i collaged the process of silk making into one drawing, in order to visually communicate the narrative. it was also my intention to play with perspectives to add absurdity. it was extremely important to keep the essence and feel of the silk paintings in the drawing. i enjoyed working on this drawing and am pretty content with how it turned out.Thursday, December 4, 2008
i collaged the process of silk making into one drawing, in order to visually communicate the narrative. it was also my intention to play with perspectives to add absurdity. it was extremely important to keep the essence and feel of the silk paintings in the drawing. i enjoyed working on this drawing and am pretty content with how it turned out.
NARRATIVE
The narrative to this project is in "the process of silk making in Manchu, china." This book discusses the process of silk making in the context to old Chinese silk paintings. These paintings were done on silk using natural pigments and using a style similar in concept to miniature paintings in the Indo- Pak region. These paintings tell stories of how making silk was an activity of the community and how everyone from children to old members of the village worked together to produce silk. People had their own personal silk units in their homes and the family members worked on making the cloth together.
Silk painting showing collection of silk worms from the trees
A certain set of relationships can be established using this data:
· Earth quakes occur regularly in and around the site, this can be seen from table 1
· Table 3 shows patterns of landslide occurrences, showing that the landslide season keeps slowly shifting but it can safely be concluded that landslides mainly occur during July, August, September and October. From table 5 we see that even though there is no shortage of precipitation throughout the year most of the rainfall occurs during April, May, June, July and August. And connecting table 2 and table 5 we can see that heavy rain during these months act as a catalyst to these landslides.
· Table 2 shows the composition of the terrain and rock size categorization. We can see that there is large percentage of loose particles and rocks on the surface which make the surface volatile.
· From table 4 we can understand that the river remains frozen in December and January.
· Earth quakes occur regularly in and around the site, this can be seen from table 1
· Table 3 shows patterns of landslide occurrences, showing that the landslide season keeps slowly shifting but it can safely be concluded that landslides mainly occur during July, August, September and October. From table 5 we see that even though there is no shortage of precipitation throughout the year most of the rainfall occurs during April, May, June, July and August. And connecting table 2 and table 5 we can see that heavy rain during these months act as a catalyst to these landslides.
· Table 2 shows the composition of the terrain and rock size categorization. We can see that there is large percentage of loose particles and rocks on the surface which make the surface volatile.
· From table 4 we can understand that the river remains frozen in December and January.
The site is an old Buddhist settlement by the name of Khaplu which lies between the silk route (Karakoram highway) and River Gilgit. River Gilgit is one of the main tributaries of river Indus.
Karakoram highway is the highest highway in the world. It was built in 1986, due to the collaboration of China and Pakistan. It is situated on the old silk route. Silk route and silk have been deeply linked since 520AD. During this time silk was the biggest export of China. Silk was exported to Europe and other parts of the world through a network of silk routes. This route was the one which connected central Asia and China with the Arabian Sea. For decades the process of silk making was kept as a highly guarded secret by China.
Khaplu traces its origins to Buddhist monks from Tibet travelling on the silk route and settling down there. They have preserved their culture ever since. Unlike other remote preserved cultures they are very open, hospitable and welcoming since they are used to seeing tourists and travellers retiring in the village during their journeys.
Since Khaplu is at the altitude of 1459m and it is such a difficult terrain the government has not proven dedicated enough to provide them with electricity and natural gas as a source of energy. This leads to an increase in cutting down trees and resulting in deforestation. Meanwhile when land is stripped of its cover it becomes loose and crumbly and on top of that this is a seismically active area. Thus frequent landslides occur in and around this village. In order to deal these forces of nature they tend to construct light weight temporary homes which are easier to rebuild after a disaster, rather than to shift their village elsewhere and abandon their land which is very important to them. Although loss of human life still occurs regularly. We can understand the frequency of earthquakes, their location and magnitude in the site over the past five years, by referring to the following tables
Karakoram highway is the highest highway in the world. It was built in 1986, due to the collaboration of China and Pakistan. It is situated on the old silk route. Silk route and silk have been deeply linked since 520AD. During this time silk was the biggest export of China. Silk was exported to Europe and other parts of the world through a network of silk routes. This route was the one which connected central Asia and China with the Arabian Sea. For decades the process of silk making was kept as a highly guarded secret by China.
Khaplu traces its origins to Buddhist monks from Tibet travelling on the silk route and settling down there. They have preserved their culture ever since. Unlike other remote preserved cultures they are very open, hospitable and welcoming since they are used to seeing tourists and travellers retiring in the village during their journeys.
Since Khaplu is at the altitude of 1459m and it is such a difficult terrain the government has not proven dedicated enough to provide them with electricity and natural gas as a source of energy. This leads to an increase in cutting down trees and resulting in deforestation. Meanwhile when land is stripped of its cover it becomes loose and crumbly and on top of that this is a seismically active area. Thus frequent landslides occur in and around this village. In order to deal these forces of nature they tend to construct light weight temporary homes which are easier to rebuild after a disaster, rather than to shift their village elsewhere and abandon their land which is very important to them. Although loss of human life still occurs regularly. We can understand the frequency of earthquakes, their location and magnitude in the site over the past five years, by referring to the following tables
The environment around the site is very energetic; River Gilgit (one of the main tributaries to River Indus) flows by it. This river is frozen for two months of the year while being active during the rest of the year. Khaplu village relies on the river for drinking water irrigation and energy.
This project deals with various aspects and attempts to answer questions such as:
How is this architecture site specific?
What kind of future ecologies might emerge from this system?
What type of occupancy is suitable for areas prone to landslides and earthquakes?
If this active environment is provided with appropriate set of tools, can it create its own architecture?
How is a cyborgian system a better choice than manmade system for a site which is highly restless?
Is it better to impose preconceived architecture on the site or is it better to let the architecture emerge from the environment?
This project deals with various aspects and attempts to answer questions such as:
How is this architecture site specific?
What kind of future ecologies might emerge from this system?
What type of occupancy is suitable for areas prone to landslides and earthquakes?
If this active environment is provided with appropriate set of tools, can it create its own architecture?
How is a cyborgian system a better choice than manmade system for a site which is highly restless?
Is it better to impose preconceived architecture on the site or is it better to let the architecture emerge from the environment?
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INTRODUCTION:
This project explores an environment which is constantly changing due to natural influxes. As the terrain is constantly evolving any attempt to inhabit it in a static manner would not be sustainable. Research has been focused on a highly restless environment in the Karakoram Mountain Range in Pakistan which connects various environmental forces and inhabitants. This part of the world is geologically active and is prone to earthquakes and landslides. Naturally the question arises whether it would be easier for the inhabitants (due to these natural disturbances) to relocate and live elsewhere? In order for them to stay in their area, is it possible for them to interact and coexist with the ecology of the area and the various events occurring throughout the year. The objective is to connect seasonal natural occurrences in a harmonious way resulting in new possibilities to inhabit such difficult conditions in the near future. This project will try to extract architecture which is time based and constantly negotiates between the landscape and the inhabitants, making its just as important in the present as it would be in the future.
It is an attempt to devise tools by which nature will construct its own architecture, keeping an intimate connection with the inhabitants of the settlement and documenting the events spatially. These tools will act as a bridge between the environment and the people who dwell in it. This approach is essential to keep up with the shifting terrain, spatially mapping the climatic events of the site and reducing casualties in natural disasters. The project does not intend to solve all the problems but it will act as a gateway to new design approaches and possibilities in a developing country like Pakistan.
A set of questions were aroused in Housing and Culture After Earthquakes by Yasemin Aysan. these questions are relavant in this landscape aswell.
“How successful are the investigations into safe building? How suitable are permanent houses that are provided by governments or agencies for accommodation of the homeless? To what extent are resettlements accepted by the people they house?”
Aysan, Yasemin. Housing and Culture After Earthquakes, Oxford Polytechnic, (1987)
After studying the climatic data a certain set of relationships can be made. Landslides occur more frequently during the months of July, August, September and October. These landslides are also connected to the monsoon season in this area during July august and September. The rainfall erodes the surface cover of the mountains resulting in loose rocks eventually slipping and sliding down, endangering human lives. During this period the entire basic infrastructure required for human inhabitation on the mountains and village dwellings are destroyed.
This project explores an environment which is constantly changing due to natural influxes. As the terrain is constantly evolving any attempt to inhabit it in a static manner would not be sustainable. Research has been focused on a highly restless environment in the Karakoram Mountain Range in Pakistan which connects various environmental forces and inhabitants. This part of the world is geologically active and is prone to earthquakes and landslides. Naturally the question arises whether it would be easier for the inhabitants (due to these natural disturbances) to relocate and live elsewhere? In order for them to stay in their area, is it possible for them to interact and coexist with the ecology of the area and the various events occurring throughout the year. The objective is to connect seasonal natural occurrences in a harmonious way resulting in new possibilities to inhabit such difficult conditions in the near future. This project will try to extract architecture which is time based and constantly negotiates between the landscape and the inhabitants, making its just as important in the present as it would be in the future.
It is an attempt to devise tools by which nature will construct its own architecture, keeping an intimate connection with the inhabitants of the settlement and documenting the events spatially. These tools will act as a bridge between the environment and the people who dwell in it. This approach is essential to keep up with the shifting terrain, spatially mapping the climatic events of the site and reducing casualties in natural disasters. The project does not intend to solve all the problems but it will act as a gateway to new design approaches and possibilities in a developing country like Pakistan.
A set of questions were aroused in Housing and Culture After Earthquakes by Yasemin Aysan. these questions are relavant in this landscape aswell.
“How successful are the investigations into safe building? How suitable are permanent houses that are provided by governments or agencies for accommodation of the homeless? To what extent are resettlements accepted by the people they house?”
Aysan, Yasemin. Housing and Culture After Earthquakes, Oxford Polytechnic, (1987)
After studying the climatic data a certain set of relationships can be made. Landslides occur more frequently during the months of July, August, September and October. These landslides are also connected to the monsoon season in this area during July august and September. The rainfall erodes the surface cover of the mountains resulting in loose rocks eventually slipping and sliding down, endangering human lives. During this period the entire basic infrastructure required for human inhabitation on the mountains and village dwellings are destroyed.
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