TY  - BOOK
AU  - Desai,Miki
AU  - Das,Ankona
AU  - Limbad,Gopal
AU  - Narasimhan,Sarayu
TI  - Wooden architecture of Kerala: Miki Desai ; copyediting Ankona Das ; design Gopal Limbad, Sarayu Narasimhan
SN  - 9789385360220
AV  - NA1507 .D47 2018
PY  - 2018///
CY  - Ahmedabad
PB  - Mapin Publishing
KW  - Building, wooden
KW  - India
KW  - Kerala
KW  - Building, Wooden
KW  - Architecture
KW  - Kerala (India)
KW  - Social life and customs
N1  - "To my... Mother, who saw architecture as shelter to shelter others and care for them
Father, who thought Golconde Hous ein Pondicherry is the ultimate in modern architecture
Sisters, who thought I went into the wrong field and didn't earn anything
Brother, who thought I would have done better helping him in agriculture
Daughters Ravija and Aatmaja, who learnt to look at built environment while growing up with us
Partner Madhavi, who thought I was doing the right thing
Many a teacher, who guided and allowed me to grow
Students of School Architecture, CEPT University, whom I love will find something valuable in what we did together and in this book."; Includes bibliographical references (pages 266-268)
N2  - • One of few books which document the distinctive wooden architecture of Kerala
• Provides detailed social and cultural commentary on the background
• Accompanied with several images, maps and plans

It was in the late 1960s and '70s that the author, then a student of architecture, first encountered built environments belonging to the genres of folk or vernacular traditions. The persistent exclusion of these traditions from the modern urban vision compelled Miki Desai to document these styles, culminating in this volume on the wooden architecture of Kerala.


This book explores the socio-cultural and the tectonic aspects of Kerala's wooden architecture, which is deeply rooted in religious and secular customs and shaped by geo-climatic forces. The author's multi-disciplinary approach links the various ethnic groups residing in Kerala, and the mutual adoption and adaptation of construction systems within migrant groups.


Despite being a living tradition serving millions of people, vernacular architecture in India has not received the academic and analytical attention it deserves. This volume attempts to fill this research gap, a need made more urgent by the fact that the built environment is changing and the traditional ways of building may get replaced by the modern much faster than we can imagine. Published in association with DC School of Architecture and Design
ER  -