Menifestation of Culture into a Built form: A case of Gardhwali culture and traditional houses of Uneri Village, Pauri, Uttarakhand

Abstract

Culture" has been originated from the term "cultivation," that implies that one has "grown" through knowledge or experience. To be cultured can also mean one is knowledgeable in the arts and has applied it in his lifestyle. Culture can be understood as the systems of complexly interconnected its elements and values which forms the entire "way of life" of people or the group of people. The essence of every built-form or built-up environments can be seen as the manifestation of culture and its values, which can be understood by the layers of abstraction that resides behind. The manifestation can be royal and imposing as any of the mighty empires, or it can be very simple and yet powerful to create an identity of those who adhere to it. It is like an artist who paints his canvas and there by builds an identity and sanctuary in the hearts of people and lives forever through his work. Elaborating the expression of culture on the tangible form is usually an unconscious effort that every designer does. In fact, culture has to play a dominant role for the process of varying set of any design process. That is because, any design when conceptualized for any desired function, is directly or indirectly being derived from or being synchronized with the cultural identity of its user. It defines individual identity and helps to recollect the memories of past. The intent for studying this topic is to understand the process of translating intangible measures and aspects in a tangible form. In this case the socio culture is intangible and house-form is tangible, different dwelling typology of the same region that has different socio-cultural values are taken into study.