HousingWiki > African Architecture
African Architecture & Built Environment
including traditional, vernacular, formal architecture; building, land use.
Last updated: 20 Feb, 2023
Doc Created: 10 May, 2021 [adapting existing housing.wiki page]
Owner: Tim McCormick - housingwikieditor@gmail.com
Editor(s): Tim McCormick - About; tmccormick@gmail.com.
Short URLs:
- http://AfricanArchitecture.housing.wiki (case insensitive; goes to Published view).
- Google Docs editable/commentable view
Access: open to all with link, for viewing, commenting, or suggesting. For full edit access, request from document owner.
Twitter hashtag / search link: #AfricanArchitecture [note, case-insensitive]
CONTENTS
Overview
This is a peer-sourced, open bibliography and reference page for works on African architecture, built environment, and land use, managed by HousingWiki project. It is especially oriented to works in English, and works that are available for free access online.
We aim to use the hashtag #AfricanArchitecture to periodically check for and post new materials (on Twitter, perhaps also with other social media).
See article "Topic Pages" by Tim McCormick, discussing idea of semi-automated gathering & curating of material via social media by such method.
Tim McCormick @tmccormick
If it seems useful/wanted, I can gather, edit to open doc at http://5over1.housing.wiki. (p.s. same offer on other topics, to make [hashtag].housing.wiki). This method might also be semi-automated to append additions/suggestions to page, & is efficient for distributed workflow.
10:29 PM · May 9, 2021
Latest notes/additions
Feb 20, 2023
"African Architects": song by by Jane Musoke (Musician at Abantu music), London.
https://janemusoke.bandcamp.com/track/african-architects
My song, African Architects, celebrates African men and women who designed and built the architectural wonders of five African countries:
Uganda, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe and Nigeria.
The architectural wonders, that still stand today, are a reminder of the importance of hard work, prayer and community.
African Architects has lyrics written and sung in Luganda, English and Latin.
lyrics
"It's fair to say
That on any given day
Facing challenges will help us thrive
Forming stories that enrich our lives
If we work hard and pray
Then great things
Will come our way
Ssinga tukola n'amaanyi
Era ne tusaba
Tujja funa ebintu ebirungi
Well as the elders say
God only helps those
Who help themselves
Let's begin the work today
Here are monuments to hard work that still stand today
The iconic pyramids at Meroë
In South Sudan, East Africa
The majestic Kasubi tombs
In Buganda kingdom
Uganda, East Africa
Ohhh ohhh
The stunning city of Great Zimbabwe in Masvingo province
Zimbabwe, Southern Africa
The Great Walls of Benin City
In Edo State, Nigeria,
West Africa
And the beautiful Churches of Lalibela, in Ethiopia, East Africa
These architectural wonders
Designed and built by African men and African women
Who studied, worked hard and prayed.
Our legacy of hard work and ingenuity still stands today
If we work hard and pray, then great things will come our way
Ssinga tukola n'amaanyi
Era ne tusaba
Tujja funa ebintu ebirungi
Yes we work hard and pray
Tukola n'amaanyi era ne tusaba
Laboramus fortiter et oramus
We work hard and pray
Tukola n'amaanyi era ne tusaba
track credits: from African Architects, track released October 4, 2021.
Other Bibliographies
Nmadili N. Okwumabua. "Introductory Research Bibliography for African Architecture & Design." https://www.cpdiafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Introductory-Bibliography-for-African-Architecture-Research.doc. Google Docs version.
References / Bibliography
Asomani-Boateng, R. (2011). "Borrowing from the past to sustain the present and the future: indigenous African urban forms, architecture, and sustainable urban development in contemporary Africa." Journal of Urbanism: International Research on Placemaking and Urban Sustainability, 4(3), 239–262. https://doi.org/10.1080/17549175.2011.634573. (Paywall $).
Bourdier, Jean-Paul, and Trinh Minh-ha (1996). Drawn from African Dwelling.
Available from Internet Archive - borrowable for 1hr at a time: https://archive.org/details/drawnfromafrican0000bour.
Denyer, Susan. African Traditional Architecture (1978).
Available for 1-hr loan from Internet Archive. https://archive.org/details/africantradition0000deny
Eglash, Ron. (1999). African Fractals: Modern Computing and Indigenous Design. Rutgers University Press, 1999. ISBN 9780813526140. Available from Library Genesis.
Elleh, Nnamdi. African Architecture: Evolution and Transformation (McGraw Hill,1997).
so far [except for perhaps Meuser & Dalbai, 2021] the broadest, most extensively researched, best illustrated survey, a landmark work. Unfortunately, not very available - at last check 10-05-2021 US$495 used online, no previews on Amazon or Google Books. Elleh is Associate Professor of Architecture, History and Theory at the University of Cincinnati. He was trained as an architect and received his PhD in art history from Northwestern University.
Fathy, Hassan (1969). Architecture for the Poor: An Experiment in Rural Egypt. (initially published by the Egyptian Ministry of Culture in 1969 under the title Al-Gurna: A Tale of Two Villages).
Fraser, Douglas (1968). Village Planning In The Primitive World. George Brazilier, 1968.
Available from Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/VillagePlanningInThePrimitiveWorld/; and https://archive.org/details/villageplanningi0000fras/.
Freund, Bill. (2007). The African City: A History. Cambridge University Press, ISBN 9780521821094. Available from Library Genesis.
Gardi, René (1973). Indigenous African Architecture.
On Internet Archive - borrowable for 1hr at a time: https://archive.org/details/indigenousafrica0000gard/. No longer available.
Garlake, Peter. Early Art and Architecture of Africa (Oxford University Press, 2002).
Available from Internet Archive - borrowable for 1hr at a time: https://archive.org/details/earlyartarchitec00garl.
Available from ISSUU (online reading only): https://issuu.com/cleaningsrvices42/docs/0192842617-early-art-and-architecture-of-africa-by-peter-garlake.
Hull, Richard (1976). African Cities and Towns before the European Conquest.
Available for loan from Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/africancitiestow0000hull/
Koutonin, Mawuna. (2016). "Story of cities #5: Benin City, the mighty medieval capital now lost without trace." The Guardian, 18 Mar 2016. https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/mar/18/story-of-cities-5-benin-city-edo-nigeria-mighty-medieval-capital-lost-without-trace.
Kulterman, Udo Kultermann. (1969). New Directions in African Architecture. London: Studio Vista, 1969. ISBN 289-79674-1. Available from Library Genesis.
Lokko, Lesley Naa Norle. White Papers, Black Marks: Race, Culture, Architecture. University of Minnesota Press, 2000. Preview available at Google Books: https://www.google.com/books/edition/White_Papers_Black_Marks/ti6hGzvF0N4C.
Lesley Lokko, is the founder and director of the African Futures Institute in Accra, Ghana, an independent postgraduate school of architecture and public events platform. @LokkoLesley.
Contents:
N. Ola Uduku. "Colonial face of educational space."
Malindi Neluheni. "Apartheid urban development."
Kwasi Boateng and Chris Nasah. "Lively hazardous places."
Michael Stanton. "Rack and the web: the other city."
Ana Betancour and Peter Hasdell. "Tango : a choreography of urban displacement."
Edward Ihejirika. "Intensive continuity."
J. Yolande Daniels. "Black bodies, black space : a-waiting spectacle."
Jane M. Jacobs, Kim Dovey and Mathilde Lochert. "Authorizing aboriginality in architecture."
Araya Asgedom. "Unsounded space."
Mitchell Squire. "Paris done burnt!."
Imogen Ward Kouao. "Anything red doesn't come to the house."
Felecia Davis. "(un)Covering/(re)covering."
May, John (2010). Handmade Houses & Other Buildings: The World of Vernacular Architecture. (also published as: Buildings without Architects: A Global Guide to Everyday Architecture, by Rizzoli). Anthony Reid, editor.
Meuser, Philipp, and Adli Dalbai, editors.(2021). Sub-Saharan Africa Architectural Guide. DOM publishers, €148.
Moughtin, Cliff (1985). Hausa Architecture. London: Ethnographica, in association with Institute of Planning Studies, University of Nottingham. ISBN: 9780905788401. 175 pages : 21 x 23 cm. Available from Internet Archive - borrowable for 1 hour at a time: https://archive.org/details/hausaarchitectur0000moug.
Topics: Vernacular architecture Nigeria, Hausa (African people) Social life and customs, Hausa (African people) -- Social life and customs, Architecture, Hausa, Vernacular architecture -- Nigeria, Vernacular architecture, Hausa (volk), Bouwkunst, Nigeria
Myers, Garth A. (2011). African Cities: Alternative Visions of Urban Theory and Practice. Zed Books, 2011. ISBN 9781848135109. Available from Library Genesis.
Prussin, Labelle (1995). African nomadic architecture : space, place, and gender. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, National Museum of African Art. Available from Internet Archive - borrowable for 1 hour at a time: https://archive.org/details/africannomadicar0000prus.
Wilson, Mabel O., Charles L. Davis, and Irene Cheng, eds. (2020). Race and Modern Architecture: A Critical History from the Enlightenment to the Present.
Woodfork, Jacqueline Cassandra (2006). Culture and customs of the Central African Republic. Westport, Connecticut, USA : Greenwood Press, 2006. xxi, 191 p., [10] p. of plates, 25 cm, Includes bibliographical references (p. [177]-181) and index.
Available from Internet Archive - borrowable for 1 hour at a time: https://archive.org/details/culturecustomsof0000wood/.
Contents:
Religion and worldview -- Literature and the media -- Art, architecture, and living patterns -- Cuisine and traditional dress -- Gender roles, marriage, and family -- Social customs and lifestyle -- Music and dance.
People
of note, of Twitter, etc. Please suggest!
Lesley Lokko, is the founder and director of the African Futures Institute in Accra, Ghana, an independent postgraduate school of architecture and public events platform. @LokkoLesley.
Contributors
please add yourself if here if you wish, if you have contributed to this document, or would like to.