Butabu

admin — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 23:19:39 +0000

James Morris, a photographer, and Suzanne Preston Blier, professor of Afro-American studies at Harvard authored Butabu: Adobe Architecture of West Africa. This a well-researched and beautifully presented study of the sculptural mud architecture of West Africa is stunning. These often beautiful buildings were designed and built by architects for kings and emperors, making the best of local materials and know-how.

In Mali, and in Niger, Nigeria, Togo, Ghana, Burkina Faso and Benin, mud is not just used for making pots. It has been used for hundreds of years to build sensational structures -houses, mosques, palaces, temples, entire communities - which are repaired and remoulded every year during engagingly splashy mud festivals. And the very viscosity of this most malleable material has produced some highly inventive forms that seem to encompass ancient cultures, the spirits of the Sahara and even a touch of Surrealism.

Freedom Park

admin — Sun, 10 May 2009 23:06:25 +0000

Driven by the necessity for the diverse people of South Africa and the world to understand and appreciate the country’s struggle for liberation, The Freedom Park was born as a national and international icon of humanity and freedom. The Freedom Park, with its Garden of Remembrance, is located on a 52-hectare site on Salvokop Hill at the entrance into Tshwane (Pretoria) from Johannesburg.

Afritecture » Vernacular

Butabu

Freedom Park