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Above: Friday Mosque, Djenné, Mali – biggest mud building in the world and definingimage of WestAfrican architecture. Foundationsare more than 500 yearsold, though buildinghasoften been r ebuilt.Right: mosque, Yebe, Mali. Stick-studded mosquesof Niger delta region define the unique aesthetic of Western Sudan. Though wooden postshave practical functions– asscaffold for re-rendering, structuralsupport, and assistingin expellingmoisture from heart of the wall – the most strikingimpact is visual.

place

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Top: N ando Mosque, Mali. Supposedly built by a giantin one night, thishighly sculptural mosque is a uniquestructure that borders the magical and fantastical.Middle: women’squarters, Tangasoko, Burkina Faso.Among the Kassena people, each married woman hasher own quarters in the family compound. Built bymen and decorated by women, they contain livingroom and adjoiningkitchen. On her death they areallowed to disintegrate, the land and crumbled earthto be reused by a future generation.Bottom: house of the chief of Djenné, Mali. Moroccaninfluenced wooden windowsare a recent development.Right: Hogon House, Sanga, Mali. The most distinc tarchitectural form of the Dogon people, the HogonHouse isthe home of the traditional spiritual leader.

 Too often, when people in the West think of 

traditional A frican architecture, they perceive

nothing morethan a mud hut; a primitivever-

nacular half remembered froma Tarzan film.

But why this ignorance of half a continent’s

heritage? Possibly because the great dynastic

civilizations of the region were already in

decline when European colonizers first

exposed these cultures to a wider audience.

Being made of perishable mud, many older

buildingshave been lost, unlike the stone or

brick structuresof other ancient cultures. Or

possibly thislack of awarenessisbecause the

buildings are just too strange, too foreign to

have been easily appreciated by outsiders.

Often they are more like huge monolithicsculpturesor ceramic potsthan architecture

aswemight conventionally think of it. But the

surviving buildingsareneither historic monu-

mentsin theclassic sense, nor arethey ascul-

turally remote as they may initially appear.

 They sharemany of thequalitiesnow valued

in Western architectural thinking such assus-

tainability, sculptural form and community

participation in their conception and making.

 Though part of long held traditions and

ancient cultures, they are also contemporary

structures, serving a current purpose. If they

lost their relevance and were neglected, they

would collapse. In the West, mud is effec-

tively regarded asdirt, yet in rural Africa (as

in so much of the world) it is the most com-

mon of building materialswith which every-

body has direct contact. Maintaining and

resurfacing of buildingsispart of the rhythmof life, and there is an ongoing and active

participation in their continuing existence.

 Thisisnot a museum culture.

Superbly formed and highly expressive,

these extraordinary buildings emerge from

the most basic of materials, earth and water,

and in the harshest of conditions. They are

vibrant works of art with their own distinct

and striking aesthetic, skilfully responding to

the qualities of African light and the inher-

ent propertiesof mud to emphasize shadow,

texture, silhouette, profile and form. During

the course of a year the mud render dries,

the surface is covered in a web of cracksand

then it slowly starts to peel off before being

re-rendered. With each re-rendering, the

shape of a building is subtly altered, so

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change and movement are ever present. The

material is tactile, warm and vulnerable,

demanding and receiving an engaged rela-

tionship with i tsusers. Often people attempt

to cement render the buildings, but not only

doesthisdestroy them physically, asthey rot

from within, but i t also destroys their char-

acter. Their uniquenessis their muddiness.

 The future of these buildings is hard to

predict. M ud is such a vulnerable material

and there is an enthusiasm for building in

concrete. Given the means, many would tear

down their mud houses and build cement

block and tin roofed replacements, common

practice in those countriesthat can afford to

do so. So what will happen when ruralAfricans are lifted out of their desperate

poverty? Will there be an understandable

rush to rid themselves of the physical mani-

festations of that harrowing past? It can

already be seen in wealthier countries such

as Ghana and Nigeria where there is virtu-

ally nothing left for future generations to

repair and preserve. Not only the buildings

have gone but also the skillsto build them.

It is a gradual process of extinction.

Already the extraordinary upturned jelly

mould houses of the Mousgoum people of 

Cameroon are gone, soon those of the

K assena and Gurensi in Ghana will disap-

pear. The Sakho housesof the Boso in Mali

are all abandoned and in ruins. I t is quite

possible that when west Africa emergesfrom

below the poverty line there will be little of 

its built heritage remaining to be appreci-

ated. The saving grace is probably Islam,

ever expanding and building more mosques,

but even then only in rural parts. I n cities,

the mosquesfunded by Wahabi Saudi funds

are atrocious concrete imitations of a bas-

tardized Middle Eastern style.

In the sparsely populated Sahal plains of 

the Western Sudan, traditional buil t forms

in mud are the most striking representations

of human creativity and a unique part of our

world culture – they should not be forgotten.

 JAMES MORRIS

 Thesephotographsaretaken fromButabu – adobe architecture of West 

Africa , JamesMorrisand SuzannePreston Blier, New York,

Princeton Architectural Press, 2003.

Top: house, Djenné, Mali. Mud rendered wallshave tobe resurfaced regularly. As the mud driesit cracks,forminga delicate textured surface. The gentlymoulded structure behind the wall isa coveredstaircase opening onto the flat roof. The shape willsubtly alter each time it is re-rendered.Bottom: house, Djenné, Mali. The blank facade withtiny openingsfor windowsis a traditional style for theDjenné house. Domestic activity isconcentrated inthe open courtyard to the rear.Right: Sanam Mosque, Niger , designed in 1998 byAbou Moussa who travelled hundredsof miles from

 Yaamaa to thisinaccessible region in the north of thecountry. It wasbuilt in 45 daysby the whole villageand appearsto be the largest and most strikingrecentmud buildingin Niger.