Tibet art buildings--Blockhouse

Posted by ocean on May 28th, 2019

 As is known to all, Tibet is a sacred place of Buddhist culture. this is not only reflected in their customs or religious beliefs,but also in their buildings. such as “ Blockhouse”, known in Tibetan as "tnkhar" or "Zongkar" (rdzong–mkhar). Architectural advantages:

originally meant to be a fortress, built on steep rocks, towering and easy to defend. because Tibetans are mainly distributed in Tibet, Qinghai, Gansu and western Sichuan. In order to adapt to the climate and environment on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, traditional Tibetan dwellings are mostly made by stone structures build a house, shape likes fortress, so they are called “Blockhouse”. At the same time, the Blockhouse has the characteristics of local materials and convenient construction, so it can be widely adopted and developed. There are tents everywhere in the pastoral area. In the agricultural areas or towns, more flat roof Blockhouse are seen. The most authentic Blockhouse is built of stone. The thickest part of the wall is even 1 meter. Most of the walls are thinner than the bottom, and the whole wall is trapezoidal. Some Blockhouse is civil structures, and their appearance does not seem to differ much from that of stone slabs, but its thickness is about one-third thinner than stone walls, and there is no sturdy stone wall. But like the stone squatting room, it is warm in winter and cool in summer. Building setting:

There are Blockhouse in all parts of Tibet, but the styles are different. For example, the Blockhouse in Lhasa is mostly in the form of inner courtyard corridors. Like maze. In the Shannan area, there are many outer courtyards, and people can easily enter outdoor activities. But all the roofs of the Blockhouse are flat, and people can often do activities on the roof, such as walking, entertainment and so on. At the top of the house of the household, the four corners are much higher than other places, and these high angles will be covered with colorful prayer flags. When there are important events in a major festival or at home, you will be vicissitudes on the roof. Blockhouse generally has three to four floors. The bottom layer raises livestock and piles up feed and sundries; the second floor is equipped with a bedroom and kitchen; the third floor has a sutra hall. Because the Tibetans believe in Tibetan Buddhism, the Buddhist scriptures occupying an important position in the Buddhist scriptures, God above the position cannot live or pile up debris, so it is located on the top floor of the house. In order to expand the indoor space, the second floor is often picked out of the wall, and the lightweight picking building is in sharp contrast with the heavy stone wall, the shape of the building can, therefore, be varied and varied. Now there have a lot of blockhouse buildings in Tibet. Like Yumbulagang palace in Shannan, Niang Ruobo in post-Tibet, etc. is the representative of such buildings. These are the manifestations of Tibet culture.