KVPT’s Patan Darbar Earthquake Response Campaign - Work to Date - September 2016

Seismic Strengthening of Historic
Newar Buildings
By Rohit Ranjitkar, Erich Theophile and Liz Newman,
with contributions by Evan Speer
Part I
Introduction
Architectural preservation work in post-earthquake Nepal
brings to the forefront the two themes of this publication,
both of which are inherent in KVPT’s ongoing
development of techniques and working philosophy
since 1991. The first -- how one repairs, replaces, recarves,
or redesigns lost elements of this rich architectural/iconographic
vocabulary-- engages questions of
authenticity, and has been dealt with in earlier chapters.
The second - how one determines the level or type of
seismic reinforcements, i.e. strengthening measures to
help protect the building in a future earthquake, is the
subject of this chapter.
KVPT 's founding mission - to safeguard the architecture
of the Kathmandu Valley, - has involved numerous
and continuous experimental and evolving techniques
in developing appropriate strategies for conservation --
and seismic strengthening has always been a focus. The
present goal is both to review this seismic work as an
evolution of practice, looking at KVPT’s work before
and after the earthquake, and to place it in the context of
international practice and charters as well as local norms
and developments, in addition to understanding the urgency
of the post-earthquake context.
Seen in a broader context, the design of modifications to
a monument or historical building, which may be ahistorical
but contribute to the building’s longer life, form a
considerable part of international preservation practice.
These interventions might involve the introduction of
modern building systems - like heating and electricity -
to make a structure habitable as part of adaptive reuse,
or, in the case of seismically active zones, they might be
modifications to the historical structural system or the
introduction of new layers to help the structure meet
building codes addressing human safety factors.
Hybrid solutions
The Trust, working in the local context but influenced
by its Western co-founders and the international educational
background of its Nepalese working professionals,
explicitly prioritizes retaining and saving the historical
layers and pieces of a structure and/or maintaining its
historical configuration. This is decidedly a departure
from many local or community approaches, in which
one would generally not think twice about recarving a
lost icon or dismantling a deteriorated historic structure
to replace it with a new building in reinforced concrete
frame construction. Discussions in 1992 between KVPT
and the owners of a local dilapidated shrine in Patan, for
example, could not persuade them even to consider repairing
their rare early structure, Tyagah Chapa, with its
13th century carved struts; they wanted a new structure.
As this building stood outside of any Monument Zone
with protective covenants, its demolition could not be
stopped. Thus when KVPT engages in the design for
seismic reinforcements which prioritize historical fabric,
it must be stated that this is already a “hybridized” approach.
Nepalese building materials, historical fabric, local
craftsmen and worshippers-- these all mix with very
recently “imported” ideas of architectural heritage conservation.
It should be noted that at this point, issues of
architectural conservation practice have begun filtering
broadly into the upper and educated classes of Nepal,
creating new discourses and collisions.
One example illustrates the situation well. In order to
consolidate the building and improve seismic strength-
Above, Top
Tyagha Chapa before demolition.
Photograph by Mary Slusser, ca. 1970
Above, Bottom
After rebuiding in concrete frame
structure in 1996.
Photograph by Raju Roka, July 23, 2005
Opposite
Patan Darbar Square before and
after earthquake.
Photographs by Rohit Ranjitkar and Hari
Maharjan, January 31, 2011 and April
26, 2015
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