Rendering Houses in Ladakh

Abstract

When we look at Himalayan history or geopolitics, we tend to overlook such basic matters as housing and the domestic architecture which underpins local people’s lives. This does not refer just to new buildings but also to the continuous process of transformation that traditional houses undergo within their own life times. Mud bricks and wooden beams are infinitely flexible. Houses decay and crumble, are resurrected and extended, sometimes even moved. In climates as severe as Ladakh, building skills are the nuts and bolts of survival. Houses have personalities just as much as their owners do.