“So geographers in Afric maps
With Savage pictures fill the gaps
And over Uninhabited downs
Place elephants for want of towns”

— Swift 1733

/ Research - Igbo Architectural Heritage

For many centuries, sub saharan architecture has been seen as primitive, However Igbo architecture can also be seen as the product of physical and cultural factors, which create architectural problems and also provide some means of solving them. The physical environment, for instance, causes the problems of rain, heat and humidity, but provides mud, timber, bamboo and palms for house building. In the current climate where ideas of de-growth and challenging consumption are gaining traction, the traditional architecture adheres to the basic sustainability principles of energy efficiency and utilization of materials /resources in close proximity to the site. A taxonomy of traditional Igbo architecture was conducted to see what aspects could be relevant in the modern day

Village settlement pattern - Example layout showing compounds centred around a ward compound, which are in turn centred around a village square

Village group layout - Villages centred around a communal village group centre

Impluvium type compound - Rooms are arranged around primary and secondary courtyards

Impluvium type compound - Isometric diagram

Impluvium type compound - Section through main courtyard

Impluvium type compound - Section through altar

Impluvium type compound - Section through porch

Giant compound type - Houses form of perimeter wall enclosing a courtyard roughly oval in shape

Giant Compound Type - Houses are formed from long narrow blocks and compartmentalised into rooms

Heartland compound type - A walled group of detached dwellings for the male head, his wives and children

Construction - Wattle and daub or skeletal structure with mud infilling

Decoration - geometric and Uli decorative motifs

“When we gather together in the moonlit village ground it is not because of the moon. Every man can see it in his own compound. We come together because it is good for kinsmen to do so.
”

— Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart

Decorative door - Compund entrances were often decorated to reflect the status of their owner

Eroded wattle and daub structure

Village Square - tiered seats with tree cover in an square for public activities

Forked post - Naturally branched trunk used as post to support mid-purlin of steeply pitched roof

Communal building - Thatching the roof of a house in relays

Roof supports - short forked posts supported on brackets set into the wall

Impluvium compound type - View of impluvium with sacred Egbo tree

Decoration - Clay wall decorated with inserted objects - cowies, enamel and glass

Carving - Carvings on a forked wooden post

Meeting Hall - View of meeting hall from village square

Meeting Hall - Moulded furniture and carved columns

Portico - Wall decorations inside portico

/ Research - Umuahia

The site is located in Umuahia, capital of Abia state, which lies along the railway between the major urban centres of Port Harcourt and Enugu. It is an agricultural market centre. In precolonial times, it served as one of the central marketplaces in the region for commerce. Currently being the state capital it is also an administrative centre and many people are employed as civil servants.

Originally a village group, in line with colonial policy, it was developed into a town from its constituent villages. Since 1916 it became a collecting point on the railway for the crops of the surrounding region.

Colonial map of Umuahia - The settlement served as an administrative centre and a collecting point for crops and commerce due to the trainline running through it. It was segregated into European and native areas

Current Map - Rapid urbanisation has caused the city to expand into its constituent villages

”The Gate” - Location of the old market and considered to be the centre of the city

Expression - Some gates show signs of decoration bas relief on the concrete surrounds and decorative metal work

City centre

Encroachment - streets turned into impromptu trading posts with makeshift platforms over gutters

Post colonial house - Typical house built by natives during early urbanisation period

Railway - Once a source of the city’s growth it is used infrequently and the space is appropriated by street vendors amongst others

Apartment blocks - Typical of the city centre

Gated housing estate - Developers focus on higher end gated developments that few can afford

Gatehouse - Wealth can be expressed by the size abd style of compound entrances

Old vs. new - Earth building, which has been left to deteriorate, superseded by concrete structures

Due to rapid urbanisation, The city of has expanded majorly into the surrounded villages and many have found themselves in the middle of the crossroads heading in and out of the city. The city faces many challenges but most relate to overcrowding due to urbanisation\ poor roads, lack of formal infrastructure, for example sanitation, drainage and piped water and a lack of access to communal space.

Ride through Umuahia

Two areas in particular were studied to try and identify a target group of residents for my scheme, and look at a cross section of living conditions. The World Bank Housing Estate a middle income area, and what was originally the ‘natives reservation’, a low income area showing a continuation of the original grid iron pattern, established by the British.

World Bank Housing Estate - Typical street section

World Bank Housing Estate - Plan of studio unit shared by husband wife and 2 children

Old natives reservation - Early post colonial building built by early town dwellers during first period of urbanisation

Tenement building - Axonometric drawing of typical tenement building in old natives reservation. Originally built for people moving to newly formed towns for work

Tenement building - Originally built for a single extended family, now several families can occupy one or more rooms. Rooms facing the street can also be rented out as shops

/ Research - Site

The 1.9 hectare site is comprised of virgin land to the north east of the city, near Okwuta village in an area which is rapidly becoming more central due to urban sprawl.

Currently populated with palm trees and undergrowth, the site slopes from the north east to the south west, a height difference of approximately 10m with a south westerly prevailing wind. The roads around the site are in poor condition but will likely be upgraded in future due to the areas development

Existing site plan - Development has been rapid, but slower than possible due to the difficulty in titling ancestral lands

Site - Southern access rd, view to East

Site - Interior

Site - High income developments are increasing on previously undeveloped land

Typical house types - The creation of a new government complex near the site has made the land more valuable, and many large houses are springing up on the previously undeveloped land.

Typical settlment pattern - Site as would be typically laid out in a modern housing estate