AFRITECTURE: Butabu 
For centuries, complex and intricate adobe structures, have
been built in the Sahal region of western Africa, including
the countries of Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Togo, Benin, Ghana, and
Burkina Faso. Made of earth mixed with water, these ephemeral
buildings display a remarkable diversity of form, human ingenuity,
and originality.
In a fascinating book, published in 2003, titled ‘Butabu: Adobe
Architecture of West Africa’, and co-authored by British photographer
James Morris and Harvard professor Suzanne Preston Blier, a stunning
visual array of these structures is displayed.
Follow the links for 48 photos like these 5 (click to enlarge)
www.afritecture.org/tag/mosques www.afritecture.org/architecture/butabu?nggpage=2 www.afritecture.org/architecture/butabu?nggpage=3 In his Preface to the book, Morris writes:
“Too often, when people in the West think of African architecture,
they perceive nothing more than a mud hut—a primitive vernacular
remembered from an old Tarzan movie. Why this ignorance to the
richness of West African buildings? Possibly it is because the great
dynastic civilizations of the region were already in decline when the
European colonizers first exposed these cultures to the West. Being
built of mud, many older buildings had already been lost, unlike
the stone or brick buildings of other ancient cultures. Or possibly
this lack of awareness is because the buildings are just too strange,
too foreign to have been easily appreciated by outsiders. Often they
more closely resemble huge monolithic sculptures or ceramic pots than
“architecture” as we think of it. But in fact these buildings are neither
“historic monuments” in the classic sense, nor as culturally remote as
they may initially appear. They share many qualities — such as
sustainability, sculptural beauty, and community participation in their
conception — now valued in Western architectural thinking. Though
part of long traditions and ancient cultures, they are at the same
time contemporary structures serving a current purpose.
The mud from which these buildings are made is itself a controversial
substance that tests our conventional views of architecture. It is one
of the most commonly used building materials in the world, and yet in
our urban-dominated society it is seen, effectively, as dirt. Buildings
subtly alter in appearance each time they are re-rendered, which can
be as often as once a year. Yet the maintaining and resurfacing of
buildings is part of the rhythm of life; there is an ongoing and active
participation in their continuing existence. If they lost their relevance
and were neglected, they would collapse. This is not a museum culture…”
In this review of the book from The Guardian
Newspaper, journalist Jonathan Glancey writes:
“What these magnificent mosques prove is that mud buildings can be
far more sophisticated than many people living in a world of concrete
and steel might want to believe. Mud is not just a material for shaping
pots, but for temples, palaces and even, as so many west African towns
demonstrate, the framing of entire communities. The very fluidity, or
viscosity, of the material allows the architects who use it to create
dynamic and sensual forms.
Morris’s photographic trips through the region in 1999 and 2000 record
a world of architecture that, sadly, is increasingly under threat. Perhaps
it is mostly poverty rather than culture and memory that keeps this rich
and inventive tradition of building alive…”
This book is a treasure trove of imagery and information to any architecture
enthusiast. Critical elements like space, light, and texture are explored
in intimate detail, revealing a strong argument for this kind of architecture
to be studied, documented, and profiled more wildly. As Morris sums up
his preface: “I am still curious why West Africa’s adobe buildings receive
so little serious consideration. If architecture is a cultural expression,
perhaps it is the culture from which these buildings have evolved, so alien
to the European mind, that keeps it in the academic wilderness, hard for the
commentators to place.
Sadly, the English version of the book is now out of print. There are, however,
used and new copies avaibale from independent outlets via Amazon.com
Photographs and Preface published courtesy of James Morris.
[ © 2011 by Afritecture -- Posted here courtesy of the copyright holder]
