Traditional architecture in Tibet: Linking issues of environmental and cultural sustainability

This paper examines the changing conditions, including accelerating environmental degradation and the influence of modernism, and the impact that these are having on Tibetan architecture and the Tibetan building tradition. Examples of architectural design and resource management projects throughout the region are used to explore how the cultural significance of building traditions and environmental resource management can provide a methodology to promote preservation of traditional architecture and the natural environment. The issues examined and solutions explored could easily apply to other rapidly changing mountain regions of the world where the deterioration of natural resources calls for a richer understanding of the connection between environmental and cultural sustainability. The growth of ecotourism as an industry in many mountain regions gives greater weight to the issues discussed.