1. Jan-Feb 2011

ARCHITECTURE
© Kai Weise
Constructing an earthern wall
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© Kai Weise © Kai Weise
Chaile
Interiors of the main dining/living room
TRADITIONAL CONSTRUCTION
The main construction material in Upper Mustang is earth. The earth walls that are 45 cm thick
are constructed either of sun dried earth blocks (pop) or rammed earth (gyanka tha). The
sun-dried blocks are often strengthened by mixing cut wheat or barley stalks and husk. The
walls are then constructed using mud mortar with the vertical joints being filled with small stone
pieces. Only few stone rubble masonry buildings can be seen, which is more predominant in
lower Mustang. Earth construction is preferred wherever the soil quality allows. Rubble stone
masonry, when used is of low quality. The foundations and plinth are nevertheless always of
stone rubble masonry. The foundation depth is a maximum of 60 cm. The rubble masonry is
often raised up to one meter above the plinth level.
The flat roofs give the freedom to construct irregular shaped rooms and add extension.
Each room is enclosed with earthen walls, the roof or next floor being supported by central
wooden posts. Wooden brackets on the posts give better support to the main beam, which are
supported on the ends by additional posts or stone wall-plates. The joists are usually round
sections of 15 cm diameter, placed 45 cm apart. The joists are covered with planks or split wood,
a layer of wheat stalks and twigs covered with approximately 10 cm of packed white clay. The
side walls are raised slightly above the level of the roof to clamp down the beams and joists.
These parapets are often covered with stone slabs and are used to dry firewood for the winter.
The openings along the external walls are usually small. In some cases a double frame is used
to support the thick rammed earth walls. Nevertheless, the larger windows that open onto the
courtyard use the traditional Tibetan design. A single frame is used, often carved and painted.
Wooden blocks that span the width of the wall are fixed perpendicular to the top member of the
frame, which is then covered with wooden planks to hold the earthen wall.
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