Afghanistan:
An Atlas of Indigenous Domestic Architecture
Albert Szabo and Thomas J. Barfield
Austin:University of Texas Press
1991

Located at the cultural crossroads of Asia, relatively underdeveloped and ecologically diverse, Afghanistan developed an unparalleled number of dwelling types, many of which are little known outside the country. This survey of Afghanistan's indigenous architecture, carried out between 1974-76 prior to the Soviet invasion, is the most comprehensive record of Afghan dwelling types currently available.
The book consists of two major parts. The first











is a general atlas of Afghan nomadic and sedentary domestic structures, focusing particularly on dwellings. The authors provide detailed drawings and measurements of each type of tent or permanent dwelling, along with maps to indicate the its area of use. In addition to the environmental factors that have influenced these designs, they discuss how the cultural heritage of the inhabitants has also shaped the dwellings they construct. The second part of the atlas is a comparative architectural study of four different types of villages located in the Kabul River basin.

Altogether, the book documents and describes 29 types and 15 variants for a total of 44 distinct nomadic, transhumant, and sedentary structures. Construction sequences are drawn for each building type along together with specific distribution maps. For the four village study section, all of the villages were mapped in their entirety and a cluster within each was chosen for a more detailed examination, including the distribution of space among families within a cluster, seasonal variations in use, and orientation of buildings and apertures.


A 1992 Outstanding Academic Book in Art and Architecture
American Library Association (Choice, January 1993)











Afghanistan:
An Atlas of Indigenous Domestic Architecture
(ISBN: 0-292-70419-4)
is now out of print
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