi Oriard-2003/2004)(modified) Fig 8. An approach to community biased architecture in kathmandu,Nepal_nicholas walter seeman_2000 Fig 9,10,11. Niels Gutschow,1982 Fig 12.Pant / Funo Stupa and Swastika: Historical Urban Planning Principles in Nepal's Kathmandu Valley Fig 13. Patan Durbar Square Monument Zone by Eduard F. Sekler International action contributing to activities of Member States for the preservation and presentation of cultural property,unesco,paris,1985 Fig 14. Information from LSMC(Lalitpur sub-metropolitan city,http://www.lalitpur.org.np) Fig 15: Seven world heritage sites in kathmandu valley(information source:kathmandu valley world heritage site history and architecture-UNESCO-2004-)(redrafted) Fig 16.Satellite maps https://www.facebook.com/oldnepal Fig 17. Extract from report on Preservation and Maintenance of Rajbhandari House-Prabin Shrestha,kathmandu,nepal Fig 18. An approach to community biased architecture in kathmandu,nepal_nicholas walter seeman_2000 Fig 19,20. A comparison of traditional settlements in nepal and bali-joseph l- aranha-1991 Fig 21. The heritage homeowner's preservation manuals for UNESCO world heritage sites-Keshav Mangal Joshi-2006) Fig 22. Section and elevation of typical urban house,an example of traditional architecture with their local names,drawing:N.Gutschow,newari towns and buildings.extract from The heritage homeowner's preservation manuals forUNESCO world heritage sites-Keshav Mangal Joshi-2006) Fig 23,24,25,26. From The heritage homeowner's preservation manuals for UNESCO world heritage sites-Keshav Mangal Joshi-2006)(redrafted) Fig 27,28,29. Conservation in developingcountries:patan world heritage site in the list in danger-Rita Carraro, Francesca Cipolla,Lila Rubi Oriard-2003/2004)(modified)
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Pictures: ahttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/97/Swayambhunath_in_Kathmandu_Valley,_Nepal.jpg bhttp://www.nepaltreks.biz/images/kathmandu_durbar_square.jpg chttp://i.pbase.com/o3/93/329493/1/89716272.prOLXVcP.NepalNov073075.jpg dhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/markos/4437156621/ ehttp://www.travelandtournepal.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/a-pashupatinath_temple.jpg fhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/seismic_2000/5074045408/ ghttp://www.sajilotravel.com/images/content_img/bhaktapur.jpg hhttp://npac.ca/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/3jpeg.jpg(myth) ihttp://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1i4SPGmOdnM/Swrx-oKFyPI/AAAAAAAAFP8/45lx4hAlOOM/s1600/44.jpg.old jwww.flicker.com/photos/78736882@NOO/5627309253 khttps://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=75191241068&set=a.74445226068.73411.515946068&type=3&theater lwww.flicker.com/photos/51676096@NO5/7424455806 mwww.flicker.com/photos/clodxplore/4414970267/in/photostream/ nhttp://www.u86.net/UploadPic/2011-2-2/2011224215927864.jpg ohttp://farm8.static.flickr.com/7018/6446671169_5f24a9de8d.jpg pwww.flicker.com/photos/33868833@NO5/381586057 qhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/7662015@N05/6104750506 rhttp://thomaslkelly.smugmug.com/keyword/dance/1/1182235040_Z7wjQ#!i=1863232250&k=H8wqnBW&lb=1&s=A shttps://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=379636492069423&set=a.378968858802853.97130.200734206626320 &type=3&theater twww.flicker.com/photos/23213511@NO4/4956203755 uhttp://images.tribe.net/tribe/upload/photo/686/be9/686be908-e1c1-40a3-a75d-ce57c9c3ed26 vhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/47626413@N03/4364511483/ whttp://www.flickr.com/photos/34645537@N06/4673676797/ xhttp://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ygCm_SPt1y8/T-PB5O9FjMI/AAAAAAAAAL8/r0mZNoyhstY/s1600/ggggg.jpg yhttp://www.ecs.com.np/fckimage/image/May_2011/People.jpg zwww.flicker.com/photos/shikar23/4258577460 1http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZLEolA1B9jM/TbZp67TR_KI/AAAAAAAAACA/T- df0yoBrX0/s1600/ Kathmandu%2BPatan %2B02 %2B Patan% 2BDurbar%2BSquare%2B01%2BFrom%2BPlane.jpg 2The heritage homeowner's preservation manuals for UNESCO world heritage sites-Keshav Mangal Joshi-2006) 3http://www.yalamandu.com/2011/11/patan-now-and-then-3-windows-story.html 4,5conservation in developingcountries:patan world heritage site in the list in danger-Rita Carraro, Francesca Cipolla, Lila Rubi Oriard2003/2004)(modified) 6,8,9- urban decay,hidden courtyards of patan 7extract from report on Preservation and Maintenance of Rajbhandari House-Prabin Shrestha,kathmandu,nepal 10Stock Photo - Roof tiles on the roofs of nepali traditional houses 11http://www.uni-graz.at/~katzer/reise/photo/patan_07.jpg 12,13,14,15The heritage homeowner's preservation manuals for UNESCO world heritage sites-Keshav Mangal Joshi-2006) 16,17,18http://www.newachen.com/collectionofpictures.htm 19,20,21,29,30,31,32- report on Preservation and Maintenance of Rajbhandari House-Prabin Shrestha,kathmandu,nepal 22,23,24.25,26-The heritage homeowner's preservation manuals for UNESCO world heritage sites-Keshav Mangal Joshi-2006) 27,28-http://www.kvptnepal.org
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