Nepal's Traditional Settlement: Pattern and Architecture

The Kathmandu Valley is the cultural hearth of Nepal. The cultural landscape that developed here during the past 2(100 years remained unique in many respects from that found in neighboring Asian countries. The scale and arrangement of open space, the distribution of temples and houses and the location of cremation sites and rest houses all indicated an understanding of visual response to settlement design and the importance of social interaction. The continuous facade of lavishly carved wooden windows on backgrounds of red brick walls provided unique pictures of streets and remained as visual testimony of the high level of artistic skill and of the affluent economic conditions reached by the people of the Kathmandu Valley during the Malla Period. Much of this cultural development slowed down with the beginning of the present Shaha dynasty. Traditional buildings have been replaced by incongruous tall buildings with little emphasis on artistic taste. Some work on historical preservation has been underway. But, in view of the fast demographic changes and pseudo-modernization of the valley, how much of these architectural treasures can be preserved is still a matter of conjecture.