Tibetan Furniture

Tibetan Furniture vitality is evergreen, has a unique personality. Furniture personality, this is like the personality of furniture, furniture, personality is a reflection of personality. In the size of the Tibetan hotels, restaurants, teahouses, and the Tibetan people, Tibetan furniture, prominently marked in the Chao own personality. Tibetan furniture on the personality, the biggest feature is the three "real" - simple, strong and practical.

Simple: Tibetan Furniture in the form monotonous narrow range. Because most of the Tibetan people like to sit cross-legged on the floor, so there are no traditional Tibetan furniture, the benches, chairs, only boxes, cabinets and tables three categories. Tibetan furniture never like making a fuss in form, its form is not "beat around the bush", or rectangular or square. There is no "feet" for the box, there is no cassette for the table, the two are all cabinets. In the increasingly numerous types of furniture, Tibetan furniture, simple look cute.

Strong: the Tibetan furniture, cedar or common materials, mostly pine, require the use of rare furniture, carved hardwood plateau. As with all solid wood, so the selection of Tibetan furniture, the weight ratio of heavy plywood made modern furniture. In many Tibetan people, Tibetan box at home, the Tibetan cabinet less there are decades of history. Barkhor Tibetan furniture, many old houses in old age just like at home as long as the age.

 Practical:Tibetan Furniture space and more space, you can store the size of debris, so it need not worry about who it moved back home. Such as the Tibetan cabinet, more than one meter high, two door, two floors, the top layer can zoom in a small bowl, below the big box can hold clothes, quilts and so on. And hidden cabinets are usually two together, and now a popular combination of two and a half, the middle can be used as TV goes smaller cabinet, which can put a lot of things. Small size, "magnanimous" is not small, it makes up less monotonous style. 

In addition to the three "real" character, there is a feature of Tibetan furniture, calm yet lively. Boxy is calm, reflected in its lively colors and patterns on it. Tibetan furniture, the color just like a woman's skirt is so gorgeous pastoral. It is more choice of the background red, yellow and brown in three colors, as the color pattern matching and pattern style is even more enriched.

Tibetan furniture, patterns and more with religious overtones, a common pattern of "auspicious eight Swiss", "birthday chart" and so on. It is also unique in the decorative techniques, including painting, jewelry, mosaic, iron spike Edge and sculpture, mosaics and other animal skins. One of the most decorated ethnic characteristics of the way, when the number of skins mosaic. Into account the size of the bins used leopard third to one-fifth of a square leather pieces, set in the dark cabinet surface, simple and generous, wild and free. 

Environment, local culture key to Yushu reconstruction

The Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Yushu is at the headwaters of three major rivers - the Yellow, the Yangtze and the Lancang rivers. As an important nature conservation area in China, Yushu's ecological system is pretty fragile.


Therefore, environmental protection and the maintenance of local traditions should be given priority in the reconstruction of earthquake-ravaged Yushu. And any good solution for Yushu's reconstruction should include due consideration of the natural and cultural characteristics there.The rebuilding process should be local and adaptive. In fact, local people know best,it is very important to draw from the experiences of the local Tibetan people who have inhabited the area for thousands of years.The reconstruction should take local residents' lifestyle and culture into account. And the style of the structures must be in line with Tibetan characteristics so that they can match the local culture and traditions.


With such a high altitude and comparatively low population density, the construction style and materials should be different from that normally adopted in third-tier cities.Using safer and environment-friendly materials should be a major issue for planners.



The reconstruction should be carried out with due concern for the prefecture's distinctive ethnic characteristics and geological conditions.

 As a part of plateau energy efficient building demonstration project, some decorative feature rich and environmentally friendly eco-energy saving building built in the Qinghai Lake. With full use of abundant local solar, wind, biomass and other renewable resources o effectively address the agricultural and pastoral areas of Qinghai Province with building energy efficiency and energy issues for the nomadic population in Qinghai Province, the construction in progress to improve the quality of pastoral life, providing a comprehensive eco-energy saving building system of the plateau.

        

                               The top energy-saving with solar collectors are fixed on every house.

anti earthquake building

There are two main types of anti-earthquake technology: "Quake resistance", which refers to strengthened columns, and using beams and walls designed to be resistant against quakes, and "seismic isolation" which are structures installed in foundations to absorb vibrations from the ground. If a building is directly connected to its foundations, it is also directly vulnerable to seismic vibrations. Seismic isolation structures are like a buffer that provides protection for the building. Illustrated are THK's quake-absorbing seismic isolation devices that use crossed LM Guides to greatly reduce the amount of vibration transmitted from the ground to the building above.

Single or two story wood-frame domestic structures built on a perimeter or slab foundation are relatively safe in an earthquake, but in many structures built before 1950 the sill plate that sits between the concrete foundation and the floor diaphragm (perimeter foundation) or studwall (slab foundation) may not be sufficiently bolted in. Additionally, older attachments (without substantial corrosion-proofing) may have corroded to a point of weakness. A sideways shock can slide the building entirely off of the foundations or slab.

Often such buildings, especially if constructed on a moderate slope, are erected on a platform connected to a perimeter foundation through low stud-walls called "cripple wall" or pin-up. This low wall structure itself may fail in shear or in its connections to itself at the corners, leading to the building moving diagonally and collapsing the low walls. The likelihood of failure of the pin-up can be reduced by ensuring that the corners are well reinforced in shear and that the shear panels are well connected to each other through the corner posts. This requires structural grade sheet plywood, often treated for rot resistance. This grade of plywood is made without interior unfilled knots and with more, thinner layers than common plywood. New buildings designed to resist earthquakes will typically use OSB (oriented strand board), sometimes with metal joins between panels, and with well attached stucco covering to enhance its performance. In many modern tract homes, especially those built upon expansive (clay) soil the building is constructed upon a single and relatively thick monolithic slab, kept in one piece by high tensile rods that are stressed after the slab has set. This poststressing places the concrete under compression - a condition under which it is extremely strong in bending and so will not crack under adverse soil conditions.

There are some anti earthquake materials could help to increase building's anti earthquake ability, such as Vibration damping mechanism and anti-earthquake wall material.

In some earthquake-prone countries and areas such as Japan,there are currently three main technologies aimed at making buildings earthquake-safe. The first is “quake- resistance”, which means making a building strong enough to withstand vibrations. The second is “vibration-damping”, which means incorporating damping elements into the structure to absorb vibrations. The third technology is “seismic isolation”, which employs inserted elements to isolate the building from its foundation in order to prevent vibrations from being transmitted directly to the building.

Rural Water Supply in Tibet

In Tibet, some area like the Shigatse region, the dry season can last seven to eight months and winter weather is extreme. Before the project began the water supply systems in villages were limited. Many villagers relied on polluted surface ponds, often located far from their homes. One or more members of a household (usually women or children) could spend large parts of their day collecting water for drinking and cooking. Often little water was left for bathing, laundering, growing vegetables or providing for the needs of stock. In these conditions the provision of reliable, readily accessible, and adequate supplies of water was a priority.

However, tap stands providing filtered water were built in villages, greatly reducing the distances water needed to be carried. Known as the ‘back-happy’ tap stands, the resting shelf and high tap make lifting and loading water containers much easier and reduce lower back problems.
Water and Primary Health Care for Tibetan Villagers

ruins in heaven

April 14, 2010, an earthquake registered a magnitude of 6.9Mw(USGS, EMSC) or 7.1M_s (CEA, CENC) originated in Yushu, Qinghai, China at 7:49 am local time. 

Homes have simply been erased; all that is left is a jumble of bricks and wood falling down the slopes. But for many in the area the damage to their culture is at least as painful as their homelessness and personal bereavement. "Of course I care about losing my grandchildren, but it's not so bad. The worst thing is the monastery," said Sonam Duden. "It's 800 years old, has so many treasures the monks and ordinary people all respect and protect. It is the most important thing for our lives."

At least 11 schools were destroyed in the earthquake.Over 85% of buildings in Gyegu, mostly of wood-earth construction, were destroyed, leaving hundreds trapped and thousands homeless.

The Yushu fault forms part of the Yushu-Garzê-Xianshuihe fault zone, one of the most active fault zones in eastern Tibet.

Zhaxideli, Tibet

Tibet has produced one of the world's most unique and easily-recognizable forms of architecture. Nevertheless, systematic study of Tibetan architecture is still a comparatively unexplored field. There are three options for tent: well-knit and waterproof woolen tents, flowery canvas tents and common cloth tents. 

Housing styles in Tibet vary according to regional conditions. The most common style is the white Stone Tower .A handful of standardized principles give Tibetan buildings their characteristic organic design. These include:

• Symmetries in lay-out and façade design;
• Slightly trapezoidal form, heavy at the bottom (stone foundations) and light at the top, generally with battered walls;
• Flat roofs with parapets;
• Detailed code for the decoration of doors, windows and parapets;
• Painted black frames around doors and windows, and complex wooden overhang decorations;
• Intricately carved interior timber frame following standardized design principles;
• Organic design – buildings appear to grow out of the landscape.

Tibetan buildings are not only a fascinating blend of man-made structure and nature, but they are well-suited for local climatic and geographic conditions. After they have outlived their usefulness, every part can be re-used, and if lived to decay, they simply become hills of earth and stones again. 

A  Thangka is an exquisite scroll painting consisting of a picture panel either painted or embroidered, a textile mounted together with some ornamental and functional accessories. 

Container Frame

This design by Javier Artadi Arquitecto packs quite the contemporary punch into a modest, 2,300 sq. ft. frame.From a simple cube shape, parts of the walls and ceilings were cut away to reveal interiors to the outdoors and maximize on sunlight and the spectacular views. The resulting sun-soaked spaces make you feel like you’re outside, but with the comforts and luxuries of a sheltered space. The main volume houses the living room and is connected to the terrace and indoor/outdoor pool. A separate, small volume is occupied by the home’s private living areas.

As a shipping container design, the contour of the house successfully get out of a regular box, and took advantage of the existing shape to frame exterior for interior in daytime and frame interior for exterior in night.

Melting into the forest

Japanese architects Takaharu and Yui Tezuka, designed a Forest House melting into the exterior green. The best moment of this small structure, is the transparent elevations to maximize the variation of thelight and shadow of the forest.

operative openness

To increase the flexibility and the balance between privacy and openness, operative partition system might be a very good solution not only for office, commercial space any more, but also today's residential design. Instead of traditional reinforced concrete wall as exterior or interior structure, today's glass wall system becomes more and more glorious. See Nanawall

Showing respect to Eileen Gray, a flexible space divider will be a feature element in my future residential design to explore both the exterior landscape, daylighting, natural ventilation and interior flexibility.