Customer Reviews

Don't Tear It Down! Preserving the Earthquake Resistant Vernacular Architecture of Kashmir

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Great photos and passion within the book. Amazing what can be achieved with good quality craftmanship.

The first thing that strikes you about this book is the stunning colour photographs that highlight why the two housing types focused upon are so worthy of preservation. These houses possess a richness of materiality (masonry, stone and wood), colours and structural patterns that are of another world (Kashmir).

Not only are Taq and Dhajji Dewari buildings of great aesthetic, cultural and historic interest, they also happen to perform well during earthquakes - out performing (poorly built) modern reinforced concrete structures. Taq construction consists of timber-laced masonry bearing-walls while Dhajji Dewari's structure comprises timber frame with infill masonry.

After describing the two types of construction, basic material about how buildings resist earthquake shaking is provided to prepare the reader for more detailed explorations of how these ancient systems perform relatively well during earthquakes. Due to their structural complexity advanced structural analysis has yet to reveal the secret of their seismic success although the likely reasons are offered.

Repair and strengthening issues are dwelt with in some detail and lavishly illustrated before the concluding section which discusses the seismic vulnerability of contemporary construction. The case is then made for the conservation and vitalization of these traditional buildings.

This book is essential reading for builders and designers (architects and engineers) working in the Kasmir region and fascinating and informative for any others interested in vernacular architecture, particularly in seismic areas.

This excellently presented, well illustrated and rationally formed book satisfies both the need for a description of vernacular structures in Kashmir and region, and also offers solutions to the often seemingly insurmountable problems facing those responsible for the restoration of damaged houses post earthquake and from many other causes of damage.

The pointers to disaster reduction described in "Don't Tear it Down" carefully inform and open valuable windows on a worldwide problem which allows for the preservation of disappearing built heritage and perhaps more importantly the less tangible culture that lies behind it.

The many illustrations are immensely informative, demonstrating little known and less published architectural forms and explaining types of damage in great detail.