I’ve shown numerous pictures of classic Bhutanese architecture plus a few farmhouses scattered here and there. You might ask: “Where do people like you and me live?” In the western cities like Thimphu and Paro where there has been a lot of new construction in the last decade or so to accommodate the influx of rural population, they live in buildings like these.
Thimphu apartment building
Paro apartment buildings
Some towns like Wangdi are being built anew in different locations.
The new Wangdi
Once everyone has been moved from their old dwellings to a new one, the old town will be destroyed. We went to the new town because the bank had already moved, even though few if any dwellings were complete.
Buildings under construction in the new Wangdi
Scaffolding
In rural areas, one may see the mud wall ruins of old houses
House ruins in village of Nabji
next door to new construction.
A house under construction in Nabji
New construction
It’s not unusual to find buildings with metal roofs that are kept in place with large rocks.
Metal roof with rocks