Tibet from Above: Unveiling Himalayan Monasteries through Spy Plane Images

Tibet from Above locates, analyzes, and documents Buddhist and Bonpo monasteries and other architectural monuments that were damaged or destroyed during the occupation of Tibet and the Cultural Revolution. The project offers unprecedented insight into the architectural landscape of Tibet during a pivotal era of the region's history, expanding on our ongoing work with Temples of Tibet. We are working with Prof. Karl Ryavec and Lin Xu on this research project. 

The research relies on largely uninvestigated air photos taken by US government U-2 spy planes based in South and Central Asia during the Cold War, that were declassified in 1997 and are currently held by the US National Archives and Records Administration. These images capture the built landscape at an incredible ground resolution of approximately 1 to 2 feet, and offer crucial pictures of structures that had never been photographed in-situ and were destroyed shortly after. This methodology highlights the potential for the more computationally supported analysis of Tibetan architecture and changes in the built environment as indicators and subjects of societal and political change.

We are delighted that this project's team has been announced as one of the 2024-25 recipients of the Rubin x Research Grant. Studio Nyandak and our project collaborators, scholar of heritage studies Dr. Karl Ryavec and U-2 image expert Lin Xu will utilize this grant to make our research widely available through public exhibition, publication, and a digital database.