Do we appreciate African architecture
Mundanity in society..
Hi
Welcome to another edition (the first actually) of this newsletter. I'm really glad that you responded favourably to the 'trial run' last week and subscribed. Thank you so much.
The past week was hectic; with studying for exams and trying to complete a term paper, there was just so much to do. Thankfully, that is all over, and I can spend more time trying to foster this community.
Speaking of community, I would like to know you and your interests in terms of African culture- basically a brief introduction of yourself.
Over the past week, I read Anna Duckworth's Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance. Here is a quote from it that struck me:
"No one can see in the work of the artist how it has become,” Nietzsche said. “That is its advantage, for wherever one can see the act of becoming one grows somewhat cool.” In other words, we want to believe that Mark Spitz was born to swim in a way that none of us were and that none of us could. We don’t want to sit on the pool deck and watch him progress from amateur to expert. We prefer our excellence fully formed. We prefer mystery to mundanity."
What stood out to me is the lack of appreciation for mundanity something very common in society. How does this relate to architecture, you may ask? Well, architecture is a mirror reflecting the way of life of a people. Life in its day-to-day sense is mundane and not mysterious. Today, Africans point to the West as a sterling example of architectural Masterpieces, and at times, some design professionals do the same. Le Corbusier, in a letter to a group of modern architects in Johannesburg in 1936, spoke of the whole world as being in a melting pot; Africa's design language, it seems, never left that melting pot and that in itself is mundane. We do not have the luxury of a style as it stands, but our counterparts in Europe do and many of us were not present to watch this style evolve. We could only behold it fully formed, and the excellence that could be expressed through our rich culture and architecture being in a melting pot right now is mundane and unappreciated by us.
However, who gets to say when the pure design language is ready? How long would we remain in that melting pot? and what is African architecture? Is there an African architecture? To be honest, I don't have answers to these questions. However, as we embark on this journey to explore and define African architecture, I encourage you to share your thoughts and insights. Together, we can begin to piece together what African architecture truly means and how it can emerge from the melting pot of global influences to stand on its own. Your perspective is vital in this discussion, and I look forward to the conversations that will shape our understanding of this rich and complex topic.
Let's start by answering the question: What is African architecture? Why don't we discuss that next week.
Yours
Kalucreates xx
African architecture is an Idea that I felt didn't exist for the longest time until I started studying architecture and got into making my own research.
In doing this, I found out that even though there's a scarcity of African architects that practice the so called African architecture, it exists though not as a fully formed design strategy. It could simply be seen as solving African issues with African solution and remotely available materials.
You see the likes of Mariam Kamara, Francis Kerre, and Kunle Adeyemi trying to form a path for themselves In this sector, but the idea on it's own is one that is not popular amongst the indigenous African people.