ARCHAEOLOGICA HEREDITAS

ARCHAEOLOGICA HEREDITAS

Monographs of the Institute of Archaeology of the Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw Volume published in cooperation with the Institute of Art History of the University of Warsaw

Warsaw 2017

10

Preventive conservation

of the human environment 6.

Architecture as an element of the landscape edited by

Weronika Kobylińska-Bunsch, Zbigniew Kobyliński

and Louis Daniel Nebelsick

Editorial Board:

Editor-in-chief: Zbigniew Kobyliński

Members of the Board: Tadeusz Gołgowski, Jacek Lech, Przemysław Urbańczyk Secretary of the Board: Magdalena Żurek

Editorial Board’s address:

1/2 Wóycickiego St., Building 23, PL 01-938 Warsaw, Poland tel. +48 22 569 68 17, e-mail: archeologia@uksw.edu.pl

www.archeologia.uksw.edu.pl

Technical editing and proofreading: Zbigniew Kobyliński Layout: Bartłomiej Gruszka

Cover design: Katja Niklas and Ula Zalejska-Smoleń

Linguistic consultation: Louis Daniel Nebelsick and Wojciech Brzeziński Cover picture: part of the imperial garden Summer Palace in Beijing, China;

photo by Weronika Kobylińska-Bunsch

Publication recommended for print by Professors Martin Gojda and Andrzej Pieńkos

© Copyright by Fundacja Res Publica Multiethnica, Warszawa 2017 and Instytut Archeologii Uniwersytetu Kardynała Stefana Wyszyńskiego, Warszawa 2017

ISBN 978-83-946496-4-7 ISBN 978-83-948352-2-4

ISSN 2451-0521

Publisher:

Res Publica Multiethnica Foundation 44 Cypryjska St.

PL 02-761 Warsaw, Poland http://res-publica-multiethnica.pl/

CONTENTS

ArchAeologicA Hereditas 10

 5 

^Preface

Weronika Kobylińska-Bunsch, Zbigniew Kobyliński

and Louis Daniel Nebelsick

*

 7 

Environmental preventive conservation

Andrzej Tomaszewski

11   The idea of preventive conservation of human environment

Zbigniew Kobyliński

and Weronika Kobylińska-Bunsch

*

15   Preventive conservation of the human environment:

architecture as an element of the landscape

Lazare Eloundou Assomo

17   The role of the architecture in the creation, enhancement

and preservation of cultural landscapes

Stefano De Caro

21   World Heritage SITES for DIALOGUE:

heritage for intercultural dialogue, through travel, “Life Beyond Tourism”

Paolo Del Bianco

*

23   Role of cultural sustainability of a tribe in developing a timeless cultural landscape: a case study of the Apatani tribe

Barsha Amarendra, Bishnu Tamuli and Amarendra Kumar Das

37   The corporate and cultural: honoring the monumental in Kansas City, Missouri

Cynthia M. Ammerman

47   Damaged landscape of ancient Palmyra and its recovery

Marek Barański

57   The art of (architectural)

reconstruction at archaeological sites in situ within the context of cultural landscapes

Ewa M. Charowska

73   Lessons from landscape, landscape archetypes

Urszula Forczek-Brataniec, Ana Luengo and Tony Williams

83   The city for people – the image of post-industrial sites in modern city

Joanna Gruszczyńska

95   Sustainability by management:

a comparative policy study of the World Heritage cities of Amsterdam, Edinburgh and Querétaro

Eva Gutscoven, Ana Pereira Roders and Koen Van Balen

105   Polychromy in architecture as a manifestation of the link between man and environment

Tetiana Kazantseva

119   Capturing architecture – the poetic vision of cultural heritage

in the inter-war Polish pictorial photography

Weronika Kobylińska-Bunsch

of architecture

Zbigniew Kobyliński

153   Educating architects: the problem with agricultural buildings

Diederik de Koning

163   Historic gardens and climate change.

Conclusions and perspectives

Heiner Krellig

177   The monastic landscape – carrier of memory and potential catalyst in conservation and adaptive reuse processes of material and imma- terial heritage

Karen Lens and Nikolaas Vande Keere

187   The missing landscape

of Yuanmingyuan: preservation and revitalisation of a Chinese imperial garden

Mingqian Liu

195   Seeking the traces of a former mon- -astic landscape in the vicinity of Samos Abbey (Galicia, Spain)

Estefanía López Salas

213   Landscape and national identity in Portugal

Fernando Magalhães

225  

The city that penetrates the sky

Romano Martini and Cristiano Luchetti

231   Siting penal heritage: a history of Wellington’s prison landscape

Christine McCarthy

243   Phantom heritage: Thingstätten and “sacred” landscapes of the Third Reich

Louis Daniel Nebelsick

265   ²¹

Century Garden with exhibition pavilion in Royal Łazienki Museum in Warsaw

Ewa Paszkiewicz

of the castle complex at Wyszyna

Kamil Rabiega

303   Dissolving materiality: ruins and plant relicts in the landscape parks by Denis McClair in Volhynia

Petro Rychkov and Nataliya Lushnikova

323  

Memory of the landscape: revela- tion through architecture and built environment at the Çamalti Saltern

Işılay Tiarnagh Sheridan

333   Pre-Hispanic walkscapes in Medellín, Colombia

Juan Alejandro Saldarriaga Sierra

345   The invisible and endangered land- scape: the case of the margins of the Cascavel Stream in Goiânia, Brazil

Carinna Soares de Sousa and Almir Francisco Reis

361   Diamond mines shaping the South African landscapes

Aleksandra Stępniewska

369   (Un)wanted heritage in the

cityscape – arguments for destruc- tion or reuse. The case of the city of Kaunas

Ingrida Veliutė

379   The Nordic Pavilion projects at the 2016 Venice Biennale.

Scandinavian approach to architectural landscape

Anna Wiśnicka

389   Architecture in the cultural land- -scape of the Prądnik Valley

Dominik Ziarkowski

*

403   Notes on authors

Role of cultural sustainability of a tribe in developing a timeless cultural landscape:

a case study of the Apatani tribe

Barsha Amarendra, Bishnu Tamuli and Amarendra Kumar Das

ArchAeologicA Hereditas 10

23–36

1. Introduction

The introduction of the industrial revolution and the consequent dawn of Western materialism have initiated a non-traditional commodity-based perception of nature’s resources. This has brought about an increased exploita- tion of resources. However, traditional societies view phys- ical as well as biological components of the environment and the human population as being linked together in a web of relationships. The diverse practices of traditional methods represent a pool of human experience spanning many cultures and many millennia. Thus traditional tribal societies are cultural assortment in itself and traditional methods are the one to be conserved and praised.

The Apatani tribe is one such cocooned community (that practices traditional methods from agriculture to pisciculture) which is considered for intensely prac- ticing traditional methods of resource management and conservation. Apatani is recognised as a potential world heritage site by UNESCO for inclusion as a Cul- tural Landscape for their “extremely high productivity”

and “unique” way of preserving the ecology. Upholding the sanctity that nature holds and with a distinct socio- cultural fabric built on social cohesion and shared values, the combination of villages and their associated agricul- tural and botanical landscapes present a complete fos- silised cultural environment.

1.1. Historical background

There are no written records of the history of the Apatani tribes, however one of their oral accounts speaks of their migration from the extreme north of Subansiri and Siang areas following the rivers of Kurung and Kumey.¹

Presently, they are living in the Ziro valley in the Low- er Subansiri district of Arunachal Pradesh in India (Fig. 1).

However, many more Apatanis live outside this valley making the total population approximately 60,000 all over the state. Only the inhabitants of Ziro valley speak

1  Blackburn 2010.

their native language in its original form. Their language belongs to the Sino-Tibetan family along with infusion from the Tibeto-Burman.

1.2. Religious practices

The Apatani people are one of the few remaining fol- lowers of animistic religions – they worship plants, animals and the forests, and ritual sacrifices are their way of celebrating and worshipping nature. The reli- gion practiced faithfully by the Apatani Tribe is Donyi- Polo, the praise of the Sun (Ayo Donyi) and the Moon (Atoh Polo).² All misfortunes and any bad luck in anyway are believed to be caused by evil spirits. For this, the Apatanis render a quite prayer to Ayo Donyi and Atoh Polo by sacrificing domestic such as chicken or mithun (gayal – Bos frontalis)

The festivities of the tribe are indeed very crucial and sacred to every Apatani. In March, the tribe celebrates the Myoko festival (Fig. 2) where the Apatanis give thanks to friendship and pray for prosperity to their gods and goddesses in the form of religious chanting. This fes- tival is hosted in a cyclic manner by the different villages of the valley. This is done by the tribe to ensure that no particular village bears too much of the financial burden.

The finances to carry the festivals are equitably shared by all families of the host village causing no economic disparities during the festive time. In July, Apatanis from all over the valley come together at the administrative centre of Hapoli to celebrate their main agricultural fes- tival known as the Dree Festival, which involves sacrific- ing fowls, eggs, and animals to the benevolent gods. It is believed that the sacrifices, chants, dance and rituals please the gods; thus, granting the Apatanis prosperity throughout the year. Separate celebrations at other pla- ces on other days are banned as they would undermine the single-community-wide event.

2  Blackburn 2010.

Fig. 1. Location of Arunachal Pradesh (source: https://pasighat.files.wordpress.com)

Fig. 2. Myoko festival

(source: http://www.reisverslagen.net)

1.3. Cultural heritage

The most striking feature of the Apatanis is how they have allowed the winds of change to blow into the valley and at the same time have not allowed westernisation and mod- ernisation to dilute their customs, traditions and culture.

During the savage days that existed in Arunachal Pradesh until the middle nineties, the women of the tribe; who are considered to be the most beautiful in the eastern Himalayas, were often stolen by invading parties of other tribes due to their beauty. This led to a unique tradition where the Apatani men started to re- design their women with tattoos and made them wear large nose plugs, called as yaping hurlo, in order to make

them appear unattractive (Fig. 3). We can call this an ex- ample of anti-design. Because designs were meant to be functional, not necessarily beautiful. Though the tradi- tion is no longer followed by the younger generation, the elderly Apatani women with these tattoos and nose plug are a striking sight to meet.

The traditional dresses of the Apatani Tribe display uniqueness, colours and simplicity (Fig. 4). Weaving, gin- ning, spinning and other textile works are confined to the women. The textile patterns found are either geometric or floral and zoomorphic patterns styled in contrasts or combination of colours. Weaving is done by the back- strap method which limits the width of the garment, so that shawls are woven in three pieces and sewn together.

25 Preventive conservation of the human environment 6 • architecture as an element of the landscape

Barsha amarendra, Bishnu tamuli and amarendra Kumar Das cultural landscape of the apatani tribe in india

Fig. 3. Apatani woman with nose plugs (source: httpss-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com)

Working cane and bamboo is an important craft of the tribe, and the workmanship is of a very high order.

Crafting cane and bamboo is done exclusively by men and the most commonly made objects are baskets for storing and carrying paddy, fuel and water, vessels for preparing local liquor, rice plates, bows and arrows, mats, etc. Many tribesmen make their own hats, which are often extremely decorative, adorned with the beaks and feathers of birds or with tufts of hair dyed red. Orna- ments and necklaces made of fine strips of bamboo and grass are also popular.

1.4. Judicial system

Even before the Apatanis had been exposed to any rec- ognised system of government, they had an informal ju- dicial system. It even works today and the government does not interfere in the legal matters. The traditional court of the Apatanis called Bulyang follows the local customary law when trying cases, settling disputes and awarding punishment.³ Its authority is never questioned

3  Blackburn 2008.

and the collective decision is binding. The justice deliv- ered is speedy and involve a community feedback sys- tem. The jurisdiction is such that it imposes different punishments for the same crime, depending on how much society is affected by the misdeed in question.

This Bulyang is as progressive as the government courts and does not try to bind its people to traditional customs in the name of preservation. When the Apatani Students Union protested regarding the traditional dis- figuring of women’s faces, the council passed the judge- ment that there were no raids anymore and there was thus no logic in disfiguring pretty faces. The system was stopped and anyone doing so was warned of fines.

2. Sustainable natural resource management

2.1. Indigenous land use

Categorisation of lands by the Apatani has been largely based on their perception of most appropriate and sus-

Fig. 4. Traditional Apatani dress (source: http://3.bp.blogspot.com)

Fig. 5. Traditional classification of land (designed by B. Amarendra and

W. Kobylińska-Bunsch)

tainable use of their limited land resources.⁴ It has been well classified and regulated under the traditional cus- tomary norms. Broadly, the land is categorised into four major types and each category has numerous sub-types.

The major indicators of traditional classification of lands are available today in the forms of widely known land use practices having ecological significance, such as for- est, sacred groves, agricultural, grassland, etc.⁵ (Fig. 5)

Forest is invariably managed on sloping lands on the fringes of agricultural and bamboo plantations (Fig. 6).

Human settlement is in the middle of forest and agri- culture so that the community can have access to both these land use types easily, reducing labour and time (Fig. 7). Agriculture is a prime source of livelihood sus- tenance, which is highly inter-linked with forest ecosys- tem. Besides agriculture, bamboo plantations play key role in the tribal economic and socio-cultural practices.

Diversification of land uses is an example of highly suc- cessful human adaptation mechanism to the rigor and constraints of upland regions.

Among all the land uses, clan forest and village for- est have the largest mean plot size with 8.60 ha while granary sites have lowest with 0.011 ha. Meanwhile the most important land use, agriculture varies from 0.098 to 0.015 ha and bamboo plantation with 0.62 ha.⁶ Sacred groves, an important land use for conservation purpose has only an average plot size of just 0.096 ha (Fig. 8).

However, it has an important role in in-situ (germplasm) conservation of socio-culturally valuable, economically potential and ecologically significance species.

2.2. Wet rice cultivation

The Apatani system of Aji cultivation, using a combina- tion of paddy and fish together with millets with bunds

4  Barua and Slowik 2000.

5  Barua and Slowik 2000.

6  Kumar and Ramakrishnan 1990.

separating each plot, is thought to be one of the most productive and efficient agricultural system of the re- gion.⁷ Small pits are dug into the terraces for the paddy and fingerlings are put into the water in these pits. Dur- ing the monsoon season, the fishes come out of the pits and move around the whole submerged area of the ter- race field (Fig. 9). The fish droppings act as fertilisers, while the fish eat insects and pests and also improve the oxygen circulation around the field, increasing rice yields by 10%. During water scarcity when water remains only in the pits, fishes go into the pits and grow. In this sys- tem, the fishes get better nutrition due to manuring of the paddy fields and hence their growth is better.⁸

The paddy fields are classified in accordance to the availability of natural and artificial water supply. These paddy-cum fish terraces are dependent upon the nutri- ent wash-out from the hill slopes. The house and granary sites are located at higher contours compared to the cul- tivation terraces so that the decayed and decomposed substances can be easily drained into the fields. Apart from being hygienically sound, this practice ensures a source of good manure for the crops. The Apatanis by recycling crop residues and using organic wastes effec- tively sustain soil fertility.⁹ The period between harvest- ing and next transplanting, villagers carry baskets of rice chaff, pig and chicken droppings, ash and kitchen refuse to layer their fields, thus preserving the soil fertility.

2.3. Traditional farmer groups

The traditional farmers are the key players the in conser- vation of biodiversity, particularly the agro-biodiversity and protection of local knowledge systems through tra- ditional rural institutions.¹⁰ Eight informal farmer groups

7  Ramakrishnan 1997.

8  Pussang 1999.

9  Pussang 1999.

10  Pussang 1999.

27 Preventive conservation of the human environment 6 • architecture as an element of the landscape

Barsha amarendra, Bishnu tamuli and amarendra Kumar Das cultural landscape of the apatani tribe in india

Fig. 6. Location of forest (photo by B. Tamuli)

Fig. 7. Human settlement (photo by B. Tamuli)

Fig. 8. Land uses (designed by B. Amarendra)

Fig. 9. Apatani system of cultivation (photo by B. Tamuli; drawing

by W. Kobylińska-Bunsch)

exist amongst the Apatanis and each group is entrusted with specific duties that contribute towards the sustain- able conservation and management of the agro-eco- system. These groups work in coordination with each other which involves intensive community participation.

The community realises the importance of such kinds of well-organised division of labour, which will not only help in the protection of the TEK but also in the energy efficient management of the agro-ecosystem. There is one group, which is responsible for the construction and management of the water resources, which is vital for a sustainable yield under the conditions of limited avail- ability of water resources in the valley. Similarly, there are separate groups responsible for preparation of the agricultural land, transplantation of the rice seedlings, community management of the bamboo plantations, fish-breeding, harvesting of rice and other mixed crops, construction and maintenance of the village houses all involving community participation. The farmers are so self-reliant and self-sufficient in their community-based activities that they have not felt the necessity to accept any kind of technological intervention with the exception of financial aid for erosion control.¹¹

2.4. Traditional forestry

The forests of Apatani Valley comprise of four well- defined zones (Fig. 10). The first zone is just above the rain-fed or wet rice cultivation, which is monoculture of bamboo. The second zone consists of Pinus wallichiana forest followed by third zone, which is a monoculture

11  Barua and Slowik 2000.

of the chestnut tree Castanopsis spp. The fourth zone is made up of subtropical broad leaf mixed vegetation that consists of Quercus lanata, Castanopsis spp., etc., and temperate vegetation such as Taxus wallichiana, Cepha- lotaxus sp., etc. Though all forest types are important for the community, there is a high dependency on bamboo and Castanopsis spp. forests.

These forests are maintained not only to meet the fuelwood, fodder, food, and timber need of the commu- nity but also for socio-cultural and ritualistic purpose.¹² Bamboo and pine groves meet the requirement of tim- ber for house construction, edible bamboo shoots, fenc- ing, erosion control, fuelwood, handicrafts and materi- als for ritual ceremonies. Maintenance and plantation of bamboo is done with utmost care.

2.5. Ethno-botanical knowledge

Another interesting feature of the self-reliant Apatani tribe is their ethno-medicinal knowledge system. Pre- vious studies have documented nearly 158 species of plants in the Ziro valley having medicinal value that are efficiently utilised by this indigenous tribe as folk medi- cine.¹³ While distinct parts of the plant are normally used for curing ailments, the use of aboveground plant parts are found to be dominant (almost 80%) and primarily comprised of leaf and fruit extracts. Nearly 52 ailments have been cured using the different plant parts. In some cases, the professional healers tend to be the major expert of plant collection. But in the majority of cases,

12  Kumar and Ramakrishnan 1990.

13  Barua and Slowik 2000.

29 Preventive conservation of the human environment 6 • architecture as an element of the landscape

Barsha amarendra, Bishnu tamuli and amarendra Kumar Das cultural landscape of the apatani tribe in india

Fig. 10. Four forest zones (designed by B. Amarendra)

plant resources used for various purposes are collected by the women folk. These plant resources find habitats to grow in domestic gardens, community forests, sacred groves, and other wild niches. However, expanding agri- cultural fields owing to population pressure are a threat to these species.

2.6. Irrigation practices

Since time immemorial, the Apatanis have practiced a scientific system of irrigation through indigenous tech- nology using local materials available in the region. All the diversions are made with wooden planks, bamboo and cane. The maintenance of barrier and irrigation canal systems is managed through cooperative efforts. Every stream from the surrounding hills is tapped soon after it emerges from the forest. They are channelled at the rim of the valley and then diverted by a network of primary, secondary and tertiary channels. To maintain equal water in all fields, a volume of water is diverted in feeder canal (Segang) and then to pipe (Huburs/Siichoo) (Fig. 11). The feeder canals or pipes are branched in order to feed many terraces by blocking or opening the connecting pipes.

To check erosion, the flow of water in each feeder ca- nal or pipe is regulated by wooden planks or stones. The most important aspect of traditional water management by Apatanis, which appears to be scientific, is to keep a water layer on the soil surface at a permitted depth. For that, the flow of water from one field to another is main- tained through a ditch (Muhgo) on the bund and two out- let pipes. The ditch is specially made for the outflow of ex- cess water as well as maintaining the desired depth. The desired level of water is maintained by putting straws/

weeds in ditches, where the height of straws/weeds is maintained accordingly. Two outlet pipes are placed in such a way that the upper one is for over flow and lower one is for draining the water completely. In the middle of rice field, a small depression or canal (Siikho/Parkho/

Hehte) is best suited for fish culture. During agro-piscine cultural activities, water is drained out from time to time.

For weeding, water is drained twice/thrice, which coin- cides with harvesting of fish. In later stage, water is totally drained from field for early ripening and increasing the yield as well as to make it dry during harvesting. The wa- ter from the terraces is finally drained into the Kale River, which flows through the middle of the valley.

3. Sustainable architecture

The sustainability of the Apatani architecture lies in their exhaustive use of bamboo as a building material and the exploration of the plant’s untapped potential as a construction mainstay through their modular bamboo houses.¹⁴

Bamboo is abundant: the plant can grow up to four feet per day, and, when harvested, it regrows without having to be replanted. Additionally, it is two to three times stronger than steel. Construction is relatively sim- ple, requiring very little equipment and bamboo is negli- gibly expensive. When growing, the plant releases nearly 35 percent more oxygen and absorbs nearly 35 percent more carbon dioxide than most trees. Canes from one building can be reused several times over in other pro- jects. Bamboo structures can also be easily deployed as disaster shelters to many regions of the world.

3.1. Layout and planning of village

Oral history says that the Apatanis have always lived in a colony together as a family in a middle altitude region.

They have adapted to the physical limits of their valley by living in densely populated settlements. The village is an important identity marker for men; a woman may move

14  Dunkelberg 1985.

at marriage, but a man never changes his village. The valley has two towns, at its northern and southern ends, Ziro and Hapoli respectively, linked by a road and the buses that trundle between them throughout the day.

Squeezed between flat fields and steep hillsides on the edge of the valley, each village is laid out in tight rows of houses. These houses are rooted in nature owing to its ma- terial palette of bamboo, timber and thatch (Fig. 12). The planning of the house is done in a continuous pattern in a row until or unless there is a break like a road or any oth- er obstacle in between. Initially the colony was separated by the cow paths. Today, the Apatani colony is separated by the roads which are made by the government (Fig. 13).

3.2. Cultural elements

The Apatani villages have distinct bamboo structures which stand out amidst their dwelling units. These are cultural and religious elements and are treated with great care.

The lapang (Fig. 14) is the first focal point of social life in a Apatani village. It is a ritual platform, raised about one-metre above the ground on thick wooden posts.¹⁵ Traditionally open air, few lapangs are now protected from the sun and rain by a wooden structure supporting a roof of galvanised, corrugated wooden sheets. There are at least five to six lapangs found in a village. Apart from being location of major rituals during festivals, it serves as convenient space for public events in the oth- erwise densely packed village. Its clean, flat, dry surface serves as an excellent workplace for various tasks such

15  Blackburn 2010.

as splitting long lengths of bamboo, and a convenient meeting place for groups, such as women’s saving co- operatives. Apart from that, it serves as a spot for idle pursuits, especially playing cards.

Nagos are the second focal point of social life in the village¹⁶ (Fig. 15). They are traditional shrines, only one or two in number in a village and are completely differ- ent in structure and purpose. Unlike the open-air lapang, the nagos are small, enclosed spaces for ritual meetings and also serves as an analogy to the Christian confession booth. It is from here that the nyibus (sharman) chants and it is also here that oral traditions are passed on to the younger generations. The Nagos hosts displays of war trophies and other achievements by the particular village.

The third element of the village are the bamboo posts which can be seen outside every house (Fig. 16). Believed to be sacred to the Apatanis, there are two of these, the Aangya and the Babo.¹⁷ Aangya is the shorter post which is decorated with cane, egg shells and bird feather. Babo is the taller post that is decorated using thin strips of cane and bamboo. These are placed outside their house throughout the year and changed during the festival of Myoko. Their design is unique to each household, mak- ing them the identity of the inhabitants of the dwellers.

3.3. Typical Apatani house

The Apatani houses are on stilts and are called Chang Ghar. The height of the stilt varies from 1.5-2 m. The reason for using stilt is for protection against disaster

16  Blackburn 2008.

17  Blackburn 2008.

Fig. 11. Irrigation system (designed by B. Amarendra)

31 Preventive conservation of the human environment 6 • architecture as an element of the landscape

Barsha amarendra, Bishnu tamuli and amarendra Kumar Das cultural landscape of the apatani tribe in india

Fig. 12. Traditional Apatani house (photo by B. Tamuli)

Fig. 13. Apatani colony (photo by B. Tamuli)

Fig. 14. Lapang (photo by B. Tamuli)

(Arunachal is landslide prone area). The space created by these stilts is used as pig pits, Aai jiri.

Wooden steps, Abya lead up to the bamboo woven front porch, which, along with the back porch, nearly equals the interior floor space of the house. in dry and warm weather, Apatanis sit on these porches to work, talk and relax during the day. Going through the wooden door, the Apatani house has an ante-chamber, used as a hen coop and storage space for baskets and firewood.

Beyond this is the main living area, where almost all the

activities are done like cooking, sleeping, resting, chang- ing, chit-chatting, house hold work, practicing handicraft and sewing (Figs 17–19).

At the centre of the living area is the fire place called Oogu. The fire usually burns throughout the day, espe- cially during the cold season. It is not only for cooking and warmth but also to keep insects away. The area of the house is adjusted according to the size of the family. The fire place is defined by placing wooden logs in a rectangu- lar form called Piri. The wood and meat which is to be used

Fig. 15. Nagos (photo by B. Tamuli)

Fig. 16. The Aangya and the Babo (source: https://farm8.static.flickr.com)

Fig. 17. Apatani house (photo by B. Tamuli)

33 Preventive conservation of the human environment 6 • architecture as an element of the landscape

Barsha amarendra, Bishnu tamuli and amarendra Kumar Das cultural landscape of the apatani tribe in india

Fig. 18. Layout of Apatani house (designed by B. Amarendra and W. Kobylińska-Bunsch)

Fig. 19. Apatani house interiors (photo by B. Tamuli)

is placed right above the fireplace in two levels. The place where it is kept is called Darake. It is made of wood and hang with the help of jute or cane rope tied to the ceiling.

There are no windows in a typical Apatani house in or- der to insulate the house during the cold winters making the door the only source of light and ventilation (Fig. 20).

However, present-day constructions include windows into the house design.

3.4. Elements of house

Aai jiri (Pig pit)

The space created by stilts is used for pig rearing and is called Aai jiri. All the wastes from the house, the vegeta- ble waste, meat waste and human excreta are discarded into the Aai jiri. There are openings given in the Aai jiri for proper air circulation for the pigs staying there.

Tarsi (Walls)

The Tarsi are made of bamboo or timber. The main supporting columns for the walls are long bamboo or wooden logs. And the walls are mainly made of bam- boo weaved together in different patterns or wooden planks.

Myopii (Floor), Reke (Ceiling) and Malo (Roof)

Myopii and Reke are made of bamboo placed in differ- ent patterns and styles, supported by bamboo or timber joists. The floor joists in Myopii is always made of timber to impart strength to the floor. In case of the roof, called Malo, bamboo is woven together and supported by bam- boo or timber purlins and rafter. Thatch is placed on top of it to ensure insulation during the winters. The modern day constructions use galvanised, corrugated steel sheets for roofing.

Fig. 20. Interior of Apatani house (photo by B. Tamuli)

35 Preventive conservation of the human environment 6 • architecture as an element of the landscape

Barsha amarendra, Bishnu tamuli and amarendra Kumar Das cultural landscape of the apatani tribe in india

4. Interventions for the future

Although the Apatanis are one of the most progres- sive tribes, however the tribe feels that this is still not enough. Almost all Apatani children go to school as the value of education is being recognised. With the youth acquiring coveted qualifications serve as high-level Gov- ernment employees, entrepreneurs, doctors and engi- neers, the Apatanis have developed a clear philosophy for their future.

For their greater progress, there is a need for posi- tive interventions towards enriching their existing herit- age, increased efficiency of the agro-system and a better standard of living. In this regard, the following interven- tions have been enlisted:

With the youngsters migrating to the towns for education, there is a possibility of knowledge erosion amongst the younger generation. Thus, the young Apa- tani members need to be imparted a proper education and training of their traditional ecological knowledge and establishment of community knowledge gardens in a participatory manner.

The enrichment of the traditional skills of weaving and bamboo crafts can be done by setting up of vocational training centers and conducting workshops to improve their skills along with the use of modernised technology.

Craft centers need to be established to encouragement the refinement of the crafts and also create subsequent opportunities of its sale in national and global markets.

In traditional Apatani houses there are no chimneys, this is the reason why the ambiance inside the house is always dark and smoky. Due to the absence of windows as well, the only outlet for smoke is the door. There is a need to incorporate chimneys and windows into the Apatani houses for the proper ventilation of the interiors and making the air quality inside better.

One of the major drawbacks of the tribe is the result of their unhygienic living conditions. The sustainable ar- chitectural practices need to be infused with the neces- sity of sanitation. Toilets need to be inculcated into the typical Apatani house along with the termination of the pig sty below.

The government investment into the Apatanis is fairly low. Infrastructure facilities like decent roads and drain- age systems are missing. A local municipality like body is missing which is charged to ensure cleanliness within the villages and public areas. These issues need to be addressed by the government.

The tribesmen have to travel to the main towns to gain access to medical services. With the right to health

being a fundamental right, the villages require the found- ing of dispensaries and pharmacies to provide for the basic healthcare services and emergency conditions.

Also, a few interventions were chalked out for the globalised world at large based on the case study of the Apatanis. They are as follows:

A proper documentation, appreciation and under- standing of their ecological practices will help to harness the traditional knowledge to develop strategy for sustain- able development of the fragile Himalayas. There should be a transfer of this traditional ecological knowledge to the neighboring ethnic groups.

The policy makers need to understand that farmers are the key players in maintaining a sustainable ecosys- tem and they need to be educated, well-trained and fairly acknowledged. The policy makers can take lessons from the benefits of community efforts and inculcate it elsewhere.

Urban planners can take lessons on the usefulness of zoning out proper land-use patterns. It is necessary for the new cities to be properly zoned out into different services and housing areas in order to establish a sus- tainable land-use pattern as well as achieve a clear cut division in the professional and personal lives like in the Apatani valleys.

Young architects should be encouraged to interact with traditional communities to learn from them their sustain- able and vernacular practices so that they can later be integrated with modern technologies to create an archi- tecture that speaks for the landscape and adds value to it.

Young architects need to acknowledge natural build- ing materials like bamboo, it’s unparalleled sustainability and how to use this material in order to design unique architectural structures.

5. Conclusion

The rich traditional ecological knowledge embedded within the Apatani tribe needs to be protected with due acknowledgement of their efficient management and conservation of the resources by the communities in the face of globalisation. The concept of cultural land- scape can be used as an effective tool by the conserva- tion managers and policy makers for not only protecting the cultural traditions of the ethnic communities but also their knowledge systems used in community-based sustainable development. This knowledge and skill set of the Apatanis can be replicated elsewhere, with the right policy decisions and care.

Barua, K.K. and J. Slowik

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References:

Notes on authors

ArchAeologicA Hereditas 10

403–404

Barsha Amarendra – BA, architect; Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology, Nagpur, India.

Cynthia Ammerman – historian and preservation strate- gist; director of the Polis: Cultural Planning, LLC in Kansas City, Missouri, and of the Cass County Historical Society in Harrisonville, Missouri, USA.

Lazare Eloundou Assomo – Deputy Director of UNESCO’s World Heritage Center, Paris, France.

Marek Barański – Dr eng., architect, conservator of histo- ric monuments; Kielce University of Technology, Faculty of Building Engineering and Architecture, Kielce, Poland.

Ewa M. Charowska – Dr eng., architect, historian and historic preservationist; independent scholar working in Toronto, Canada.

Paolo Del Bianco – President of the Romualdo Del Bian- co Foundation, Florence, Italy.

Stefano De Caro – Dr, archaeologist; Director-General of ICCROM, former Director-General of Antiquities with the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities, Rome, Italy.

Urszula Forczek-Brataniec – Dr; lecturer at Cracow Uni- versity of Technology, Cracow, Poland. Secretary General of the European Region of the International Federation of Landscape Architects.

Joanna Gruszczyńska – MSc. Eng. Arch., architect; doc- toral student at the Warsaw University of Technology, Faculty of Architecture, Warsaw, Poland.

Eva Gutscoven – MSc; architect and conservator working in Belgium.

Tetiana Kazantseva – Dr, Associate Professor; Depart- ment of Design and Architecture Basics, Institute of Architecture, Lviv Polytechnic National University, Lviv, Ukraine.

Weronika Kobylińska-Bunsch – MA, art historian; doc- toral student at the Institute of Art History, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland.

Zbigniew Kobyliński – Professor Dr habil., archaeologist and manager of cultural heritage; director of the Institu- te of Archaeology of the Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński Uni- versity in Warsaw, Poland.

Diederik de Koning – MA, architect and environmental and infractructural planner; PhD candidate at the Delft University of Technology, Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment, Borders and Territories Research Gro- up, Delft, the Netherlands.

Heiner Krellig – Dr, art historian, independent scholar, working in Berlin, Germany and Venice, Italy.

Amarendra Kumar Das – Professor; Department of De- sign, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, India.

Karen Lens – MA, architect; doctoral student at Hasselt University, Belgium.

Mingqian Liu – MA, historian of art and architecture;

PhD student at the Department of Architecture, Texas A&M University, USA.

Estefanía López Salas – Dr, architect and restorator;

Professor at the School of Architecture, University of A Coruña, Spain.

Cristiano Luchetti – Assistant Professor; American Uni- versity of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.

Ana Luengo – MA, MSc, PhD, landscape architect; former President of the European Region of the International Federation of Landscape Architects –IFLA EUROPE.

Nataliya Lushnikova – Dr Eng., Associate Professor; Na- tional University of Water and Environmental Engineering, Institute of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Department of Architecture and Environmental Design, Rivne, Ukraine.

Fernando Magalhães – PhD, anthropologist; Interdisci- plinary Venter of Social Sciences (CICS.NOVA), Polytech- nic Institute of Leiria’s School of Education and Social Sciences, Leiria, Portugal.

Romano Martini – PhD, theoretician of law and politics;

Adjunct Professor at Niccolo Cusano University, Rome, Italy.

Christine McCarthy – PhD, architect and art historian;

senior lecturer at the Victoria University, Wellington, New Zealand.

Louis Daniel Nebelsick – Dr habil., archaeologist; Profes- sor at the Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in War- saw, Poland.

Ewa Paszkiewicz – MA; main scenographer at The Royal Łazienki Museum in Warsaw.

Ana Pereira Roders – Dr, architect and urban planner;

Associate Professor in Heritage and Sustainability at the Eindhoven University of Technology, the Netherlands.

Kamil Rabiega – MA, archaeologist; PhD student in the Institute of Archaeology, Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński Uni- versity in Warsaw, Poland.

Almir Francisco Reis – Dr, urban planner; Professor at the Federal University of Santa Catarina in Florianópolis, Brazil.

Petro Rychkov – Dr, architect; Professor at the Lublin University of Technology, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Department of Conservation of Built Heritage, Lublin, Poland.

Juan Alejandro Saldarriaga Sierra – Dr, cultural geogra- pher; teacher at the Faculty of Architecture of the Natio- nal University of Colombia in Medellin, Colombia.

Carinna Soares de Sousa – BA, architect and urban de- signer; MA student in urban planning at the Federal Uni- versity of Santa Catarina in Florianópolis, Brazil.

Aleksandra Stępniewska – MA student of architecture at the University of Social Sciences in Warsaw, Poland.

Bishnu Tamuli – Doctoral student at the Department of Design, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, India.

Işılay Tiarnagh Sheridan – BA, MSc, architect; research assistant at the İzmir Institute of Technology in Faculty of Architecture, Izmir, Turkey.

Andrzej Tomaszewski (1934-2010) – Professor dr habil., historian of art and culture, architect, urban planner, in- vestigator of Medieval architecture and art; director of ICCROM (1988-1992), General Conservator of Poland (1995-1999).

Koen Van Balen – Professor at the Catholic University of Leuven and director of the Raymond Lemaire Internatio- nal Centre for Conservation, Belgium.

Nikolaas Vande Keere – MA, civil engineer architect;

Professor in charge of the design studio of the Interna- tional Master of Interior Architecture on Adaptive Reuse at the Hasselt University, Belgium.

Ingrida Veliutė – Dr; lecturer at the Vytautas Magnus University Faculty of Arts and member of ICOMOS Lithu- ania.

Tony Williams – former President of the Irish Landscape Institute and President of The European Region of the International Federation of Landscape Architects.

Anna Wiśnicka – Dr, design historian; teacher at the In- stitute of Art History of the Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw, Poland.

Dominik Ziarkowski – Dr, art historian; Cracow Universi- ty of Economics. Chair of Tourism, Cracow, Poland.