The Energy-Culture in Altitude.

This paper argues that environmental aspects of vernacular architecture are culturally situated, and tests this proposition in the relationship between ecology, climatic conditions and architectural culture. The site of our study is the Himalaya of Nepal, where sharp change in altitude and ecology over short distances constrain and fragment human settlement. Migrants have evolved to form delimited ethnic groups occupying delineated areas, and developed local cultures and building traditions. We study and compare plans, sections, use of materials and people's interpretations of their architecture in several case studies. We examine how these change in relation to shifts in socio-cultural contexts in order to develop an insight into the formation of architectural variety. Our study demonstrates how digressions, differences and contradictions between house construction and environmental performance articulate the socio-cultural process of their formation.