Training on Architectural and Structural Aspects of

Traditional Buildings of Kathmandu Valley

Venue: Local Development Training Academy

Jawalakhel, Lalitpur

August 22-26, 2016

 Training on Architectural and Structural Aspects of
Traditional Buildings of Kathmandu Valley

THE CONTEXT:

PDNA estimates that 95% of the houses damaged during the earthquake are of low strength masonry. In
urban areas these are primarily traditional buildings of the city core and the traditional towns of the
valley. Large numbers of traditional houses are partially damaged. In the city cores of Kathmandu,
Lalitpur, Bhaktapur and Thimi, the municipal records show the number of houses collapsed is 15,120
while the partially damaged are 11,6651. As many as 52 traditional settlements were adversely affected
by the earthquake. The sampling of four traditional towns- Sankhu, Panga, Bungamati and Khokana
shows that 5,063 houses adversely damaged out of which 74% collapsed completely.

The houses are standing with the support of rake shores (teko) that are hindering the mobility in the
narrow lanes of these compact settlements. Several of such houses have serious damages inside but are
not visible from outside posing more risks particularly with the continuing aftershocks. Large number of
partially damaged houses has reduced one or two floors and the inhabitants attempted to save their
belongings by placing CGI roofs on them.

The reconstruction policy of the government has identified conservation of traditional houses as one of
the important assignments. More than 95% of the damaged houses in heritage settlements are
traditional houses. These houses bear heritage value and are directly associated with the intangible
heritage of the settlement. In scarcity of traditional materials, e.g. wood and quality mortar, skilled
manpower with experience in traditional construction and high cost of traditional materials in
comparison to modern building materials, there is a high tendency of reconstructing these houses with
easily available cement and concrete in framed structures. One of the reasons is also the inadequate
knowledge of most of the municipal and practicing engineers and architects to design understand
architectural and structural aspects of traditional houses. At the same time, response to the new needs
while rebuilding or restoring the traditional building which is also structurally sound, economically viable
and preserving the value of traditional context should be an integral process of conservation planning.
Therefore conservation of these traditional houses is one of the challenges in the post-earthquake
situation.

With the continuous lobbying of UN-Habitat, UNESCO and partner organizations, the government is
drafting a special building regulation for heritage settlements. While these regulations will open the
door for rebuilding traditional houses under private ownerships which were damaged due to the
earthquake, the demand of technical support is going to be paramount. In this context, a training to

1
The Impact of the 2015 Earthquake on Housing and Livelihoods in Urban Areas in Nepal, HRRP, 2016
architects and engineers of the settlements on understanding the design concept and architectural /
structural aspects of traditional houses is proposed.

UN-Habitat is working for the rebuilding of the traditional settlements. UNESCO is supporting the
government and the communities on this endeavor to revitalize the heritage settlements. The training is
being organized by the UN-Habitat and supported by the UNESCO Office in Kathmandu. .

TRAINING OBJECTIVES:

1. Develop training package to train architects and engineers on traditional building designs
2. Train local architects and engineers on design of traditional private buildings including
conservation of partially damaged houses.
3. Prepare training module on traditional building design for municipal drawings

OUTPUTS:

1. 40~60 local architects/engineers trained on traditional building design

2. Training module for architects/engineers on traditional building design

TARGET GROUP AND NUMBER:

40~60 architects and engineers from local community.

TRAINING PROGRAMME:

There will be two groups of architects and engineers in the training: those from Karyabinayak
Municipality including local architects and engineers from Bungamati and Khokana and municipal and
local architects and aengineers from other municipalities having heritage settlements.
 COURSE SCHEDULE

Day 1: 22 August, 2016

11:00 – 11:20 Session I: Introductory - Training background & needs, expectation, etc. [Padma Sundar
Joshi]
11:20 – 11:30 Tea Break
11:30 – 13:30 Session II: Urban form & traditional settlements of Kathmandu Valley [Dr. Bijay Krishna
Shrestha]
13:30 – 14:00 Lunch Break
14:00 – 16:00 Session III: Philosophy & principles of traditional buildings in Kathmandu Valley [Dr.
Rohit Ranjitkar]
16:00 – 16:10 Tea Break
16:10 – 18:10 Session IV: Traditional architectural elements [Ram Govinda Shrestha]

Day 2: 23 August, 2016

10:00 – 12:00 Session V: Seismic Design Principles [Prof. Dr. Prem Nath Maskey]
12:00 – 12:10 Tea Break
12:10 – 14:10 Session VI: Masonry Structures [Dr. Sujan Shrestha]
14:10 – 14:40 Lunch Break
14:40 – 16:40 Session VII: Seismic Behavior of masonry buildings [Dr. Purushottam Dangol]

Day 3: 24 August, 2016

9:00 – 16:00 Field visits to observe: (Participants gather at Patan Durbar square area)
(a) well planned & designed houses in Patan,
(b) Houses with temporary supports (from outside and inside),
(c) structural and architectural detailing in under construction houses, and
(d) building materials
[Dr. Rohit Ranjitkar, Dilendra Shrestha]

Day 4: 25 August, 2016

10:00 – 12:00 Session VIII: Building bylaws for heritage settlements [Om D. Rajopadhyaya]
12:00 – 12:10 Tea Break
12:10 – 13:10 Session IX: Alternative house design models [XXXXX]
13:10 – 13:40 Lunch Break
13:40 – 14:40 Session X: Design and detailing for rebuilding [Jharana Joshi]
14:40 – 14:50 Tea Break
14:50 – 16:50 Session X : continued [Jharana Joshi]
Day 5: 26 August, 2016

10:00 – 12:00 Session XI: Confined masonry structures [Dr. Manjip Shakya]
12:00 – 12:10 Tea Break
12:10 – 14:10 Session XII: Codal provision and seismic retrofitting [Binay Charan Shrestha]
14:10 – 14:40 Lunch Break
14:40 – 16:40 Session XIII: Detailing of masonry structures [Prof. Dr. Prem Nath Maskey]
16:40 – 16:50 Tea Break
16:50 – 17:20 Session XIV: Closing
Course Evaluation
Certificate distribution
Closing Remarks: NRA/DOA/DUDBC/UNESCO representatives
Concluding Remarks: HPM, UN-Habitat

Note: Resource person of each session will divide allotted time for different activities as appropriate

LIST OF OBSERVERS
A request letter to the concerned authorities will be sent for their representation as observers in the
training program to:

 Department of Archaeology
 National Reconstruction Authority
 CLPIU, NRA/MOUD
 DLPIU, NRA/DUDBC
 DUDBC, Building code section

COURSE CONTENT
RESOURCE
S/N TOPICS LECTURE DURATION
PERSON
A1 Urban form of traditional settlements in I 2 hrs.
Kathmandu Valley
A2 Philosophy and principles of traditional II 2hrs.
buildings in Kathmandu valley
A3 Traditional Architectural Elements III 2 hrs.
A4 Building Bylaws for heritage settlements IV 2 hrs.
A5 Alternative traditional house design models V 1 hr.
A6 Design and detailing for rebuilding traditional VI 3 hrs.
settlements
S1 Seismic Design Principles: VII 2 hrs.
 Causes of earthquake, seismic waves;
magnitude, intensity, epicenter and energy
release, characteristics of strong earthquake
ground motions
Philosophy and objectives of earthquake
resistant design, basic terminologies of seismic
design: strength, stiffness, center of mass,
center of rigidity, torsion, damping,
ductility,,modes of vibration, fundamental
mode and time period
S2 Masonry Structures: VIII 2hrs.
Introduction, compressive strength, shear
strength, modulus of elasticity, modulus of
rigidity, strength of masonry bearing walls

Strength design and assessment of URM walls

Definitions, in-plane and out-of-plane behavior,
failure mechanism, flexural cracking, flexural
strength, shear cracking, shear strength,
Response of building system, flexible
diaphragm, Rigid diaphragm, limitations ,
Numerical examples
S3 Seismic Behavior of masonry buildings: IX 2 hrs.
Flexural strength, shear strength, stiffness,
illustrated examples on Lateral force
Distribution,
Salient features of traditional masonry
buildings of Kathmandu Valley
Timber floors, connection details of timber
floors with walls, wall plates, horizontal and
vertical timber bands in masonry walls.
S4 Confined Masonry Structures: X 2 hrs.
Introduction, difference between conventional
concrete frame and confined masonry
structures, Construction of confined masonry,
phases of construction, flexural resistance,
shear resistance, characteristics and
performance of confined masonry in
earthquake, examples of detailing
requirements
S5 Codal provisions and seismic retrofitting: XI 2 hrs.
Introduction to Analysis of masonry structures
Introduction to performance based seismic
evaluation and rehabilitation of masonry
 structures
Seismic retrofit of masonry structures
S6 Detailing of Masonry Structures: XII 2 hrs.
Detailing of unreinforced brick masonry
structures, enhancement of timber floors and
connections with walls, wall plates and timber
ties, detailing of confined masonry buildings

Review on performance of existing traditional

masonry structures during past earthquake in
context of traditional settlement of Kathmandu
Valley
 Training on Architectural and Structural Aspects of
Traditional Buildings of Kathmandu Valley
(August 22-26, 2016)

Application Form

A. Personal Details
Full Name(In Block):
Address:
Date of Birth: (DD/MM/YY) Gender:
Email: Contact Number:

B. Educational Details
I am an engineer / an architect

Please give details on last two educational degrees achieved

Degree: Degree:
Major: Major:
College: College:
Affiliated University: Affiliated University:
Year of Start: Year of Start:
Year of Completion: Year of Completion:

C. Professional Details
Nepal Engineering Council Registration Number:
Current Affiliation:
Current Position:
Number of years of professional work experience:
Major works accomplished(in brief):

D. Are you authorized in municipal drawing design?

Yes NO
If yes, then from which municipality and since when?
E. How much idea do you have about the Nepalese traditional architecture and construction
technology of Kathmandu Valley?

F. Do you have any experience in traditional building design?

G. What are your expectations from this training?

H. How will you use learning from this training in conservation and sustainable development of
traditional settlement?

Disclaimer:
I, hereby, have duly filled up this form with the genuine information as per my knowledge and that I am
committed to participate in this five-day training program and I will use my knowledge and skills in
fulfilling the objectives of the training and also in serving the community.
--------------------------------
Signature of the Applicant
Date: