Vernacular Architecture in the Himalayan Region between between China and India. Documentation of an endangered architectural tradition

喜马拉雅地区的乡土农舍文献值得特别关注：它们不仅代表了西藏文化中最广泛的真实文化资产，而且是一个正在迅速消失的物种。相对于寺院、寺庙等宗教建筑吸引了大量的国际关注和学术研究，乡土农舍却被严重忽视。一份适当的文件似乎是迫切的，不仅是因为乡土建筑的建筑价值，而且还因为，随着现代化的不断发展，即使是偏远地区也在可达性、建筑材料、价值观、风格等方面经历了迅速的变化。现在在一些地区（如青海和西藏自治区），它离灭绝不远了。该研究项目的目的是捕捉西藏乡土农舍建筑的丰富性和多样性，通过记录选定的建筑在一个跨国的方法。典型的建筑在西藏自治区（中国），中国青海省（前安多的一部分），中国四川省（前康巴的一部分），尼泊尔（Dolpo和Khumbu），拉达克（印度）和不丹进行了调查（测量）和记录。绘画辅以对历史和社会背景的采访，以及对传统建筑和工艺的象征和人类学方面的探索。该项目旨在i）对喜马拉雅地区的乡土农舍类型学做出贡献，ii）更好地理解建筑方法，iii）探索这些建筑的文化和宗教背景。该研究项目还将有助于更好地了解所谓的传统建筑“生态”，这种生态是基于当地可用资源、气候条件、投资和由此产生的社会、经济和文化效益之间的复杂平衡。

The documentation of vernacular farmhouses in the Himalayan Region deserves special attention: not only do they represent the most widespread authentic cultural asset of Tibetan culture, they are also a rapidly vanishing species. In contrast to religious buildings such as monasteries and temples that have attracted a huge amount of international attention and academic research, vernacular farmhouses have been grossly neglected. A proper documentation seems urgent not only because of the architectural value of vernacular architecture but also because, with increasing modernization, even remote areas experience rapid changes in terms of accessibility, building materials, values, styles etc. While this heritage endured the change of political systems, waves of migration, wars and the influence of competing cultural values in the past, it is now in some regions (such as Qinghai and the Tibet Autonomous Region) not far from becoming extinct. The Research Project aims to capture the richness and diversity of Tibetan vernacular farmhouse architecture by documenting selected buildings in a cross-country approach. Typical buildings in Tibetan Autonomous Region (China), Qinghai Province of China (with parts of former Amdo), Sichuan Province of China (with parts of former Kham), Nepal (Dolpo and Khumbu), Ladakh (India), and Bhutan are surveyed (measured) and documented. Drawings are complemented by interviews on the historical and social contexts, and an exploration of the symbolic and anthropological aspects of traditional building and craftsmanship. The project is meant as a contribution i) to a typology of vernacular farm houses in the Himalayan region, ii) to a better understanding of construction methods and iii) to the exploration of the cultural and religious contexts of those buildings. The Research Project will also contribute to a better understanding of what may be called a traditional 'ecology' of building that is based on an intricate balance of locally available resources, climatic conditions, investment and the deriving social, economic and cultural benefits.