I know it has been a little while but I'm having some laptop problems which hopefully shall be fixed very soon.
Anyway, I'm really excited today because I planted a flower bush a few hours ago for the first time. I feel like a farm girl now (I'm honestly not sure what plant it is) . lol
There are two more to plant but I just felt that one was an accomplishment enough. In case you are wondering about the panga, well, we do not have a jembe. lol
I nailed it, didn't I? I think I did.
So last week there was an article in the Nation Newspapers concerning architecture. The main message was how architects drew inspiration from the West and Europe instead of here in Africa. Of course not all of them but a good number do. I'm not really sure what the real reason is ( I mean I have only completed my first year of Architecture so I've had ZERO experience in this field ) but maybe copying what has already been done is much easier and probably clients fancy buildings with some western influenced designs. Again, I'm not sure.
Anyway, while reading the article I remembered that during my first semester, we did a research on a number of ancient structures both in Africa and outside Africa then made presentations (each student had an individual project). I also remembered a documentary I watched a few weeks ago, called 'Lost Kingdoms of Africa' by Gus Casely-Hayford. At first I thought that this documentary was boring but it got quite deep and interesting. In his documentary a couple of ancient buildings built by Africans are featured.
Images of a rock hewn church in Lalibela, Ethiopia.
It was built under the order of King Lalibela, who planned to transform the city of Lalibela into a New Jerusalem.
The church was constructed around the 12th and 13th century and is said to be curved out of rock.
Great Mosque Djene, Mali.
The walls of the Great Mosque are made of sun-baked earth bricks, sand and earth based mortar. They are coated with mud plaster which gives the building its smooth, sculpted look. The walls of the building are decorated with bundles of rodier palm sticks called toron. Apparently, it is the largest mud brick building in the world! But of course the mosque is repaired annually by the community around and everyone plays an active role in this.
The pyramids of Giza, Egypt.
I never thought that there was so much scientific knowledge applied in the construction of the pyramids, until the day a presentation was made in class. The construction theory applied in the construction of the pyramids is so detailed. I shall not get into details right now but you can always find out more from Google. :)
The great Zimbabwe (Obviously in Zimbabwe).
It is said that the great Zimbabwe was constructed by the ancestors of the Shona people in the 14th century and could house up to 18000 people. The walls were over five metres high and were constructed without mortar. Just rock upon rock and yet its ruins are evident till today, which goes to show how strong and steady the Great Zimbabwe was, right?
I mean at a time when there was no technology and today even with our technology some buildings collapse months after construction, those guys deserve credit!
In the documentary, Gus mentioned how surprised the white people were (when Africa was being discovered and we were perceived as primitive) when they saw some of these structures. Some believed aliens landed in Africa, built these structures and then disappeared. (I know, talk of crazy. Those good aliens should then come and build our railway and even provide those laptops so as to avoid delays due to tender issues and all. *smh). They were shocked by the attention to detail which was revealed by these structures.
Anyway, the point I'm trying to make is that if people in the earlier centuries could build such magnificent structures which were also a representation of their culture, then we should be way ahead right now, right? Don't you think?
Architecture is definitely not the easiest of things but a challenge within a challenge won't kill.
If our ancestors could rock it, I think we still can. (notice the use of the word 'rock'...hehe)
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