This coffee table style book was written with the collaboration of several authors, including Lisa Choegyal and Gautam SJB Rana. Those of you who have used the services of Tiger Tops at Durbar Margh will recall that tall unsmiling English lady in a khaki suit, riding in a battered Land Rover, an authority on Nepal’s nature and adventure tourism. Her husband is a Tibetan “prince" from Kham, the same area as Karma, husband of Margot Bolton. (Karma and Margot ran a successful Tibetan antique shop just above Sunkosi Resturant, some of our Tibetan artifacts were sourced from there.)
The book focuses on Nepal's architecture and decoration into new buildings and private houses. Examples include Patan Museum housed in the restored and partly rebuilt Keshar Mani Narayan Chowk, Babar Mahal (Gautam Rana's ancestral home) a shopping and restaurant complex recently constructed in the Rana style of Nepal's 19th Century ruling prime ministers. It also features the Choegyal residence in rural Budhanilkantha (can be viewed from Ring Road, I think, and past the Budhanilkantha School). Using traditional designs and building techniques in historic and new buildings has breathed fresh life into Kathmandu's rich living cultural heritage.
Kathmandu Valley Style demonstrates how Nepal's vernacular styles of architecture can be used successfully in today's changing world. The book illustrates how design themes from the Malla, Newar and Rana periods have been revived and expressed in present day buildings and lifestyles. It will appeal to visitors, tourists and all who love Nepal, as well as those interested in general art, architecture, gardens and interior design.
Makes you think of a Kathmandu trip soon, to visit the Patan Museum (along the river, near the bridge at Kupondol), Babar Mahal and its shops and possibly meet GeeTwo Rana; and re-visiting our old haunts too.
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