1. Pre-modern African Architecture
Contents
1.General Characteristics
2.Examples

2. Pre-modern African Architecture
1. General Characteristics
Africa, second-largest of the Earth's seven continents, with adjacent islands, covering about 30,330,000 sq km (11,699,000 sq mi), or about 22 per cent of the world's total land area.
At the end of the 20th century more than 13 per cent of the world's population lived in Africa.

3. Pre-modern African Architecture
1. General Characteristics
Inhabited by a thousand different people each with unique material culture
Architecture - one of the principal means of cultural identity in the way in which buildings were laid out
Constructed and decorated
Grouped together

4. Pre-modern African Architecture
it is difficult to generalize about the character of African pre colonial architecture
were never direct copies of those of other cultures.
The layout, methods of construction and forms of decoration were unique to Africa

5. Pre-modern African Architecture
A. Meroitic Architecture
Meroë is the name of an ancient city on the east bank of the Nile about 6 km north-east of the Kabushiya station near Shendi, Sudan

6. Pre-modern African Architecture
A. Meroitic Architecture
Drew upon Egyptian building forms
Axial planning was common in important buildings
Rooms were organized in sequence
Buildings were decorated with inscriptions or relief depicting meroitic victories

7. Pre-modern African Architecture
B. Axumite Architecture
4th century ad -7th century ad
Planning was formal, with groups of rooms around courtyards
Many multistory structures with plain articulated stone walls

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C. East African Coast Architecture
Muslim influences are apparent
Layouts were based on rooms in sequence with reception spaces for guests leading to private suites of rooms further from the street
Doors and window openings as well as decoration drew upon and adapted Islamic themes

9. Pre-modern African Architecture
D. West African Architecture
Palaces were planned and constructed in a similar way to the houses of commons, but the basic building block comprising a single dwelling was repeated where a large building was required
Frequently palaces were arranged around open courtyards

10. Pre-modern African Architecture
2. Examples
A. Domestic buildings
i. Meroitic houses (ancient Nubia)
Had two rooms –a larger living and sleeping room about 3x5m in plan, containing cooking pots and a hearth…led to a smaller squarish interior room, used as a store

11. Pre-modern African Architecture
ii. Axumite houses–400AD
Consisted of only one rectangular or circular room and were stone built
Two storey round houses were also built from stone reinforced with timber

12. Pre-modern African Architecture
iii. Swahili houses in Kenya –1300 AD from the town of Gedi
Special progression from the street
Clustered in small groups
A large door led to a private courtyard and thence to a sequence of narrow rooms of similar proportion

13. Pre-modern African Architecture
The front court usually had a sunken central area with seating around three sides
Doorway had a wide pointed arch set in a recessed rectangular field with small niches on either side containing oil lamps.

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Originally single storey –later upper storey (16h c)
The lower floor was windowless but the upper floor had windows overlooking a court yard
Access to upper floor appears to have been by timber ladders

15. Pre-modern African Architecture
B. Palaces and Chief’s Dwellings
i. The Meroitic Western Palace, Faras Nubia(C.100)
Squarish building of sun-dried brick (40x45m)
It comprised a pillared courtyard surrounded by a series of small rooms which enclosed a central building

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ii. Axumite royal residence
Squarish in plan and approached by a flight of stone steps leading to a portico
3000 m2 complex
Axumite palaces combined the character of a castle with the luxury of a villa.

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Timber beams and framing combined with monolithic stone panels columns slabs and large scale polished stone blocks in a form of mixed construction
Palaces were decorated with carved wooden friezes and had floors inlaid with basalt, granite marble, and lime stone

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iii. Swahili palace at Gedi (Kenya) 15th C
Covered 18 ha and was approached from the town square
The main entrance was through a portal with pointed arches
Beyond was a sunken reception court with benches down the long sides, this led to an audience court

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The reception rooms were decorated with niches and there were recesses for oil lamps and pegs for wall hangings and carpets.

20. Pre-modern African Architecture
C. Religious Buildings
i. Shrines
The Ashanti Shrine at Bawjwiasi (Ghana)

21. Pre-modern African Architecture
ii. Temples
The Temple of Amun at Meroe (ancient Nubia) 150m long.
The great enclosure at es–sofra100c
Comprised buildings and walled enclosure covering an area of 40,000 m2 surrounding a temple.

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From the temple, a colonnade gave access to a series of passages and ramps connecting the various parts of the group of buildings which might have been used for the training of war elephants
The animals featured prominently in the relief decorating the walls

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The Pre axumite temple at Yeha
Yeha is a village in northern Ethiopia, located in the Tigra Region.

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iii. Mosques
The great mosque at Kilwa, in Tanzania (12c.)
Was divided into square bays each of which was roofed with a dome supported by square capitals on octagonal pillars of dressed coral.

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The mihrab was of dressed coral and the walls were of coral ruble and lime cement.
The original mosque was considerably enlarged in the 15th c. four rows of columns were added making it one of the largest mosques in East Africa.

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iv. Churches
Lalibela, the ancient Zagwe capital has 11 churches in three groups of six, four and one.
All hewn out of solid rock during 12th and 13th century
Many have features which can be traced back to Axumite buildings.

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One of the most elegant is the isolated Bete Giorghis
It is approached through a narrow winding trench cut into the rock.
The church is a 12m cube cut into the form of a cross.

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The main door has a monumental triple frame and the ground floor has nine blind windows.
The interior of the church has four three –sided pillars and the roof of the sanctuary is cut into the shape of a dome.

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D. Funerary and other monuments
i. At Axum, giant pillars or Stella up to 33m high and hewn from single pieces of rock were erected .
Some of these Stella were carved in to stylized representations of multi –storey buildings
mark the tombs of 3rd- and 4th-century kings of Aksum

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ii. The royal cemetery at Meroe in Nubia contains the pyramid burials of many of the dynastic rulers of ancient Meroe.

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At Meroë, in the Sudan, crumbling pyramids recall the vanished glories of the Kushite kings, who were buried inside them.

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The tomb had a wooden roof, above which lay the bodies of slaves.
Two nearby cache pits contained grave goods.