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

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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.

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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

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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.

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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.

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55

IV. EXISTING SITE CONDITIONS

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57

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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