The strength of a nation is revealed in her currency value, military capability, technological advancement and the welfare and living standards of her citizens. These sectors can be understood in isolation. However, a unifying factor that not just affects but embodies these sectors will make for a more accurate understanding. Probably thinking to yourself, “what the heck is this guy talking about and I hope whatever this is, President Buhari knows what it is”.
I’ll answer the question on the president’s knowledge of the subject later, but the unifying factor I am referring to is ARCHITECTURE. Now you are thinking to yourself, “Buildings! Really? We already have a lot of these, plus isn’t that individual profit for the owner of the building? How do I benefit from it?” The reality is all these questions stem from an inaccurate understanding of what architecture is.
The dictionary, architecture students and many architects will describe architecture as the art and science of designing and constructing buildings. That is a very accurate definition, but in Nigeria what aren’t defined properly are ART and SCIENCE, as they are typically replaced with creativity and structural integrity respectively. Unfortunately, art and science have been greatly undermined in this part of the world and consequently, people’s perception of other artistic and scientific expressions like literature, music, photography and even biology has been affected. Our perception of art and science has caused us to cage disciplines and not explore their relationships.
Art and science are such broad topics that cannot be fully covered independently in this article, but for the purpose of understanding architecture, let me expatiate a bit. Art did not used to be simply for art’s sake. By that, I mean people before the early 19th century never just woke up to do whatever they wanted. Art was an expression of the philosophy that governed a place while also being an expression (medium?) for a change in philosophy. Art was a social, moral, intellectual and political tool. Art was a search for truth and hope. So you see how replacing art with creativity reduces its value? Art embodies the culture of a place and zeitgeist of a generation. Architecture as a form of art should therefore also express all of this. Our architecture however doesn’t show we have moved past colonial times.
Science on the other hand with regards to architecture is perceived as the structural integrity of the building, because it involves calculations and distribution of loads from roofs, to floors, to foundation through columns. In science that is one word: Gravity. Science is the observation of natural laws. Technology is the application of those laws. For example, in a building, how do we keep a roof up if it naturally wants to come down? We support it at different points with columns, walls, cables, etc. As time goes by, more efficient and innovative ways to support roofs need to be developed. For example, instead of using concrete columns we can use recycled cardboard tubes like Japanese architect, Shigeru Ban used in the Garage Center for Contemporary Art. In Nigeria however, this development does not occur. Instead we stick to what was done 50 years ago. Why? Science also occurs in the lighting of buildings. The knowledge of basic physics tells us that light can be redirected through reflection, refraction, diffraction, etc. So how can we develop a way to keep our homes lit with sunlight until the sun goes down? After all, this will reduce our energy (NEPA) bills. So the obvious question is this: why aren’t architects developing new technologies to fit our Nigerian context?
I will answer the why in a bit but with this brief knowledge on art and science, you can start to develop a more elaborate definition of architecture. Architecture establishes a dialogue between our culture, our mindset, our beliefs and the forces of nature without compromising on the client’s needs. The result of this dialogue might be a building, an urban infrastructure, a chair, or even a sharpener. The reality however, is that architecture in Nigeria is only doing a part of what it is meant to be doing. It reflects the philosophy of our country which is “THE PURSUIT OF MONEY NO MATTER WHAT”. It is unfortunate but this is the case. Due to the pursuit of money –a false hope of happiness-, our leaders have taken national treasures to the detriment of the masses, traffic officials ignore their job description, chemical engineers work in the bank and, brothers kill brothers. Within the practice of architecture, we have architects taking advantage of their fellow citizen’s ignorance of design for cash rather than removing this ignorance by constant education of our people and further increasing curiosity of foreigners.
There is some ambivalence towards the curiosity of foreigners as a result of our architecture. On one hand, it presents them with new experiences and knowledge and thus becomes an export product which yields income for the country, thereby strengthening our economy and improving our currency value. On the other hand, our military bases can arouse curiosity of foreign enemies, if they are designed and constructed in ways that enhance camouflaging, encourage efficient military movement and weapon storage amongst other things.
Architecture is a key factor in every nation. As a form of art, architecture is also a philosophy changer which can lead to a cleaner and more sustainable society. It is a form of art that increases the influx of foreigners and foreign currencies. It encompasses designs that seek to push the boundaries of science and technology, thereby causing an expansion of other fields. The reality is this will not happen if we don’t challenge our architects or if as architects, we don’t challenge ourselves. Architects in Europe, the Americas, and Asia, don’t have extra heads. They just have a united goal to develop innovative ways to design and construct structures that satisfy and educate clients/users without compromising the structure’s relationship with nature. Architecture reflects the strength of our nation. Right now we look pretty weak within the context of the globe.
Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija.
Pretty apt. I was talking to a fellow architect the other day on the need for this generation of architects to develop our vernacular style of architecture and integrate it with what we see as contemporary. I think its a shame that we continue to take from what has already been abused architecturally in Nigeria (in terms of style and material etc) without trying to develop something that is originally ours. I know of and have gone to school with very talented and creative architects and wonder what that talent has gone to. I think there are a lot of things to blame for this stagnation you’ve described. The want for money which you’ve mentioned and the ever present forces in Nigeria (respective individuals in government or outside it) who are satisfied with the methods and techniques currently being used in the industry and are content with the way things are.
Are there forums / avenues we as Nigerian students, professionals can discuss, share or engage creative ideas just because? Not everything should be about money ad I think we will be helping ourselves and our industry at the same time. If there is one, somebody please point me in the right direction. Good article.
Hey Bolaji… A forum will be awesome. We can start one 🙂
You are very right about satisfaction with outdated methods and techniques. I will have to look into the requirements for maintaining an NIA license. I wonder if there is a necessity for continued education. Just very curious, what really is our vernacular style and does it have to be integrated with a contemporary style?
There is a necessity for continued education. I think there is also a necessity for education on what our original style of architecture is. During my undergraduate course we were taught about colonial architecture: Brazilian architecture and the likes which was predominant in the colonial era, but we, I personally had to search for and pull out the meaning and elements attached to our vernacular style. I think its important because for some reason we’ve all been initiated into this modernist style, which is beautiful and all but without that knowledge and passion to develop our own style, there is no way we as Nigerian architects will be able to exert and prove our ability. I mean we can keep taking from the styles we’ve seen and are familiar with but at the end of the day it wont be ours.
As to our vernacular style, in my opinion id say elements from our cultural buildings pre-colonial era? Hausa and yoruba architecture etc. They don’t necessarily have to be integrated with the contemporary style. I see it from angles. I either take those vernacular elements which I think have so much character (its a shame we hardly see such elements anymore) from little inscriptions the earlier builders used to tell stories to the use of local materials, and expand and build on them OR incorporate these elements with elements from a modernist angle. Which is the style i am most drawn to. I see it as a way of incorporating the styles that i am most passionate about and cannot eliminate from my architectural language and so its a win win of sorts for me.
I think it would be a good idea to also collaborate amongst ourselves and CREATE within the forum also. who knows what could come out of it. If i could reach you via e-mail to see how and if we can proceed with the idea of a forum that would be great
Also kindly correct me if im wrong on our vernacular style. I’d also like to know what your opinion is on the incorporation of the vernacular with contemporary
I agree on the education of our original style. What i think is the issue, is there was never an original style. Colonial styles marked a period in our country. The colonial style reflected a foreign culture not ours. Victorian, Brazilian,… have nothing to do with Nigeria if not for slave trade. Now we re past that, how does our architecture reflect that our present day and shape our future?
We have over 250 cultures within this country, meaning we have lots and lots of content to learn from and reflect. These different cultures can be fused with technology for sure. Technology increases efficiency and pushes the boundary of design and does not necessarily cause us (architects) to compromise culture. Another question is, is there a Nigerian culture?
We as Nigerians (myself included) talk about a Nigerian culture like we can group all the cultures into one. Unfortunately we can’t. So vernacular to me depends on the tribe/culture of the area. Fusing them with a modernist type architecture is fusing philosophies together. I guess an eclectic type design will be created but will any of the styles be compromised? you know what i mean?
Why are you drawn to modernist though?
I’ll send my email address? Good Convo 🙂
I just typed a fully thought out reply and it got deleted so ill just say in summary lol, I think there was an original style of architecture that was reflected in the separate cultures. So say elements adopted in the Yoruba or Hausa style of building. Problem is these elements were never given the opportunity to develop because of the influx of the colonial style i think. Brazilian/ gothic etc those styles came in and dominated everything architecture so you have professionals and students taking and taking from colonial architecture and not wanting to explore and think of new methods. Thats why i said there is satisfaction or complacency with the methods in the industry.
In regards to compromising when fusing the modernist and vernacular philosophies i guess it all boils down to exploration and ultimately what you want your design to say. I dont know that i’m worried about compromising one for the other as long as my ideas in both are successfully reflected in my final product. I’d be satisfied if i were able to communicate those two styles in my design successfully. I think im drawn to the modernist style because i appreciate designs that are able to reflect character and beauty in their simplest forms. I appreciate complexity also but i think when you have less (for lack of a better word) in your design, yet that design is able to speak volumes to the viewer, said design is a success. I don’t know if i explained that effectively so i’ll just say i’m drawn to simple, clean things.
My e-mail address is [email protected] . Shoot me an e-mail in case you ever want to share ideas or move forward with the forum