Literature Timeline Projects Glossary
Nepal is a key member of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), and the newest democracy to enter the fore, where a new vision for a constitution and a nation is being created within the 21st Century. The country has in the past century transitioned from an absolute monarchy, to a constitutional monarchy, a panchayat system, to finally a democracy, and suffered years of civil unrest. The architecture and built form within the country has also transitioned through these periods of political, economic, and societal shifts, and new imaginations for contemporary architecture are being crafted for the present and the future. Nepal also has faced devastating earthquakes every 80-100 years, which has led to the flattening of cities and large scale destruction of heritage structures periodically. This has led the architecture of Nepal to respond to such disasters, and to develop systems to mitigate them. The country and especially the capital city of Kathmandu is reeling under rapid urbanisation and migration, and the housing and infrastructure stock in the city is rising to match up to this demand. The architecture of Nepal sees similarities with the built form in the Himalayan region of the subcontinent, but also has peculiarities in its approach to building and use of materials.