Understanding Traditional Wisdom of Earthquake-Resistant Construction in the Himalayas

Abstract eng:
Existence of traditional knowledge on earthquakes and earthquake-resistant methods of construction in the cultures along the Himalayan range is known for quite some time. A few scientists have tried to explore aspects of such constructions. However, no inventory of such historical buildings/monuments exists, let alone a systematic study of the earthquake-resistant features of this time-tested construction monuments that have survived one or more episodes of large to very large earthquake shaking during the past centuries: These buildings are like open laboratories in which signatures of indigenous wisdom in earthquake-resistant construction, technologies that have protected these structures against vagaries of nature including earthquakes, and the socio-cultural factors that have been at play for their preservation could be observed and studied. Such knowledge is considered useful also for the implementation of earthquake risk reduction initiatives: it is becoming increasing evident that the success of the program for improving seismic performance of construction depends much on the level of acceptance of the proposed technologies by the communities. The target monuments of the proposed study are the true example of the building culture that not only was acceptable in the concerned community, but were well integrated into the respective social and cultural lives. Hence, knowledge of prevalent indigenous technologies and their seismic behavior, and the history of application and conservation, could be very helpful in identifying proper improvements in construction practices using traditional construction materials, and for sustainable earthquake protection and conservation. These issues are expected to be addressed by the pan-Himalayan study of historical buildings, conceptualized by National Society for Earthquake Technology-Nepal (NSET), and being implemented jointly by SEEDS, other researchers and research institutions of the Himalayan region. The goal of the multi-year project is to understand the nature of the employed construction materials and technologies, the construction processes employed and the wisdom behind it, the designs adopted, and then a proposal to develop a database with a focus on understanding the seismic behavior of these buildings. The study also helps to understand how biodiversity shaped the building typologies in the region and the changes in the employed structural systems over the time in any locality. The paper will present a summary of the works done and analyze the problem in more details, and then describe the proposed methodology and scope of study, and will further elaborate the project concept and scope.

• Export as: BibTeX | MARC | MARCXML | DC | EndNote | NLM | RefWorks
• Add to your basket