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Climate Responsive Influences of The Built Heritage of Rajasthan On Contemporary Architecture
Climate Responsive Influences of The Built Heritage of Rajasthan On Contemporary Architecture
Climate Responsive Influences of The Built Heritage of Rajasthan On Contemporary Architecture
Abstract
Innovation is deeply rooted in tradition. People in reaction to their environment create spaces and places. If we
understand what old buildings are saying to us, we would be less eager to rip them down, and perhaps might even apply
them in our new buildings. Therefore, it is necessary to learn from the past to create better futures.
Traditional Architecture of Rajasthan is characterized by compact high density planning, enclosing open space within
buildings, massive construction, small openings, water conservation, shaded outdoor spaces, varied visual elements and
a strong architectural vocabulary. Though these principles made it possible for people to survive in the desert, not all of
these concepts are relevant today. The article begins by understanding the efficient use of passive design strategies in the
indigenous buildings of Rajasthan. In addition, the article also reviews the Climate Responsiveness of the built heritage
of Rajasthan and discusses its applications in Contemporary Architecture.
Keywords: Rajasthan Heritage, Passive Design, Indigenous Architecture, Climate Responsiveness, Contemporary Architecture
1|P age
DEPARTMENT OF ARCHITECTURE AND PLANNING, IIT ROORKEE.
havelis of different brothers opening into one common
place) is never found in a Rajput thakurs haveli as the
brothers always stayed apart. Some examples of these
havelis are Nachna Haveli in Jaisalmer, Pal Thakurs Haveli
in Jhodhpur, Jhala Haveli in Kota and Shekhawati Thakurs
Havelis in outskirts of old Jaipur. A Kshatriya house should
use maximum amount of stone for fortification, a practice
that is evident in the massive fortress like havelis of the
Rajputs. (Jain, 2004)
Figure 1: Plan of Haveli and Nohra of Bade Deevta inKota,
Hadoti region.
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DEPARTMENT OF ARCHITECTURE AND PLANNING, IIT ROORKEE.
3 Techniques and Tools used for
environmental Control
Traditional Rajasthan architecture is characterized by
compact high density planning, enclosing open space
within buildings, massive construction, small openings,
water conservation, shaded outdoor spaces, varied visual
elements and a strong architectural vocabulary. Though
these principles made it possible for people to survive in
Figure 6: Plan of Roopsi Village the desert, not all of these concepts are relevant today.
(Gupta A. V., 2010)
Various techniques suggested for environmental control
in modern buildings are:
i. Shading of building surfaces from sun
ii. Damping of temperature variations by thermal
mass
Figure 7: Village Courtyard and Stone Masonry Walls iii. Selective ventilation
iv. Radiation to night sky, and
iii. Meenas -The Meenas who constitute almost half
v. Evaporation of water.
of the tribal population used to live on rocky
Tools used in Traditional Building design are as follows:
elevations or in thick forests and their settlements
were called Mewasas. The cluster of their houses i. Space Use
was also called a pal and was named after the The single most powerful tool used in traditional building
gotra to which most of the inhabitants belonged. design was the willingness and the ability of the users, to
(Speaks, 2008) organize daily activities in space and time so that not all
spaces had to be maintained at equal levels of comfort all
Table 2: Comparison between Tribes and their Settlement the time. At any given time the active use of the building
Pattern could be restricted to the areas most comfortable at that
time. In practice this meant that people would not only
take off or put on additional clothing as we do today, but
that they would physically move from a less comfortable
area of the building to a more comfortable one. At times
when the entire building became uncomfortably hot, they
would move to another building or even to the outside.
There are stepwells that were meeting and resting places
for men on hot summer afternoons.' In winter when the
wells were uncomfortably cool, the same men would meet
and rest in the open under the sun.
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DEPARTMENT OF ARCHITECTURE AND PLANNING, IIT ROORKEE.
as resting places in summer. the presumption being that it is possible to determine a cut-
off date at which sunlight may be allowed to enter or stay
In the rainy season the meetings and rest could take place
out of a building. The only problem is that air temperatures
in a verandah. In the Amber Fort there are many cooling
do not keep pace with the uniform movement of the sun
devices used, but there is also a garden in the middle of
from summer solstice to winter solstice. It is particularly
a lake just outside the fort, that would be used for
around the cut off dates that there are extraordinary warm
relaxation at uncomfortably hot times. People spend the
and cool periods, resulting in excessive or inadequate sun
hot summer days in the lower floors of the buildings but
penetration.
the evenings and nights are spent on the roof-top fully
exposed to the cool night sky. In winter the days are
spent on the sunny terrace whereas people move into the
house at night. (Gupta, 2004)
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DEPARTMENT OF ARCHITECTURE AND PLANNING, IIT ROORKEE.
iv. Openings in the Building Envelope on a hot summer day when the outdoor is warmer than the
Today we identify apertures in the building with glazed building interior. To avoid the heating of interior space it
windows, and we expect such apertures to serve a is essential to treat the air before it enters the building.
number of functions, namely those of providing light, Unlike what happens in modern buildings, a great deal of
ventilation and view. Having no access to glass as we attention was given to pre-treatment of ventilation air in
know it, the indigenous builders designed apertures to traditional buildings. Further air cooling was achieved by
serve one function only. A number of different apertures passing it over wet charcoal or a fountain.3 In Jaisalmer,
combined together met the needs of light, ventilation and the courtyard effect is used to ventilate the building, air
view. Not having to worry about the other functions, getting cooled as it passes over the cool shaded building
each of these apertures could be optimized for one surfaces in the street. Typical Section of a house shows
purpose, leading to a more satisfactory thermal design. how the courtyard plan regulates air movement, bringing
There are windows in the Amber Palace which are no in fresh air only when it is cooler than the building.
larger than 1 cm in diameter, that let in practically no
light or ventilation. And yet because the wall is thinned
out at this point, these windows can provide a view of
the outside.
Figure 19: Sectional View showing the Water body and the
exhibition spaces.
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DEPARTMENT OF ARCHITECTURE AND PLANNING, IIT ROORKEE.
5 Conclusion References
The day comes when architecture will be for 1. Gupta, A. V. (2010). Carving out a sustainable
function/comfort, and not merely as aesthetic element. Campus for NIIT Neemrana. Retrieved from Space
With awareness, building with mud has become an Design Consultants: http://www.space-
important factor in planning new development. Mud design.com/Upload/PR0021.pdf
depicts the true and productive link between traditions 2. Gupta, V. (2004). Indigenous Architecture and
and modernity, because of its application in the ancient Natural Cooling. Energy and Habitat.
settlements and vivid use in modern interiors. The 3. Jain, S. (2004). Havelis A Living Tradition of
classical and beautiful architecture of India has been well Rajasthan. Haryana: Shubhi Publications.
documented and saved, but the traditions are threatened 4. line, I. (2009, August 15). havelis. Retrieved from
by the new demands for change and development. Still Indialine:
the importance of this technique of construction cannot http://www.indialine.com/travel/rajasthan/shekha
be overlooked because of advantages of mud wati/havelis.html
architecture. 5. Pearl Academy of Fashion / Morphogenesis.
The feeling of comfort is a subjective perception that (2009). Retrieved from Arch daily:
varies from person to person and from one culture to http://www.archdaily.com/40716/pearl-academy-
another. Measurement of temperature, therefore, will not of-fashion-morphogenesis
indicate how comfortable the users of a building might 6. Speaks, H. (2008, 07 22). History Speaks - Tribal
have been many years ago. The measurement of History. Retrieved from History Speaks:
temperature will however say something about the http://indiahistoryspeaks.blogspot.in/search/label/
effectiveness of a particular cooling method from which Tribal%20History
one may be able to judge how comfortable we might be
in a similarly designed modern structure. Never having
been exposed to mechanical air-conditioning, the users
of this building did not show any signs of discomfort.
There is perhaps more to comfort cooling than meets the
thermometer.
In the era of abundance where everyone wants more
of everything, the key to future lies in doing with less.
Passive Design and Environmental planning should be
done by utilizing the resources in an efficient way to
create a built environment that uses less land, less
building, less water, less private motorized vehicles and
less energy.
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DEPARTMENT OF ARCHITECTURE AND PLANNING, IIT ROORKEE.