African Architecture - Challenges and Details
The Mali Architects is a story of political strife and power struggle which begins with Sekou Amadou’s (the founder of the Peul Empire of Masina) jihad in 1818 which led to the disrepair of the Mosque at Djenne. This political struggle over architectural design continued through the French reconstruction tactics in the 1890s. Ethiopian Architecture’s challenge is one of layering and appropriation. The layering of symbolism, beginning with the symbolism of the Ark of the Covenant and Solomon’s Temple, to the appropriation of the New Testament paired with the destruction of Churches due to jihads, creates an architecture that is somewhat difficult to originate. The complete or partial neglect of Swahili architecture as being uniquely Swahili is the central issue. While literature and the arts are better documented, Swahili architecture is typically considered Arabian or Persian. The stone-built ruins of Africa have no...