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的记录值得特别关注：它们不仅代表了藏族文化中最广泛的正宗文化资产，而且还是一个迅速消失的物种。与寺庙和寺庙等吸引了大量国际关注和学术研究的宗教建筑相比，乡土农舍被严重忽视。一份适当的文件似乎很紧迫，不仅是因为乡土建筑的建筑价值，还因为随着日益现代化，即使是偏远地区也经历了在可获得性、建筑材料、价值观和风格等方面的快速变化。虽然这些遗产在过去经历了政治制度的变化、移民浪潮、战争和相互竞争的文化价值观的影响，但现在在一些地区(如青海和西藏自治区)，它离灭绝不远了。该研究项目旨在通过以越野方式记录选定的建筑来捕捉藏族乡土农舍建筑的丰富性和多样性。对西藏自治区(中国)、青海省中国(有前安多的部分地区)、四川省的中国(有部分前康)、尼泊尔(多尔布和昆布)、拉达克(印度)和不丹的典型建筑进行了调查(测量)和记录。除了绘画，还有关于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。该项目的目的是：一)对喜马拉雅地区乡土农舍的类型学作出贡献；二)更好地了解建造方法；三)探索这些建筑的文化和宗教背景。研究项目还将有助于更好地理解所谓的传统建筑生态，该生态建筑基于当地可用资源、气候条件、投资和所产生的社会、经济和文化利益之间的复杂平衡。

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.