Domestic Mandala

Domestic Mandala PDF

Author: John Gray

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2017-03-02

Total Pages: 182

ISBN-13: 135194312X

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

A rich and fascinating ethnography of domestic architecture and activities among the high caste Chhetris of Kholagaun in Nepal, this book focuses on the spatial organization, everyday activities and ritual performances that generate and display Chhetri houses as 'mandalas', sacred diagrams that are both maps of the cosmos and machines for revelation. Describing the orientation and layout of the Chhetri house and surrounding compound; it shows how the orientation and distribution of everyday social activities with the domestic mandala shape people's experience of the enigmas of their lifeworld as householders; and analyses the double significance of rituals that take place in the domestic mandala. By treating the Nepali house as more than just the background of people's everyday life, the author reveals the Chhetri everyday lifeworld as a revelation of Hindu tantric cosmology, its enigmatic illusion, and the path to liberation from it. The themes addressed in the book make a unique contribution to the fields of anthropology, architecture and human geography.

International Encyclopedia of Housing and Home

International Encyclopedia of Housing and Home PDF

Author:

Publisher: Elsevier

Published: 2012-10-09

Total Pages: 3870

ISBN-13: 0080471714

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Available online via SciVerse ScienceDirect, or in print for a limited time only, The International Encyclopedia of Housing and Home, Seven Volume Set is the first international reference work for housing scholars and professionals, that uses studies in economics and finance, psychology, social policy, sociology, anthropology, geography, architecture, law, and other disciplines to create an international portrait of housing in all its facets: from meanings of home at the microscale, to impacts on macro-economy. This comprehensive work is edited by distinguished housing expert Susan J. Smith, together with Marja Elsinga, Ong Seow Eng, Lorna Fox O'Mahony and Susan Wachter, and a multi-disciplinary editorial team of 20 world-class scholars in all. Working at the cutting edge of their subject, liaising with an expert editorial advisory board, and engaging with policy-makers and professionals, the editors have worked for almost five years to secure the quality, reach, relevance and coherence of this work. A broad and inclusive table of contents signals (or tesitifes to) detailed investigation of historical and theoretical material as well as in-depth analysis of current issues. This seven-volume set contains over 500 entries, listed alphabetically, but grouped into seven thematic sections including methods and approaches; economics and finance; environments; home and homelessness; institutions; policy; and welfare and well-being. Housing professionals, both academics and practitioners, will find The International Encyclopedia of Housing and Home useful for teaching, discovery, and research needs. International in scope, engaging with trends in every world region The editorial board and contributors are drawn from a wide constituency, collating expertise from academics, policy makers, professionals and practitioners, and from every key center for housing research Every entry stands alone on its merits and is accessed alphabetically, yet each is fully cross-referenced, and attached to one of seven thematic categories whose ‘wholes' far exceed the sum of their parts

Urban India

Urban India PDF

Author: Renate Bornberg

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2023-03-03

Total Pages: 330

ISBN-13: 3031237374

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

This book discusses the importance of socio-spatial patterns in cities that are embedded in the cultural heritage and self-understanding of a society, showing that Indian cities follow different urban concepts. In nine episodes (nine is a sacred figure), it highlights the principal influences and social impacts on cities from ancient times to contemporary city developments. As such, it provides planners and architects with insights that can easily be applied in contemporary cities and towns and help foster India’s cultural heritage—a much-needed, but little-discussed approach. Indian cities are the result of various factors, some imposed, others following local traditions that shaped them. They were founded around social needs, landscape conditions and production routines, as well as the religious influences of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, Islam, Christianity and animism. However, Western town-planning models are often implemented, blurring the traditional way of life in cities. For sustainable town development, it is of key importance to find solutions that deal with Indian city models.

The Art of Wholesome Interior Design

The Art of Wholesome Interior Design PDF

Author: Hengameh Fazeli

Publisher: Prana World

Published: 2023-08-26

Total Pages: 134

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

No matter how the traditional societies discovered the rules and principles behind the science of architecture and how it affects the overall health and well-being of the people, the important thing is that they work! This book is an attempt to help us, architects, interior designers, home lovers, and enthusiasts, to re-look into our living spaces; and re-define them from being merely a physical place of habitation with certain mathematical standards to fit our physical life, to a place of nourishment with qualities that strengthen our whole being, physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually.

Eco-architecture III

Eco-architecture III PDF

Author: Santiago Hernández

Publisher: WIT Press

Published: 2010-03-16

Total Pages: 625

ISBN-13: 1845644301

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

This book contains most of the papers presented in the Eco-Architecture 2010 conference, which was the third edition of the International Conference on Harmonisation between Architecture and Nature. Previous editions, that were very successful were held previously in the New Forest, UK, in 2006 and the Algarve, Portugal in 2008 and demonstrated the importance of a forum like this to discuss the characteristics and challenges of such architectural vision. Eco-Architecture implies a new approach to the design process intended to harmonise its products with nature. This involves ideas such as minimum use of energy at each stage of the building process, taking into account the amount required during the extraction and transportation of materials, their fabrication, assembly, building erection, maintenance and eventual future recycling. Presentations in the conference were related to topics like building technologies, design by passive systems, design with nature, ecological and cultural sensitivity, life cycle assessment, quantifying sustainability in architecture, resources and rehabilitation, and issues from education, research and practice. Case studies from different places around the world were also presented.

Twilight of an Industry in East Africa

Twilight of an Industry in East Africa PDF

Author: Katharine Frederick

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2020-08-20

Total Pages: 261

ISBN-13: 3030439208

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Cotton textile industries vanished from much of East Africa during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This book investigates the underlying causes of industrial arrest in the region through a series of in-depth case studies. Findings are considered in light of existing studies on comparatively more resilient textile centers elsewhere on the continent to derive insights into the determinants of differing industrial trajectories across sub-Saharan Africa. The author argues that scholars have placed undue weight on global forces as the primary drivers of industrial decline in the Global South. Rather, this book reveals how local factors – principally demographic, geographic, and institutional features – interacted with external forces to influence unique regional outcomes during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries as sub-Saharan African was increasingly integrated into global trade networks and European colonial empires.

Dark Age Bodies

Dark Age Bodies PDF

Author: Lynda L. Coon

Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press

Published: 2011-06-06

Total Pages: 411

ISBN-13: 0812204913

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

In Dark Age Bodies Lynda L. Coon reconstructs the gender ideology of monastic masculinity through an investigation of early medieval readings of the body. Focusing on the Carolingian era, Coon evaluates the ritual and liturgical performances of monastic bodies within the imaginative landscapes of same-sex ascetic communities in northern Europe. She demonstrates how the priestly body plays a significant role in shaping major aspects of Carolingian history, such as the revival of classicism, movements for clerical reform, and church-state relations. In the political realm, Carolingian churchmen consistently exploited monastic constructions of gender to assert the power of the monastery. Stressing the superior qualities of priestly virility, clerical elites forged a model of gender that sought to feminize lay male bodies through a variety of textual, ritual, and spatial means. Focusing on three central themes—the body, architecture, and ritual practice—the book draws from a variety of visual and textual materials, including poetry, grammar manuals, rhetorical treatises, biblical exegesis, monastic regulations, hagiographies, illuminated manuscripts, building plans, and cloister design. Interdisciplinary in scope, Dark Age Bodies brings together scholarship in architectural history and cultural anthropology with recent works in religion, classics, and gender to present a significant reconsideration of Carolingian culture.

The Cultural Heritage of Sikkim

The Cultural Heritage of Sikkim PDF

Author: Sarit K. Chaudhuri

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2020-03-10

Total Pages: 322

ISBN-13: 1000079228

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Sikkim has been a region of anthropological interest since the 1930s when Geoffrey Gorer and John Morris did their fieldwork among the Lepchas of Dzongu, north Sikkim. While it was mentioned in various writings of travellers and administrators during the British period, there is a dearth of literature even today on the rich heritage of Sikkim. This collection of twenty-five essays presented first at the international conference on Cultural Heritage of Sikkim, organized by the Depart­ment of Anthropology, Sikkim University, Gangtok goes a long way in breaching this gap. The book will be of immense interest to scholars and students of Anthropology, Sociology and Cultural Studies and will lead to new research on the people and the places of Sikkim and India’s North-East. Please note: This title is co-published with Manohar Publishers, New Delhi. Taylor & Francis does not sell or distribute the Hardback in India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka

Rituals and Practices in World Religions

Rituals and Practices in World Religions PDF

Author: David Bryce Yaden

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2020-02-03

Total Pages: 235

ISBN-13: 3030279537

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

This book codifies, describes, and contextualizes group rituals and individual practices from world religious traditions. At the interface of religious studies, psychology, and medicine, it elucidates the cultural richness of practices and rituals from numerous world religions. The book begins by discussing the role that religious rituals and practices may play in the well-being of humans and the multi-dimensional cultural and psychological complexity of religious rituals and practices. It then discusses rituals and practices within a number of religions, including Christian, Islamic, Jewish, Buddhist, Taoist, Sikh, Hindu, Confucian, and other traditions. There is a need for a more inclusive collection of religious rituals and practices, as some practices are making headlines in contemporary society. Mindfulness is one of the fastest-growing psychological interventions in healthcare and Yoga is now practiced by tens of millions of people in the U.S.A. These practices have been examined in thousands of academic publications spanning neuroscience, psychology, medicine, sociology, and religious studies. While Mindfulness and Yoga have recently received widespread scientific and cultural attention, many rituals and practices from world religious traditions have remained underexplored in scholarly, scientific, and clinical contexts. This book brings more diverse rituals and practices into this academic discourse while providing a reference guide for clinicians and students of the topic.