TIBETAN ARCHITECTURE

HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE 3
AR EUNICE VALERIE O LIM
 INTRO
CHARACTERISTICS
OUTLINE
TRADITIONAL
RELIGIOUS
01. INTRO
INTRO

STYLISTIC SOURCE OF
ART & ARCHITECTURE
INDIAN Art : 11th - 14th
NEPALESE Art : 14th -16th
CHINESE Ming schools - 15th onwards
02. CHARACTERISTICS
CHARACTERISTICS

ORGANIC
To compliment the natural surroundings
Use of natural materials - stone, clay, and wood.
Ranging from one to three stories in height.
Buildings appear to grow out of the landscape
CHARACTERISTICS

ORGANIC WALLS
CHARACTERISTICS

WALLS
Symmetrical in lay-out and façade design.
Use of stone or rammed earth may be up to a
meter thick at the base.
Temples and manor houses - slightly trapezoidal
form, heavy at the bottom (stone foundations)
and light at the top, generally with battered walls
sloping inward to create an illusion of height.
CHARACTERISTICS

WINDOWS
Generally small because of the weather to
regulated the lighting and temperature
These black patterns are trapezoidal, which on the
one hand exaggerated the visual effect of the
narrow windows and doors, and on the other
added to the stability and solemnity of the
architectural form.
The tops of the windows have an eave that is
covered with a piece of red, white, and blue striped
cloth
CHARACTERISTICS

ROOF
The Tibetan Plateau is windy, flat-roofed houses
can also reduce some wind resistance.
Most religious buildings have sloping golden
roofs, which are only used in palaces,
monasteries, and pagodas, and are a symbol of
respect and political and religious power in Tibet.
The style of gold roofs can be influenced by the
culture of the surrounding area, and the roof
decorations are rich in meaning.
CHARACTERISTICS

COLOR
Specific color usage: red, white, grey/black
colors also represent the three spirits that in
Heaven, on the earth, and below the ground.
The Tibetans built their buildings with these
colors in the hope that they would be protected
by the spirits and that they would be safe.
White: holiness, sanctity, justice, goodness,
serenity
 CHARACTERISTICS

Sakya Monastery is the most important monastery of the Sakya sect
of Tibetan Buddhism
COLOR
Red: majesty / status in Tibetan culture;
boundlessness of the Buddha’s teachings. In
Tibetan Buddhism, it represents: “god of the
earth.”
Black: “Underground God” window frames are
mostly in black
Yellow: Tibetan buddhism, Gelugpa scool and in
Buddhism
CHARACTERISTICS

DECORATIVE
mainly related to religion
Both religious buildings and ordinary houses in
Tibet are carved and decorated with religious
motifs and paintings on their pillars and
balustrades
interiors of the halls of Tibetan monasteries are
also decorated to reflect the tantric ideology.
Doors, windows, and roofs are the major parts of
the decoration of Tibetan houses.
Red, blue, and white striped curtains
 TRADITIONAL

03. ARCHITECTURE
TRADITIONAL ARCHITECTURE

GANZI (GARZÊ)
is known for its beautiful wooden houses built in
a range of styles and lavishly decorated with
wooden ornamentation.
Although various materials are used in the
well-built houses, it is the
skillful carpentry that is most striking.
TRADITIONAL ARCHITECTURE
TRADITIONAL ARCHITECTURE
TRADITIONAL ARCHITECTURE
 RELIGIOUS

04. ARCHITECTURE
RELIGIOUS ARCHITECTURE

INTRO
religious Tibetans think their houses are only resting
places for their bodies
while temples are for their souls. So the holy places
such as temples will express more Tibetan culture.
Tibetans have long invested large sums of money in
monasteries, and it shows in the size of monastery
compounds and the intricacy of temple details. At
monasteries, you can get a good look at traditional
architecture, valuable artifacts, golden Buddha
statues, hand painted murals, and Tibetan religious
culture.
RELIGIOUS ARCHITECTURE

INTRO
Unique decorations are applied around these
temples. Bright red, yellow and white make the Tibet
temples more impressive than the local residences.
This then makes the internal halls quite dark and
allows beams of sunlight from the upper windows to
be used to focus on and highlight the faces of the
statues.
RELIGIOUS ARCHITECTURE

POTALA PALACE
Built at an altitude of 3,700 m (12,100 ft), on the
side of Marpo Ri ('Red Mountain') in the center of
Lhasa Valley the Potala Palace, with its vast
inward-sloping walls broken only in the upper
parts by straight rows of many windows, and its
flat roofs at various levels, is not unlike a fortress
in appearance.
RELIGIOUS ARCHITECTURE

POTALA PALACE
13storey palace stands 117 meters high and has
over 1,000 rooms.
Covers an area of 360,000 square meters.
Made of stone and wood, with walls averaging
from 1 – 5 meters thick.
POTALA PALACE

WHITE PALACE
The White Palace or Potrang Karpo is the part of
the Potala Palace that makes up the living
quarters of the Dalai Lama.
The first White Palace was built during the lifetime
of the Fifth Dalai Lama and he and his
government moved into it in 1649.
POTALA PALACE

RED PALACE
The Red Palace or Potrang Marpo is part of the
Potala palace that is completely devoted to
religious study and Buddhist prayer.
It consists of a complicated layout of many
different halls, chapels and libraries on many
different levels with a complex array of smaller
galleries and winding passages:
RELIGIOUS ARCHITECTURE

JOKHANG MONASTERY
1st Buddhist temple in Tibet, located on Barkhor
Square in Lhasa.
Built during the reign of king Songsten Gampo
(605?-650 CE) to celebrate his marriage with
Chinese Tang Dynasty princess Wencheng, who
was said to have introduced Buddhism to Tibet. •
The temple was called the Tsulag Khang or
‘House of Wisdom’ but it is now known as the
Jokhang which means the ‘House of the Buddha’.
RELIGIOUS ARCHITECTURE

DREPUNG MONASTERY
Lhasa
one of Three Greatest Monasteries
one of the holiest monastery for Buddhist and an
influential Buddhist College for monks to study
the classic Tibetan Buddhism
RELIGIOUS ARCHITECTURE

CHORTEN
Tibetan stupa
Dome is smaller and the
spire is more prominent .
OTHER
Square foundation - symbolizing the
earth
Dome - symbolizing water
13 tapering steps of enlightenment -
symbolizing the element of fire.
Steps lead to a stylized parasol - the
symbol of wind, which is topped in the
ethereal sphere by the well- known ‘twin-
symbol’ uniting sun and moon, which is
the shimmering crown of the Chorten.”
Chorten (Tibetan) or Stupa (Hindi)
Courtesy buddhanet.net
OTHER

Eight different kind stupas, all referring to major events in Buddha Shakyamuni’s life.
OTHER

NORBULINGKA
"THE JEWELED PARK"
is a palace and surrounding park in Lhasa, Tibet,
built from 1755. It served as the traditional
summer residence of the successive Dalai
Lamas from the 1780s up until
the 14th Dalai Lama's exile in 1959.
 Disclaimer
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presenter's own, unless otherwise stated. and
are used for educational purposes only
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