Study of environmental design thinking in ancient vedic settlement morphology using parametric techniques

Abstract

The art and science of planning and designing settlements had been practiced in the Indian subcontinent since the Indo-Aryan period. The codes, standards and regulation regarding the settlement morphology can be found in various Vedas (বেদ), Puranas (পুরাণ), epics, shastras (শাস্ত্র) and treaties, which have been compiled in literary form during the Vedic period, which broadly covers 1500 BCE-1100 CE. The influence of Vedic town—planning practice can be traced back to Babylon in the west and China in the east. Apart from contextual, geological, geographical, economic and environmental aspects, the design considerations also included religious, mythological, physiological, cosmological, genealogical, astrological and astronomical aspects. There were several types of settlements such as Griha (গৃহ), Grama (গ্রাম), Palli (পল্লী), Kheta (ক্ষেত), Kharvata (খরবট), Dronamukha (দ্রোণমুখ), Pattana (পট্টনা), Matamba (মাতম্ব), Nagara (নগর), Rajadhani (রাজধানী), Nigama (নিগম), Samvatta-kotta (সামভট্ট কোট); divided based on the scale and purpose of the settlement. The streets housed the temporary and permanent shops and open spaces were commonly used for public gathering and programs. The cadastral network of these settlements along with the open spaces were used for trade, commerce and public activities. This research takes into account the environmental variables that can be perceived by means of sensory experience and aims to analyze the environmental performance of the outdoor spaces of Vedic villages based on the morphological and built-environmental parameters as per directions in the codes and regulations of ancient treaties by means of experimental methodology. The results will provide a platform to critically evaluate the environmental design thinking of the Vedic architects by means of causal-comparative study.