Vernacular riches
Now the focus of attention and preservation, the ancient metallurgy sites in Bassar country will amaze you with their thousand-year-old ingenuity, revealed by the remains of blast furnaces, forges and crushing sites, all witnesses to the earth's potential. The Nok, Maproug, Kouba and Bagou caves bear precious witness to the turbulent period that shook the country between the 18th and 20th centuries. Many populations took refuge here, settling in ingenious troglodyte dwellings. But the most astonishing evidence of this occupation are the granaries that have been carved and sculpted from stone, straw and clay, taking on the shapes of traditional rural house granaries. Oblong, cylindrical or semi-spherical, they open upwards, revealing a depth of up to 25 m. From the 18th century, the Notsé region preserves precious vestiges of the Éwé kingdom. Here, you can still observe remnants of the clay ramparts erected by King Agokoli, as well as traces of pavements and dwellings, pointing to an even earlier human and "urban" occupation. As far as traditional architecture is concerned, the preferred materials in Togo are earth (compacted into bricks), wood and bamboo or palm. Along the coast, houses are rectangular in plan, with wooden frames, clay cob, palm or coconut branches and thatched roofs. In inland areas, mud bricks, mud plastering and thatched roofs are preferred. All these elements combine to provide astonishing insulation. Most villages are organized into groups of dwellings enclosed in what are known as soukalas, enclosures that delimit the area where the same family lives. Inside, dwellings take the form of circular hut-rooms organized around terraces and meeting spaces. Elements found in the incredible architecture of the Batammariba people in the Koutammakou region. The very name of this great people means "those who shape the earth", "the good masons". The Batammariba spiritual pantheon is ruled by Kuiye, the great solar figure and supreme architect, who is known to have built himself a Tata Somba or fortified house in his solar village to the west of Heaven. On earth, his people reproduce all its characteristics (houses are always west-facing) in an architecture that blends know-how, technicality and spirituality. In Batammariba, we speak of takyenta, a word that means "house" but also "family".
The house is considered a full-fledged member of the family, and is the object of all attention. Treated like a newborn baby, it is coated with fruit and oil lotions when it is created, to make its skin thicker and more resistant. The materials used to build these authentic castles are raw earth (banco), clay, sand, wood, stone, millet straw and water to shape the earth. These houses, rounded two-storey turrets with flat or conical thatched roofs, are organized into villages that also include ceremonial spaces, sacred springs and rocks, and sites reserved for initiation rites. The other essential element of a takyenta is its attic, which is usually semi-buried, giving the house an almost spherical shape on top of a cylindrical base. Above the attic, the first floor is reserved for the animals, while the upper floors house the living quarters. From the outside, these fortified houses are virtually blind, with only a few small openings to allow you to see without being seen, and to shoot arrows at potential attackers. The architect, or otammali, is one of the most respected members of the community, and can only claim this title once his first takyenta has been built. He reaches the rank of master architect with his tenth takyenta. The life cycle of Batammariba housing is simple: construction, abandonment, destruction and rebuilding on the ruins. Building on a previously occupied area ensures that no malevolent forces are present. Spirituality is present everywhere, in the lisenpo, the little mounds of earth flanking the entrance to the houses, miniature replicas of the houses and guardians of the inhabitants' souls. An opening, a cavity or a clay ring are all elements symbolizing communication with one of the gods of the Batammariba pantheon. While the men take care of the construction, the women are responsible for plastering the walls and floors, and it is they who give the walls of these earthen castles their grooved appearance. These grooves in the still-moist earth are like the scars worn by women after giving birth. The takyenta becomes a symbol of fertility. An extraordinary habitat testifying to the harmonious relationship between man and nature, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Colonial past
Of all the powers that imposed their presence in Togo, Germany is undoubtedly the most notable. With Togoland, the Germans wanted to create a "model colony". To this end, they systematized forced labor in order to build a railroad serving the plots of land they ceded to their citizens at a very advantageous price, and on which numerous plantations, notably of coffee, were built. In the areas thus occupied, district offices, military stations and palaces were adorned with a mixture of resolutely European elements (neo-Gothic crenellated turrets, neo-classical pediments and colonnades) and elements reflecting a quest for adaptation to the environment and climate (stone foundations, porches and galleries, sculpted balconies...).
The most famous example of this German presence is the Palais des Gouverneurs in Lomé, built between 1898 and 1905 at the request of the German governor August Köhler, and spanning almost 2,000m2 of monumental architecture. The aim was to ensure that ships cruising in the distance couldn't miss its impressive splendor. Flanked by two 18 m-high towers, it houses long corridors lined with arcades, vast patios and terraces... gigantic spaces once accessed via a triumphal arch made of two elephant tusks. A sumptuous palace now transformed into a cultural center. The same monumentality can be found in the improbable Viale Castle in Kuma Konda. Built between 1940 and 1944 by a German who fell in love with the panoramic view from Mount Kloto, the neo-Gothic castle had no paved access. In the late 1970s, the President made it his official residence, installing electricity, marbling the floors and finally providing a tarmac access road... but since then, this crenellated behemoth has been abandoned.
Kpalimé boasts a neo-Gothic church with a soaring turret, rose window, three-lobed geminated windows and lancet arches. But the country's most famous church is, of course, Lomé Cathedral... but make no mistake, this church was not built by the Germans, but by Dutch missionaries who made an exact replica of the church in Steyl, the small Dutch town from which they came. Today, the cathedral is famous for its elaborate spires, carved wooden pews and beautiful cycle of frescoes. The religious missions also built numerous churches and schools throughout the country, again in resolutely neo styles. The Aného-Glidji area is home to many examples of this European colonial architecture. It also boasts examples of an Afro-Brazilian style known as Porto-Novo, named after the town where freed Brazilian slaves first settled before moving to Togo. Some of these new free men became wealthy merchants and entrepreneurs, while others specialized in crafts and construction. The combination of the wealth of the former and the know-how of the latter gave rise to a unique style, which can still be seen today in many boutiques. On the first floor, the store; on the second floor, the living quarters; at the back, a courtyard where families gather. The floor plans are simple and often square, while the decoration, while more sober than in Porto-Novo, is nonetheless whimsical, with curves and colors enlivening the facades.
And don't miss the Maison des Esclaves or Wood Home in Agbodrafo. While its structure is a blend of cement, baked bricks, palm laths, galvanized sheet metal and sea sand, it is above all a precious witness to the dark period of triangular trade that plagued the region for centuries. Finally, Togo also saw the emergence of a few examples of neoclassical architecture inspired by a style that English colonists loved in Ghana. Colonnaded galleries and columned balconies abound. From all these influences, the inhabitants of Lomé drew a unique style expressed in houses with brick walls thick enough to keep in the cool, flanked by colorful buttresses and punctuated by attractive wooden shutters, all protected by a wall encircling the plot and pierced by a door with astonishing marquèterie decorations. This style was particularly popular between the wars.
Contemporary renewal
The 1970s and independence marked a major turning point in architectural practices. Cement blocks replaced bricks. One of the explanations for this change echoes strangely with our own times: as coconut plantations disappeared from the outskirts of towns due to increasing urbanization, brickworks could no longer use the by-products of the coconut palm, which provided virtually free fuel. Faced with the dissuasive price of fuel oil, companies turned to cement, which was more affordable... but hardly suited to the country's climatic conditions. Proof of this are the "wagon-houses" that were springing up in large numbers in the streets of Lomé. Topped with sheet metal, they were veritable stoves. At the other end of the scale, the wealthiest residents continued to build opulent villas with rounded corners and a blend of European and Afro-Brazilian styles. Faced with urban growth that was becoming increasingly difficult to curb, and accompanied by a proliferation of precarious housing, the Ecole africaine des métiers de l'architecture et de l'urbanisme (EAMAU), an inter-state institution founded in 1976, came up with programs to support African cities in their efforts to better control urbanization and combat the macrocephaly of capital cities, in favor of medium-sized towns where nature could regain its place. These are actions that the school is still carrying out today, as demonstrated by one of its former students, Eya-Eza Kao, a young architect who is making his mark in West Africa. In Togo, we owe him the astonishing Braun hospital in Ankassé, mainly built in terracotta; the headquarters of the African Guarantee Fund in Lomé, powered by solar energy and featuring sustainable wooden furniture ; but above all, the new headquarters of the Société Africaine des Biocarburants et Energies Renouvelables (African Biofuels and Renewable Energies Company), which promotes sustainability through solar energy, low-energy lighting, ventilated facades, rainwater harvesting systems and the use of compressed earth bricks, and is a great symbol of the renewal of the Lomé II district, the Lomé II district, which sprang up in the 2000s to coincide with the African Union summit, has seen its original wide, wooded avenues and rural atmosphere give way to a bustling, glass-and-steel corporate headquarters.
This construction fever is also evident on the coast, with the construction of numerous hotels... even if the most famous of all hotel complexes is in Lomé. This is the recently renovated Hôtel du 2 Février, whose 100 m-high tower overlooks Place de l'Indépendance, the vibrant heart of the capital, lined with concrete buildings reminiscent of the effervescence of independence. This architectural vitality is, however, accompanied by urban planning reflections aimed at achieving greater balance. The general plan for Greater Lomé has set itself the objective, by 2030, of ensuring harmonious and sustainable spatial development for the capital, combating precarious housing by improving housing and urban services, while more effectively combating the effects of global warming. In particular, the city has cleaned and rehabilitated its gutters and created or upgraded rainwater retention basins to counter the effects of recurrent flooding. All these projects demonstrate Togo's commitment to a quest that combines modernity and sustainability!
