Research_New primitives: Reimagining Architecture of Togo by Sitou Adventus Akolly

Research:Theory & History

New Primitives

Reimagining Architecture of Togo

Sitou Adventus Akolly

Research:Theory & History

New Primitives: Reimagining Architecture of Togo Author: Sitou Akolly Advisors: Irene Cheng & David Gissen

Research submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Architecture

in the : M.A.A.D History & Theory

May 10, 2016

New Primitives: Reimagining Togolese Architecture

CALIFORNIA COLLEGE OF THE ARTS

Research:Theory & History

New Primitives: Reimagining Togolese Architecture

Contents Concepts Introduction

page 6 page 10

Precolonial Period

page 12

Colonial Period

page 17

Post-Colonial Period

page 20

Theory

page 29

Modern conflicts

page 40

Strategies

page 46

Conclusion

page 64

Citation

page 66

Research:Theory & History

Concepts This paper analyses the history of architecture in Togo by uncovering the origin of a cultural identity with mud hut, and a subsequent loss of this cultural practice with the colonial and post-colonial developments. The Batammaliba hut, a mud architecture found in the rural areas of Togo, has been since the 11th century the only architecture associated with the indigenous vernacular of the country. It has until this day become the defining type of architecture that has proven to be culturally resilient. Furthermore, the imported architecture shows to be injurious because it is not economically, environmentally, and socially responsive to Togo. The paper argues for a local investment inspired from the system of making of the Batammaliba; a system consisting of community, local resources, and appropriate technologies. To define such dynamic for Togo in our modern days, the paper builds an argument around theories on post-colonialism, critical regionalism, Pan-Africanism, and modernism; each discussed around the concepts of modernity, identity, and technology.

What is modernity? in the context of this research, “Modernity” refers the present times as opposed to the ideology of modernism established by western societies in the late 19th to 20th century. Hilde Heynen, a professor of architectural theory at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, defines modernity as “a phenomenon with at least two different aspects: an objective aspect that is linked to socioeconomic processes, and a subjective one that is connected with personal experiences, artistic activities, or theoretical reflections.”1 Similarly, this paper discusses modernity in the context of ‘current times’, arising social behavior, hybridization of culture, and the architectural practice it adopts.

Technology In Effective Innovation Policy, written by Mark Dodgson and John Bessant, it is written: “It is inadequate to think of innovation in ‘technological’ terms alone. The process of innovation involves consideration of finance, marketing, organization, training, relationships with customers and suppliers, competitive positioning, as well as relationships between products and processes.” 2 the idea of technology mentioned in this research refers to a collection of skills, techniques, and processes adopted in the making of architecture, therefore it is not exclusively defined by computation or current digital innovations. The paper’s definition of technology therefore recognizes hand craft, and modular stacking of mud in the process of making as an appropriate technology developed by the indigenous. This enables a different interpretation of technology and innovation, by investigating similarities and possible opportunities existing in computation and local skills.

Identity Michel Foucault’s theories on identity emphasizes cultural and historical formations in the foundation of meaning. In The order of Things: An Archeology of the Human Sciences, Foucault claimed that people sense of reality is associated with existing things within their specific context in time. In this regards, he argues that a particular identity does not form or exist in isolation, but rather, through the hybrid construct of prevailing forms of knowledge and practices, which eventually inform and rationalize an identity within a given historical context. Essentially this passage informs us that identity is not static, but an ever evolving facet which reflects past and current changes in the makeup in the direct context.

1 Heynen, Hilde. Architecture and Modernity: A Critique. Cambridge, MA: MIT, 1999. Print. 2 Dodgson, Mark, and J. R. Bessant. Effective Innovation Policy: A New Approach. London: International Thomson Business, 1996. Print.

New Primitives: Reimagining Togolese Architecture

Modernity

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New Primitives: Reimagining Architecture of Togo 8

New Primitives: Reimagining Togolese Architecture

Research:Theory & History

New Primitives: Reimagining Architecture of Togo Sitou Akolly

Modern architecture in Africa consists largely on poor adoptions of Western practice which often neglect the physical and societal textures of African countries. This version of modernity does not address African countries’ local heritage nor reflect their transforming societies. In fact, until this day, there isn’t a distinct architecture language associated with Africa apart from the mud huts that date back to the 12th century. There has yet to be a successful modern architecture that responds to the values of contemporary African nations’ heritage and societies as did the mud huts in their time.

In attempting to define the future of architecture in Africa, one has to consider

the essence of its past and present. The research intends not to search for modernity steered by globalization neither does it blame the West for colonization. It simply aims to uncover a pattern, history, ethnic background, and tradition with hopes to bring to light a process for designing modern architecture in Africa that is both functional and culturally empowering. Many designers and scholars have contributed to the discussion of postcolonial identity and locality, among them the Egyptian architect, Hassan Fathy. Fathy rejected western designs throughout his career. Instead, he pushed for the Egyptian vernacular and traditional architecture such as mosques and markets built of local materials. In his book Architecture for the Poor, he writes, “my point is that innovation must be a completely thought out response to a change in circumstances, and not indulged in for its own sake.”1

To be effective, architecture shouldn’t solely rely on the past nor the global

practice of innovation, but on its most relevant contextual condition. Society is always changing, thus requiring the same from our built environment. To design for Africa would mean to uncover the changes it is going through socially, economically, and environmentally. Each country in Africa has a different social structure, tradition, and environmental context; therefore, it is useful to focus the research on a specific place, Togo. To envision the future of architecture in Togo, it is imperative to unravel its history, establishing a strong context for discussion around time and society. This discussion 1 Fathy, Hassan, and Hassan Fathy. Architecture for the Poor: An Experiment in Rural Egypt. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1976), 24.

New Primitives: Reimagining Togolese Architecture

Fig.1. Togo Capital: Lome Population:6.8

million

Climate: Dry, Arid, tropical Savanna, Languages: French, Gbe, Kabiye,Kotocoli Ethnic groups: 37 Independence: April 27th, 1960

Research:Theory & History

will enable a critical analysis on Togo’s built environment and the social behaviors it sustains.

Precolonial Period

Togo, a small country with an approximate population of 6.8 million, is situated

on the western coast between Ghana to the west and Benin to the east, in the subSaharan region of Africa(image). Little is known about the history of the country before its colonial period. What is known about Togo’s precolonial condition is its trace of diverse ethnic occupancy. Between the 11th and 15th centuries, Togo was occupied by various tribes who migrated from neighboring countries such as Burkina Faso, Benin, and Ghana. The Ewe were tribes from Benin and the Kabye were mostly from Ghana.

These tribes left traces of architecture that can still be found in the rural areas

of Togo. For example, the Tamberma tribe, which means skillful mason, migrated from Burkina Faso. They were builders of the Batammaliba huts (Fig1) which is considered one of the indigenous vernacular typologies of Togo. The hut utilizes local materials— namely, mud, stones, hay, and cow dung. More importantly, the Batammaliba embodies a cultural social order through the hierarchy of space and its layout. The huts have two floors, the bottom floor mainly dedicated to ancestors and animals, while the upper floor is designated for the woman and children. The entrance is the space for deities and spirits which are said to protect the house. The man of the house usually sleeps in the main room while the women and children sleep on the upper level. The indigenous Togolese believed a house’s main purpose was to shelter and not to be confused with any other activities that goes on in western home such as socializing, working, playing, etc. Therefore, the rooms are only occupied when one needs to sleep, shower, and cook. All social activities and entertainment happen in the common public area outside of the hut.

Upon my visit at the UNESCO world heritage site of the Tamberma in

December of 2015, I learned that the Tamberma’s hut was purely used to rest and to store food. There are only few hours of the day spent inside the huts. Besides being environmentally aware structures, a primary purpose of huts was to shelter from foreign attacks. The Tamberma fled from the region of Burkina Faso due to religious war. Their migration into Benin and Togo was an attempt to preserve their ethnic practice from being subsumed under Islam. This knowledge suggests that the form of the hut was influenced by more than just a result from material availability, but partly because of the social issues of the Tamberma at the time.

Rene Gardi was a Swiss author who focused particularly on West African

architecture. In his book Indigenous African Architecture, he claims: “The African in the wilds builds with the materials at his disposal-whatever nature presents him in his environment. He

Building his house requires diligence and hard work, but no capital. This book shows many of the possibilities in house-building, and yet they are only a small selection. This demonstrates that life-styles are not merely technological problem, but are dictated principally by the character of the house’s inhabitant, who does not think in terms of aesthetic or geometric forms, but simply of cultural and practical function.

Fig.2. The batammaliba hut is the vernacular architecture of the Tamberma. An ethnic group known to have migrated from neighboring country of Togo. The hut is achieved through a circular stacking technique of mud.

Houses are the purest reflection of life-styles.”2

His observation came from traveling and living throughout Africa, documenting

vernacular architecture and the society built around it. It is true that the hut is practical to the indigenous people of Africa because it supports their livelihood and draw from local resources. Furthermore, there is also a level of aesthetics and form embedded in mud huts of west Africa that is highly responsive of local material behavior in terms of structural stability and understanding of space. To achieve aesthetic personalization, the women carve or paint patterns along the walls of their homes. The Nankani, an ethnic group occupying the northeast of Ghana, often covered their huts with “mural decorations, 2

Gardi, Rene. Indigenous African Architecture. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1974. 29.

New Primitives: Reimagining Togolese Architecture

doesn’t pay for it, and never transports it over long distances.

Research:Theory & History

or molded bas-reliefs.”3 The hut’s form itself isn’t uninformed. The circular patterns found in a single unit is proof of it. Ron Englash, a mathematician who dedicated a year to understanding the fractal behavior of indigenous West African architecture differs from Gardi’s observation that mud huts’ form and layout is not part of the indigenous’ creative thinking process. Englash’s believed that “many aspects of African design – in Architecture, art, even hair braiding – are based on perfect fractal patterns.”4 (Fig.3) In his findings, these fractal forms were responses to the indigenous tribe’s understanding of the laws of nature such as wind resistance, force of gravity, as much as an inspiration from natural forms. In response to Gardi’s ideology, it is fair to say the geometric form and aesthetic were not the only foundation of the hut’s design; instead, it also entails the practicality and cultural position of the indigenous. The circular form of the huts and its organization was designed to reflect the relation between man, ancestral spirits, and nature. The aesthetic reflects the available technology of construction at the time, ethnic

Fig.3. Village in Cameroon Planing Example of “African Fractals” from Ron Englash’s TED talk

tradition, and local resources. This precolonial architecture found in Togo reflected a cultural symbolism that was relevant to its users; for example, traditional obligations and gender role. These values started to be challenged during the 15th century when the Portuguese came in contact with the Togo in search of slaves.

Bourdier, Jean, and T. Minh Trinh. “Nankani Dwelling.” In Vernacular Architecture of West Africa: A

World in Dwelling. Abingdon, Oxon [England: Routledge, 2011 4

Englash, Ron. “The Fractals at the Heart of African Designs.” Ron Eglash. June 1, 2007. https://

www.ted.com/talks/ron_eglash_on_african_fractals?language=en

(Top Floor) Granary

Entrance (Top Floor) woman Manâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Room

Storage Altar Chicken Coop

Fig.4. Batammaliba hut. Interior space layout.

New Primitives: Reimagining Togolese Architecture

Kitchen

Research:Theory & History

Togo and its neighboring countries were the first African territories to be

explored by European ships due to their coastal location. Nevertheless, the Portuguese were not the last to settle in Togo. The region consisting of Togo, Ghana, and Senegal was occupied by the Portuguese who used it to trade for over 200 years. Following the Portuguese, the German occupied the region in 1884 and named it Togoland. Lomé was the name given to the capital of Togoland in 1897. Following Germany’s defeat in WWI, Togoland was split between the British and the French under the League of Nations mandate in 1919 (Fig.5). The British took what is known today as Ghana and the French took Togo. In summary, Togo was colonized by four European nations in the interval of roughly 400 years, the Portuguese in the 1500s, the Germans in the 1800s, the British in the 1900s, before finally gaining its independence from France on April 27th, 1960.

Colonization since the 1870s has affected the architectural structure and

societal practice of many African countries. It was “motivated by three main factors, economic, political, and social. It developed in the nineteenth century following the collapse of the profitability of the slave trade, its abolition and suppression, as well as the expansion of the European Capitalist Industrial Revolution.”5 The Germans, during their acquisition of the land, introduced infrastructures that were foreign to Togo. Schools, churches, and governmental buildings were all built by the Germans. They

Fig.5. Togo’s outline before(left) and after(right) the league of mandate split.

also built railroads and piers to support trade and to further exploit the land and its 5

Iweriebor, Ehiedu. “The Colonization of Africa.” http://exhibitions.nypl.org/africanaage/essay-

colonization-of-africa.html.

New Primitives: Reimagining Togolese Architecture

The Colonial Period

Research:Theory & History

resources which transformed Togo’s urban layout. The Togolese were also forced to work in rubber, palm, cotton and cacao plantations. Prior to the German rule, Togo had never practiced mass production nor had it taken part in a capitalist market. This created a shift in the livelihood of the indigenous Togolese. The Togolese were turned into agricultural laborers and industrial workers. Then colonial schools and churches were built which all together imposed a western culture to the indigenous. Furthermore, when Togo was divided between the French and the British, there was a scramble of tribal territories, which resulted in a further spread of ethnic groups. In African Cities and Towns before the European Conquest, History professor Richard W. Hull noted that African towns and cities were distinguished by the Walls built around them. Some were larger than the others, nonetheless, each city were built around its ethnic group. He wrote, “European travelers to Buganda’s Monarch in 1860s noted with astonishment that the royal enclosure was encompassed by a twelve-foot-high reed fence made of intricately woven elephant grass and supported by posts made from wild fig trees.”6 The European split of Africa proves injurious because it divided Africa in a manner that did not take into account its ethnic distribution. African cities were distributed around ethnicity. The European, on the other hand, drew border lines that denied the indigenous African from his land and long practiced urban system. It imposed divisions and forced separation between ethnicities and obligated one to merge with the other. In other word, the Batammaliba doesn’t belong to either Togo, Benin, or Burkina Faso, because that distinction suggest that African ethnic groups were created after the European scramble of Africa. If a line were to be drawn based on ethnic groups distribution, certainly the face of Africa would be very different from what it is now. The Batammaliba isn’t native of Burkina Faso, Benin, or Togo for that matter, but to every region it settled in.

Ehiedu Iweriebor, on the topic of France’s influence in Togo writes, “the French,

for their part, established a highly centralized administrative system that was influenced by their ideology of colonialism and their national tradition of extreme administrative centralism. Their colonial ideology explicitly claimed that they were on a ‘civilizing mission’ to lift the benighted ‘natives’ out of backwardness to the new status of civilized French Africans.”7 Colonization’s objective was to oversee the exploitation of natural resources of the land and to impose European civilization in Africa. By the time Togo reached independence, its architecture, city planning, music, arts, technology were different from its pre-colonial situation. When the West transplanted their architecture in Togo, it disrupted its indigenous practice because it effectively did two things: monumentalized the western architecture through size and material, and disconnected the indigenous from its traditions by imposing a foreign religion and political system.

The Sacre Coeur Cathedral, for example, built during the colonial period,

in 1901 by the Germans, is one of the few extant colonial architectures in Togo. It is a neo-gothic church in every aspect (Fig.6). It has strong vertical lines, pointed 6

Hull, Richard W. In African Cities and Towns before the European Conquest, 34. New York: Norton,

1976 7

Iweriebor, Ehiedu. “The Colonization of Africa.” The Colonization of Africa 2015. http://exhibitions.

nypl.org/africanaage/essay-colonization-of-africa.html.

find vaulted ceilings and stained glass windows. Over time, the Sacre Coeur Cathedral was renovated with help from Germany. The German Governor’s Palace on the other hand is no longer operational and overgrown with nature. It was built by in the late 1800s and used as Togo’s government seat. According to Deutsche Welle, a German internationally run broadcasting service, “Today the palace is empty. The building has fallen into disorder and the park is overgrown with weeds. Togo’s government does not have the money for the upkeep, but soldiers guard the grounds closely to keep thieves out.”8 The former District office, the old Pier, the German Field station, are all examples of architecture that was abandoned and is now mainly occupied by either

homeless families or street vendors. The Cathedral on the other hand was preserved Fig.6. la Cathedral du Sacre Coeur. Shift of scale

and rehabilitated with help from the Germans. It makes one wonder why certain works of colonial architecture were maintained while others were left to deteriorate. 8

“Architectural Reminders of the German Colonial Era in Togo | All Media Content | DW.COM

| 19.05.2014.” DW.COM. http://www.dw.com/en/architectural-reminders-of-the-german-colonial-era-intogo/g-17645325.

New Primitives: Reimagining Togolese Architecture

windows and carved ornaments along the flying buttresses. In the interior one would

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The Post-Colonial Period

Eventually, Togo earned its independence and adopted the economic,

architectural, and political infrastructure left by the French. Nowadays, Togo comprises over 30 ethnic groups, many of which immigrated from other parts of western Africa. The largest ethnic groups are the Ewe, Mina, and Kabye. An average of 51 percent of Togolese still practice indigenous beliefs while 29 percent are Christians leaving 20 percent Muslim. French became the official language of Togo while Ewe and Kabye are dialects mainly spoken in rural areas. Togo’s main revenue is through exported agriculture of Cacao, peanuts, and cotton.

Togo’s societal and cultural values have changed over time, for example

those surrounding gender roles. These changes are all reflected in the current built environment of Togo. In the pre-colonial times, there was no differentiation between home, school, and religious place. The Batammaliba huts embodied all of those spaces in one. For example, there is an altar built inside of the huts dedicated to ancestors where the Tamberma would frequently sacrifice animals in act of worship. During colonization, The West imposed Christianity onto the indigenous population and claimed religion should be separated from living space by giving it its own structure. The ideology of a home was redefined in ways that were not native to Togo. It also separated the builder from the user and denied local resources from the built environment. The construction of the Batammaliba is achieved through communal effort of the Tamberma. The Tamberma were the architects, the builders and the users of the space. Responsibilities were divided by gender as the men of the village helped with the heavier tasks such as structures and carrying the roof while the women gathered building materials and help overlay the mud walls. Western colonial architecture was practiced differently. The architects were Europeans who trained and used Africans to build their colonial architecture. This practice of building was foreign to the Togolese. This colonial architecture also rejected the local material, and instead used imported cement and glass depicting local material as invaluable and inefficient to build colonial architecture. When one looks at modern Togolese homes, he notices the built interior space mimics that of a “modern” western layout (Fig.7). There are two issues with this approach. The first one is that the design of space does not cater to its traditional use. For example, modern Togolese homes are built with an indoor kitchen like those seen in western architecture, which often becomes unused space because it doesn’t adhere to the traditional way of cooking African dishes. It is nearly impossible to contain the strong smell of Togolese spices with poor ventilation. Therefore, in most Togolese homes, food is still being prepared outside in the open, over a clay pot or an iron grill leaving the western built kitchen a dead space. Secondly, by mimicking the western architecture, there is a loss of cultural identity. Before we continue, it is essential to define cultural “identity. The American Heritage dictionary defines “identity” to be “the

Togo’s identity? How does it distinguish itself from other countries? What is its tradition and culture? What are its resources? I turned to the Batammaliba huts because it has once built an identity for Togo. My goal is to understand how it created that Identity for the Tamberma. The Batammaliba was the embodiment of the Tamberma’s belief and livelihood. Its use of local material distinguishes it from other dwellings because it reflects its context. These parameters helped to produce an identity for the Tamberma. This is not to advocate for a return to building mud huts as a solution for identity but to utilize the same approach when thinking modern Architecture for Togo.

There was a change in the Togolese identity, as gender role, religious belief,

and traditions have shifted to mirror that of the West. The Indigenous men were farmers and hunters. The father and the son would go to the field and work until dusk. Women’s role involved, waking up at the rooster’s crow at the break of dawn to get water from a nearby river, sweep the common public space, collect palm nuts and twigs from the woods, cook, and take care of the storing and processing of crops. In the process of building, men dug the earth, assemble the inner structures, and helped the women with the massing of the mud walls. The women were mostly involved in the collection and mixture of mud, hay, stones and cow dung. The thatched roof, made out of palm leaves, is also weaved by women but assembled by the men. After the walls were made, the women sprinkled water and manually smoothed the surface of the huts. Children were not allowed to join their parents on their daily obligations until found matured enough which usually tended to be as soon as they could walk and talk. When eligible, their duties are split by gender, this way the father taught the son to be an effective farmer, and builder; the wife taught the daughter how to get water, store food, weave and cook. This is done in order to preserve a tradition and identity. After colonization the gender roles changed. Nowadays, the Togolese became workers and pursued western professions. The majority of Togolese works in informal market. These jobs often involve selling food, art, and clothes. Although practiced by both men and women, the informal sector is highly ruled by women. On the other hand, the formal sector is mostly run by men. They are doctors, teachers, lawyers, and politicians. The gender roles have been blurred. There isn’t much of a distinction between the man’s roles in contrast of the woman’s. Children attend westernized system schools at an age of four, and are thought western fields of studies, which often neglect agriculture, the main foundation of Togo’s economy. Because the one who works in the field is either the villager, or the poor man, most Togolese children grow up choosing white-collar professions. Fig.7. There is only one way in and out of the house. Once in, every room is enclosed and turned away from the outside. From the north side, there is two chambers open to the exterior. both are rooms where yam, and

Architecturally, the modern Togolese does not know how to build a house like

the indigenous did. Therefore, he hires one who has been taught architecture from a westernized institution who, often the case, was never educate on the vernacular and architectural history of Togo. I remember, attending middle school in Togo, my drafting class required us to draw western objects such as computers, calculators, rulers, and

produce are stocked. It also host an enclosed

French houses. In Literature, we were taught Voltaire, Victor Hugo, Montesquieu and

kitchen chamber which leads to the roof floor

where the bedrooms are.

“The American Heritage Dictionary Entry: Identity.” American Heritage Dictionary Entry: Identity.

https://www.ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=identity&submit.x=65&submit.y=30.

New Primitives: Reimagining Togolese Architecture

awareness that an individual or group has of being a distinct, persisting entity.”9 What is

Research:Theory & History

Fig.7. The thesis attempts to identity a process of

first as it is the only untouch cultural identity of Togo - the Batammaliba huts, to the everyday life of the users. This process will then reveal the idea of beauty in the Togolese indigenous culture, and process of buiilding. There is only one way in and out of the house. Once in, every room is enclosed and turned away from the outside. From the north side, there is two chambers open to the exterior. both are rooms where food is stored. It also host a kitchen courtyard which leads to the roof floor where the bedrooms and shower are.

Farm

Hatched Roof

to understand the realationship of the native vernacular

Clay Wall

culture, and its modern social fabric. To do so, one has

Produce storage

Maize

building architecture in Togo that both represent its rich

New Primitives: Reimagining Togolese Architecture

Tawonte: Altar animals

Falontinonfa: View opening

Chimney

Timber

Banitikifie: Altar ancestors

Clay Pottery

between huts

(Space

Communal

Private

Research:Theory & History

Storage

Garage

bathroom

Guard room

Master

Bedroom

Bedroom Kitchen

bedroom

Living Room

Room

Guestroom

bedroom bathroom

Bedroom

Terrace

Garage Garden

Rooftop

Resilient cultural Space Conflicting space

Fig.7.

Spatial

distribution

western

adopted house (Left) and Indigenous hut (Right)

New Primitives: Reimagining Togolese Architecture

Master Bedroom

outdoor connectivity Indoor connectivity

Research:Theory & History

Jean de La Fontaine who were all French writers. The works of African writers such as Aime Cesaire, Leopol Sedar Senghor, or David Ananou, were not introduced to me at school but through familial conversations, and personal curiosity. Back on the subject of the practice of architecture in Togo, the users of the space are not building architecture as it used to in the pre-colonial period. The modernity defined by the Westerner put man in the center therefore man and woman are equal. This notion blurred the notion of gender role in the native culture of Togo which was based on spiritual beliefs of the indigenous as an essential tool for community engagement. The modern Togolese does not have the same value for its home as did the indigenous. To the indigenous man, his home symbolized shelter and spirituality, while the modern Togolese sees it as a symbol of personal comfort and wealth.

As it seems, many Togolese are aiming to stay relevant to globalization by

designing western architecture. There is a beauty and extravagance that has been appreciated from the western architecture that the Togolese yearns to possess. In the process, Togo’s modern architecture neglects its context and local resources by turning to imported materials and western design thinking. In Black Skin, White Masks, Frantz Fanon writes “To speak pidgin to a Negro makes him angry, because he himself is a pidgin-nigger-talker. But, I will be told, there is no wish, no intention to anger him. I grant this; but it is just this absence of wish, this lack of interest, this indifference, this automatic manner of classifying him, imprisoning him, primitivizing him, decivilizing him, that makes him angry.”10 Similarly, in Togo, to propose a mud structure or material is to insult the “civilized man” because huts are seen as antiquated. He sees himself as civilized and beyond that architecture. Who is to blame him?

Nka Foundation, an African foundation involved in humanitarian development

through arts, states that “in West Africa, stereotypes about buildings made of earth persist because of poor construction. Earth architecture is fast giving way to modern dwellings made of cement blocks and other modern materials that are not simply expensive but thermally and acoustically problematic. From the cities to the lowincome villages, use of concrete - despite its dependence on imported resources - is considered indispensable for building.”11 Because cement have been associated with western construction, it has been used to build architecture throughout Togo. Although less cost efficient than mud, it allows one to build higher unlike what is seen of mud in rural areas of Togo. Most mud huts seen in Togo are usually one floor height, the Batammaliba huts are the only kind that are two floors high. Apart from aesthetic reasons, to achieve the western standards of building high, many Togolese reject local materials. Nevertheless, it comes down to a matter of testing local materials and new building system to achieve such innovation. There are many structures that were built using mud like the Great Mosque of Djenne in Mali and the Shibam houses in Yemen which stands approximately five to eleven stories high proving if tested, local materials can build high. Many Togolese, unbothered with the possibilities of innovation that 10

Fanon, Frantz. “The Black Man and Psychopathology.” In Black Skin, White Masks, 35. Edition Du

Seuil, 1952. 11

“ Reinventing the African Mud Hut Together.” NKA Foundation, 2015. http://www.nkafoundation.

org/aboutus.html

architecture in Togo which is not cost efficient nor sustainable. Growing up in Togo, I realized how ashamed my friends felt to claim their ethnic rural origins. Furthermore, lots of “city Togolese” never had the opportunity to see a hut due to the country’s lack of investment in its heritage. Many Togolese do not want to be associated with his or her indigenous roots. Instead he finds comfort in everything western, clothes, music, architecture, and language. Frantz Fanon writes, “every colonized people – in other words, every people in whose soul an inferiority complex has been created by the death and burial of its local cultural originality – finds itself face to face with the language of the civilizing nation; that is, with the culture of the mother country. The colonized is elevated above his jungle status in proportion to his adoption of the mother country’s cultural standards. He becomes whiter as he abandons his blackness, his jungle. In the French colonial army, and particularly in the Senegalese regiments, the black officers serve first of all as interpreters. They are used to convey the master’s orders to their fellows, and they too enjoy a certain position of honor.”12

Colonization has stripped the Togolese from his indigenous pride. It forced

them to believe they were primitive and lacked civilization. Everything that was indigenous was wrong and antiquated. Europe portrayed itself as the “savior” of Africa. Suddenly, the Togolese believed them and thanked them for their architecture, schools, churches, and political systems. Because they have brought us deliverance from our backward thinking we find relevancy in them. Black Skin White Masks is essentially a depiction of the “black man” search for an identity in relativity to the “white man.” Fanon attempts to understand the black man’s behavior and self-awareness under the effects of the white rule. He brings to light a prejudice and racial inferiority that have been programmed in the black man’s mind during colonialism.

In Discourse on Colonialism, written by French poet and politician, Aime

Cesaire, it is written, “That if I am attacked on the grounds of intent, I maintain that colonialist Europe is dishonest in trying to justify its colonizing activity a posteriori by the obvious material progress that has been achieved in certain fields under the colonial regime- since sudden change is always possible, in history as elsewhere; since no one knows at what stage of material development these same countries would have been if Europe had not intervened.”13 Aime Cesaire blames Africa’s current condition on the Europeans. He defends Africa by saying if it wasn’t for the European intrusion, Africa would have reached a greater level of progress. To him, the Westerners retarded Africa’s 12

Fanon, Frantz. “The Black Man and Psychopathology.” In Black Skin, White Masks, 35. Edition Du

Seuil, 1952. 13

Cesaire, Aime, and Robin D. G. Kelley. Discourse on Colonialism. New York: Monthly Review

Press, 2000. 8.

New Primitives: Reimagining Togolese Architecture

can be achieved with local material, turned to cement as an easy way to construct

Research:Theory & History

growth. The African who thinks Europe helped him grow and develop has already fallen victim to the illusion of colonialism. Pre-colonial African countries were advanced in the arts of metalworking such as bronze found in Benin, in Arts & crafts, music and certainly in architecture found all throughout Africa. In Discourse on Colonialism, he quotes colonial officers and European politicians on their views of Africa before it was colonized. Most of this quotes claimed the Africans were barbaric people. They were not civilized and lacked technology and education. Cesaire found these sources to be wrong and deceiving. He built his argument around challenging those ideas told by the first European explorers by using other Pan-African theorist work and experience of the colonial period. In his opinion, the European colonizers’ arguments of Africa being a backwards civilization was made up to make the African think of themselves as barbaric and uncivilized. He claimed the Indigenous Africans were the most civilized people. Effectively, how can Europe who once enslaved another nation, dehumanized them and forced them into submission think of itself more civilized than the colonies? Nevertheless, is it enough to lament on the effect of colonialism? It is empowering to believe Africa was cheated by the Europeans and point fingers but to dwell on such issue would retard Africa’s progress more. It may seem a little bias as Cesaire denies every possible negative reference of Africa made by the first European explorers but does not question those that depicts a beautiful picture of Africa. There are only very few historical facts that he brings up to support his arguments. It is ironic because he calls for complete distancing from European thinking while doing so speaking the colonial language. Further in the reading, he gives hints on how to create an identity for Africa by writing, “the real problem, you say is to return to them. No, I repeat. We are not men for whom it is question of “either-or.” For us, the problem is not to make a utopian and sterile attempt to repeat the past, but to go beyond. It is not a dead society that we want to revive. We leave that to those who go in for exoticism. Nor is it the present colonial society that we wish to prolong, the most putrid carrion that ever rotted under the sun. It is a new society that we must create, with the help of all our brother slaves, a society rich with all the productive power of modern times, warm with all the fraternity of olden days.”14

How does one achieve create such society? The answer is not to replicate

the past but to understand the essence of the present and to adapt it to the technology and social needs of the time. There are numerous moments of beauty embedded in the cultural tradition of Togo, mostly traditional symbolism, local resources, and cultural practices that are being forgotten because they are associated with the primitive. There should not be loss of cultural awareness in the process of defining the modern architecture. Architecture should not neglect the story of its context nor its vernacular. 14

Cesaire, Aime, and Robin D. G. Kelley. Discourse on Colonialism. New York: Monthly Review

Press, 2000. 8.

most recognized hotels in Lomé, Togo, is a 36 floor glass building. It was built in 1980. It was a landmark of Togo due to its dominant height and its modern look. A year ago, it was shut down due to the lack of economy to support it. The building is all glass and functions with air conditioning (Fig.8). The glass windows are not operable therefore in case of power shortage, which tend to happen at wuite frequently in Togo, the spaces are unsupportable to function in. This often leads to many workers and guests having to vacate the property when shortages occur. The glass was not maintained nor cleaned regularly, and in the very dry weather of Togo, the building quickly became dirty. Eventually, in the beginning of 2014, the Hotel was shut down. Kenneth Frampton argues that architecture should reflect its context. In a hot and semiarid climate such as that of Togo, it is critical to think of material use and effective cooling systems. “Here, clearly, the main antagonist of rooted culture is the ubiquitous air conditioner, applied in all times and in all places, irrespective of the local climatic conditions which have a capacity to express the specific place and seasonal variations of its climate.”15 He advocates a form that is dictated by its environment. The architecture should not be focus on the “image”, but its tectonics.

Theory

Leach Neil writes, “Architecture is always linked to questions of cultural

identity. What sense would discourse such as critical regionalism make unless they assumed some connection between identity and the built environment. Architectural theorists have seldom broached the question of how people actually identify with their environment. Instead they have been preoccupied almost exclusively with questions of form, as though cultural identity was somehow constituted by form alone.”16 It is evident that in order to start a dialogue concerning the future of architecture in Togo, one has look at his history and context. This notion of critical regionalism is further defined by Frampton who in the essay “Towards a Critical Regionalism: Six Points for an Architecture of Resistance” analyzes the phenomenon of “universalization” and its correlation to the dynamic of modern Architecture. He advocates for a deeper analysis on culture, context, and form. “The arts have nonetheless continued to gravitate, if not towards entertainment, then certainly towards commodity - and in the case towards pure technique or pure scenography.”17

He feels architecture has grown to become purely artificial. Culture and social

Frampton, Kenneth. “Towards Critical Regionalism: Six Point for an Architecture of Resistance.” In

Labour, Work and Architecture: Collected Essays on Architecture and Design. London: Phaidon Press, 2002. 16

Leach, Neil. “Belonging: Towards a Theory of Identification with Place.” Perspecta (2003): 126.

Frampton, Kenneth. “Towards Critical Regionalism: Six Point for an Architecture of Resistance.” In

Labour, Work and Architecture: Collected Essays on Architecture and Design. London: Phaidon Press, 2002.

New Primitives: Reimagining Togolese Architecture

There is a lot to learn from them. For example, Hotel du 2 Fevrier, which was one of the

Research:Theory & History

La Cathedrale du Sacre Coeur, during colonial time

New Primitives: Reimagining Togolese Architecture

La Cathedrale du Sacre Coeur, , 2014

Research:Theory & History

ECOWAS founded on MAy 28th 1975 designed

Pierre

Goudiaby

Contextual conditions(Bellow)

Atepa

New Primitives: Reimagining Togolese Architecture

Hotel de la Paix current condition.. There were rumours around the rennovation of the building, but due to the economy, the building has yet to find a new purpose. (below) A picture from the 90s showing the hotel in full prosperity. From the picture one can immediatly notice the audience this project catered to - foreign tourists

Research:Theory & History

Other notable Togolese architecture : (above)The BCEAO. The Central Bank of West African States. founded in MAy 12th, 1962. (bellow)

BOAD,

The

West

Development Bank, founded in November 14th 1973

African

New Primitives: Reimagining Togolese Architecture

Ade Oba Hotel completed in 2014 â&#x20AC;&#x153;It encourages passive ventilation by including a pation for each room, reducing energy cost and reliance.â&#x20AC;? Hilaire Locoh-Donou(Togolese architect)

Research:Theory & History

responsibilities arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t as embedded in the design as much as they were in the precolonial period. Modernization, he blames, has produced a mass culture through the media industry. This media industry he speaks of came about through the industrial revolution. During the late 1700s, productions have switched from hand making to machines. This enabled a mass production at lower cost thus making products

Fig.8: Hotel 2 FevrierTogo shut down because of bad economy and lack of maintenance. Windows falling apart. 2014 (Image from Oeil dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Afrique)

of globalization. Technology and media have become the modern day colonist. Media sold a consumerist culture through images. For example, commercials in the 1950s attracted an audience attention because the products were depicted to be good for people and supposedly making them happier. We are now in a time where the image is worshiped. Architecture is sold through visual and therefore one feels the need to participate in such practice to stay relevant to the global pace. The modern western architecture practiced in the west is innovative and portrays elegance that is attractive to the modern Togolese. There isn’t a need for a physical colonization anymore. The media becomes the invader and the colonizer, forcing us to abide to it superficial value and the ideology that what you own isn’t good anymore, and constantly needs to be replaced even though still fully functional. It sells culture taunting one to abide to this “ideality” as if one loses relevancy if he chooses otherwise.

Guy Debord in The Society of the Spectacle writes “The spectator’s alienation

from a submission to the contemplated object works like this: the more he contemplates, the less he lives; the more readily he recognizes his own needs in the images of need proposed by the dominant system, the less he understands his own existence and its own desires.”18 In this text he speaks of how the image alienates the spectator. The spectacle is a distraction from the issues our civilization faces. To spectate will mean to lose oneself and identity. Isn’t there a way to still create the spectacle while staying connected to the obligations of civilization? Design has to investigate the overlap between the “world culture” and “universal civilization.”

Akcan finds that postcolonial architecture can be argued through two

approaches. the first approach “which may be called the post-structuralist trajectory of postcolonial theory-problematizes the very possibility of representing the ‘other’,” calls for a self-critique as a way to define the other. Akcan refers to Nalbantoglu, Spivak and Homi Bhabha’s ideology on the notion of “culture difference vs diversity.” Cultural difference implies a divided cultural image which results in cultural inequality; while cultural diversity implies that all culture can be harmonized under one system of reference. The second approach “which may be called the humanist trajectory of postcolonial theory - is partly motivated by the aspiration to find an alternative to some of the uncompromising consequences of poststructuralist thought.”19 This implies that the solution might be to compromise one or the other. Bozdogan critiques the notion that “only when a non-Western architect ‘reaches the level’ of Western’ skills and sophistication,’ can she/he be appreciated and press the boundaries of the canon (Eurocentric).”20 In this case, architecture in Togo would only be deemed successful if and only if it starts to look perfectly like a western design. This is the same backwards thinking that was used to colonize Africa. This is the reasoning Aime Cesaire argued against. The Togolese are great artisans and great builders. Modernity has to emerge 18

Debord, Guy. The Society of the Spectacle. New York: Zone Books, 1994.

Esra Akcan, “Postcolonial Theories in Architecture,” in A Critical History of

Contemporary Architecture, ed. Haddad, Elie, David Rifkind, and Peter L. Laurence, 135, Chicago Press 2010. 20

Esra Akcan, “Postcolonial Theories in Architecture,” in A Critical History of

Contemporary Architecture, ed. Haddad, Elie, David Rifkind, and Peter L. Laurence, 135, Chicago Press 2010.

New Primitives: Reimagining Togolese Architecture

available to the mass at cheaper cost. Technology has played a big role in the birth

Research:Theory & History

from something much deeper. “It is clear however, that if theorists are to link architecture to cultural identity, they must extend their analyses beyond any mere discourse of form to engage with subjective processes of identification.”21 We have analyzed the history of Togo and started to understand the effect of colonialism on the country. We have dissected the Indigenous architecture to better understand its reference to the country’s identity.

Now one needs to understand the constraints and possibilities

available to its society.

Leach, Neil. “Belonging: Towards a Theory of Identification with Place.” Perspecta (2003): 126.

psychiatrist, philosopher, writer Born: in Martinique

July 20, 1925 Notable work: Black Skin, White Masks

A Dying Colonialism Toward the African Revolution

Aimé Fernand David Césaire poet, Politician Born: in Martinique 26 June 1913 Notable work: The Tempest Discourse on Colonialism Toussaint Louverture: La

The Wretched of the Earth

Révolution française et le problème colonial

New Primitives: Reimagining Togolese Architecture

Frantz Omar Fanon

Research:Theory & History

Modern Conflicts

The resources available to the Togolese are, mud, wood, and imported

technologies. To innovate, one needs to have the proper infrastructure. With ineffective tools, it is challenging to originate with those material at hand. Togo’s technology evolved from hand held tools in the precolonial used in the making of the mud huts. These primitive tools consist of the hoe, machetes and other hand crafted objects. During colonization, the concept of brick was introduced by the westerners. That is when the brick mold came to play. It allowed fast production of modular components, and distanced the indigenous from its vernacular. The bricks were made from cement and were designed to be used to build the western imported architecture which is of a different scale and tectonic. In our modern day, most of the construction tools and technologies are imported from China. They are often old editions because they are the cheapest Togo could afford in great amount. Consequently, these tools only lead to inefficient construction. Because many Togolese attribute innovations with advanced technology, they rely heavily on the imported technologies and builders. As a result, most big constructions are only trusted to Chinese companies who import their own equipment and workers taking away from the local labor and job opportunity. There needs to be a domesticated technology in order to reclaim the demand for local labor. Technology

Technology plays a big role in today’s society. technology has long merged

with our livelihood. As technology evolves, so does our society. when it comes to technology, Togo has mostly been lagging in the architectural sector yet requires it in the attempt to building western influenced architecture. Nonetheless, there is a high demand and interest of technology as many Togolese have adapted to modern innovation of computers and machines.

In Architecture for the Poor, Hassan Fathy writes, “There must be neither faked

tradition nor faked modernity, but an architecture that will be visible and permanent expression of the character of a community.”22 Fathy’s book takes us through his process of building homes for the poor while designing New Gourma. In this process, he rejected all western practice and turned solely on the vernacular of the region and its local material. He also rejected technology in most of his work. He claims,” A workman who controls a machine in a factory puts nothing of himself into the things the machine makes, Machine made products are identical, impersonal, and unrewarding, as much to the users as to machine minder.”23 It is true that the machine in some case comes between the designer and the product, but I oppose his ideology that the man who controls the machine does not put himself into the object the machine he produces.

Mario Carpo writes, “today the technical continuity between digital design and

digital production is already blurring divide, as the design process can now manipulate the object itself, as it were, via its multifarious, real time digital avatars.”24 Although I 22 23

Fathy, Hassan. Architecture for the Poor an Experiment in Rural Egypt.

Carpo, Mario. “Revolutions: Some New Technologies in Search of an Author”. Log, no. 15. Anyone

Corporation.2009. 49–54. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41765259.

as a divide between the designer from the product when I was introduced to “Creative Architecture Machines,” a studio entitled, Creative Architecture Machines, thought by Jason Kelly and Michael Shiloh at the California College of the Arts. The studio aimed to reimagine a more radical approach to the design and fabrication of architecture. It to explored the efficacy of digital processes and their potential in contributing to an extensive conversation about architecture, technology, and culture. Going in, I hoped to understand the relationship between the machine and man in the process of designing and how that topic could potentially be introduced as a tool for cultural identity. Throughout the 5 months’ intensive project, I have come to understand the machine’s capability to engage the community in the process of making as architecture did in the past. The class was broken down into 4 groups: the material research, the machine engineering, the gantry, and the software coding. The objective of the class was to create a machine that is able to extrude a material of choice through codes produced through computation. Codes are essentially the virtual dialogue between the digital model and the machine. I expected the interaction of the class to be limited to feeding codes to the machine and letting it do all the work. I was pleasantly wrong. There is a tremendous interaction between each group that goes into successfully extruding a desired form. In this unconventional building method, each aspect of production such as material, machine, digital models, and codes, have to all synchronize. The material has to be of a certain viscosity to be able to extrude properly through the attached machine. Likewise, the machine (extruder) has to be calibrated to a specific speed to allow a smooth extrusion of material without letting it dry too soon or potentially clogging at the nozzle. The digital model has to take account the gantry space for printing and the motion of extrusion; which in our case was in the X, Y, Z axis. The gantry on the other hand was approximately 5ft x 3ft in length, 2ft in height. Because the class intended to print three-dimensionally, the gantry was made with three key components, the aluminum frame, the motors, and the Tiny G. The gantry’s frame was built with aluminum extrusions with groves along the bar allowing a railing system to host the machines movement along all three axis. The Y axis, mounted on the two end of the gantry, had two stepper motors at each end which were paired to accurately move at the same velocity. The X, and Z axis were each mounted on a single rail, therefore only needed a single stepper motor each. And finally the Tiny G was the translator of codes from the computer to the machine. The Tiny G is a multi-axis motion control system. It controls all four stepper motor feeding motion of extrusion from the digital codes to the gantry. These encompasses the dynamic communication in the process of making. The class spent more time working with their hands by fixing the gantry, building the robot, examining codes, and texting materials than did the robot during test prints. For every 24 hours of hand labor, the machine prints for 30 minutes. Throughout the duration of the project, the class established progress-assessment meetings when every group comes together to thoroughly investigate failures and successes of each prints. It created a space for communication for a common goal, and a share of knowledge from one group to another. Towards the end of the project, all 12 students were broken into 4 design groups in which we imagined the use for our machine in the context of

New Primitives: Reimagining Togolese Architecture

used to have the have the same opinion as Fathy, I changed my opinion on technology

Research:Theory & History

emerging global challenges. This exercise allowed us to adopt and appropriate the machine to solve issues such as natural disasters, the building envelop permeability in contribution to reduction of building footprint and sustainability, sea level rise, and guerilla architecture. With this experience, I have learned a lot about the woven, circular stacking design of the hut as its process was very similar to the one the final objects created by our creative machine. (Fig.9)

I have learned through material testing that earthen material needs to be of a

certain viscosity and aggregate composition to enable vertical stacking. It also should be woven and stacked in tapered circular form to be structurally stable, techniques that are also visible in the makeup of the Batammaliba hut (Fig.10). This class enabled

Fig.9.

Creative

Architecture

Machines

printing technique. Modular stacking.

New Primitives: Reimagining Togolese Architecture

Fig.10. Material research (top) Prototype 1 | 4x5 ft (bottom)

Research:Theory & History

me to think of technology not as the generator of ideas, but as the collaborator, for it demands the designer to be in direct connection with the process and product. This is an underlying part of technology that most ignore. The native Togolese architectural practice was in every form relative to this studio process as it enabled community engagement, appropriation of technologies, and material testing; evidently instilling pride and belonging in the innovation of the architecture.

Many have contributed to the discussion of Technology and architecture,

among them is Mario Carpo whose research focused on cultural history, media, and information technology. In his essay Revolutions: Some New Technologies in Search of an Author, he writes,

“For the first time in modern history a wave of

technological change unfolded in the absence of any underpinning or related ideology of progress; and the digital revolution in recent times to occur in a historicist vacuum. But even in a post

historical environment, a revolution without

an enemy is an anomaly. A revolution, even a technical one, should aim at changing something - the course of history, for example at least some preexisting technology.”25

In this passage, Mario Carpo believes that this new wave of technology we

are partaking in didn’t arise out of necessity. He believed emerging technologies do not respond to a specific issue thus questioning its credibility and purpose. Mario Carpo continues with, “A revolution without an enemy is a solution without a problem.” In the past, inventions were relevant to societal needs, and those needs were not based on personal preferences nor production for the sake of production as we see now with most emerging architectural we are now able to produce through technology. Nevertheless, as much as technology has strayed from the human necessities, technology has also brought forth new possibilities to design for man.

Robotics have proven to be able to address cultural, societal, and architectural

issues. When culturally driven and socially engaging, technology can start to produce an effective architecture; one that is conscious of its context. But one has to be careful in the way one uses this technology. Technology has potential to make a difference but will only do so when it moves away from just producing sculptures, and alienated space for the sake of information or expression that are in no direct link with their respective context. Technology has been most proficient when it is applied to solve an issue. Writers such as Frampton, Cesaire, and Leach all suggested the need of social and cultural analysis in relevancy to the resources at hand. Each in their own words and lens advocated that the current face of the world should not be neglected nor turned away from, but understood and embraced while taking inconsideration the dynamic roots of a place. Their ideologies differ from that of Hassan Fathy because he denies technology to be a possible tool for designing. He says one should depend solely on 25

Carpo, Mario. “Revolutions: Some New Technologies in Search of an Author”. Log, no. 15. Anyone

Corporation.2009. 49–54. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41765259.

New Primitives: Reimagining Togolese Architecture

the hand craft when our current modern societies are highly dependent on technology.

Slowly, technology is making its way in every part of the Togolese daily life.

In the city, LomĂŠ, the majority of natives are well acquainted with technology. Through the internet, the Togolese people are now able to have access to new information. The only downside of it is that the platform on which technology is rooted in Togo isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t stable due to insufficient economic infrastructure. Nevertheless, there is an interest in Togo for technology as we see with Afate Gnikou(Fig.11), a Togolese inventor, who recently built his own 3d printer from scratch out of electrical waste. Because of the waste product used in the invention of the 3D printer, the market value of it was estimated around a Fig.11. Afate Gnikou, with his 3D printer

$100 which is 10 time cheaper than the average cost of 3D printers. This shows the

made from electronic waste. (above)

impact of technology in Togo. One cannot refuse to ignore the demand for innovation

Research:Theory & History

but instead can direct it to produce a national identity through the use and appropriation of local resources. Computation design thinking is not exclusively the best immediate solution for Togo, but it does provide a platform for technology innovation for the country. Because it is still fairly developing, if culturally directed, could bring forth a different topic in the context of computation. There are many changes being witness in Togo in terms of technology, eventually advanced technologies assimilation is only a matter of time and financial stability. What is more concerning is the use of the technology once it is in the Togolese’s disposal. What will he create? How will he use it? Technology plays a central role in Togo’s educational development, providing equal access to quality learning regardless of geographical context, age, and gender. Many of the Togolese challenges comes from lack of education due to poor economy and restricted access. The appropriate technology could potentially bridge the gap between rural and urban education by bringing forth resources, innovations, and community feedback, creating an environment for interactive learning.

Strategies

After colonization, Togo struggled to produce a national identity that responded

to its modern culture and rich architectural heritage. The question remains, how should architecture create a sense of identity in Togo? Should Togo decolonize itself by rejecting any trace of the Western influence in Togolese’s modern culture, or should Togolese architects hybridize Togo’s native culture with that of the Eurocentric steered globalization? Other nations have developed hybrid architectures that relate to cultural traditions and distant history with modern architectural forms. The modern Mexican architecture of the 1960s, in particular, incorporated historical and cultural forms and motifs with modern architectural construction and organizational techniques. Outside of architecture, other art forms such as the fine-arts or music have developed convincing hybrid forms that integrate traditional African motifs with Western notions of art and music – Zouk, Bachata, Hip hop etc. We might consider an architectural analogy to these convincing mash-ups of the local and global, alongside with similar precedents such as Francis Kere and Kunle Adeyemi, in the process of reimagining architecture fit

make aware of a different way of designing architecture in Togo which could potentially stabilize the country’s economy, and educate on cultural heritage and sustainability. To define a specific design or program in attempt to solve all of Togo’s issue will only further the disrupt because the dynamic of Togo’s construct is quite complex. One would have to look at current social issues, site, politics, ethnic distribution, religion, economy, and so on and so forth. Those factors are always fluctuating, and are in some case independent from one another, but extremely valid and critical when designing architecture in any context. Nonetheless, that approach of designing is predominantly preoccupied with producing a program or proposing a different urban planning that could respond to the distribution of ethnicity of the country; which, are highly important processes yet requires rigorous specificity. Such process should be the first phase of design. The research, on the other hand, is primarily concerned with the second phase of design, that of the architecture as an object and its position as a catalyst for cultural identity while engaging to the modern social behavior and economy of Togo’s society. This doesn’t discredit the process of designing programs as a tool to promote national culture or solve issues of poverty and education in Togo, but that the object which host these programs has equal accountability.

Colonization affected Togo in many ways. The scars are still apparent in the

built environment of Togo, and its social behavior. As an African descendant who has traveled and lived throughout Europe and North America, I have realized the lack of cultural heritage found in the Togolese modern culture. Colonization plays a big part in this disruption; which, I have exposed in the previous chapter of this research. When the Westerners came in contact with Togo, the colonists stole its natural resources, dehumanized and diminished the native culture practiced in Togo. Togo precolonial lifestyle was deemed primitive by the colonists therefore, the westerner killed, enslaved, and forced their lifestyle upon the indigenous in the name of civilization, a disguise for resources exploitations. Furthermore, the Togolese was forced to believe his culture was inferior to that of Western culture. This simultaneous dehumanization of colonization is evident in the legacy of slavery. Germany, who were the first colonists from 1884-1914, forced Togolese to work in plantations, imposing an implementation of a capitalist market in Togo. Additionally, through the colonists’ western schools and Catholic churches, they shattered the native livelihood and culture of the Togolese, which was historically decentralized and highly based on community and indigenous spiritual beliefs.

Today in Togo, despite decolonization and post-colonial concepts, there is a

lack of pride in the cultural heritage. The “city Togolese” lack knowledge of his historical and cultural heritage. This disconnection can be explained historically and spatially. Prior to colonization, knowledge about the past were preserved through verbal, visual art, and written forms. The Tamberma, a Togolese indigenous tribe, passed down the knowledge of the Batammaliba hut through community involvement in the process of building. Colonization brought a gap in the cultural preservation of Togo. Most of the things that were recorded and survived since then were eventually accounts of the colonists’ verbal, visual, and written art forms. The indigenous hut was never explored

New Primitives: Reimagining Togolese Architecture

for Togo. The goal of this research isn’t to dictate a precise solution but to inspire and

Research:Theory & History

as a viable type; neither were local materials. Therefore, today when one historically explores Togolese “mud architecture,” the Togolese considers this type of structure rural and primitive because it preceded colonization and is associated with the primitive — a western colonist concept.

A concern in Togo’s architecture is the lack of appropriate use of resources

and socially inspired spaces, which are primordial tools to design an architecture of identity. “Identity” is a condition or composition of an entity. To imagine a national identity for Togo is to seek parts of the country that communicate a national heritage and sustainability whether economic, cultural, and architectural.

The lack of appropriate resources can be seen in the built environment of

Togo. architecture in Togo usually fail the test of time due to two reasons, the fabrication and the economy. Togo remains a poor country with 32% below poverty line in 1989 to a near double 58.7% in 2011. About 65% of the labor force lies in agriculture, 30% in services, and 5% in industry. 93.3 % of Togo’s electricity comes from fossil fuels. Togo doesn’t have its own power grid; therefore, relies heavily on Ghana’s, its main supplier. Togo’s main imports are machinery for agriculture, and construction, food, and petroleum. in 2012, it was estimated that 41.2% of Togo’s imports came from China, 8% from Netherlands, 5.5% from France, and 5.4% from United Kingdom. This eventually contributes to Togo’s large external debt of $724 million and an export of 893.8 million dollars. This helps with understanding the economy of Togo in regards to its dependency on importation. According to Togo’s staff report for 2013 IV consultation by the International Monetary Fund, it is written in the External Position Assessment Matrix:

“Potential Policy responses: Fiscal consolidation and

prudent borrowing should help reduce external vulnerabilities. The investment plans are expected to lead to higher production (export) capacity and lower current account deficit in the medium term. Togo is still facing challenges on competitiveness, which signals to a need of improved business environment.”26

Togo’s reliance on external resources is causing it to fall in debts, eventually

leading to more poverty. These debts are initially reasoned with the country’s desire to innovate or to stay relevant to the global practice. Almost half of Togo’s imports come from China and are mainly mechanical equipment for construction and agricultural use. According to Washington DC: Center for Global Development, there were a little over 40 Chinese official development finance projects identified in Togo, from 2000 to 2011. These projects include constructions and road rehabilitations which are some of the most recent and inevitably the most expensive projects in Togo. Furthermore, some of the construction machines obtained from China are often cheap editions and outdated machinery which further limits the quality of construction, eventually requiring more maintenance over the years and increasing a high reliance on the importers. 26

Fund, International Monetary. “Cameroon: 2013 Article IV Consultation.” IMF Staff Country Reports

13.279 (2013): 12. Web.

The professional architects in Togo are a small group of natives. A chosen few

scale commercial buildings. On the other hand, most of the large budget projects such as that of the ECOBANK in Lomé, the Stadium of Kegue, the New International Airport (Fig.12) are often designed by Chinese construction companies and built with imported Chinese equipment. The ECOBANK project was designed and built by the “Institut de conception électronique de Chine.”(Fig.12) On Togoactualite’s, a website dedicated to

Fig.12. The Ecobank Building (Above) The Institut de COnception electronique de Chine. Designers (bellow)

New Primitives: Reimagining Togolese Architecture

are contracted for medium scale architecture such as local hotels, hospitals, and small

Research:Theory & History

promote pioneering progress of the country, The ECOBANK building is described as such, “Pan African Centre is an intelligent building complex, constructed to the highest international standards and equipped with the latest energy-efficient technology and air conditioning.” The ECOBANK is effectively in its essence a Pan-African banking conglomerate, operating in 36 countries in Africa. It was founded by the Federation of West African Chambers of Commerce and Industry and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in the early 1980s when the banking industry in West Africa was overpowered by foreign banks. More importantly, because of the significance of the ECOBANK history, it is conflicting to portray a symbol of Pan-Africanism such as the ECOBANK in an architectural image that does not promote any African culture or language relevant to the bank’s origin. With that in mind, the language of the website’s quote is unsettling when considering the architectural values, it promotes in regards to the ECOBANK architecture, when it mentions “Pan-African,” “International standards,” and “air conditioning.” Such language espouses a series of architectural values that emphasize Togo’s integration into a global marketplace and architecture than anything relevant to Togo’s history.

“Pan-Africanism,” which this quote is clearly benighted about, as a philosophy

advocates for the collection of the cultural, historical, artistic, spiritual and philosophical legacies of Africans since the slave trade. Pan-Africanism was in some form, a way for all African descant to have an anchor point, a platform of relevancy and connection to the bigger African diaspora. It was a retaliation from all global African oppressions such as slavery, racism, colonialism and neo-colonialism. Pan-Africanism is a source for African diaspora solidarity which aimed to foster resilience but more importantly a promotion of “collective self-reliance” in advocacy for Africa’s intellectual, and resources. Notable Pan Africanist such as Ahmed Sekou Toure, Frantz Fanon, Robert Sobukwe, Marcus Garvey, Aime Cesaire, were revolutionaries who immensely advocated “for the Africans by the Africans,”2627 therefore, Pan-Africanism is nothing to be lightly spoken about. The ECOBANK architecture is insulting to origins of the Pan African bank because it excluded the locals from its design and construction. The bank stands dull, facing the ocean, portraying an image of Afrocentric prosperity and wealth while fully covered in an international commercial architecture imported from China; tagged with a giant sticker: “Pan-Africanism made in China!”.

The above building is exceptional for its scale but not its incorporation of

Western architectural concepts. Large scale buildings like 2 Fevrier, the Stadium of Kegue, Ecobank, Hotel Sarakawa, are often projects projected by the public sector to partake in the global market. These projects depict a lifestyle that is foreign to Togo’s developing society in terms of scale, function, and finance. Because the Chinese companies are the one to be approached with projects of this scale, it takes away from potential job opportunities and training for locals. Furthermore, those projects often time ignore Togo’s social behavior and context. Because of the country’s economic status, most construction are often time at a smaller scale, such as local religious centers, local boutiques, and informal shelters. Most of which doesn’t require an architect.

The city, Lome, is currently experiencing an increasing amount of informal

shelters (Fig.13). Most of these informal constructions are built by people who are

New Primitives: Reimagining Togolese Architecture

Fig.13. Urban layout of a neighborhood in Lome. Most houses are apinted and built with cement bricks and metal shingles for roof which makes the space underneath intolerable during sunny days.(above) Typical informal market in Lome, Togo (center). Informal shed built

with wood and woven

palm tree leaves for shading(bottom)

Research:Theory & History

leaving the rural areas of Togo to the city for a better welfare and financial opportunities (1). When the migrants get to the city, they build their own structures, whether it is a wooden house with shingle roofs along the street edge, or a little shop to operate informal businesses like barbershops, salons, street food selling, or clothing store. The Togolese rural-urban migrant tends to build his own space to survive. With little knowledge of the urban city’s building materials, cement bricks, wood, hammer and nails, the migrant often time ends up with a very rough construction. This results to the replication of a significant amount of poorly built infrastructures in the city. The informal sector accounts for 68% of total economic activities in Togo. 80% of the informal activities are in commerce comprising of informal markets that are being established by the migrants and locals. It also proves that large scale vertical buildings such as 2 Fevrier, are deteriorating and are left vacant because they are not fit to the societal behavior of the country because most activities and circulations in Togo tend to happen horizontally, at a human contact scale.

Togo’s government focus on Large scale architecture further distances native

culture from its society by turning to foreign help, ultimately rejecting cheap local resources and potential job opportunities. On the other hand, other formal structures are being built by inexperienced local builders who are recruited from the street by construction companies, and paid minimum wage of approximately 20$ to 30$ per month, working 72hrs per week. It reduces cost of construction for both the client and construction companies. Nonetheless, hiring informal builders results in a poor construction due to lack of professional building experience, which limits construction innovation due to high cost of sought foreign resources. On most construction sites, a wheelbarrow, a compressed brick maker, or mold imported from China are the most advance tools found. Manual tools are still being used to build architecture. The scaffolds in the construction of buildings usually comprises of tree trunks usually similar to those used in the structural system of the Batammaliba hut. Compared to western, and Chinese construction sites, Togo’s construction sites prove highly hazardous and inefficient. Yet, the Togolese demands a western architecture but does not have the western technology or economic infrastructure to support it; instead, relies heavily on Chinese builders to design and build for the country.

Additionally, a second issue with the current defective architecture in Togo

is the lack of socially/culturally inspired spaces. A Togolese home owner desires a western living room, garden, bedroom, garage, and kitchen. sometimes there is a side room built for the maids, the gardener, and the guard. My frustration with most architecture designed in Togo is the ignorance for adopting a western layout when it clearly does not respond to the needs of the user. One of the most unused space in the Togolese modern home is the kitchen. For example, the “city Togolese” has an indoor kitchen equipped with western amenities such as stove, oven, cabinets, Island, and sink. the western kitchen does not support the cooking process of African dishes nor can it host its cooking utensils. In most homes, cooking still happens outside, in the backyard or courtyard for various reasons (Fig 14).

For one, the Togolese pots are usually spherical with approximately 18 inches

wide diameter. It is in the Togolese custom to cook in large portions because food is

New Primitives: Reimagining Togolese Architecture

Fig.14. Images portraying the dynamic of Togolese

cuisine and its conflict ith the western Kitchen.

(Above) A woman frying some beignet (Far bellow) women pounding yam-- the process of making fufu-- a west African traditional dish.

Research:Theory & History

Fig.15. African Lady cooking a traditional dishon an electric Stove

Such utensils cannot be stabilized on the flat western stove; therefore, most

homes have cast iron charcoal-burning stoves. Because charcoal is used to cook, it is dangerous to cook indoors because of the smoke and the heat released in the cooking process. It has caused health related issues in most rural areas where the kitchen is indoors with only 2” diameter opening for ventilation. Additionally, the Togolese processes livestock in-house; which, cannot be hosted on a western kitchen island. The grinding of spices is done on a local rock found in the northern side of Togo. This rock is often placed outdoors as well. Many other native cultural practices are being kept and forced into the westernized home even when the designed space isn’t intended to host it. Nevertheless, the “city Togolese” does not feel “modern” unless he has a western kitchen designed in his house. The same goes for other spaces found in the Togolese homes such as the water well, the living room, the gazebo, and the garden which becomes modified spaces in the Togolese’s interpretation of western architecture. It proves that the practiced architecture in Togo is not designed to cater to the owner’s cultural use of space, but purely as an image of the western-acclaimed “modern man;” a sort of mask used to validate luxury and global relevancy to a western defined modernity. There is a lot to learn from this reality. the one I find most important is the resilience of traditional practices that are unique to Togo such as that of cooking, community socializing and rainstorm water preservation. It is clear that the Togolese still participate in some traditional culture but does not have the most efficient infrastructure to support it. On the other hand, the Togolese finds comfort in the western design because overtime he is told it defines him as modern and civilized — the idiotic and backward essence of colonization. Modernity and Tradition: Contemporary Architecture in Pakistan, written by Kamil Khan Mumtaz, explores central issues on transitional cultures in relation to a world dominated by technological innovations. Kamila K. Mumtaz argues that any assessment of modernity as a strategy of development must take into account the damage it has on the direct society in terms of impoverishment of communities, threatened eco- systems, and the livelihood of the respective society. In the Chapter entitled Future Directions, he writes: “We can continue to ignore or deliberately misrepresent the past only at the risk of formulating arbitrary, and faulty strategies, or moving into the future without any strategy at all. In the absence of sound theory based on the collective experience of our own past and our own present, our architecture can only be arbitrary and irrelevant at best and downright dangerous at worst. Directions in Architecture cannot be determined independently of the realities of time and place. This is not to say that the role of architecture is necessarily a passive one. Architecture, as a process of transformation and a vehicle for communication participate interactively in the dynamics

New Primitives: Reimagining Togolese Architecture

made for a larger family and rarely for oneself.

Research:Theory & History

of societal change but it can only be effective in supporting or opposing the actual currents and tendencies existing in its own time and space, that is, in its own immediate culture. Of course, in this age of almost instantaneous communications, the concept of cultural space itself needs to re-defined.”27

What if we were to redefine architecture for Togo based on this knowledge?

What would it look like? What space will emerge? how does one cater to both the needs and the modern desires of the users? It is difficult to answer because there are many topics that can play into finding a solution for this issue. One can look into the idea of materiality and modernity for example. Mud walls are seen as primitive because in Togo, it has only been used in rural areas. Automatically, mud architecture is rejected. There have been more innovations with mud construction in Europe and North America than in West Africa! There needs to be more investment in local materials because it is sustainable and cost efficient. To invest in local material does not mean using it as it is, but testing, and refining the material to respond to Togo environmental context, as much as its economy. When architecture starts to respond to those issue, only then it will inspire a dialogue of national identity and pride that could potentially stabilize the economy and open more rewarding career opportunities in informal sectors such as arts, fashion, agriculture, and design.

How does one reeducate the Togolese mentality to the idea of investing

in local material? The use of local material is a critical topic because it refers to the Togolese context, but also because it plays a significant role in the experience and production of space. One cannot continue to imitate the western practice because it’s language of modernity doesn’t quite resonate the same in other parts of the world. The language of modern or contemporary is different globally. Nevertheless, contemporary/ modern architecture is often registered through the composition of material and scale. This language varies globally as some define the contemporary through wood and concrete, while others through glass and steel. It occurred to me a couple years ago when my mother came to visit me while I was studying in Atlanta, Georgia. At the time, I had just moved into a trendy urban area of Atlanta. I lived in a two-bedroom apartment, with high ceilings, exposed ducts, and concrete walls. It had an industrial feel to it which was in high demands. When my mother first saw my apartment, she did not like it because she claims it looked ugly and unpolished. I then realized something very important. The unfinished rough industrial interior registers as a modern language in the United States, but to the Togolese and other foreign nations, it is as good as an ugly unfinished construction. And this is to say the language of contemporary architecture might not register the same in every country. More importantly, it raises curiosity about the Togolese’s identification of the “modern architecture.” There are several aspects of the global standard architecture that are attractive to the Togolese, as well as specific spaces from the vernacular. How does one bridge both while remaining truthful to the society’s needs and native culture? 27

Mumtaz, Kamil Khan. Modernity and Tradition: Contemporary Architecture in Pakistan. Karachi:

Oxford UP, 1999. Print.

Togo’s cultural heritage is important because it is the only precedent that

social interaction.

Togo’s current architecture does not support its vibrant society

therefore one needs to question its built environment, and modern social behavior. Finding a way of designing architecture in the future, inspired from the practices of precolonial Togo — as it is the only epoch in Togo’s history when it was still culturally untouched by the Westerners— while bridging techniques and approaches from the global world might evidently be an approach of building identity. It could create a society that is both self-sustainable, and an approach of modernity respective to the country which is not validated by that of the Western practice but strictly by the modern needs and resources available to Togo.

To think in such terms, one has to consider the resources available to Togo,

in this case technology and material. Let’s first look at raw local materials such as clay and wood which are in abundance and cheaper in cost. On the other hand, cement, which has been the largest building material in Togo is mainly produced by Cimtogo, owned by Heidelberg Cement a German company, which was established since 1984, 5 years before Togo’s independence. Currently, Heidelberg Cement is building two cement grinding facilities in Togo. The $250 million clinker plant, located 80km northeast of Togo’s capital in the town of Tabligbo, is intended to have a capacity of 1.5million ton per year. Heidelberg Cement will also build a cement-grinding facility with a capacity of 200,000 tons in the Dapaong area, far north of Togo. The two new plants will start operating in 2015.

Bernd Scheifele, Chairman of the managing board of Heidelberg Cement

stated, “As West Africa possesses only relatively small limestone deposits, the clinker required in cement production often has to be imported at high cost. Our clinker plant is of great strategic importance as it will source the limestone from its own deposits.” The investment project is said to stimulate the improvement of Togo’s local infrastructure and housing, and expected to create around 1,300 jobs locally. The only intention here is to replaced clinkers that were exported from overseas, and increase the mediocre production of cement architecture in Togo. A larger production of cement may not be the problem solver and will definitely not create 1300 jobs locally. One failed to mention that those jobs are often underpaying jobs with high health risks.

On the contrary, mud seems to have potentials culturally, economically,

environmentally, and socially. Mud architecture can only work in very specific context because it is not suited for all climatic conditions such as humid areas. Because Togo is arid and dry, it is effective to build out of mud. Mud construction is also environmentally sustainable. It is an excellent natural insulation therefore if designed with passive ventilation, it can reduce a significant amount of energy consumption. This would lower the high dependency on air conditioning and lighting. The use of mud can also inspire a production of social interaction through native skill-sharing that is being lost. the process of building should include locals, schools, nonprofit organizations, and church volunteers as a way to educate and instill a sense of ownership and pride in the production of architecture. This process will also create jobs which in return might produce a local market. As mentioned earlier, most urban Togolese associate

New Primitives: Reimagining Togolese Architecture

proved to be sustainable and culturally defining in terms of materiality, economy, and

Research:Theory & History

mud with Western notions of the primitive, something that is easily reinforced by mud architecture’s often rough and unpolished appearance. Today, mud buildings can be fashioned in ways that enable us to use this local and historical material while infusing the material with a type of hybrid modernity.

This thesis is a call for architectural autonomy from the Eurocentric modernity

being adopted in West Africa and a serious investment in the defining avenues of modernity inspired from Togo’s culture and resources. Modernity and the Architecture of Mexico, by Edward Burian, tackles a critical retrospection of the notion of modernity in Mexican architecture and its influence on Mexican architecture’s work in the 1900s. “International modernity and Mexican modernity, although both inspired by the need to create a new man, had different versions of what that ideal man might be. International modernity’s ideal man was a universal man with one identity and one spirit. Mexico, on the other hand, conceived a man that would bridge the nation’s contrasts and differences through a new national identity.” Modernism defined in the 20th century denied the function of ornaments, and rejected any reason beyond that of the rational, and structural innovation. It was, in entirety, a nihilist movement because it dismissed all beliefs and moral principles, claiming doing so is the only way to achieve social progress; which is an insult to one’s local societal ties, and ethnicity. Edward Burin in his book on Mexico’s modernity, speaks about a difference in the international “ideal man” and that of Mexico. What Mexico longed for was the aesthetic language of the European modernity but rejected the idea of international unity but that of its nation unity instead. The Mexican nationalist modernity was then crafted through native aesthetic, and mythical values which is in itself a contradiction or could be seen as a critic to European modernity. According to Juan O’Gorman, Mexican architect and head of the Department of Building Construction for Mexico City in 1932, “this problem will never be resolved by the [Modern] architecture. The contradiction persists related to the function of utility and the function of emotion or aesthetic.” Nevertheless, the conflict between functionality and local references through native aesthetic and moral values enabled the production of new national identity for Mexico. When speaking of modernity in Africa, it is critical to explain the motives of such attempt. Is it towards creating one universal ideal man or is it about differentiation produced through the hybridization of technology which is essentially the basis of European Modernity, with that of the ethnic heritage which is the premise of nationalism? Nevertheless, progress cannot be attained by blaming the current state of Togo on colonization or the Westerner. We have sufficiently learned from the effects of colonization through books and our built environment. Let us instead be critical about the Togolese naivety and resilience against his culture. The further the Togolese strays away from critiquing his current built environment, the more he falls prisoner of colonialism and neo-colonialism. Pan-Africanist, Jerry Rawlings said, “If our people lose the courage to confront what is wrong then we become collaborators.” Togo’s architecture and arts are not underdeveloped because the Togolese do not have the creativity and resources to achieve such development, but because the Togolese expects such progress to be imported instead of domesticated!

In spite of the direction, to propose an attempt of making architecture in Togo,

is to impose a different architecture, that which migth be conflicting with the current

creating a new primitive. What would it mean to colonize the colonial architecture? Not to decolonize because to claim so would suggest reverting to the precolonial state of Togo; which, is would be as ineffective as the imported architecture in our current time.

The huts worked then because it was the embodiment of the Tamberma’s

social behavior and religious beliefs. The hut was designed to cater to the user’s daily routines. During the hot days, it is almost intolerable to stay indoors. The indigenous Togolese’s daily life requires him to work outdoors during the day and to only be indoors after sunset. For that the thermal properties of the mud hut works well because during the day it holds the heat then releases it at night time. The huts only have one window, and one access door; therefore, ventilation was not a design system included in the design of the hut which becomes problematic if one were to adopt this design in the modern Togolese daily life. The Togolese works 8 hours a day, then spend the rest at home. The indigenous Togolese spends over 16 hours outdoors working, socializing and only goes home to sleep in the night time. In comparison, the city Togolese spends 2/3 of his day indoors while the indigenous man only spends 1/3 of his day indoors. For the modern man, 2/3 of the time spent home would be intolerable if spent in the context of the hut because of poor ventilation.

Imported architecture was probably a rejection to those issues because it didn’t

cater to the modern growing Togolese everyday life. Now that we are all participating in the western lifestyle how are we supposed to live in huts? The modern man demands variety, customization, uniqueness, which is the opposite of the Tamberma who lived in standardized huts. There is no distinction amongst one hut to another except its placement relativity. The form of the huts is the same, the rooms are the same as well but may vary based on family size. The only customization lies on the hand prints coating the envelope of the hut in the smoothing of the mud surface, and the counts of ancestral cones at the front door which reflects the builder/owner’s ancestral roots. Nevertheless, the colonial architecture also failed to be a suited architecture for Togo because it doesn’t respond effectively to the modern Togolese social behavior and the country’s economy.

To achieve an architecture of identity, African designers could learn and take

from the positives of global advancements by appropriating it to Togo’s resources and economic infrastructure. Technologies and techniques should not be simply replicated from a foreign context to another. Pan-African revolutionist such as Aime Cesaire, Frantz Fanon for example, took a foreign language, that of the colonist and appropriated it in attempt to decolonize the mind of the colonized African and pass down knowledge on the history of their country. The same in African music which started to digitalized African instruments’ sound with that from other nations to create a sort of hybrid modern African music. The content of that music is also sustainable because it often time is patriotic and relative to the country of origin through spoken dialects, rhythm, and political position. Music for the past century have become an outlet for patriotism and cultural identity. Architecture in Africa could potentially follow those footsteps to achieve an architecture of identity. This will entail a rigorous appropriation of modern technologies which will require a cross-disciplinary involvement bringing

New Primitives: Reimagining Togolese Architecture

architecture. This means one has to recolonize the imported architecture in Togo by

Research:Theory & History

together the artist, the architect, the engineers, and scientists; professions that are currently becoming extinct due to lack of platforms and interest. These innovations or processes of designing will be geared towards responding to the dynamic of the country in context of its economy, local resources, urban distribution. If Africa were to develop technologies that are appropriate to its economy and context, what will African urban fabric and architecture look like? How will it affect the economy and livelihood of the urban and rural Togolese?

The Togolese seeks to innovate and introduce other design ideas.

Architecturally, those ideas are often traced on the design of the exterior walls, the doors, and the wall paintings and murals; this is due to the preconceived notion about the builder’s lack of resources and technology. These components of a building are where the architecture’s is layered to communicate the user’s aesthetic identity. Nevertheless, these customizations are often troublesome since it takes tremendous amount of maintenance due to the unpaved context. In result, all buildings near dirt roads of Togo they get dirty overtime. To protect the building from getting dirty, eventually, designers started to cover building’s exterior with ceramic and marble tiles because dirt and dust are easier to wash off. However, tiling becomes challenging because it eventually cracks unevenly making it hard to replace. That is why there should be a reinvestment in mud architecture. The oldest Batammaliba hut in Togo is over 200 years old and is still operational and structurally sound. The isn’t even one architecture in the Lome that has stood the same test of time. That is the reality of the indigenous architecture and that of the imported. It is true that the lifestyle based around the hut does not fit with the modern Togolese behavior, because of the aesthetic and function.

The gap between precolonial and current advancement in Togo is evidently

the result of the increasing loss of native skills. By building architecture through community, the local skills became knowledge that were passed down and cultivated creating an archive of information that is not only culturally expressive as an image, but also accessible to the local community as a template for further improvement. It is hard to share cultural knowledge in Togo because very little was preserved. The future for architecture in Togo should be intended to reeducate and instill cultural pride through architecture, the object, as a first step. The proposal of community focus programs although important, is highly dependent on investors who are mostly concerned with profits and returns. Most construction projects are often directed by the public sector. These investments which contributes to Togo’s debt and poverty are blatantly irresponsive to the needs of the current Togolese society. (Fig.16) On the other hand, the public sector’s budget is being reduced over the years to help fund these constructions that are neither economically, architecturally, nor culturally sustainable. Loans to private sectors in Togo decreased by 0.98 percent since 2015. Community projects do not bring much of a revenue to the investor and cost a lot to sustain and manage. Consequently, the government does not want to finance such projects; that is why the public sector takes from the private sector’s budget to sponsor Stadiums, Hotels, and Airports as a diplomatic approach to the global world which further disputes the economy and social behavior of Togo’s society. Nonetheless, because of the resilience of the locals, there are still few self-funded projects built in their respective

Fig.16.Urban and rural gap

New Primitives: Reimagining Togolese Architecture

Fig.16. Togo’s Economy assessment

communities. The issue in Togo with the informal self-funded projects is that they are frequently poorly built due to insufficient funds, resulting into the production of a poor space which ultimately is not attractive to the community. The research emphases on the architecture’s envelope in response to the lack of innovative production of space as advocacy for the local community. There are lots of informal community projects that fail to make an impact because the space is built poorly and not aesthetically pleasing; therefore, it is unsuccessful at reaching the broader public and funding. That is why Francis Diebedo Kere’s work in Gando is a great precedent to look into. (Fig.17)

Francis Kere was born in Gando, a small village in Burkina Faso, with

approximately 2500 habitants. He was the first in his village to have gotten the opportunity to travel in Germany to study architecture. Studying in Europe, he realized the privilege that the people of Gando do not have, the access to a good education environment. At the time he couldn’t get the project to be funded, so he raised enough money to go back to Burkina Faso and build for his village. His first project was the Gando primary school. The project for the Primary School was design within the constraints of cost, resources, climate, and technologies. In order to achieve results with minimal resources available, Kere turned to the available resource of the region, clay/mud as a building material. When he first proposed the project, he claimed in an interview that the people from

Research:Theory & History

Fig.17. Gando Primary schoo Plans (above) Architect: Francis DIebedo Kere Location: Gando, Burkina Faso Client: Gando community (Below) Gando camous library -- an extension of the primary school. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The effect of fragmented light is achieved by inserting handmade bottomless terracotta pots into the roof slab. The latter is then protected by a second roofing in translucent polycarbonateâ&#x20AC;? Kere

strenuous maintenance after the rainy season. Affirmatively, Burkina Faso goes through heavy rainy seasons which brings floods up to 3 foot tall. Nonetheless, Kere designed accordingly to those constraints. The traditional clay-building techniques were altered and modernized to produce a better structurally robust mud bricks construction. To protect the mud walls during rainy seasons, Kere used cheap corrugate shingles as a large overhang roof which added shading and protection from the rain. Because corrugated metal roofs absorb a great amount of heat from the sun, the roof is raised over a perforated dry-stacked clay ceiling allowing for a passive system ventilation. The cool air comes through the window and the hot air is released through the perforated ceiling making the interior space comfortable and cool. The community was engaged in every process of building the school. The village helped with extracting the mud, and laying the bricks. Women and men would grind and compress the clay pebbles on the floor until it is flat, polished, and smooth — a flooring technique practiced in Gando. The success of the project lies in the innovation of techniques with cheap local materials and the engagement from the community. Traditionally, in most rural areas of West Africa, the village community is always involved in constructions that are in direct link to their built environment. The architecture of Gando’s primary school utilizes modern engineering methods and traditional building techniques to innovate the vernacular of Gando, while simplifying construction and maintenance cost for the village. As the knowledge of construction began to be assimilated by the community, new cultural and educational projects have since been introduced, further supporting sustainability and cultural pride in Gando.

Other notable humanitarian projects such Soe Ker Tie Hias (Butterfly houses)

by TYIN Tegnestue, and the NLE’s floating school for Makoko by Kunle Adeyemi, have two things in common in their approach to build identity: the use of local material, and community engagement as a tool for knowledge sharing. Knowledge sharing is highly important in the preservation of cultural practice because in most developing countries, access to knowledge is limited due to insufficient platforms and sparse references. The projects above are effective and progressive because they included the social context in the shaping of the built environment, fundamentally instilling pride and identity.

In the future, it is worth looking into the use of those spaces from initial concept

to reality in terms of cost of attendance and management. Because these projects are gaining global attention, their value increase which might affect the operation of the space, that of education for the unprivileged. West Africa has a history with government marginalization of private businesses which often makes it hard to sustain a healthy project. Also, not well managed and financed the projects’ respective community might not efficiently benefit from the its service. A beautiful school is as good as an aesthetically pleasing architecture unless its program has a strong and sustainable education. Regardless of the operational politics of these projects, it is successful at creating architecture of identity by offering a dialogue for cultural practice through community enabling the people with full autonomy of their built environment.

Materiality, being linked to sustainability and economy, has become an

emerging topic in the design thinking. In this case, Mud/clay and wood are in direct link

New Primitives: Reimagining Togolese Architecture

his village were shocked because the mud homes they lived in, most of the time, need

Research:Theory & History

to the ecology of Togo. Because of the abundant availability and a historical architectural integrity of these materials, it should be taken into account when designing in Togo. What will this shift of material focus mean to the Togolese? It will entail innovations in design and material, cost efficient constructions, share of local skills, and jobs for the local economy. If Togo were to attain a level of ingenuity and expertise with local resources, it will change its urban fabric and ultimately building an economy around socially and culturally responsive projects. There are many innovations being done with natural resources in pursuit of innovation and community welfare. In attempt to define the future of architecture in Togo, one has to consider the essence of the country’s past and present. With little access to the country’s untouched cultural identity prior to colonization, the research aimed to uncover a pattern, history, migrant image, and tradition with hopes to bring to light a process or approach for designing architecture specific to Togo’s history. This essay’s intended not to search for modernity steered by globalization neither it blamed the West for colonization. It simply attempts to reveal the fabric woven in the current architectural practice of Togo in order to innovate an architecture of identity, one that is culturally and economically sustainable.

Conclusion

Togo is an underdeveloped African country and it should not be the case.

The Togolese have the knowledge, the intellectual and the creativity; it is embedded in his native culture. Togo’s traditions and arts speaks ingenuity and craft. It is present in the modular stacking of the mud huts, the fractal distribution of villages, the weaving of thatch roofs and fabric, the abstracted interpretation of forms found in Togolese sculptures, paintings, and the language of patterns as decorative ornaments. Togo have builders, makers, and thinkers like any other nations. Why is the hut, until this day, the only defining reference point of Togo’s architecture? The Africans are pioneers and have culturally inspired American, Caribbean, and Latin American music with rhythms found in in Hip-hop, Blues, Zouk, Bachata, Samba, Reggae, as well as textures, forms, and patterns found in modern arts and fashion.

Architecture should be a thought out process that embodies both the dynamic

condition of the present and the traditional practice of the place. The present conditions of Togo consist of a poor adoption of western design, heterogeneous ethnic image, and high reliance on imported innovations. On the other hand, the current social fabric consists of some native cultural resilience, heterogeneous ethnic society, and

architecture that is culturally expressive and innovative? It will depend on the specifics of site, the informal community and use of local resources. Funding, and operations are issues that need to be further critiqued because it will ultimately support the functionality of the architecture which is equally important in the production of space and culture. Essentially, as an object, architecture can empower Togoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s built environment and society. If successful, Togoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s future architecture will enable an unconventional access to cultural heritage through its expression and process, and ultimately, instill cultural pride and advocacy for economic and societal sustainability.

New Primitives: Reimagining Togolese Architecture

autonomous informal spaces. How does one design to weave both fabrics to fashion an

Research:Theory & History

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Contemporary Architecture, ed. Haddad, Elie, David Rifkind, and Peter L. Laurence, 135, Chicago

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New Primitives: Reimagining Togolese Architecture

New Primitives Sitou Adventus Akolly

Reimagining Architecture of Togo

California College of the Arts