This volume explores the socio-cultural and the tectonic aspects of Kerala's wooden architecture, which is deeply rooted in religious and secular customs and shaped by geo-climatic forces. The author's multi-disciplinary approach links the various ethnic groups residing in Kerala, and the mutual adoption and adaptation of construction systems within migrant groups. This volume attempts to fill the research gap concerning vernacular styles, a need made more urgent by the fact that the traditional ways of building may get replaced by the modern much faster than we can imagine. AUTHOR: Miki Desai is a recipient of the Fulbright Fellowship, 2000, and the Graham Grant, 2005. He is the author of Architekture in Gujurat, Indien: Nauernhof, Stadthaus, Palast, and the co-author of Architecture and Independence: The Search for Identity: India 1880 to 1980. He received the Earthwatch fellowship in 1996. He has taught and lectured at many universities in Europe and the USA. 208 photographs, 48 drawings, 95 plans, 2 maps
