African Architecture and the Salience of Cultural Identity

 

    This week’s readings focused largely on the East African coast – specifically the cultures of Mali, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, and Swahili – and their respective architecture. Departing from the typical western lens tinted with colonial hegemony, the authors collectively proclaimed that the study of African architecture is wholly incomplete without a contingent parallel discussion of the religious, political, and cultural identity of the people who built it.

Laborers in Mali

    This commonality is illustrated in Marchand’s discussion of “banter relationships” that exist between Bozo masons and their Dogon laborers in Mali, which allow the two groups to symbiotically co-exist in a working environment. Bourgeois also focuses his efforts on Mali, refuting claims regarding the predominance of French influence in building the Great Mosque of Djenne. He instead argues that the edifice is primarily Sahelian and reflects the local identity of the people due to the immutable presence of political iconography and interethnic rivalries intrinsic to the architecture of the mosque. De Vere Allen claims echo those of Bourgeois, but instead concentrates his efforts on the Swahili people, refuting claims that certain edifices built to a more “Western” standard were constructed by other cultures, such as the Arabs or Persians. 

Great Mosque of Djenne

    Heldman also proposes this commonality through a study of Ethiopian Churches which details the progression of Christian identity in the region via Old Testament appropriation and mimesis, and their influence on the built environment. Huffman’s study relies primarily on architectural excavations to develop a thesis concerning the Zimbabwe Pattern, a cognitive model of spatial organization, and its presence within the Zimbabwe society; the model relied heavily on the regional norms of the people and their ethnic identity as it relates to the rules that govern spatial categories. Thus, in each article regional character plays a crucial role in the development of their claims.

16th-century tomb located at Atu, Pate Island

    Depicted above is a 16th-century tomb located at Atu, Pate Island. The structure has a square base that is approximately three meters in length with pointed peaks at each corner. These peaks are not perfectly perpendicular to the ground and instead jut slightly outwards, impressing on the viewer thoughts of the tomb opening towards the heavens. The peaks slope downwards and meet at the center, creating an inverted arch. De Ver Allen posits that the edifice’s physical structure drew influence from the prow of an old-style local sailing dhow [depicted below]. The façade of the tomb is scarcely ornamented and appears to be built out of stone, likely constructed with coral rag and mortar. The interior square of the tomb was likely barren at inception but is currently overflowing with native fauna. 

Old Swahili Sailing Dhow