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THE ARCHITECTURE OF TRADITIONAL HOUSE IN AFRICA
Geographical features in Africa
Africa is the third largest continent in the world, after Asia and America. Africa has the largest desert in the world, many rainforests, rugged mountains and vast prairies.
The culture of Africa is the cultural mix of indigenous people so the architectural histrory of this continent is extremely rich and varied.
Architectural features of African countries
Because of the dangerous weather, the houses in Africa are often built thick wall to keep the sun during the day and fight the cold air at night. The roofs in Africa are often used thatched roof.
The architecture in Africa often use many materials such as wood, mud, rock,… North Africa uses stone and rammed earth, Africa’s forests use dry and mortar, West Africa uses mud, Central Africa uses plant, wood and perishable materials, South Africa uses stone, thatch, wood.
These houses are named Somba or Tammari, built in the shape of mushroom, it’s so low. Each household lives in the house made from earth regardless hot or cold. All houses have the doors facing the west. The house has 2 floors, one for cooking and living, another for sleeping.
Round house
This is the most common type of house in Africa. From Egyptians, Nigieria, Kasssena, Sukuma to the people in Sahara build the house according to this type.
Walls were built by earth, rock. The house has thick wall and don’t have window, it has only few hole to take the sunlight. The door is only 0.5 meters high so the sun doesn’t shine too hard and the animals aren’t able to penetrate.
Thatched roof is heat-insulating but it’s not durable.
Cylindrical house
The houses or the barns of Batammariba people were built in the shape of cylinder, it has flat or conical roof. The roof has the wooden drain.
Walls were built by the moist earth or mud bricks. Then, the houses will be hardened by the sun.
Some houses also have the wooden fences outside and the scaffolding to support the structure.
Square house (rectangular house)
Sukuma people in Tanzania often build square houses or rectangular houses. These houses are surrounded by brick wall. Almost rural houses don’t have the basement, only have the brick on the ground. However, now basement is used, it’s built by mud, ximen or adobe.
Asante house
The Asante traditional houses are the last vestige of Asante culture that dominate area in the 18th century. Asante house has the fairly homogeneous structure with 4 rows of house surrounded the large yard, it’s built by wood, bamboo, gypsum and the thatched roof. Because it’s built from perishable materials, so this architecture is easy damaged by weather changes. In 1980, the Asante traditional houses were been recognized as World Cultural Heritage by UNESCO.
