Characteristic Development of Art Style and Identifying Proportions in Arju House of Ao Tribe in Nagaland

Abstract

In Nagaland, tribal architecture represents the unique style of representing the arts, crafts, architectural elements and aesthetical features. These houses are built in specific proportions, which are followed by the tribes. These proportions have evolved through years of practice/tradition of house making. Community plays a significant role in building these houses. While developing their art forms, Ao tribe people take inspiration from nature, representing the flora and fauna of that area. Also, the materials chosen for creating the artworks depend on the biodiversity and availability of materials in the surrounding area. These tribes have developed their principles and characteristics of design in terms of form, shape, material, and colour, which they use while designing the patterns and motifs. Arju House is studied in this paper to understand and analyse the art style these tribes are following from the generations. Artworks are documented here using photogrammetry, and then their shapes are studied by simplifying them into abstract form to understand the characteristics which were followed in creating them. Photogrammetry helped to cross-check and do the volumetric analysis. Also, spatial analysis of structure is done to examine the relation of proportions in terms of scale, appearance, and preventive measures. This study focuses on identifying those proportions with the help of digital documentation of the places with the help of photogrammetry and developing a unit system that was followed while constructing them.