Popular Architecture - Newsletter July 2009 News
In this period of the year we always feel that with our activities we cross the equator and that our partners are often based in the southern hemisphere. Especially now, with African Perspectives 2009 in Pretoria coming closer fast, this is felt. We feel almost guilty to finally take a bit of rest after another year of hard work, while preparatory work undertaken by our partners, the Pretoria Institute for Architecture and the University of Pretoria, is at its peak. We are very pleased that the registration facilities on the conference website are active, so please do not hesitate and register fast, since this next step in the African Perspectives series is not to be missed. As mentioned earlier, there will be contributions from Joe Osae – Addo, Dick van Gameren, Jose Forjaz, Heinrich Wolff, Nnamdi Elleh and others. We are still working on the participation of some other very interesting speakers, so keep an eye on the website! Another interesting event which is added to the conference is the event ‘Debates on Tour’, a series of debates in various parts of the world, initiated by the Netherlands Architecture institute. During these debates, bringing together local and Dutch participants, public space in cities and its meaning will be discussed. We anticipate that this will be the start of a series of debates in the coming years, organized in collaboration between NAi and ArchiAfrika. Since this is the last newsletter before African Perspectives, you will find a focus on popular architecture in this newsletter, a topic which will be on the agenda in Pretoria for sure. The article of Paul Jenkins will give you a good introduction, while Cordelia Osasona shows interesting examples from Nigeria. But this newsletter will not be the only document which will prepare you for the conference. In collaboration with the Delft University of Technology we work on the web publication of the papers which were presented at African Perspectives 2007 in Delft. The ultimate preparation for AP07 however will be the proceedings of this years event, which will be published in advance. Make sure you have read it! We hope to see you all in Pretoria! http://www.africanperspectives.info (Portal to University of Pretoria African Perspectives Pretoria 2009 Website)
Reports African Architectures: ‘Traditional’, ‘Modern’ and ‘Popular’. By Professor Paul Jenkins
Figure 2_ Vernacular urban housing in Mozambique, with veranda serving as shop, which illustrates both mixed ‘traditional’ construction (palm thatch of the roof) and modernised vernacular (walls/openings), as well as use of ‘traditional’ space (overhung veranda) for modern activity – small-scale ‘informal’ commerce. (Source: Paul Jenkins)
African architecture tends to be seen either as ‘traditional’/ ‘vernacular’ or ‘modern’i. In reality, based on an understanding of architecture in its wider sense, the majority of built form in the Sub-Saharan Africa macro-region is somewhere between these two formsiii . This is partly due to rapid urbanisation, weak political structures and low economic level, but is also based on diverse social and cultural traditions. Because of rapid urbanisation, new building in Africa is increasingly located in urban areas - whether these are recognised formally as urban areas or not - and is mostly residential. The vast majority of this residential built form is designed and/or produced by the owners – usually with a range of semi-professionals such as draughtspersons and builders, many self-taught. This ‘popular architecture’ already constitutes the bulk of the built form in African cities and will become even more important, given current demographic and socio-economic projections. As such it cannot be ignored, yet has been the focus for very limited investigation to date. This phenomenon is the subject of two new studies in the region to be undertaken through African architecture schools, with European institutional backingiii. The key focus for this research is to identify the main drivers and constraints on such design and production of built form, and its impact (actual and potential) on African urban areas. Essentially, cities in Africa are emerging based on different socially and culturally bounded ‘home spaces’ - which are of course constrained by economic opportunity and political action (such as regulation and enforcement). Most housing and/or urban develop-
Figure 1_ Traditional rural vernacular in peri-urban areas of the third largest city in Ghana – Tamale in the north where much of the peri-urban area has a mix of ‘traditional’ and ‘modern’ vernacular architectures. (Source: Paul Jenkins)
urban research, embedded as these are with concepts of ‘urban’ which are often not either in the interests of, or within the capacities of, existing residents (or other urban actors). The second research project will take a wider, but less indepth, approach and focus on ‘Modern, popular and indigenous: architectures of the majority in urban Africa’. The analytical framework for the research is currently being developed, to be discussed with interested African schools of architecture at the forthcoming Arch-Afrika Perspectives conference at Pretoria University in September this yeariv. As an example of the focus for this research, the tenement / compound house is a traditional architectural response to urban living in West Africa. Often initially for extended families (as in Kumasi Ghana), this is now increasingly for rental.
Figure 3_ Register of land use in urban ‘home space’ in Maputo, Mozambique, 2000. (Source: Paul Jenkins)
ment policies, strategies and implementation programmes / projects tend to focus on ideal forms of the ‘good city’ and ‘proper housing’ which are usually deeply influenced by Northern concepts. However, the weak capacity of the state and private sector in relation to the majority in Africa cities leads to the local social and cultural having much more influence in what is actually developed, yet this is rarely investigated in any depth. The first of these studies is a research project in Mozambique, based at the Centre for Development of Habitat studies in the School of Architecture and Physical Planning in the capital Maputo. This examines the interplay between social and cultural attributes and the Home Spaces which these create physically. The study also reviews the impacts (positive or negative) on home spaces of political economic constraints, as channelled by governments, the market and international agencies – and their potential reverse impact. The project will thus provide inputs to understanding the way cities are predominantly ‘emerging’ bottom-up in Africa, as opposed to be developed ‘top-down’. This investigation incorporates a wide political economic overview of urban development and housing in Mozambican cities and Maputo in particular, reviewing policies, strategies, programmes and actions undertaken by the government, private sector and NGOs in recent years, and the limited impact of these. It continues this longitudinal research through surveys of change in specific periurban areas of the city, using past surveys as the baseline (1989, 1999). It subsequently uses ethnographic techniques to help understand the interests, actual action and ‘imaginaries’ of home space dwellers. The research is thus focussed on empirical evidence as the basis for new inductive approaches to urban development – as opposed to typically deductive approaches which underpin much current
Figures 4&5_ Model of a tenement rooming house in Jos, Nigeria. (Source: Anthony Ogbonna 2008)
As the strong demand for urban housing outstrips supply, there is increasing pressure on this house type to expand. As has been documented for Ghana, this is happening mainly in unplanned horizontal extension (Figure 6), but with a more recent tendency also to vertical expansion. In Kenya, vertical tenement housing is already established in parts of Nairobi, with no effective control over the planning or construction of such units, often 6-7 stories with mostly one bedroom accommodation. This project will examine different architectural manifestations of home spaces across different cities and regions in SubSaharan Africa. A key issue is not only the role of traditional socio-cultural values in space use, built form creation and ‘imaginaries’ of the ‘proper house’, but also the role played by aspirations to modernity and how these are created and influenced by architectural modernism and other explicit forms of ‘modernisation’. Modernity in this research is seen as evolving in different ways
Figure 6_ Kumasi, Ghana – extensions to traditional courtyard housing. (Source: Andreason, Andersen & Tipple 2006)
in different geographies and as such studying popular architecture is seen as a way of challenging embedded concepts of ‘modern’ as being defined in the ‘centre’ (or global North) as opposed to the ‘periphery’ (or global South). Defining this built form as architecture also challenges deeply embedded concepts of what is ‘Architecture’, as influenced by avant-garde approaches to ‘high’ and ‘low’ culture. In so doing the project hopes to provide important empirically derived understanding of the driving forces for the ‘Emergent Cities’ of the global South, as part of a wider discussion of the future of such cities - and also the role of architecture in societyv.
Figure 7_ Tenement housing Nairobi. (Source: Marie Huchzemeyer 2007)
Prof. Paul Jenkins is an architect and planner focussing on social issues, with more than 20 years resident work in various African countries since 1973. His work in Africa has been on architecture and urban development, with the private sector, NGOs, local & national government, international agencies, community organisations and academic institutions. He currently directs two research centres in UK academic institutions and continues to work in Africa, publishing on African issues as well as wider social issues in architecture and the built environment.
Figure 8_ Mixed residential and economic development in Pikine, Dakar, capital of Senegal. (Source: Paul Jenkins)
References: ·
Andersen, J E, Andreasen, J & Tipple G (2006) The demise of compound houses – consequences for the low in come population of Kumasi, Ghana, RICS Research paper series Vol 6/8 [continuation on following page]
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Huchzermeyer, M. (2007) Tenement City: The Emergence of Multi-storey Districts Through Large-scale Private Landlordism in Nairobi, International Journal of Urban and Regional Research Vol 31/4 pp 714–32 Ogbonna, A C (2008) An integrated assessment of domestic energy demand and use for energy planning in sub-Saharan Africa: the case of Jos, Nigeria, PhD thesis, Heriot-Watt University
Notes i Most studies of Africa tend to address Sub-Saharan Africa as a separate world macro-region from North Africa (which is addressed in Mediterranean, Arabic or Middle Eastern studies). Sub-Saharan Africa is the focus of this briefing. ii In other words, the design and production of built form, and not only that designed by those who term themselves (or are legally accredited) as architects. In fact a small proportion of built form in any year is produced worldwide with engagement of architects – which makes this even more insignificant in historical terms - although it dominates the discussion on ‘architecture’. iii These have been initiated by the author through ScotMARK, the Centre for International Architecture Research at Edinburgh College of Art and the Centre for Environment & Human Settlements at the School of the Built Environment, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh. Other European partners are the Department of Human Settlements in the School of Architecture, Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, Copenhagen; and Archi-Afrika, Utrecht, The Netherlands. iv See: http://www.africanperspectives.info/ v See: Jenkins, Smith and Wang (2006): Planning & housing in the rapidly urbanising world (Routledge) and Jenkins & Forsyth (forthcoming 2009): Architecture, Participation and Society (Routledge) for more on social roles in architecture and built environment.
Presentation PhD Summary: ‘THE MODE OF EXTEMPORIZATION’ On the Role of Informality in Reconstituting Formal Urban Spaces: The Case of Nakuru, Kenya. By Dr. Plnr. Lawrence S. Ole Esho
Amongst the many challenges of urbanization, the phenomenon of informality is today perhaps one of the most enduring realities confronting cities in developing contexts. It is therefore unsurprising that its purported ‘discovery’ in the early 1970s aroused a zealous institutional and scholarly interest, the objects being to elucidate its nature, explicate factors responsible for its emergence and propagation and deliberate its implications for development policy. Consequently, the emergent discourse depicts the phenomenon as a corollary of complex and highly contradictory processes involving the articulation and colligation of historical, cultural, political, socio-economic forces and spatial conditions. The debate, while elaborate, has an explicit socio-economic bias and is particularly vague regarding the spatial dimension of informality. And while there seems to be consensus on the impacts of informal activities and appropriative spatial practices on processes of contemporary urban morphogenesis, much emphasis is placed on the former’s alleged degrading import. This study queries the plausibility of such a stance, especially considering that there is as yet no compelling account relating the informal dynamic to the spatial frame of cities. Hence, the phenomenon’s real spatial essence is yet to be determined. Likewise, the possible agency of spatialstructural-institutional aspects of urbanity in the emergence and propagation of informal urbanities is a subject that has remained largely unexplored. Consequently, the ensuing inquiry seeks to reorient the current debate on informality away from the micro/socio-economic focus of the international development debate by exploring the theme within the more specific and substantive area of space theory and spatial planning practice. By critically exploring the interface between informality, urban space, and spatial planning, the study not only seeks to foster understanding regarding the subject in general, but more specifically, to explicate the urban space allocation/appropriation mismatch that characterizes spatial scenes in Sub-Saharan African urban context, and suggests the means by which such may be resolved.
Figure 1_ A symbol of the absence of informal activities and practices in urban planners’ mental maps, leading to their exclusion from the urban spatial frame
The exploration begins by revisiting the century-old history of urbanization in Africa. Here, in addition to shedding light on salient aspects of African urbanization and urbanity, it traces the emergence of informality as a distinct residential, professional/occupational, and social urban category to the advent in the continent, of western capitalism and modern urbanization. Likewise, it implicates exclusionary planning principles and regimenting spatial frames, most of which were introduced in the colonial era and further perpetuated by urban managers and planners in the post-colonial era, in the propagation of informal space appropriation practices in the African city. Planning’s culpability in this regard is established via three mechanisms of abetment, namely; designation, design and compulsion. In the first, planning is implicated in the sense that throughout the historical process of modern urbanization in Africa, it came to supply the various normative and substantive benchmarks by which certain urban practices are delineated and delimitated as formal and others as informal. Secondly, planning is implicated in the emergence and propagation of informalities to the extent that it intentionally or unintentionally deploys spatial structures that relegate certain practices to a marginal position in the urban spatial order. The same treatment is extended to segments of the urban citizenry that are responsible for instigating
highlight various strategies and tactics by which citizens supplement the latter’s inherent deficiencies or activate capacities latent thereupon. In the second instance, the study confirms a positive correlation between the emergent pattern of localization of informal practices, and formal elements of the urban spatial grid. The relationship is symbiotic, dialectical, and synergetic. This means, on the one hand, that the urban underlayment possesses structural properties suited for the urban anchorage of informal practices. Conversely, the latter, even while partially submitting to the regimenting command of contrived spatial structures (i.e., the formal urban spatial grid) exert a (re)constitutive influence thereupon. Consequently, the ensuing interaction instigates a process of adaptation, in which both informal practices and formal structures come to acquire amenable dispositions relative to each other. The study refers to this process as ‘The Mode of Extemporization’, not in the sense that the dynamic and the pattern it engenders are unplanned expedients, but rather that it represents a somewhat ‘considered process of improvisation’. Here, a spontaneous and collective grassroots effort engages ordinary urban dwellers to deploy their very resourcefulness and ingenuities to remediate a perceived inoperativeness in reified spatialities (formal/planned
Figure 2_ Highlighting the often inimical nature of the encounter between informal actors and the municipal plan enforcement regime
the informal dynamic. Thirdly, formal planning in Africa, in so far as it continues to function as a largely exclusionary spatial practice, compels urban dwellers to seek alternative avenues through which to insert themselves in the city’s spatial frame and pursue their sustenance thereof. Such avenues tend to be in aberration to those contrived by the formal planning machinate, hence, informal. The above-mentioned processes are ascertained through the lens of a specific urban case, the city of Nakuru in Kenya. In addition, the study attempts an exploratory analysis in respect of prevailing spatial patterns of appropriation, with the twin aims of deciphering the spatial essence of informal urbanity and explicating the interface between informal practices, urban space, and urban planning. In the first instance, the study uncovers a bona fide process by which ordinary urban dwellers continuously attend to limitations inherent in their respective spatial domains of operation. Here, we
urban spaces), particularly with regard to their designated function as spatial frames charged with assimilating the varied temperament of everyday spatial practice. It is only through this unique spatial dynamic, entailing a dialectical and synergetic interpenetration between formal urban structures and appropriative practices that purposive urban spaces come into being. These, as well as the study’s other insights, are of significant import for African urbanism. For one, they challenge prevailing perspectives regarding the phenomenon of informality as it relates to the African city, and which have long underpinned the ambivalent and sometimes inimical relationship between actuators of the informal dynamic and the formal planning and plan enforcement regimes. In particular, the study’s findings debunk the myth of aberrancy and degeneracy; claims attributed to informal practices and associated spatial patterns of appropriation. This it does, by highlighting the (re)constitutive
function of informality relative to space and formal urban structures and vice versa. Secondly, it suggests that the African city’s informal dynamic harbours heuristic potentialities relative to urban space, the latter which are yet to be fully harnessed or indeed appreciated. This, in turn underscores the inevitability of a planning paradigm shift in relation to the phenomenon of informality. Concluding with a call to ‘induct the skit of extempore’, the study not only underscores the need to embrace the informal dynamic as a (re)constitutive or transformative force relative to urban space, but to register complementarities and synergies occasioned by the intersection between formal and informal networks towards the creation of purposive, vibrant and productive activity domains, and by extension, to frame spatial structures that more readily lend themselves to effectuating a harmonious, equitable, and sustainable urban development.
evolutionary trends of their builtform – has always been of interest to me. One of my books (Colonial Architecture in IleIfe, Nigeria) actually looks at the impact of colonization in IleIfe, tracing the origins of the Ifes and analyzing several local heritage buildings.
PhD Dissertation - Lawrence Esho, Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium, Feb 2009 Key Words: Informality, Space, and Urban (Spatial) Planning
Generally, Nigerian popular architecture can be schematically described as a deployment of living spaces to the left and right of an exaggerated passageway, running through the entire length of the building. In its most basic form, there are four rooms altogether (two on each side), and the corridor connects front and back verandas. The living spaces (bedrooms and/or “parlours”) are the most private spaces, and hence, there is a graduation from outside (front-of-the-house veranda) public space, through the semi-private central corridor to the private rooms – or on, to the semi-public back veranda (see Fig. 1).
Reports Nigeria’s Popular Architecture By Cordelia O. OSASONA Popular or folk architecture is generally accepted to be the building practices that best characterize a people’s first option, when the provision of shelter is the issue at stake; it is the first recourse, spontaneously and unselfconsciously resorted to, and involves the use of locally-available (though not necessarily indigenous) materials. In most cases, it is a “hybrid-building” culture, as it consists of local traditional building practices and styles, impacted upon by those of other ethnicities, through the process of cultural diffusion; it is post-traditional – what the traditional has evolved, over considerable time, to become. Popular architecture is otherwise termed “vernacular architecture”. Nigeria is made up of more than 200 tribes, speaking over 300 local dialects. Correspondingly, there is a wide variety of traditional building styles, using predominantly earth and other readily-available natural materials. With the advent of British colonial administration, prototypes in the spirit of pluralism (and based on Western concepts of space-ordering, lifestyles and the colonial agenda), came on the scene. Also, the colonial presence facilitated the local transplant of Brazilian architecture (of Portuguese origin) and the tropicalized British residence adopted by freed slaves who had initially been resettled in Sierra Leone. Nigerian traditional building practices, therefore, were readily conditioned by these extraneous influences. Apart from obvious influences on building morphology and materials, there has been re-contextualization of space, re-defining of “standards”, and a general acceptance of “modern” building practices that support the folk lifestyle.
I have also done work in the area of architectural conservation and restoration – albeit, peripherally. As the fieldwork module to a postgraduate elective in that specialization, I have organized several partial-restoration interventions on some AfroBrazilian buildings in the town. These buildings, coupled with the colonial legacy in administrative, educational, residential, commercial and other structures, constitute the cream of vernacular buildings providing local inspiration for the more widespread variants of popular architecture.
Fig 1_ Schematic of basic vernacular house-type layout
Over time, several variants of this basic theme have become commonplace: apart from the possibility of having any number of rooms (based on availability of land and the houseowner’s intentions on mode of occupancy), it has virtually become the norm for one of the two front-flanking rooms to eat into the front veranda – truncating its frontal sprawl, and producing a larger room, usually reserved as a living room for the house-owner or major tenant; also, multi-storey development is increasingly the vogue – particularly in the nation’s urban centres, where population figures are high and land is at a premium. See Figs. 2-4.
My Academic Research Work My research work in the Department of Architecture, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, has concentrated essentially on traditional and vernacular building culture in Nigeria. I have written (journal articles and books) on the formal expressions and material usage of these practices. In addition to highlighting the common phenomenon of an art-in-architecture tradition, the inherent symbolism in the spatial configuration of these typologies (and sometimes, even choice of materials) has also been discussed in some of these publications. Since my research base is in Architectural History, the ethnology of the various peoples and the
Fig 2_ Variant of a basic vernacular prototype, with interrupted front veranda
Fig 3_ An example of Nigerian folk architecture. The doorway marks the beginning of the laterally bisecting passageway
Fig 5_ A carved goat-gate, in Yoruba popular architecture
Fig 4_ A two-storey building in which the floors are identical, showing a frontal flanking room projecting to interrupt the continuous balcony on the first floor, and veranda on the ground floor
Art, harnessed to architecture, is a recurring theme in both Nigerian traditional and popular building practices. My postgraduate studies in Fine Arts have greatly sensitized me to this dimension of the Nigerian folk archi-culture. Unfortunately, my research has consistently discovered that this is a trend that is progressively undergoing attrition in our popular architecture, for a variety of reasons: the nation’s “oil boom” has relegated the expediency of high-quality craftsmanship (or even painstaking artisanship, particularly in building-related trades); the consequence of this is that, rather than cultivate the skills to perpetuate the art-in-architecture tradition of folk building, other quicker-paying trades are embarked upon by developing youths – to the detriment of continuity. Secondly, with the specialization now inherent in the building industry (as against the traditional communal-building culture of most Nigerian ethnic groups), professionalism in applied architectural decoration would command charges the masses would not regard as reasonable or expedient. As such, where there is decoration at all in the contemporary popular architecture, it is more incidental and casual than deliberate and elaborate. However, what folk architecture has lost in complementary art, modern architecture is currently celebrating – but with differences in context, scale and practitioners. Local vernacular practices (from the Yoruba of the south-west up to the Igbira of the Middle Belt) celebrated fascia boards, goat-gates and window-screens by carving; the Bini of the mid-west and Efik, Ibibio and Igbo of the east, routinely fluted walls and produced vegetable-pigment murals. The sculpted murals and ingenious vaulting and doming of Hausa architecture of the north, are already world-famous. Figures 512 show some of these vernacular-architecture art expressions.
Fig 6_ Afro-Brazilian architecture. The ornately carved window-screen and mural sculpting are typical of this class of popular architecture
Fig 7_ Yoruba folk architecture. Ornate carved fascia board on an abandoned building in Ile Oluji
Fig 8_ Wall-texturing entailing emphasized coursing and imprinting with a corn cob. Folk architecture of the Middle Belt
Fig 9_ Yoruba folk architecture. Carved fascia with perforated scallops
Fig 10_ Carved fascia board in Yoruba folk architecture. Here, the motif used is reverse-scallops
Fig 11_ Traditional Hausa mural sculpting of the north. Apart from the obvious aesthetic appeal, the coating provides water-prooďŹ ng for the vulnerable adobe core
My Research input in Architectural Practice
Fig 12_ Bini horizontal wall-fluting. This is achieved using a purposely bent knife for scooping, and a snail’s shell for smoothening
As earlier-remarked, I have been intrigued by the art content in our folk building. I feel strongly that, in allowing the practice to die out, the nation is missing out on a lot that could have contributed to possibly defining an identity for a Nigerian vernacular architecture. This is not a naïve or nostalgic position that expects time to stand still. Rather, I have been experimenting in some of my private building commissions with reintroducing and re-contextualizing some of the popular folk practices vis-à-vis architectural decoration. Essentially, to date I have been working on wooden elements – specifically fascias and balustrades. Figures 13-19 showcase some of these new expressions. The submission is that, even with modern elitist or corporate building practice, it is still possible to reflect interesting phenomena that historically relate us to culturally-significant processes and legacies in our architectural evolution.
Contemporarily, art is beginning to figure prominently in Nigeria’s architecture. However, this is not the folk art of yester-years. It is art commissioned by corporate organizations like banks and business outfits, and commercial enterprises like hotels and shopping malls; Nigeria’s political elite in places like Lagos and Abuja, constitute another category of the clientele. Also, the practitioners are not craftsmen but highly-trained professionals, charging commensurately steep fees, and essentially executing their commissions in very modern art vocabulary. As such, there is little reference to traditional popular practices or expressions.
Shalom Villa is the country residence of a professional couple and their children. In addition to high levels of natural daylighting and uncompromised cross-ventilation, I have harked back to the use of the carved fascia (375 x 25 as opposed to 300 x 25 milimetres on the main house). The main innovation consists in the large open-work perforations and under-laying with sheet aluminium. The staircases (from ground floor to the first, and from the first to a mezzanine floor overlooking the master bedroom), have been articulated in concrete and timber; the timber balustrade is reminiscent of the vernacular practice with respect to two-storey structures.
Fig 13_ Shalom Villa, still under construction. A view of the house from an adjoining street
Fig 14_ Shalom Villa. The gate house, showing the florally-articulated carving on the fascia board
Fig 15_ Shalom Villa. The carved fascia on the main building
Fig 16_ Shalom Villa. The main staircase, with carved balusters and wall paneling
Figures 17-19 are views of the Foursquare Gospel Church (Moore Assembly), still under construction. It is a 400-capacity auditorium with a basement (the children’s department) and ancillary administrative and welfare spaces. Again, sustainability (with respect to passive energy-use) has been a prime consideration. Here too, there is under-laying of the carved fascia.
In furtherance of my professional experiments, I foresee future work in stucco – particularly as a revival of pseudo-classical expressions is currently underway in the country. I may explore re-interpreting folk mural texturing, while still working on wooden elements; it may be possible to find a contemporary, “classy” use for the traditional goat-gate…
Fig 17_ Foursquare Gospel Church, Moore, Ile-Ife, 2008
Fig 18_ Foursquare Gospel Church, Moore, Ile-Ife, 2009. Still under construction, the building has been roofed using long-sheet aluminium, with simple angular indentations on the fascia.
Fig 19_ Foursquare Gospel Church. A close-up of the carved fascia board
Interview with Subira Mchumo By Rachel Stella Jenkins
onals such as draughts persons and builders. This ‘popular architecture’ already constitutes the vast majority of African cities. In light of hese circumstances, what steps do you feel can be taken to make room for a relation to be made between the academic and the field? If you look at a country like Tanzania, we have tried to police the architecture profession. But it has not worked. Basically in Tanzania, as it is in a lot of countries, you cannot design a building or a house unless you are an architect, but the truth is we cannot control the economics. And for many city dwellers, now especially, everything is about economics. And even though there are regulations etc, people are always going to find their way around them, unfortunately.
Subira Mchumo, former President of the Architects Association Tanzania, visited us at our ArchiAfrika offices in Utrecht in June. Now a practicing architect with her own architects office in Dar-esSalaam, we seized the opportunity to reflect over what changes the African Perspectives conference in Dar-es-Salaam (2005) brought about and on one of the central themes in the upcoming African Perspectives conference, Pretoria (25 - 28 Sept 2009): ‘Popular Architecture’. I understand that African Perspectives Dar-es-Salaam commenced with a focus on cities and architectural heritage, but later developed into discussions on the profession and identity of architecture in Dar-es-Salaam at large. Have you noticed since the conference in 2005, a change or effect on the practitioner/ educational/ institutional level? The conference was good for the Dar-es-Salaam architectural community. It brought together practitioners and students. Something which hadn’t happened for a long time. So now we are seeing that there is a relationship that was formed. It served as a good introduction, as we were living in the same city but we did not have enough opportunities to meet and discuss on a round table/ panel arrangement. I can see there is more communication, there is more reach, which is great. But whether or not that is going to produce results, I am hoping so. Before there were separate groups of people, these doing this and those doing that. And now meetings between these divisions are happening, so that can only be a good thing. I was much more involved on an institutional level before when I was President at the AAT. The current leadership is still struggling an entity in Tanzania. But I think we are linking up with other African nations. Last May there was a Heritage conference in Dar-es-Salaam organized by the AAT and it was attended by some 35 or so architects from all over Africa. Unfortunately I had business outside the country and therefore could not attend. The African Perspectives conference served to catalyse dialogue and to show that dialogue can bring about awareness of what is happening in our surroundings. There was also a film made on Anthony Almeida. For young people especially, it encourages us to think about the heritage that we have, and the legendary architects who are still amongst us. That was very interesting. A bridge was made. The vast majority of built form found within the rapidly growing urban areas of Africa, is mostly residential and is produced/designed by owners and a range of semi- professi-
And in Africa, a lot of people design from a very functional point of view. The aesthetical point of view is secondary. Most of the new dwellings and settlements in Dar-es-Salaam are beginning to look the same. Most people want a balcony because that is where they can escape the heat of the house by sitting outside. Then you have to create a barrier so people don’t fall off the balcony. And there are only limited materials, so you find that every other house has that standard. So how we can address that? I not so sure. I don’t think as architects we need to funnel everybody. And I don’t think everybody needs to go through the same hole. I think we need to be able to design things that can be admired and therefore create more awareness and a different frame of mind so people can see that there is a different way of designing a house, or building. We should lead by example, opposed to trying to make everybody conform to something. Its not that people are not exposed, they travel and see how other people are living, but if you want to build a house or building, then you are going to be paying 10 – 15% just to consult the right architect, plus getting the right contractor. Most of the time that is a huge cost. Especially when it is coming straight out of the pocket of the owner. I see, for instance, in places like South Africa, they are a little bit different. I think the architecture in the urban areas, especially the new architecture that is coming up in South Africa is much more refined and much more modern. And at the same time there is a lot of use of their own local materials, such as stone cladding. And of course they also have the advantage that they produce a lot of the materials themselves. So you will find that they use the same materials they used in the old times, but in very modern ways. But I am sure the poor person in South Africa is not going to an architect, I think they are just putting up their 4 walls and sheets, just so that they can get shelter. One way of doing it maybe would be to encourage more mass developments. But that is also controlling people. Do people really want to live in the same house as everybody else? As you see here in Holland. I find that very interesting, because people then start taking more interest in their interiors. The interiors are all different. But again, we were discussing this a bit as we were going around in Utrecht city, people in countries like Holland, live much more inside. The interior is much more important than the exterior.
In the Spotlight This month In the Spotlight we present The African Centre for Cities (ACC): http://www.acc.uct.ac.za The African Centre for Cities (ACC) was established in 2007 to serve as a platform for interdisciplinary research on urban issues - both theoretical and applied - across the University of Cape Town. Given the purpose of the ACC, the primary focus is on applied research to address complex and intractable urban problems and challenges, but this is undertaken in a manner that also advances novel ways of thinking about and understanding urbanism across the global South, yet rooted in the realities of African urban spaces.
Acquisitions Granted by Lawrence Esho Lawrence Esho (2009) The Mode of Extemporization: The Role of Informality in Reconstituting Formal Urban Spaces: The Case of Nakuru, Kenya. Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Heverlee. Granted by Nico van der Windt & Ellen Geurts at Institute for Housing and Urban Develpoment Studies (IHS) M.P. van Dijk & J. Fransen (eds.) (2008) Managing Ethiopian Cities in an Era of Rapid Urbanisation. Eduron Academic Publishers, Delft. DVD: Institute for Housing and Urban Studies: Making Cities Work. Dirctor: Rob Schröder. Producer: George Brugmans. (2008) Granted by ShiFT (Social Housing Focus Trust) Architecture South Africa: Journal of South African Institute of Architects. March/ April 2009. Picasso Headline (Pty) Ltd, Cape Town. Granted by Abdurahman Muhammed Juma Abdurahman Muhammed Juma (1987) The Omani Affinities of the Nineteenth Century Houses on the East African Coast: An Archaeological Study. University of Cambridge, Cambridge. Granted by Antoni Folkers A. M. Juma (ed) (1993) Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar: A Guide to Hamamni Baths. Zanzibar Department of Archives, Antiquities and Museums, Zanzibar. ZIFF 2009 Catalogue: 12th Zanzibar International Film Festival (Enduring Links: Media, People and the Environment). C.J. van der Loo (1896) De Geschiedenis der Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek. Zwolle van der Vegt & Mehler, Zwolle.
Agenda 18 May - 16 August 2009 Pancho Guedes Exhibition, Vitruvius Mozambicanus, Portugal 29 May - 30 August 2009 Photo Exhibition, “Avenida Patrice Lumumba” by Guy Tillim, The Netherlands 24 - 28 September 2009 African Perspectives Pretoria, The City (Re)Sourced, South Africa 12 - 14 October 2009 International Conference on Sustainable Built Environment Infrastructures in Developing Countries, Algeria 30 - 31 October 2009 Docomomo: Planned Conservation of XXth Century Architectural Heritage: A Review of Policies and Practices, Italy 28 - 30 April 2010 International Regional Conference on Sustainable Construction. Revitalisation and Rehabilitation of Districts, Spain 19 - 27 August 2010 11th International Docomomo Conference - Living in the Urban Modernity, Mexico
Colofon Text Berend van der Lans Paul Jenkins Lawrence Esho Cordelia Osasona Rachel Stella Jenkins Design Rachel Stella Jenkins Editing Berend van der Lans Translation Anne-Marie van den Nieuwenhof-Damishimiro FONDATION SHIMIRO, Pointe-Noire, Congo Elisabeth Bastemeijer
Supported by ArchiAfrika receives support from the following institutes and organisations: Stichting Doen Delft University of Technology De Twee Snoeken Automatisering FBW Architecten bkvdl Dioraphte Foundation
ArchiAfrika
P.O. box 14174 3508 SG Utrecht Netherlands tel +31 (0)30 223 23 20 fax +31 (0)30 251 82 78 www.archiafrika.org
Cabinet Alami Lahjouji vacancy: Architect Technician or building draughtsman Cabinet Alami Lahjouji, Casablanca, Morocco
Tasks: - General tasks under the direction of the project manager - Taking part in the project outline, preliminary studies and working on the project - Establishing APS, APD and authorisation documents for construction - Creating pre� - Responsibility for computer equipment in the office Skills: • Minimum 5 years of experience in an architecture office • Must be able to control the execution and possibly the detail of construction • Good designing qualities • Perfect control of Autocad. If possible 2008. Possibly control of 3D • Command of general computer programmes. Word, Excel. • If possible, command of Adobe illustrator and Photoshop & renderring • Good command of the French language
alami-tayaa@menara.mo
11th International Docomomo Conference Living in the Urban Modernity Mexico City, August 19-27, 2010. The rapid growth of urban areas from cities to metropolis in the twentieth century created a favorable environment for establishing a discourse on modern architecture. The advancement of technology and the ntroduction of new materials, which brought about new forms of expression, were not the only triggers for transformation. Concerns for wellbeing, such as hygiene, education, health, leisure and the right to work were also fundamental in shaping buildings and cities, leading to innovative architectural proposals withthe framework of a diverse urban structure. Call for Papers and Case Studies For the 2010 Docomomo Conference, Docomomo Mexico proposes to analyze the different elements that transformed the city and its architecture. Architects, researchers, historians and other parties in the process of preservation, conservation, renovation or transformation of modern towns and buildings are invited to investigate on the manifold challenges and dilemmas posed by living the urban modernity. Original papers are invited for submission under the following sub-themes: (1) Modern Living (2) Civic and Social Infrastructure (3) The Modern City (4) Technology for a Modern Habitat (5) The University City Read the complete Call for Papers at: http://www.docomomo2010.unam.mx/ Those interested in presenting a paper or a case study should submit an abstract before September 15, 2009 to: <docomomomexico2010@gmail.com>. The Confe Write to <docomomomexico2010@gmail.com>. Visit <http://www.docomomo2010.unam.mx>. International committee for documentation and conservation of buildings, sites and neighborhoods of the modern movement Docomomo International Cité de l’Architecture et du Patrimoine Palais de Chaillot 1, place du Trocadéro F-75016 Paris t +33 -1 58 51 52 65 e docomomo@citechaillot.fr w http://www.docomomo.com/