HAA 193X: African Architecture

Colonialism impacted Africa in many ways, ranging from being partially responsible for disappearances in indigenous architecture and showcasing the resilience of the people who made it, to providing new perspectives on architecture that could be manipulated into something new.  Pictured above is the tolek, a dome building that was created by the Mousgoum until it started disappearing in the 1930's due to "the combination of forced labor under French colonialism, Mousgoum emigration, changes in societal structures, illness, and death" (Nelson 40). The tolek is now being used as a symbol of agency by the Mousgoum, and serves as a form of history. Similarly, in Ghana, many structures have a very British influence from colonization. However, Ghanaians took the British style and specifically adapted aspects for their purpose, such as invoking more asymmetry and incorporating courtyards. As said by Micots, "[h]ybrid architecture in colonial Ghana... reflects status, modern...

     The form of the Susanne Wenger House is rather simple and existed before her time in Osogbo, in the style of an Afro-Brazilian home built in the early 19th century. What is incredibly interesting about her house is how she changed the facade of the home over time, and how it can be rather disjointed at times from the rectangular forms of the building.      She did this over time by commissioning and collecting hundreds of artworks. Nearly every surface of the house is covered by art, usually done by the New Sacred Arts Movement. For example, one of the most notable customizations are the concrete fence sculptures made by Adebisi Akanji, but the house is also covered with carvings and shrine paintings.      This brings into light some of the interesting conversations around people and religion. Susanne customized her space to be a reflection of her religion and community to the degree in which the house would likely be unrecognizable with...

One of the factors that transformed African architecture was African resistance to the slave trade, often through unique adaptation to protect the spaces and the different communities that resided within them, as a method called a “grand pillage” was extremely common. These pillages were led by raiders who captured and enslaved many folk from their daily lives in order to sell them for profit at many coastal towns. Some methods of resistance against raiders included cow horns to alert villages nearby and hiding within local natural forms, such as the three caves of the Daagare people of Sankana.  Nzulezu, Ghana. Photograph by Louis P. Nelson, March 2011.   One particularly interesting method of protection was that of building structures within the water on edges of lakes that were usually hidden visually. Being hidden, as well as being on the water, made villages much harder to access, and therefore more defensible from raiders. This practice can be seen ranging from the Dahom...