Africa has 54 countries, each with diverse art, architecture and culture styles. Akin to India’s salad-bowl culture, Africa too has an ethos of ethnic diversities across the length and breadth of the continent. Attempting to give a generalised view will be futile and inaccurate. So one can only delve into the predominantly common features perceived on the whole.
Architecture in Africa has greatly evolved over the post-colonial period, with practices that have been drawing from their tradition and community’s involvement in building. On one hand, many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa have Islamic influences, that have greatly oriented the local architecture. On the other hand, indigenous rural and contemporary forms are also distinctively present as a continuum, impacted by European presence and religion. Today Africa’s heterogeneity is evident from the influx of different cultures and intermixing through the process of acculturation, reflected in the architecture and urban planning.
Architecture in Africa
Let’s explore some different forms of Architecture across the world’s second-largest and second-most-populated continent.
Vernacular architecture is the most common form, given that more than 50% live in rural areas in Africa, similar to the Indian scenario. These can be cited as examples of embodiments of minimalism and simplicity. The usual materials include earth blocks, mud (sometimes mixed with animal dung), sticks, grass thatch, coconut palm, weaved branches, adobe-like blocks etc.
Similar to the beehive homes of Swazilis, Ethiopians have their tukul as referred to by the Gurage people. A granary constructed in Malawi is completely different from a granary in Mali, though the function remains the same. Vernacular architecture, composed of local materials, derived from local customs and techniques has been passed down from generation to generation in Africa. Yet it also mostly disappears today, being abandoned for Western materials and techniques. African vernacular architecture is under-documented due to a lack of funding, awareness and enthusiasts globally, and hence there is an urgent need to document the rich heritage and traditions for both the purpose of preservation and inspiration for future works.
The vernacular styles have been imbibed in several contemporary styles by the architects in their practice, who have wittily incorporated the techniques into their designs catering for modern use, suiting the present needs.
The Falatow Jigiyaso Orphange is a combination of Western Architecture and traditional Malian architecture as the blocks are arranged around a central courtyard. Located in the Sub-Sahelian region, due to the extreme weather conditions the building would be exposed to comfort inside is a main factor that has decided the design principles such as minimising solar heat gain, improving the thermal mass of the walls and providing natural ventilation.
The Rwanda Cricket Stadium has masonry vaults as the only enclosure that adapts ancient Mediterranean tile vaulting. The materials are soil-cement tiles majorly with geogrid reinforcing in the layers. The structure resembles a parabolic path taken by a bouncing ball having its spring points on the ground, giving rise to descending altitudes of trajectories.
The Dandaji Daily Market in Niger and Lycee secondary school in Burkino Faso are some of the finest examples of dramatically upgraded public architecture wherein the design elements, methods of construction and local materials used depict a unified ensemble of contemporary architecture’s hybrid forms of rural Africa, where two-third population live in most countries.
Some other architectural marvels in Africa include buildings in urban areas with Western ideas flowing in the forms. These have even come to be known as the iconic buildings of Africa in the 21st century.
Some other architectural marvels in Africa include buildings in urban areas with Western ideas flowing in the forms. These have even come to be known as the iconic buildings of Africa in the 21st century.
Contemporary Architecture in Africa has traversed beyond the stereotypes making it unique in the spectrum of African art and culture. Indigenous knowledge systems have heavily determined the language of these buildings. The mission of architecture in Africa today has become to not only compete globally but more importantly, also the reconciliation of the continent with the history and basic ethos of African culture.
Urban Planning in Africa
Urban master planning in Africa is extensively critiqued for being a colonial imposition, modelled on modernism. The Westerners who were involved in the planning envisioned African urbanism in terms of a utopic future that is today incapable of handling the existing needs and realities. The colonial legacy is also quite evident in the eastern cities of Dar es Salaam, Nairobi, Johannesburg, etc, which are considered as cities built over the structural inequalities and divisions meted out by the colonialists, based on race. Though today’s planned cities of Africa outline a complex hybrid form of modern and local elements, Western influences have not receded.
The colonial continuities are seen in the fact that the world’s largest slums and squatter settlements are located in Africa as the examples of Khayelitsha in Cape Town, Kibera in Nairobi, Kampala in Uganda, etc. There are also attached issues of informalized economy, poverty, hunger, lack of basic standard education, etc as they add fuel to the fire in the urban areas of Africa.
Lagos is an informal city and its future development will be driven by the informal sector therefore the vision, design and planning of the future city has to be done with a priority of addressing the needs, wishes and capabilities of the informal sector.
Angola’s capital city of Luanda is also a similar example where sustainable infrastructure development and urbanization, through UN-Habitat’s collaborative programme with the government of the state, have resulted in managing many lacking points like traffic, socio-economic gaps, poverty, land use etc that has transformed the urban areas.
Impacts of Urbanization
African cities are expected to grow in population to 900 million by 2050, says a report on Africa’s urbanisation dynamics. One of the most underappreciated achievements of African cities over the last 30 years has been that, despite growing by 500 million people, they have maintained their economic performance, providing people with better jobs and improved access to services and infrastructure. Positive spillovers from urbanisation are also spreading to rural areas, which benefit from proximity to cities. The World Bank also believes that urbanization will be “the single most important transformation that the African continent will undergo this century”, with over half of the population set to live in cities by 2040.
However, challenges in the form of increased demand for urban housing and infrastructure, sustainable transport and commute facilities, rising number of cars on the roads, accommodating the new millions of people migrating into the cities and at the same time not losing the traditional touch in new architectural forms have also sharply increased. Land insecurity, poor living conditions, lack of utilities available, unemployment, increased crime rate, and accelerated growth in demands of the exploding population alongside political instabilities in various countries of Africa has resulted in exacerbation of low standards of living. There is a paradox of both growth and deterioration witnessed in the African sub-continent. In all these instances the poor are disproportionately affected thus rendering the overall African economy staggering in numbers and stagnant in growth.
Contemporary Urban Fabric in Africa
Some examples of contemporary urban planning are discussed below.
(Text description provided by the architects)
Niamey, located along the Sahelian belt contributes to its strategic position on the banks of the Niger River which is responsible for its remarkably rich vegetation. However, due to the unpredictable risk of flooding during the rainy season, the city has mainly developed by turning its back on the water. The Niamey Nyala Masterplan puts forward a new vision, based on the premise of transforming the city by harnessing the hugely untapped potential of its riverbanks. The plan intends to create a network of public spaces along the Gounti Yéna (a tributary of the Niger River flowing through the city from south to north) and the Yantala Corniche on the left of the river, promoting Niamey’s biodiversity.
The existing tree nurseries and market gardens are reorganised to integrate recreational areas. Appropriate housing is planned along the riverside to slow the city’s expansion into the desert, as well as water transport to improve the connection between various points along the banks.
The promenade planned along the Gounti Yéna waterway is combined with a series of waste stabilisation ponds that filter the water through plants and sand. These ultimately flow into a large clear-water pond at the point where the tributary flows into the river.
At the heart of the master plan, a pedestrian bridge connects the two main promenades and spans the ring road, offering Niamey’s citizens a new vantage point over their city and its river.
Kigali City is a rapidly evolving urban Centre that requires an updated Master Plan to ensure that the city can meet changing demands of its citizens. The Kigali city master plan proposed has incorporated development along the contours.
The new Cairo city’s conceptual master plan by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill aims to stimulate Egypt’s plummeting economy and alleviate the city’s rising population density, while also being mindful of the cultural and climatic conditions of its site. Various functions from business to administration, transportation to workspaces, housing to other services and the region’s climate to passive cooling techniques for the city have been considered. The overall endeavour has been to enhance the old city’s space with some amount of centralization in planning.
The future of Architecture in Africa necessitates that climate vulnerabilities, food security and poverty should be taken into consideration as the three main pillars. The layer of inequality added to Africa on the global scale because of debt distress (Mostly due to infrastructure expansion assistance from the foreign government), per-capita emissions, climate change exacerbating anthropological activities, etc have brought the continent to focus on Green-building and clean technology. Thus, climate resilience and inclusiveness have to be the main drivers for the sustainable development of African cities for finding effective and politico-economically feasible solutions.
Citations
African architecture (no date) Encyclopædia Britannica. Available at: https://www.britannica.com/art/African-architecture (Accessed: 25 July 2023).
Sylvia Croese-Senior research fellow and Philip Harrison-Professor School of Architecture and Planning (2022) New forms of urban planning are emerging in Africa, The Conversation. Available at: https://theconversation.com/new-forms-of-urban-planning-are-emerging-in-africa-181796 (Accessed: 25 July 2023).
Josse, G. (2020) Planning and managing Africa’s cities: What place for technology in…, Field Actions Science Reports. The journal of field actions. Available at: https://journals.openedition.org/factsreports/6317 (Accessed: 25 July 2023).
Culturetrip (2023) African vernacular architecture documentation…, Culture Trip. Available at: https://theculturetrip.com/africa/articles/african-vernacular-architecture-documentation-for-preservation/ (Accessed: 02 August 2023).
Yakubu, P. (2023) How can informal retail preserve pedestrian zones as car dependency increases in African cities?, ArchDaily. Available at: https://www.archdaily.com/999720/how-can-informal-retail-preserve-pedestrian-zones-as-car-dependency-increases-in-african-cities?ad_campaign=normal-tag (Accessed: 02 August 2023).
Contemporary Urbanisation Processes (2014) Geography. Available at: https://garsidej.wordpress.com/a2-geography/world-cities/contemporary-urbanisation-processes/ (Accessed: 02 August 2023).
Thelwell, K. (2020) Sub-Saharan African slums: The housing crisis, The Borgen Project. Available at: https://borgenproject.org/sub-saharan-african-slums/ (Accessed: 02 August 2023).
‘Africa’s Urbanisation Dynamics 2022’ (2022) West African Studies [Preprint]. doi:10.1787/3834ed5b-en.