architecture reviving lost societies
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ARCHITECTUREREVIVING LOST SOCIETIES
AYMAN SHESHTAWY
ayman sheshtawy | thesis research | the catholic university of america | fall 2015
to one billion and more...
LOST SOCIETIESWhen westernization was imported to African countries, the hidden side of modernism was merely materialist interests. Therefore, colonialism adopted a concept of domination: imposition of incoming new culture over traditional cultural values at any cost.
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SECTION A
PROBLEM STATEMENT
The effects of colonialism past and present are visible in most African
countries. Even though the African man formed the oldest cultural and
social settlement in human history dating back 195,000 years; modern day
colonialism has torn Africans away from their past and dumbfounded them
by a cultural invasion that marginalizes their own culture. The African is
today the deformed image of others.
In this research, through a sustainable contextual design methodology, I will
form a living architectural layout that revives lost cultural habits and sacred
rituals in Vihiga, Kenya as opposed to the current poorly implemented
western building designs and layouts. The final project will address a
selected community center design with an emphasis on its relationship to
semi-public and public spaces utilizing local labor, materials, and ancient
craftsman skills.
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Kenya (/ˈkɛnjə/ or /ˈkiːnjə/), officially the Republic of Kenya, is known as a part of the
Great Rift Valley. Its capital and largest city is Nairobi. Kenya lies on the equator with
the Indian Ocean to the south-east, Tanzania to the south, Uganda to the
west, South Sudan to the north west, Ethiopia to the north and Somalia to the north-
east (Sayre, 2009). Kenya covers 581,309 km2 (224,445 square miles), and had a
population of approximately 44 million people in July 2012. The official languages
are English and Kiswahili (or Swahili). Swahili, which comes from the Arabic word
meaning "coast," is a mix of Arabic and the African language Bantu (2009 census).
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I. COLONIALISM IN KENYA
Pre-Colonial History | The Great Rift Valley is thought to be one of the places where human
beings originated, and archeologists working in the valley have found remains of what they
speculate are some of the earliest human ancestors. The first known inhabitants of present-
day Kenya were Cushitic-speaking tribes that migrated to the northwest region from Ethiopia
around 2000 B.C.E. Eastern Cushites began to arrive about one thousand years later, and
occupied much of the country's current area. During the period from 500 B.C.E. to 500 C.E.,
other tribes arrived from various parts of Africa. Tribal disagreements often led to war during
this time. In the 900s, Arab merchants arrived and established trading centers along the
coast of East Africa. Over the ensuing eight centuries, they succeeded in converting many
Kenyans to Islam. Some Arabs settled in the area and intermarried with local groups.
The Europeans | Evolving from a mixture of Bantu and Arabic, the Swahili language then
developed as a lingua franca for trade between the different peoples. When the
Portuguese arrived in 1498, the Arab dominance on the coast was clipped, as the Port of
Mombasa became an important resupply stop for ships bound for the Far East. The
Portuguese in turn gave way to Islamic control under the Imam of Oman in the 1600s until
another European influence came along, this time from the United Kingdom during the 19th
century.
Colonial History | Britain gradually increased its domain in the region, and in 1884–1885,
Kenya was named a British protectorate by the Congress of Berlin, which divided the African
continent among various European powers. The British constructed the Uganda Railway,
which connected the ports on Kenya's coast to landlocked Uganda. The increasing
economic opportunities brought thousands of British settlers who displaced many Africans,
often forcing them to live on reservations. The Africans resisted—the Kikuyu in particular put
up a strong fight—but they were defeated by the superior military power of the British
(Embassy of the Republic of Kenya, 2014).
Emergence of the Nation | During the early twentieth century, the British colonizers forced
the Africans to work their farms in virtual slavery, and kept the upper hand by making it illegal
for the Kenyans to grow their own food. In 1942, members of the Kikuyu, Embu, Meru and
Kamba tribes took an oath of unity and secrecy to fight for freedom from British rule. The
Mau Mau Movement began with that oath and Kenya embarked on its long hard road to
National Sovereignty. Kenya finally gained independence on December 12, 1963. The
following year, Kenya became a Republic with Kenyatta as its first President. In the same
year Kenya joined the British Commonwealth. Even though Kenya gained its independence,
the scars of the British colonial invasion still remain (Elanor Stanford, 2010).
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II. CULTURAL INVASION
While Western civilization has precariously contaminated the traditional values and culture
of Africa, it remains a fact that the Great Rift Valley region had established, well before the
advent of colonialism, a pattern of home-grown political systems, governance process and
generally acceptable institutional rule-making arrangement, such that there was
progression in the pace of civilization of Africa and self-styled tempo of technological
development.
Furthermore, the dynamism and significance of Kenya on the global continuum tends to
support the argument that without the retrogressive contact with imperial forces, Kenya
would have evolved and sustained an advanced level of development and modern
civilization of their own.
With Kenya subjugated and dominated, the Western culture and European mode of
civilization began to thrive and outgrow Vihiga’s cultural heritage. Western culture now is
regarded as frontline civilization. African ways of doing things became primitive, archaic
and regrettably unacceptable in public domain. Not only were certain aspects of the
material culture in the colonies lost or destroyed, colonial societies also lost the power and
sense of cultural continuity, such that it became practically impossible to recover the ability
to strive for cultural progress on their own terms. As argued by a scholar:
The social fabric was completely devastated and a new culture of violence
was implanted. Traditional African systems of conflict resolution were
destroyed and, in their places, nothing was given. The democratic process,
rudimentary though it was, but with great potential as accompanies every
human institution, was brutally uprooted and replaced by the
authoritarianism of colonialism. A new crop of elites was created, nurtured,
and weaned on the altar of violence and colonialism armed with the
structures of the modern state to continue to carry out the art and act of
subjugation of the mass of the people in the service of colonialism (Mimiko,
2010:641-42).
The above assertion was corroborated by Kasongo (2010:314) when he submits that “one
could infer that when westernization was imported to African countries, the hidden side of
modernism was materialist interests. Civilization was just another concept of domination:
imposition of incoming new culture over traditional cultural values”. It is important to
emphasize fundamentally that urgent and more decisive steps need to be taken in order to
reorder and reverse this evanescent trend of cultural emptiness, without which Africa may
experience seasons of cultural extinction and drought of African values.
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SECTION B
AUDIENCE
In 2014, I joined Serve a Village (a Volunteer Organization with current 501(c) (3) status)
in an effort to support sustainable projects that help improving the health,
education, welfare and environment of needy communities throughout the
world. Since then, I have made it my goal to dedicate my time, effort, and
energy to utilize the knowledge acquired through my architectural studies
at the Catholic University of America and my experience in cultural studies
to improve the way of living in the countries where it is most needed.
In summer 2015, my initial thesis research inspired Serve a Village to launch
a campaign to support the Kigima Resource Center in Vihiga, Kenya, as well
as coordinate a research trip that allowed me to test a contextual
methodology in Vihiga over the period of (5) weeks.
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Vihiga County borders Nandi County to the east, Kakamega County to the north,
Siaya County to the west, and Kisumu County to the south. The County is made up
of five constituencies / districts namely Luanda, Emuhaya, Hamisi, Sabatia, and
Vihiga district where the project is located. The county has a population of
554,622 [1] (2009 census) and an area of 563 km². The equator cuts across the
southern part of the county.
The county is located on the western region of Kenya, in the Lake Victoria Basin. Its
altitude ranges between 1,300 m and 1,800 m above sea level and slopes gently
from west to east. Generally the county has undulating hills and valleys with streams
flowing from northeast to southwest and draining into Lake Victoria.
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I. DEMOGRAPHIC FEATURES
According to the 2009 National Population and Housing Census, Vihiga County had a
population of 554,622, with a population density of 1044 persons per square km, one of the
highest in the country. 47.8 % of the population were male while 52.2% were female. The
county population is estimated to have grown to 572,577 persons in 2012 and is projected
to grow to 603,856 persons in 2017 (KNBS 2013). Table 3 below shows population projections
by age cohort.
Age
Group Census 2009 Projections 2012 Projections 2015
M F T M F T M F T
0-4 43,398 42,941 86,339 44,806 44,329 89,135 46,258 45,766 92,024
5-9 42,250 41,239 83,489 43,612 42,582 86,194 45,026 43,962 88,988
10-14 38,164 38,961 77,125 39,408 40,231 79,639 40,686 41,535 82,221
15-19 31,384 31,550 62,934 32,411 32,577 64,988 33,462 33,633 67,095
20-24 17,840 23,311 41,151 18,416 24,078 42,494 19,013 24,859 43,872
25-29 13,551 18,384 31,935 13,995 18,985 32,980 14,449 19,601 34,050
30-34 12,051 15,823 27,874 12,449 16,333 28,782 12,853 16,863 29,716
35-39 10,575 13,219 23,794 10,930 13,651 24,581 11,285 14,095 25,380
40-44 8,825 11,322 20,147 9,113 11,693 20,806 9,408 12,072 21,480
45-49 8,096 11,004 19,100 8,354 11,361 19,715 8,624 11,729 20,353
50-54 7,738 10,152 17,890 8,001 10,487 18,488 8,260 10,827 19,087
55-59 7,310 8,526 15,836 7,540 8,800 16,340 7,784 9,084 16,868
60-64 6,296 6,938 13,234 6,509 7,172 13,681 6,720 7,405 14,125
65-69 4,585 5,551 10,136 4,747 5,726 10,473 4,901 5,911 10,812
70-74 4,095 4,926 9,021 4,258 5,095 9,353 4,396 5,258 9,654
75-79 2,991 3,353 6,344 3,119 3,495 6,614 3,220 3,609 6,829
80+ 3,549 4,706 8,255 3,553 4,761 8,314 3,668 4,916 8,584
Total 262,71 291,906 554,622 271,221 301,356 572,57 280,01 311,125 591,138
These projections are based on a projected population growth rate of 1.1 per cent per
annum. The growth rate has negatively impacted the available resources. Affected
resources include land, forests and wetlands. The county demographic profile depicts a
youthful population comprising of 46 per cent of persons aged below 15 years. This means
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that a lot of resources will have to be allocated towards education, health, and youth
programs guided towards a sustainable human development.
II. EMPLOYMENT
According to Vihiga County Integrated Development Plan, most wage earners in the
county are in agriculture and rural development sector, mainly involved in crop farming
which includes tea and coffee as the main cash crops, maize, and beans as well as
livestock production. Agriculture provides 70% of employment opportunities.
The urban self-employed comprise 4 per cent of the total labor force. While 34 per cent of
labor force is rural based. Most people in the rural areas are self-employed and engaged
in small scale businesses operating kiosks selling grocery, food, small hotels, and
undertaking small scale farming. The urban self-employment includes those in businesses
like shop keeping, hotels, chemists, hair dressing, foodstuff trade, and cottage industry.
a. Labor Force
The County’s total labor force (15-64) years were 282,761 which represent 49 per
cent of the total population in 2012. The composition of this labor force was 55 per
cent (155,092) female and 45 per cent (127,669) male. The labor participation rate
for population aged 15-64 years is 81.9 per cent while the percentage of
economically active population in wage employment is 29.2 per cent. The total
employed population is 118,893.
b. Unemployment Levels
The number of unemployed people is over 65 per cent while the economically
inactive are 55 per cent. Youth unemployment has worsened with the diminishing
opportunities for formal employments. This has led to high dependency ratio and
inability of the few employed to save and invest. Cases of insecurity associated
with youth unemployment are also on the rise. In this regard, more opportunities
need to be created with a view of addressing the unemployment problem.
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III. PROJECT SOCIAL MERIT
The project is funded and carried out by Serve a Village (a locally active NGO that seeks
to coordinate environmental and cultural endeavors) at the request of villagers. Major
financial and land donations were made by volunteers as well as financially capable
people in Vihiga. In fact, the land itself was donated by an older member of the
community. Material suppliers are screened for fair labor practices and support of
historically disadvantaged persons. The project was planned with the participation of
community stakeholders in workshop sessions and discussions to determine the
requirements and expectations for both residential and public phases. Their involvement
was important because previous projects that were imposed without community
consultation met with both overt and passive resistance. The stakeholder groups included
Vihiga volunteers, trustees, two city officials, local councilors, Rotary Club members, and
many local workers, skilled and unskilled.
IV. PROJECT SOCIOECONOMIC BENEFITS
Vihiga’s mission to redress social inequity will be central to the design approach. The public
space will consist of an environmental community educational and cultural center that
seeks to fight poverty in a holistic and sustainable way by establishing self-sufficiency and
gradually integrating the poor into the broader economy, culture, and society. This
requires extensive effort and multiple measures because the mechanisms that perpetuate
poverty are intertwined and deeply rooted. The capacity of a single building or small NGO
to effect change is limited, but my field visit had shown that the people are dedicated
and making progress – one person or one family at a time. Establishing self-sufficiency and
social equality among the poor requires education, marketable skills, employment,
resources, markets, and a humane physical environment. The project will be designed to
provide all these assets to the greatest extent possible, especially to empower people
during the construction phase and beyond.
The socioeconomic development that Vihiga seeks and the project advances will take
decades to realize. The steps can be roughly outlined as follows:
a. Sustenance
A vegetable garden and orchard are to be planted on the public space site,
providing food for fifty very poor families. The demonstration garden is used in the
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program to teach local families how to establish and maintain their own organic
vegetable gardens and productively use domestic land. Under the project, fifty
fruit trees for public benefit will be planted in the neighborhood.
b. Education and training
The construction methods proposed for the project are highly labor intensive,
chosen in order to teach people, use and develop local skills, and build local
knowledge. As many local people as possible will be hired as construction workers
and trained on site. Construction techniques are to be regularly explained and
demonstrated. A scale model of the building will be used to explain the
construction principles. Daily meetings will be held, and workers will be
encouraged to propose ways of handling particular tasks. Thus, the workers will not
only learn trade skills, but how to think, design and build for themselves in a
practicable way.
c. Resource development
Besides teaching skills, the project places resources in the hands of the people by
establishing local sources of materials such as wood and waste. Trees are an
economical and renewable source of wood. New trees are planned in the
neighborhood for use by the community, establishing suburban forestry. Each tree
is to be coppiced and to produce a new pole every five years. A yard for
recovering demolition materials will be created in the neighborhood, establishing
another valuable and plentiful resource. Materials collected will include brick,
scrap metal, roofing, stone, and wood.
d. Producing, not buying
To promote local self-sufficiency, I will engage local workers and businesses as
much as possible rather than to import industrialized building materials. The benefits
are twofold: (1) as much money as possible is injected into the local economy in
the form of wages, and (2) once local skills and resources are established, people
can begin producing instead of buying, and a local economy can emerge.
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SECTION C
METHODOLOGY
The research will adopt a Contextual Design Methodology to structure a well-
defined user-centered design process that provides methods to collect data
about users in the field, use the data to create and prototype product and
service concepts, and iteratively test and refine those concepts with users.
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I. PLACE
The selected site is donated by a community elder to the registered trustees of Vihiga
Muslim Community. The initial registered donated area is 0.04 hectares (approximately
4,300 square feet). However; the owner has agreed to donate up to 0.3 hectares
(approximately 32,300 square feet) considering the socioeconomic benefits of the project.
The site is located on the eastern part of the Rift Valley. Generally, the county has
undulating hills and valleys with streams flowing from northeast to southwest and draining
into Lake Victoria. There are two main rivers, Yala and Esalwa, which drain into Lake
Victoria. One of which runs less than 250 feet away from the property line.
The soil is mainly sedimentary in nature. The soil supports various farming activities which
include cash crops like tea and coffee. The abundant rain in the county enables rearing
of livestock, crop farming, fruits and other horticultural crops vital for sustainability of agro
based industries. The types of soil and climate favor two planting seasons in the year.
During long rains, crops such as maize, sweet potatoes, sorghum and beans are grown for
subsistence use in most parts of the county.
a. Climate Analysis
The county experience high equatorial climate with well distributed rainfall
throughout the year with an average annual precipitation of 1900 mm. The rainfall
ranges from 1800 – 2000mm. Temperatures range between 14ºC - 32ºC, with a
mean of 23ºC. Long rains are experienced in the months of March, April and May
which are wettest while short rains are experienced in the months of September,
October and November. The driest and hottest months are December, January
and February with an average humidity of 41.75 %. This climate supports a variety
of crop farming such as coffee, tea, and horticultural crops and rearing of livestock.
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b. Water and Sanitation
The water sub-sector promotes and supports the integrated water resource
management and development approach towards enhancing water availability
and accessibility. Households with access to piped water comprise 2.7 per cent
whereas 64 per cent of the households are served with protected springs and 25.3
per cent are served with unprotected springs.
Water supply schemes
There are 20 piped water supply schemes within the county some of which
are operational while others are under rehabilitation. The major water
schemes are Mbale, Maseno, Ebunagwe, Kaimosi and Sosiani water
schemes.
Water sources
The average distance to the nearest water point is about 0.5 Km. The
proportion of households with roof catchment systems stands at 8 per cent.
With an unpredictable rainfall pattern, efforts need to be made to increase
the number of households with roof catchments to tap rain water.
Sanitation
Most rural households in the county have pit latrines. However, 77.9 per cent
of the pit latrines are uncovered while only 22.1 per cent are covered. The
county lacks a waste disposal, sewerage and effluent management
system. Most public and private premises rely on septic tanks. According to
the county, lagoons will be established in major towns of Mbale and
Luanda. The County government also plans to purchase exhausters to serve
the individual households.
Roof catchment system
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c. Infrastructure and Access
Information regarding infrastructure and access was obtained from Vihiga County
Integrated Development Plan as well as a personal interview with Senator Paul
Njoroge.
Road and Rail Network
The road network in the area is in poor condition. Except for a few main
paved roads, it is mostly dirt roads that require routine maintenance. The
county’s total road network in length is 1,058.2 Km. Paved roads make up
16.6 per cent of the total road network. Bitumen surface covers a length of
201.5 Km, gravel surface 373.7 Km, and earth surface 483 Km. The County
has a rail length of 20 Km and has one railway station at Luanda. However,
rail services stopped several years ago. The county has no airstrip and relies
on the neighboring counties for flight services.
Posts and Telecommunications
Vihiga County is served with 23 post/sub-post offices and four private
couriers, spread across the county. The major post offices are located in
Mbale and Luanda Towns. The mobile telephone network coverage is poor
and stands at 60 per cent. The County’s terrain characterized by hills and
valleys has influenced telecommunications network in the region.
Earth Roads
Gravel Roads
Bitumen Surface
Paved Roads
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Financial Institutions
The county has five (5) commercial banks namely Kenya Commercial Bank,
Equity Bank, Cooperative Bank, Post Bank and Barclays Bank. There are also
micro-finance institutions namely, Kenya Women Finance Trust, FOSA,
Bunyore Financial Services Association and Platinum Credit and one village
bank by the name Khaviem village bank. Most of these institutions are
concentrated in urban centers and large markets centers. Despite the
large number of financial institutions, access to credit is still a major
challenge as the rate of interest charged remains high. The major
beneficiaries of credit from micro finance institutions are the women and
youths who are organized in groups undertaking various income
generating activities.
Education Institutions
There are only 60 Adult learning centers and 6 tertiary colleges in the whole
county. Most colleges are for teachers. Among the public colleges are
Kaimosi Teachers Training College and Friends Kaimosi Institute of
Technology. Private colleges include Vihiga Teachers College, St Joseph’s
Teachers College and Goibei Teachers College. The county government
plans to establish a medical training college in the county to meet the
growing demand for heath personnel. There are 16 youth polytechnics
across the county. However, enrolment in these polytechnics has been
extremely low.
Energy Access
The county suffers from the lack of electricity. Urban household access to
electricity is 10.8 per cent whereas the rural household access to electricity
is 5.3 per cent. The main source of cooking fuel is firewood which accounts
for 84.8 per cent of total cooking fuel whereas the main source of lighting
fuel is paraffin accounting for 88.7 per cent of total population.
Current Housing Types
Housing in the county is mainly characterized by type of walling, floor and
roof materials. Mud/wood walled houses comprise of 74.8 per cent of
households while 71.3 per cent of houses are made of earth floors and 94.2
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per cent households have corrugated iron sheets roofs. The predominant
flooring materials used by most households in the county are earth, mud,
dung, and sand, as well as a share of cement and tiles. The county
government intends to outline a housing policy to reduce sprawling of slums
in urban centers. The government seeks to partner with development
partners to construct low cost modern houses in the urban centers to
minimize the mushrooming slums. There is no proposed plan for addressing
the housing issues in the village and rural areas.
Existing housing with
corrugated sheets
roofing and mud walls.
Existing primary school
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d. Land and Land Use
The average farm size in the county is 0.4 hectares for small scale farming and 3
hectares for large scale. The fertile land in Sabatia, Hamisi and Emuhaya
Constituencies coupled with abundant rains has influenced the dense settlement.
The high concentration of population is witnessed even in the rocky areas such as
Maragoli hills and the flat swampy parts of Luanda.
In terms of land use, 98.7per cent of the land is under farming, mostly subsistence,
while 1.3 per cent is under housing. The main land use types include livestock, crop
farming, tree planting fish farming and settlements. Other land use activities are soil
mining for brick making and pot making as well as house construction. Sand and
stone harvesting are other activities for which land is put to use. The increase in
settlement areas reduces available arable land for livelihood activities. Most of
these activities are undertaken in rural areas where the majority live.
Percentage of Land Owners with Title Deeds
Proportion of parcels whose owners have title deeds is 28.3 per cent while
the rest is still under the ownership of grandparents. Women ownership of
land titles is also low due to cultural barriers. This has made it very difficult
for those who would like to access credit from financial institutions for
investment due to lack of collateral. Most people are left to invest their little
funds which, in most cases, are in form of grants and donations that cannot
meet their development aspirations. This is even made worse by the high
poverty situation. The high population density in the county has also led
further sub divisions of land into uneconomical parcels.
Incidence of
Landlessness
Most people in the
county own land.
However, 3 per cent of
the total population is
landless. Some of the
landless have invaded
Maragoli and Kibiri
Forests for settlement.
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Donated Land Title Deed
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e. Construction Methodology
The design will adopt a sustainable approach to design and construction; I call it a
“sustainable construction methodology” as a part of an overall contextual
methodology.
It treats the built environment as part of a cyclical process of regeneration rather
than as a consumer of materials. This innovative methodology is simple enough to
be understood by users and observers. The methodology produces local benefits
by systematically applying environmental, socioeconomic, cost-management,
and technical principles such as using waste and renewable materials, minimizing
CO2 emissions, conserving energy, and using local resources. Through an iterative
process, the methodology considers all phases of the life cycle of a building. A
palette of materials and a language of forms emerge that suit the local cultural,
technical, and environmental context.
The project will be designed so that local people can repair and maintain it using
locally grown materials. Like natural systems, principles of sustainability reinforce
each other – or synergize. For instance, the use of local waste and renewable
materials simultaneously reduces resource consumption, saves energy, generates
less greenhouse gas, and generates local jobs.
From this approach evolves an ethic: (1) operate locally – make full use of the site
and locality in every respect, and draw on immediate surroundings before looking
beyond, (2) prefer craftsmanship to mechanization, and (3) prefer natural
materials to processed ones. This ethic is practicable and most beneficial where
unemployment is high, income is low, labor rates are low, or resources are plentiful.
f. Building Materials
Central to the methodology economy and resourcefulness in the use of materials
and construction methods.
Earth bags and mud | are the main materials to be used for the residential project
walls because of their availability and ease of use.
Rammed earth and earth blocks | will be utilized for the public space walls. They
require light machinery use and are more durable than traditional mud
construction methods. Moreover, Interlocking Stabilized Compressed Earth blocks
are considered a solution that combines the economy and sustainability of
wattle & daub with the durability of masonry.
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Wood | is locally plentiful and renewable, and thus plays strongly in the new
aesthetic. Most of the wood for the building comes from invasive alien trees
cleared from local forests. Poles and logs are used instead of surfaced timber; the
wood is to be treated with boron on site and finished naturally. Wooden windows
are fabricated locally. Wood lath for screens and fences are harvested from local
trees.
Reeds | are an indigenous building material in Kenya, and were used here to make
domes, attractive ceiling mats and divider screens. Reeds regenerate rapidly, but
the material has become expensive and scarce, as wetlands have been
swallowed by development. Given the large number of detention ponds, it should
be possible to revive the use of this renewable building material. Reed mats must
be replaced relatively frequently, but because they are made by hand from
renewable material, the ecological profile is favorable. Sustainability does not
always equal durability.
Crushed demolition rubble | will be used as aggregate in the concrete
foundations.
Thatching and sod roofs| will be planted with indigenous mountain plants that
require no care.
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II. CULTURE IN VIHIGA
a. Early Settlement Patterns
Kenya villages were almost invariably arranged in the form a circle
enclosing the village livestock. The preferred high ground of the
mountainsides afforded villagers protection from their enemies and
from the often torrential rains that are endemic to the region. The
natural terraces of the mountains provided level ground on which
to build their homes. These villages typically overlooked a river valley
in which fields enjoyed the healthiest soil, livestock was led to
pasture, and where the wood and reeds that were their building
materials could be easily harvested. Clean water and plenty of
sunlight were also important considerations. An early settlement
layout is considered the base to a successful modern settlement
layout.
b. Traditional House Types
The Beehive hut | is made of a framework of saplings that are
planted in the ground, bent and tied at an apex to form a dome.
They are fronted by a low tunnel entrance which protected the
occupants from wind and rain and made the hut easier to defend
against intruders. The wooden framework is thatched and the
interior well plastered with a mud and dung mixture. Up until the
nineteenth century, the beehive hut was the most common house
type among Vihiga.
The Corbelled huts | emergence coincided with an increased
scarcity of wood in the region. A population growing fast in its
prosperity began to overtax the land of its resources. The long
grasses of the plains were burnt regularly (a practice still common
today), wild animals were hunted and killed to make way for human
settlements and the landscape was denuded of trees. They were
domed structures built entirely of slabs of dolerite and sometimes
sandstone. These stones were corbelled inwards and capped with
a flat slab. Most of these huts, being no higher than 1.2m, had no
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standing room but allowed several people to sit or curl up
comfortably. One had to crawl on his hands and knees to enter the
hut which was secured from wild beasts by another large slab of
rock placed just inside the entrance. The huts were often adjoined
by a paved terrace with a stone wall.
The Rondavel | is essentially a circular drum surmounted by a cone
of thatch. Walls are built of stone, plastered wood or massive earth.
The new building type featured a door that one could enter without
stooping or crawling, it allowed occupants to walk upright within its
walls and introduced windows for better light and ventilation.
The Roloheisi | represents a dialogue between two cultures and two
modes of thinking. It combines the circle of the African vernacular
and the straight line of the European house. When the missionaries
arrived in Kisumu and Vihiga, they built for themselves rectangular
houses which are now referred to as heisi or polata. This is the
second most common house type among Vihiga today. The tin
roofs, right angles and straight walls (that readily accommodate
western furniture and lifestyles) represent a desire for modernity
among many Kenyans. However, adopting the roloheisi was the
beginning of the western civilization contaminating the values and
cultural habits in the region.
c. Gender Role & Cultural Habits
Ancient cultural habits formed the foundation of the current gender roles in Vihiga.
The roles of men and women in Kenyan culture are clearly defined. Men occupied
the worlds of pastoralism and politics while women were the cultivators who also
took care of the home.
Animals are the love and wealth of the Vihigan man, the cow in particular
representing his greatest treasure. The importance of the cow is evident in the
placement of their enclosure at the center of the village. Beneath these walls, the
chief and his family were buried. The kraal was consecrated space where no
woman dared to tread.
25
Affairs of state were conducted at court, not far from the chief’s house. Every male
who was of age was expected to attend court on a regular basis. This was a
meeting place for courtiers. It was the place where guests and travelers were
received. Trials were heard and public affairs were discussed at court. Young men
were instructed in the laws, mores and conduct of Basotho. Here they learned,
amongst other skills, the preparation of hides and weaving of the grain baskets
called lisiu. The court represent the realms of pastoralism and politics that were the
sole preserve of men.
Women were responsible for cultivation and care of the home. Agriculture played
a major role in the prosperity of Vihiga. At the time, Vihiga enjoyed a mixed
economy based on pastoralism, cultivation, hunting-and-gathering and cattle
raiding. Women made considerable contributions to that economy with their
tireless work in the fields. Every year they prepared the soil, sowed, weeded and
harvested. Every married Mosotho woman had her own hut and fields from whose
produce she fed her family. Vehigans became excellent grain farmers. Through
the system of mafisa, the population grew wealthy. During the 1840’s Vihiga was
supplying food, in addition to cattle and horses to the ever-increasing population
of Kenya.
Women’s duties were no less demanding in their homes. They prepared meals,
maintained the house, washed clothes, brewed beer, made pottery and crafts
and raised their children. In this realm, the female was master who had rights and
powers the male could not impugn. These predetermined divisions of labor and
duty based on gender, made for a stable and harmonious social arrangement.
d. Private & Public Spaces
Public realm is the foremost design challenge that young Kenyan architects will
face in their careers. Public and private spaces – and the relationship between
them – had been once clearly represented for centuries in the tissue of early
settlements and villages. In modern day, the most damaging effect of colonial
dictatorship is the disappearance of the public space. However, true public space
may not happen in Vihiga for decades; adopted governmental suppression of civil
liberties discourages public debate. While Kenyan civic spaces exist in cities, they
function more symbolically than operatively. In the current vacuum of public
26
space the domestic sphere is the best venue for communal discourse. The home is
often positioned as a conceptual antithesis to the public sphere. Yet the very
qualities of domesticity—opacity, privacy, security—also shelter personal liberties.
In practice, public and private spaces are enmeshed: contained within the public
space of the village are private spaces that, in turn, contain other, more familial,
public spaces. Embedded in the Operation Vihiga Project is a study that the
Vihigan house can represent a kind of semi-public space which ties to a greater
public space where individual empowerment results in communal good.
Daily activities based on a field study of (23) families
27
SECTION D
FIELD STUDIES
The core of my methodology is to understand users in order to find out their
fundamental intents, desires, and drivers which may be invisible to the
people in Vihiga. So the only way to achieve it was to go out in the field
and talk with people.
28
View over the Great Rift Valley
29
I. PRECEDENT STUDIES
Precedent refers to what has preceded us or come before in time. Precedent is used in all
disciplines as a guide or a justification for a particular line of thinking or a course of action,
or for a particular decision. Architectural precedent does not only refer to what is
presented and celebrated in formal overviews of architectural history and theory, it also
refers to one’s own house, village, or city, and the vernacular traditions of the world. In
other words, the entire history of the human endeavor in Kenya to build shelter is my source
of precedent (Paul Righini, 2010)
Studying vernacular traditions enables us to appreciate relationship between building
form and context, as well as the use of local resource and technology. Vernacular
traditions demonstrate a profound awareness of climate and reveal ways of ordering
space that are special and pertinent to the particular culture in Vihiga, Kenya.
a. New Gourna Village | Egypt | Hassan Fathy
Hassan Fathy followed a contextual theory design based on cultural habits, the use
of local materials, and achieving sustainability.
The symmetry and balance are carefully studied between the bedrooms
and living areas creating a barrier between private and public, while the
circulation takes shape at the common area between both spaces.
The structure is mainly kept to the exterior walls providing a sense of security
with thicker walls while allowing natural day light within the entire space by
using different elements as “mashrabia”.
The formal shape of a square provides a unique form layout and lends to a
simplistic method of construction that allows utilizing local material and
labor.
The basic dome shape used in Egyptian tradition is hemispherical.
Horizontal concentric courses of bricks are laid first at a shallow angle and
then more sharply inclined as one builds the concentric rings higher and
towards the top. The distance from the center of the dome and the angle
of each brick is given by a wire or a radial arm which rotates around a
central post.
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Village Master Plan
Dome Construction
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Single Unit Design
32
Private and Public Spaces
Private
Semi-Public Semi-Private
Public
Sustainable ‘Wind Catches’
33
b. Maasai Village | Case Study
In order to fully understand the origins of Kenyan culture and its effect on
architecture in the region, I had decided to take a long trip into the depth of the
Great Rift Valley and study the Maasai culture as it is considered one of the oldest
and most preserved cultures in the area.
According to their own oral history, the Maasai originated from the lower Nile valley
north of Lake Turkana (Northwest Kenya) and began migrating south around the
15th century, arriving in a long trunk of land stretching from what is now northern
Kenya to what is now central Tanzania between the 17th and late 18th century.
Many ethnic groups that had already formed settlements in the region were
forcibly displaced by the incoming Maasai, while other, mainly southern Cushitic
groups, were assimilated into Maasai society.
The Maasai people stood against slavery and lived alongside most wild animals;
which allowed their culture to remain untouched by western colonialism. Maasai
society never condoned traffic of human beings, and outsiders looking for people
to enslave avoided the Maasai.
The Maasai territory reached its largest size in the mid-19th century, and covered
almost all of the Great Rift Valley and adjacent lands from Mount Marsabit in the
north to Dodoma in the south.
34
Welcome Ceremony
35
The Maasai's autosomal DNA has been examined in a comprehensive study by
Tishkoff et al. (2009) on the genetic affiliations of various populations in Africa.
According to the study's authors, the Maasai "have maintained their culture in the
face of extensive genetic introgression". Tishkoff et al. also indicate that: "Many Nilo-
Saharan-speaking populations in East Africa, such as the Maasai, show multiple
cluster assignments from the Nilo-Saharan (red) and Cushitic (dark purple) AACs,
in accord with linguistic evidence of repeatedNilotic assimilation of Cushites over
the past 3000 years and with the high frequency of a shared East African–specific
mutation associated with lactose tolerance."
Culture | Maasai society is strongly patriarchal in nature, with elder men,
sometimes joined by retired elders, deciding most major matters for each
Maasai group. A full body of oral law covers many aspects of
behavior. Traditional Maasai lifestyle centres around their cattle which
constitute their primary source of food. The measure of a man's wealth is in
terms of cattle and children. A herd of 50 cattle is respectable, and the
more children the better. A man who has plenty of one but not the other is
considered to be poor. All of the Maasai’s needs for food are met by their
cattle. They eat the meat, drink the milk and on occasion, drink the blood.
Bulls, oxen and lambs are slaughtered for meat on special occasions and
for ceremonies.
Influences from the outside world | Maintaining a traditional pastoral
lifestyle has become increasingly difficult due to outside influences of the
modern world. Garrett Hardin's article, outlining the "tragedy of the
commons", as well as Melville Herskovits' "cattle complex" helped to
influence ecologists and policy makers about the harm Maasai pastoralists
were causing to savannah rangelands. This concept was later proven false
by anthropologists but is still deeply ingrained in the minds of ecologists and
Tanzanian officials. This influenced British colonial policy makers in 1951 to
remove all Maasai from the Serengeti National Park and relegate them to
areas in and around the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. Over the years,
many projects have begun to help Maasai tribal leaders find ways to
preserve their traditions while also balancing the education needs of their
children for the modern world.
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Village Chief
37
Social Organization | According to my interview with the chief, the central
unit of Maasai society is the age-set. Young boys are sent out with the
calves and lambs as soon as they can toddle, but childhood for boys is
mostly playtime, with the exception of ritual beatings to test courage and
endurance. Girls are responsible for chores such as cooking and milking,
skills which they learn from their mothers at an early age. The Maasai are
traditionally polygynous; this is thought to be a long-standing and practical
adaptation to high infant and warrior mortality rates. Polyandry is also
practiced. A woman marries not just her husband, but the entire age group.
Men are expected to give up their bed to a visiting age-mate guest. The
woman decides strictly on her own if she will join the visiting male.
Shelter | As a historically nomadic and then semi-nomadic people, the
Maasai have traditionally relied on local, readily available materials and
indigenous technology to construct their housing. The traditional Maasai
house was in the first instance designed for people on the move and was
thus very impermanent in nature. The Inkajijik (houses) are either star-
shaped or circular, and are constructed by able-bodied women. The
structural framework is formed of timber poles fixed directly into the ground
and interwoven with a lattice of smaller branches, which is then plastered
with a mix of mud, sticks, grass, cow dung, human urine, and ash. The cow
dung ensures that the roof is waterproof.
The enkaj is small, measuring about 3x5 m and standing only 1.5 m high.
Within this space, the family cooks, eats, sleeps, socializes, and stores food,
fuel, and other household possessions. Small livestock are also often
accommodated within the enkaji. Villages are enclosed in a circular fence
(an enkang) built by the men, usually of thorned acacia, a native tree. At
night, all cows, goats, and sheep are placed in an enclosure in the center,
safe from wild animals.
38
View from Outside
Village Aerial View
View from Inside
39
View from Outside
Maasai Village Plan
40
Inkajijik (House) Entrance
41
42
43
c. African Fractals | Rhythm of African Life
The first shape is an overhead view of a single house. The second a family
enclosure. Finally, the third iteration provides a structure that could be the
overhead view of the whole settlement.
Note that the self-replicating line off-center is the position of the altar in the house,
and the position of the village altar in the chief’s family ring: a resonance between
spiritual notions of endless renewal, mathematical models of self-replication, and
physical structure that we see in many of the fractal village architectures of Africa.
At the smallest scale, if we were to view a single house in the family ring from above,
we would see that it is a ring with a special place at the back of the interior: the
household altar.
The settlement as a whole has the same shape: it is a ring of rings. The settlement,
like the family ring, has a front/back social distinction: the entrance is low status,
and the back end is high status. At the settlement entrance there are no family
enclosures at all for the first 20 yards or so, but the farther back we go, the larger
the family enclosures become.
44
II. TESTING CONSTRUCTION METHODS
Over the last 5 weeks of summer 2015, I had a chance to design and build a 1,800 square
feet shelter and library in Vihiga on a smaller size site. It was the ideal opportunity to test
and refine a contextual design methodology.
A Kenyan builder and consultant, Joel Oriema, lead an initial two-week training session for
the construction crew prior to my arrival. We categorized the available labor by trade and
craftsman skills as follows:
a. Site work and foundation
b. Brick makers and masonry workers
c. Wood work and carpentry
d. Thatching and roofing
I created an open-source construction manual that described the method step-by-step
once the design was complete. The document is another architectural tool for engaging
the public, and another indication of the pedagogical current that runs through the entire
Vihiga Village Project. The manual was written in English as it is widely spoken in Vihiga, but
relied heavily on photographs because many Vihigans do not read or write. Many
architectural drawings, particularly axonometrics, beloved by architects, are too abstract
for this public. During my communication with the villagers, only one out of thirty members
was able to sketch a plan of their existing home as a part of the pre-design process. While
the villagers had a certain visual literacy—they could draw their house’s front elevation,
for instance—many were embarrassed to draw floor plans.
Interior Shot
45
Site Staking
46
Using Chalk to Mark Foundation
47
Concrete Base
48
Stone Foundation
49
Terrace Carpentry
50
Screen Thatching
51
III. TESTING CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS
The Effect of Climate on Available Materials
Glass Stone Concrete Steel Mud Brick Wood Fabric Thatching
Light Reflects Fades Absorbs Reflects Absorbs Fades Fades Through
Water Stains Erodes Cracks Rusts Cracks / Erodes Rots Rots Rots / Stains
Heat N/A N/A N/A Expands Cracks Cracks N/A Dries
Cold N/A N/A N/A Contracts N/A Contracts N/A N/A
Fire Blackens Blackens N/A Melts / Bends Blackens Burns Burns Burns
Wind Fluctuates N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A Fluctuates Could Shift or
Move
Local Material Cost Effectiveness
Glass Stone Concrete Steel Mud Brick Wood Fabric Thatching
Cost Expensive Moderate Expensive Expensive Low Cost Low Cost Moderate Low Cost
52
Local Material Durability
0
ye
ars
20
ye
ars
40
ye
ars
60
ye
ars
80
ye
ars
100
ye
ars
120
ye
ars
140
ye
ars
Glass
Stone
Concrete
Steel
Mud Brick
Wood
Fabric
Thatching
53
Based on the above material analysis and the local craftsmanship, the following are
materiality conclusions and design considerations:
a. Eliminate glass and steel as construction materials due to their high cost and lack
of craftsmanship.
b. Minimize the use of concrete and limit it to the foundation bedding as needed.
c. Utilize stone for critical structural elements where durability is needed.
d. Utilize excavated earth to make durable mud bricks on site. Local labor has
intensive experience in creating mud bricks at low cost and high efficiency.
e. Utilize wood to create structural beams and support.
f. Create thatched roofs and vertical surfaces that function as a screen protecting
the mud bricks and increasing its durability. The screen will also function as a natural
chimney to support air circulation. Thatched surfaces will be maintained
periodically using free materials from the site and surrounding environment.
g. Use local fabrics to create temporary tents and removable covers for ceremonial
spaces during rain season.
54
55
IV. EXISTING SITE CONDITIONS
56
57
58
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SECTION E
PROPOSED PROGRAM
EDUCATIONAL 1,300 SQ.FT.
CLASSROOMS 500 SQ.FT.
LIBRARY 300 SQ.FT.
TECHNOLOGY CENTER 250 SQ.FT.
ADMINISTRATION 250 SQ.FT.
MARKET & WORKSHOPS 900 SQ.FT.
MAIN WORKSHOP 300 SQ.FT.
INDIVIDUAL WORKSHOPS 200 SQ.FT.
KITCHEN 100 SQ.FT.
BATHROOMS 300 SQ.FT.
SPIRITUAL 7,600 SQ.FT.
MOSQUE 2,000 SQ.FT.
GATHERING & EVENT SPACE 2,300 SQ.FT.
CLEANSING AREA 1,300 SQ.FT.
MEDITATION & TEA GARDEN 2,000 SQ.FT.
LIVE STOCK 1,000 SQ.FT.
PLANTING GARDENS 14,000 SQ.FT.
CIRCULATION, AND PATIOS 3,000 SQ.FT.
TOTAL PROGRAM 30,000 SQ.FT.
60
61
62
Proposed Floor Plan
63
64
Overall View
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Books
Fathy, Hassan (1969). Architecture for the Poor
Eglash, Ron (1999). African Fractals Modern Computing and Indigenous Design
Asante, M. (2007). The History of Africa. USA: Routhledge.
Amponsah, S. (2010). Beyond the Boundaries: Toyin Falola on African Cultures
Gill, Stephen (1993). A short history of Lesotho.Morija Museum & Archives
Turner, Raymond M (1998). Kenya's Changing Landscape
Vine, Jeremy (1999). View from Nairobi
Robinson, Simon (2000). Free as the Wind Blows, Time
Paul Righini (2010) Thinking Architecturally
African Civilization Revisited From Antiquity to Modern Times (1991)
Unpublished Materials
Vihiga County Integrated Development Plan
A History of the World in Six Classes. Walker and Company
Anderson, Helena and Sovre, Martina: Traditional Rural Dwellings of Lesotho
Electronic Resources
Irele, F.A. (2010). Westernisation. http://science.jrank.org/pages/8152/westernisation
Elanor Stanford. Culture of Kenya. http://www.everyculture.com/Ja-Ma/Kenya.html
Embassy of the Republic of Kenya in Japan. http://www.kenyarep-jp.com/kenya/history_e.html
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