A Study on the Pattern of Plot Divisions of Courtyard Residential Blocks of Patan, Kathmandu Valley

摘要

This study analyses the ground plans and frontage widths of selected residential quadrangles of the historic core of Patan and shows that the dwelling plots were divided according to a standard method that applied to varying sizes of the courtyard settlement blocks. The size of the plots and frontages is determined by the size of the open courtyards, and their layout follows the swastika pattern, an ancient symbol sacred to both Buddhist and Hindu traditions, and which the paper finds as one of the rational ways of division to get the uniform distribution of the plots within a courtyard system of settlement. The study further shows the relationship of this pattern of division and plot planning to the layout of Buddhist monastery architecture, indicating that the form of the monastery could have been the model to inspire the planning idea of the larger residential courtyard settlements of Patan.