¢ 2 ae ier Peshtivar + *Campbellpur| oF cto ( we) fy rBahalpur Batuchistan } Sj ST RURAL HABITAT ‘The Delta Region ‘The Indus Plain Foothills and Plateau Arid Mountains Alpine Nomadic Cholistan Desert SOCIAL PATTERNS AND RURAL HABITAT. Tribal Feudal URBAN VERNACULAR Townhouses SWAT MOSQUES TRADITIONAL DOORS VERNACULAR TRADITION RURAL HABITAT Modern industrialisation in Pakistan has had little impact beyond a few pockets of urban concentration. Most people continue to live in rural communities, the patterns of their daily lives governed by the herding and grazing economies of tribal people or the backward agricultural practices of feudal societies. Out of the persistence of these patterns have evolved forms of rural housing corresponding to the livelihood of the people, the forms of society, the material resources and cli- mates of each of the regions of Pakistan. Analysis reveals a number of climatic variations within each of the major topographic regions. For instance, the central plain can be divided into three distinct climatir cones: the humi coastal and delta; the dry Sind and Southein Punjab; and the monsoon plain of the central Punjab. Similarly, the mountains have a narrow humid coastal strip along the Arabian Sea; the arid Baluchistan plateau; the milder North West Frontier and Potwar plateau; the moist and wooded northern valleys; and the drier extreme north, The traditional forms of rural habitat! in each of these regions reflect the variations in climatic condi- tions as much as the variations in available materials within each environment. The Delta Region The delta region of the lower Indus has low rainfall but high humidity, with a steady prevailing sea breeze. The scrub vegeta- tion in this region consists of low stunted trees and bushes. These form the basic materials of the two principal forms of construction. In the more common form for rural domestic structures, the slender stems of a local juniper shrub are struck upright into a narrow trench in the ground to form a closely packed hedge. Successive layers of these stems are added to make up the wall and are held together by bundles of reeds tied across the stems at the joints. The result is a wickerwork of a dark vertical texture criss-crossed by a pattern of horizontal and diagonal lines of the lighter coloured reed bundles. The roofs are thatched with a double slope and central ridge, and the typical house consists of a pair of such roofs over a room and an adjoining shed facing into a courtyard which isVERNACULAR TRADITION screened by the same hedge-like construction of closely packed juniper stems ‘This form of construction provides a light-weight structure with a Jow thermal capacity, essential in a warm humid climate, and permits the constant sea breeze to filter in through the walls, A second form of construction in the same region employs local timber to make a frame onto which are nailed shorter laths to form a basket-like construction, usually plastered over with a mixture of earth and straw. This also produces light-weight, low-thermal-capacity construction, in which the timber frame permits multi-storey development. Indeed in larger settlements, 74,72 and 73 Townhouses and wind-catchers, Thana Thatta presents a rare combination of urban verticality with rustic wate and daub surfaces On every roof is perched a wind-catching de vice, known focally as a “mungh” 127128 dwellings constructed in this fashion can rise three, four, or even five storeys. Such congested vertical construction naturally restricts air movement at the lower levels. This problem is overcome by ingenious wind-catcher devices which punctuate the skyline of many a rural and most urban settlements in the lower Sind. The typical wind-catcher or mungh is a 3 to 4 feet square funnel protruding 4 to 6 feet above the roof. Orientated diagonally to the wind, its two adjacent leeward sides are walled and the two windward sides are open. The roof of the funnel slopes back along the diagonal in line with the wind. A trap door at roof level is operated by a cord and pulley to act as a damper controlling the flow of air. A system of ducts can carry the air from the roof down to the lowest floor, producing a gentle currentof cool air. The Indus Plain Beyond the reach of the humid sea breeze, lightweight, airy structures give way to massive earth walls with small openings. In the riverine plains, earth is the most abundantly available building material. Timber, from a variety of Acacia and the more valuable Sheesham (Indian Rosewood), is a precious com- modity, reserved for the roof structure. More than any other factor, it is the earth, the very substance of the alluvial plain, which determines the forms of its rural architecture. Whether in the form of sundried bricks, blocks or pisé, it is the plastic quality of this material that gives the villages of the plain their characteristic features: as successive generations excavate the soil to build their sun-dried earth villages upon the debris of previous generations, a mound gradually rises above the plain, and upon it surface drains, sometimes lined with burnt bricks, follow the twisting pattern of narrow streets, carrying the waste from each house to the pits which fill up into large ponds. Thus from the broadest silhouette of the village to every detail of its individual buildings — undulating moulded surfaces, softly rounded edges and mud plastered textures, exaggerated by accute shadows under a harsh sun — the forms, colours and textures of the earth predominate. Foothills and Plateau Even in the foothills and valleys of the mountainous regions, wherever clay soil is available, it continues to be the dominant building material. Here windowless high walls, often protected by copings and eaves, and frequently in juxtaposition with stone, have a crisp and clean appearance. A new dimension is added to the visual drama of these modelled clay surfaces when the village clusters break up into steps and terraces following the contours of the land. Occasionally in these foothills and valleys the dwellings are literally carved into the earth. Two of the areas where such cave dwellings are found are the Campbellpur (Attock) district on ARCHITECTURE IN PAKISTAN 74 Cave dwellings in Campbellpur district are carved into the vertical faces of loess Cliffs 75 Plan and section, Mohammad Afsar Cave dwelling, Jallo, Campbellpur Punjab 76 Plan and section, Cave dwelling of Margethkhel Tribe-Khurmatan (Origi- nally from Tira) Darra Adam Khel, Khy- ber Agency, North West Frontier ProVERNACULAR TRADITION the Potwar plateau and the Tribal Agency areas around | 129 Peshawar, In the Campbellpur district the caves are carved into the vertic- al faces of loess cliffs, formed by centuries of water erosion cutting steep canyons into the thick clay deposits. A typical cave dwelling consists of one or two rectangular chambers about 12 feet wide and some 24 feet long A wide earth platform at one end of the chamber is used to store bedding, while other ledges, shelves and niches, are carved out of the walls to hold smaller items, The entrance to the chamber is often closed by a timber door. The door or mouth of the cave ‘opens onto a level terrace which serves as the family courtyard. r "| = — oa130 Quite often when a family becomes affluent, additional rooms are built in the open, and as the family moves out, the caves are converted into storage or animal sheds, or fall into disrepair. In the Khyber and Darra Adam Khel passes near Peshawar, similar caves are dug into rolling, soft clay hills. Here a narrow slit trench is cut into the sloping side of a hill to make a horizontal passage to the cave mouth, The cave itself is begun fairly deep into the hill and consists of a single large chamber, roughly rectangular, about 12 feet across and often more than 20 feet deep. The ceilings are barely six feet high and a hearth is invariably located in the middle or to the rear of the chamber. Above the hearth is a vent shaft which leads to a well-protected outlet at the crest of the hill. The earth and stone cover over the vent shaft outlet serves both to conceal it from view and protect it from rain. A low stone and earth parapet on the hillside directly above the cave mouth diverts rain water flowing down the slope, away from the cave entrance. The trench passage from the cave leads out onto a small level terrace screened off by a low rough stone wall. Communities of these cave dwellings are usually found arranged in a row towards the top of a hill. But many of the tribes who have traditionally lived in such dwellings are now abandoning them in favour of the forms of construction more commonly used in the region Arid Mountains In the barren treeless mountains, typical of the North West Frontier and Baluchistan, stone and earth are the only readily available building materials. The climate is harsh, reaching extreme temperatures in both winter and summer. The architecture of these regions is heavy and massive, with high walls enclosing courtyards around which are arranged the habit- able rooms. The only openings to the outside are a single entrance gate and some tiny portholes whose function is to permit a rifle to fire at hostile visitors approaching the walls. ‘The walls are constructed of rammed earth or pisé where clay soil is available, and otherwise of rough stone masonry, with or without a mud plastered finish. Roofs are invariably flat and in some regions have projecting caves, In Baluchistan this basic type varies in certain details. The roofs of the otherwise similar mud-walled houses have a modest slope. This is more pronounced in the northern region of Baluchistan where rain and snow falls are relatively heavy. Here the earth roofs often have a double pitch, with the central ridge formed by a rough beam running through the long axis of the row of two or three rooms, supported by the cross walls and one or two posts in each room. The rooms themselves are without any furniture except for a long low earth platform on which are stacked a supply of colourful woollen rugs and blank- ets. These rugs and namdahs, woollen felt mats with colourful designs, cover the earth floor, in the centre of which is placed an iron stove in the winter. An exposed metal flue runs from the ARCHITECTURE IN PAKISTAN