“The Golden City”

The town stands on a ridge of yellowish sandstone, crowned

by forts which contains the palace and several ornate Jain
Temples.

Vernacular Architecture
of JAISALMER
LOCATION
CLIMATE
 Jaisalmer climate is influenced by its position amidst
the Great Indian Desert.
 The region experiences an arid climate through the year.
 The temperature remains low during the winter season
while summers are characterized by cold and dry
Jaisalmer weather.
 Hot winds blow during summer and sand storms are also
seen.
 The absorbed radiation are dissipated to atmosphere at
night.
 SUNPATH AND WIND DIRECTION
Winter
Winds
NW

N
 TYPICAL FEATURES OF
RAJASTHANI ARCHITECTURE
 Jharokha
 Chhatris
 Haveli
 Stepwell
 Johad
 Jaali
JHAROKHA (Social Aspects)

 Jharokha is a kind of suspended or over hanging enfolded balcony.

 It is basically stone window which projects from wall plane.
 Generally employed for :-

• Additional architectural
beauty to the mansions.

• As a sight seeing
platform.

• Permit woman in pardah

to witness the events
JHAROKHA (Climate Responsive)

 It aids in diffusing natural

illumination thereby reducing
glare and heat gain.
 While admitting sunlight to
reduce mechanical lighting.
 To protect from angular
precipitation, vertical elements
called fins were also introduced
on either side of a windows.
ELEMENTS OF JHAROKHA
 Chajja like platform work as a
roof with different tiers and
detailed carving. These chajjas
can be arched sometimes
depending on the shape of the
balcony.
 Decorative columns to support
the overhang with different
motifs carved out.

 Railing with decorative floral

pattern and animal symbols, etc.

 Brackets or corbelling to support

with same level of carved design
with play of mass.
CHHATRIS
 Chhatris are the elevated pavilions or porches in dome
shape.
 It stands as a symbol of honor and pride used to portray
the fundamentals of admiration in Rajasthan’s Rajput
architecture.

 ‘Chhatri’ refers to a canopy or an umbrella. Held at the

shekhawati area.
 Chhatris are generally simple structure with single dome
built inside four pillars carrying several domes along
with a basement containing various rooms.
CHHATRIS
HAVELI
 ‘Haveli’ derived from he Persian word Hawli means an
‘enclosed place’.
 The shekhawati Haveli consists of two courtyards with
the outer courtyard meant for MEN, whereas the inner
one for WOMEN.
 Frecoes surrounded all
side with a single
main gate.
 COURTYARD EFFECT
Courtyard enhances air circulation through principle of stack
effect. After the air passes through the interiors it heats up and
starts rising. The courtyard allows this air to escape.
STEPWELL (Social Aspects)

 Bawdi or Baoli is a pond or well where water can be

filled by climbing down steps.
 It could be roofed and were secluded.
 Most of the living
stepwells act as a leisure
spots besides providing
water.
STEPWELL
MACRO
(Climate Responsive)
BAOLI
Its Architectural Function is used to maintain the
temperature of atmospheric air on the MICRO level.
MICRO

How does it effects on MICRO LEVEL?

 The evaporation helps in moisturizing and cooling down
the Hot and Dry Air. Hence, makes the surrounding
environment favorable.

Why Baoli’s are deep inside the EARTH?

 Under Earth atmosphere is always lower than the
atmosphere above.
 Used to get the pure under ground water.
JOHAD
 It is a storage of rainwater in a tank mainly used in
Rajasthan, which stores and collects water all through
the year.
 Rainfall during the months of July and August is stocked
up in Johads and is used all through the year.
 Known as “KHANDINS” in JAISALMER.
JAALI (Social Aspects)

 Jaali is normally a perforated stone or latticed screen,

usually with an ornamental pattern.
 Came into existence on account of the PARDAH SYSTEM,
which did not allow women to be seen in public.
 This enabled women to observe
the outside world by remaining
out of sight.
JAALI (Climate Responsive)

 Jaali is used to penetrate

the direct sunlight and
allows only the diffused light
to come indoors.

 Used to filter the dusty

storms.

 Also used to create buffer

spaces.

Nowadays, Water drip channels

are being used to make the hot
dry air cool down as it moves
inside.
 SOME DESIGN STRATEGIES
TYPICALLY USED IN RAJASTHAN
 Town Planning issues and Climate
 Control of Heating
 Texture of Surfaces
 Orientation
 The Grid
 The Courtyard
TOWN PLANNING AND CLIMATE:
 A typical town of Jaisalmer
presents a very compact
picture of houses and other
buildings huddled together so
that they not only shade each
other but also considerably
reduce the exposed open
spaces around them.
 The height of the building
compared to the width of the
streets is large to create
shaded and cool environment.
TOWN PLANNING AND CLIMATE
 Where normal low level dust swirls within the settlement the
exteriors of buildings are protected by almost blank walls with
very small openings.
 Jharokhas and decorative facades are located on street sides.
 The streets are relatively narrow
and winding .
CONTROL OF HEATING
 The heat inside of the building is controlled by the use of
textures in Jaisalmer. This is organized at three levels.
 Town scale the buildings are of
unequal height with parapets and high
walls.
 The building facades have large
number of projections like jharokhas
and chajjas
 The front part of the facade which
remains exposed are controlled by
creating deeply carved patterns
CONTROL OF HEATING BY TEXTURE
OF SURFACES
 Use of such devices minimizes the heat gain by providing shading due to
texture. Such devices also result in increased convective transfer of heat
because of increased surface area.
 In summer

 Inday time when the major heat source is Sun

the exposed textured surfaces will be cooler
than plain surfaces.
 In evening when ambient conditions are cool the
increase surface area helps in cooling it faster.
ORIENTATION
 The building is always oriented by the cardinal
directions: North, South, East, West, Northeast,
Northwest, Southeast and Southwest. Each of these
directions is considered as energy by itself.

 The spaces in different

orientation are
considered differently
for design purposes.
THE GRID
 The grid system of planning was always followed
regardless of the site or building type.
 It was made flexible enough to accommodate any site
condition and topography.
 It is more sustainable in terms of economy and speed of
construction.
 Easier to recycle materials if it was built on a grid.
 The grid was not always symmetric or simple. Complex
geometry and curvilinear grids were also adopted.
THE COURTYARD
The central courtyard is the ‘lung space
'of either the house or the housing
block. Just to ensure there is a
courtyard in every house, the centre of
the house is never
built up and
is called the
Brahmastana, the
genius loci of the
house.
SOURCES
 www.archinomy.com/case-studies/1992/the-vernacular-
architecture-of-rajasthan
 www.prismma.in/rajasthani-architecture
 www.rajasthantourism.co.in
 http://www.archdaily.com
 https://www.scribd.com
 Climate Responsive Architecture by Arvind Krishan