In the footsteps of history
The first stop on this great architectural journey is the prehistoric site of Hyrax Hill, which contains the remains of three settlements, the oldest of which dates back 3,000 years. Funerary tumuli, the remains of a stone fort and the foundations of two semi-circular stone huts complete this astonishing panorama of a prehistoric habitat that was already highly refined and codified. In one of these first "villages", the presence of 13 distinct enclosures has been revealed, translating a hierarchical organization of the space. Let us now take a leap in time to discover the rich Swahili civilization, an astonishing mixture of Arab and African cultures, which appeared as early as the ninth century with the emergence of the first city-states and large trading posts. The site of Gede is undoubtedly one of the most important in the country. You will discover the remains of a city founded in the 11th century and which was once protected by two powerful walls. Masters of water architecture, the builders of the time vied with each other in the creation of wells and cisterns necessary for water supply and ritual ablutions. Those of the Great Mosque are still visible. Don't miss its superb mihrab (niche indicating Mecca) skillfully carved in coral. In the past, it was covered with plaster and decorated with... Chinese porcelain! This type of decoration can also be found on many funerary steles, including one with astonishing fluted pillars and coral bosses. Another symbol of the splendor of this Swahili city: the ruins of its palace with its entrance porch and its multiple rooms and courtyards. You will notice two holes drilled in the ground... it was one of the first examples of ventilation system. And don't miss the astonishingly modern latrines, with their small dividing wall and their "washbasin" to clean yourself! The houses of the site are very beautiful examples of this Swahili culture with their walls made of stone blocks cut in the not yet fossilized coral, thus softer and easier to work. The ruins of Mnarani, Jumba la Mtwana, the old town of Mombasa or the village of Shela are other superb witnesses of the Swahili culture. But if you had to visit only one site, it would of course be the city of Lamu, the oldest city in East Africa, whose heart is classified as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. If the city is old, its buildings date mainly from the 18th and 19th centuries. All the Swahili culture is there, in these mazes of labyrinthine and shaded streets just wide enough to let the animals pass, in this division into small districts(mitaa) and especially in these houses with so particular characteristics. Made of coral stone, lime mortar and mangrove wood, these houses have few openings onto the street, except for a superbly sculpted door decorated with floral or calligraphic motifs and balconies closed like moucharabiehs. A porch(daka) decorated with a stone bench(bazaras) offers a space of conviviality before entering the residence which is organized around a courtyard or a garden. Painted ceilings and carved niches are some of the key elements of the decoration of these sumptuous houses. While walking in the streets of the city, you will probably pass by doors with studded boxes... this is a contribution of the Indian community, very present in Lamu. Do not miss the beautiful mosques of the city and the houses of the sea front with their open verandas and their arches. Alongside these Swahili treasures, Kenya is also home to witnesses of the Portuguese presence, including Fort Jesus in Mombasa. Built in the 16th century, it is a fine example of the adaptation of military architecture to the evolution of artillery. A masterpiece of harmony and geometry, it proudly bears the ideals of the Renaissance. See its imposing walls, moats and bastions with angular shapes protecting cisterns, stores and private quarters, the whole being, again, sculpted in coral stone.
Colonial heritage
The Uganda Railway, nicknamed the Lunatic Railway by the locals, was the first major transformation of the country launched under the British protectorate. Gradually, the newly built stations became the nerve centers of large urban centers, such as Nairobi, the new seat of the Protectorate. Drainage works, creation of an urban plan around City Square, nothing was left to chance... especially not the definition of housing zones reserved for Europeans who were granted the best land, relegating the black population to the outskirts, in makeshift housing. Urban segregation was established. In the city, the British multiplied the number of buildings with "neo" influences, such as the Court House and its porch flanked by six columns, the Pan Africa House with its sculpted Renaissance-inspired windows, or the very neoclassical McMillan Library. In Mombasa, neo-styles blend with Swahili influences, as seen in the Africa Hotel with its double balcony with a closed top, or the Old Post Office with its wooden balcony and its facade with Arabian accents. The Indo-Pakistani community, very present under the British protectorate, also leaves its mark through shops and temples with shimmering colors. Generally speaking, the urban houses of the time were often raised for better insulation, and had a veranda/gallery and a roof with overhangs to protect them from the rain and the sun, while the interior was decorated with wood and ceramics. At the same time, the British also created large agricultural estates in the middle of which stood houses whose stylistic evolution reflected the growing power of the owners over the land. At first, the first arrivals lived in very basic huts. Then, gradually, they built larger houses on stone foundations. These houses could be made of brick or wood (usually cedar), and had, under a sometimes rustic exterior, comfortable and functional facilities. In addition to the house, these large estates had barns, stables, storage spaces and dwellings for the staff. Examples can be seen not far from Mau Narok, which also has an astonishing stone church with Romanesque fortifications and crenellations, even though it dates from the 1960s. An architectural incongruity which underlines a little more the artificial aspect of this British presence which, if it was accompanied by an undeniable opening to modernity, has above all denatured the country, expropriating the local populations and destroying a part of its rich habitat.
Modern and contemporary architecture
In the late 1950s, architect Amyas Connell heralded the arrival of modernism with buildings like the Aga Khan Jubilee Hospital. But his most famous achievement, inaugurated in the same year as the country's independence, was the Nairobi Parliament, whose slender white clock tower dominated the city. The architect's objective was to combine sobriety and functionality in a style that definitively broke away from the past. Now free and independent, Kenya fully embarked on the modernist craze with emblematic buildings such as the Kenyatta International Conference Centre, a 28-story tower of glass and concrete, topped by a strange inverted corolla and whose adjacent amphitheater was designed on the model of an African hut. An explosive juxtaposition! The 1970s also saw the work of architect David Mutiso, who designed the UN headquarters and the Kenya Technical Teachers College with its red concrete tiles and amphitheater topped by a flat-roofed pyramid, both in the Gigiri district of Nairobi. Since then, the capital has experienced urban growth that seems to be unstoppable. Once a green city, Nairobi is constantly cutting back on its green spaces in favor of highway and residential developments dominated by concrete, while its Central Business District is being equipped with ever taller skyscrapers... in 2023, the city is expected to inaugurate the pharaonic Pinnacle Towers project, two towers of 320 m and 201 m, housing hotels and luxury apartments. A crazy project, like the one called Kenya Vision 2030, which plans to create the largest port in East Africa in Manda Bay and which would be accompanied by many refineries, pipelines, wharves, tourist resorts and other railroads and motorways... Fortunately, many architects are making another choice, that of sustainability and respect for traditions. This was launched with the beautiful African Heritage House by the American Alan Donovan who was inspired by the mud mosques of Mali to create this sumptuous red-ochre residence which also has elements of many other African cultures (Swahili carved door, Moroccan patio, West African decorative motifs). Today, buildings brilliantly combine tradition and innovation, such as the Sacred Heart Cathedral in Kiricho, with its superb inverted V-shaped frame made of concrete arches supporting wooden slats and its elements made of granite, wood, soapstone and clay by local craftsmen. This approach is also supported by the Burkinabe architect Francis Kéré, who recently built the Startup Lions Campus to help young people in the Turkana region. Inspired by the amazing mounds of termite colonies, this building impresses with its vast shaded roof terraces and ingenious ventilation columns inspired by Arab tradition. The Eco Moyo Education Centre Foundation is also multiplying sustainable projects, building classrooms and education centers out of wood, coral stone and makuti (the famous palm leaf thatch). These elements can be found in the country's sumptuous ecolodges, such as Tortilis Camp in Amboseli or Ngong House in Nairobi. Concerned with limiting their impact on the environment, these lodges would become almost invisible!
Vernacular riches
The archaeological site of Thimlich Ohinga, near Mingori, is unique in many ways. Dating from the 16th century, it bears witness to shared communal settlements based on agropastoralism and craftsmanship. The Ohinga, or enclosure, was primarily intended to protect communities and livestock. The particularity of this fortified site lies in its ingenious dry stone architecture. The walls were built in three phases: the inner and outer sections were built separately, before a middle section was added to ensure their cohesion. The stones, of varying sizes, were assembled in a clever balancing act ensuring perfect stability, without mortar. These walls could reach up to 4.5 m high and were on average 1 m thick. Buttresses, drainage pipes, an industrial site and dwelling pits complete this astonishing example of a fortified stone habitat built by the first pastoral communities of the region. This example is all the more astonishing since the vast majority of the ethnic groups in Kenya prefer temporary constructions made of natural and therefore perishable materials (wood, earth, grass, reeds, bark, dung...)among the most astonishing indigenous constructions, you will perhaps be able to see the huts of acacia and palm tree in the shape of igloo of the El Molo people; the circular huts with conical thatched roofs of the Taïta people who use all the resources of the surrounding nature to adapt to the climate, starting with the large trees which protect and provide shade; the huts of the Oromo people which one recognizes by the colored patterns painted on their walls of wood and cob; the huts of the Dassanech people, which owe their igloo silhouette to their curved wooden structure, and to the side of which there are often storage spaces in the form of cylindrical huts with conical roofs on stilts; or the incredible kayas, fortified villages, of the Mijikenda people, inseparable from the forests where they are built and today considered to be the sacred dwelling of the ancestors. But the most famous indigenous habitat is undoubtedly that of the Maasai people. The Maasai villages are famous for their "boma" or "kraal", the enclosure that protects the houses. This enclosure can be made of stone, wooden posts or thickets of thorny and impenetrable bushes. A fencing system shared by the Samburu people. Maasai dwellings are generally rectangular in plan and their mud and straw silhouette is often bulging. Very touristy and perhaps a little artificial, the Bomas of Kenya (open-air museum), the Bomtolulu Workshops and Cultural Centre of Mombasa and the network of Maasai Cultural Villages have at least the merit of making these rich vernacular traditions alive and known.
