T he merit of
kat-ki-kunni (timber-cornered building) of Himachal Pradesh can be traced back to 1905, if not earlier. A massive temblor levelled every village from Dharamsala to Kangra. Measuring 8.0 on the Richter scale, it lasted two minutes and was felt over 416,000 sq km. But, buildings with
kat-ki-kunni design in the Kullu valley survived, mentions the
India Disasters Report 2000 , brought out by Oxfam. The design is based on a simple fact -- corners are the most vulnerable parts of buildings when earth quakes.
The design uses materials like timber and stone. The important feature is a pivoted wooden joint at special corners. This allows movement and takes care of tensile stress. Timber is one of the best materials for earthquake-prone areas, especially in the hilly areas of Himachal, Kulu and Kangra valley. Timber allows the flexible movement of forces. But timber is in short supply, and substitutes are not easy to come by. Steel bars are not easily accessible in hilly areas. Scientists such as A S Arya, head of the quake engineering cell of the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), have improvised and transformed traditional designs like the
kat-ki-kunni into contemporary typology of continuous reinforced tie-bands.
