Yoruba Architecture
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Yoruba architecture describes the
architectural styles An architectural style is a classification of buildings (and nonbuilding structures) based on a set of characteristics and features, including overall appearance, arrangement of the components, method of construction, building materials used, for ...
of the
Yoruba people The Yoruba people ( ; , , ) are a West African ethnic group who inhabit parts of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo, which are collectively referred to as Yorubaland. The Yoruba constitute more than 50 million people in Africa, are over a million outsid ...
of
West Africa West Africa, also known as Western Africa, is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations geoscheme for Africa#Western Africa, United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Gha ...
, dating back to approximately the 8th century. and lasted up to and beyond the colonial period beginning in the 19th century CE. Typical houses consisted of rectangular windowless single-room buildings arranged around a central courtyard ringed by verandas. Building styles resembled those of the Ashanti, including construction from earth, wood,
palm oil Palm oil is an edible vegetable oil derived from the mesocarp (reddish pulp) of the fruit of oil palms. The oil is used in food manufacturing, in beauty products, and as biofuel. Palm oil accounted for about 36% of global oils produced from o ...
and straw bolstered by timber frameworks and roofed with thatched leaves and wood, or later aluminum and
corrugated iron Corrugated galvanised iron (CGI) or steel, colloquially corrugated iron (near universal), wriggly tin (taken from UK military slang), pailing (in Caribbean English), corrugated sheet metal (in North America), zinc (in Cyprus and Nigeria) or ...
. Most medieval/pre-colonial Yoruba settlements were surrounded by defensive mud walls.
Sungbo's Eredo Sungbo's Eredo is a system of defensive walls and ditches that is located to the southwest of the Yoruba town of Ijebu Ode in Ogun State, southwest Nigeria (). It was built in honour of the Ijebu noblewoman Oloye Bilikisu Sungbo. The location ...
, a series of such fortifications equipped with guard houses and moats, has been considered the largest pre-colonial monument in Africa, larger even than the
Pyramid of Khufu The Great Pyramid of Giza is the largest Egyptian pyramid. It served as the tomb of pharaoh Khufu, who ruled during the Fourth Dynasty of the Old Kingdom. Built , over a period of about 26 years, the pyramid is the oldest of the Seven Wond ...
in Egypt or
Great Zimbabwe Great Zimbabwe was a city in the south-eastern hills of the modern country of Zimbabwe, near Masvingo. It was settled from 1000 AD, and served as the capital of the Kingdom of Great Zimbabwe from the 13th century. It is the largest stone struc ...
. After British colonization, architecture in
Lagos Lagos ( ; ), or Lagos City, is a large metropolitan city in southwestern Nigeria. With an upper population estimated above 21 million dwellers, it is the largest city in Nigeria, the most populous urban area on the African continent, and on ...
in particular was influenced by Brazilian architecture, brought in large part by Agudas, who introduced elements such as
masonry Masonry is the craft of building a structure with brick, stone, or similar material, including mortar plastering which are often laid in, bound, and pasted together by mortar (masonry), mortar. The term ''masonry'' can also refer to the buildin ...
,
stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and ...
, arched windows and doorways, and added prominence to multi-storey buildings.


History


Pre-colonial styles

Pre-colonial Yoruba people predominantly lived in ring-like urban clusters. Families lived in square structures built to enclose open courtyards, and the palaces of obas often had an open market area that made up the centre of a town. A hierarchy of sorts was maintained throughout many Yoruba towns, wherein the oba or other ruler boasted the largest compound and the most courtyards. The dwelling places of the city's ward or lineage chiefs were following in size and space, which were also typically made with more than one central courtyard. The sizes of the houses of the town elders of local families followed suit. Traditional Yoruba architectural forms can be seen as hollow squares or circles, and buildings can be viewed as compounds consisting of various sub-units arranged in
quadrilateral In Euclidean geometry, geometry a quadrilateral is a four-sided polygon, having four Edge (geometry), edges (sides) and four Vertex (geometry), corners (vertices). The word is derived from the Latin words ''quadri'', a variant of four, and ''l ...
shapes surrounding an open courtyard. The open space served as the point of social contact for inhabitants and was also used for cooking and craft making. The open spaces or courtyards were purposefully designed to be much larger than interior spaces to encourage communication between family members. On the other hand, the enclosed spaces made much smaller and darker were mostly used for sleeping. The main material for building house walls was molded mud, obtained from
laterite Laterite is a soil type rich in iron and aluminium and is commonly considered to have formed in hot and wet tropical areas. Nearly all laterites are of rusty-red coloration, because of high iron oxide content. They develop by intensive and prolo ...
soils. Yoruba houses were built without windows. Roofing materials were influenced by environmental conditions. In areas closest to the Atlantic coast,
raffia Raffia palms are members of the genus ''Raphia''. The Malagasy language, Malagasy name is derived from ' "to squeeze #Raffia wine, juice". The genus contains about twenty species of Arecaceae, palms native to tropical regions of Africa, and esp ...
palm leaves were frequently used for roofing, while in the northern regions, wood was substituted for palm fronds. The palaces and houses of chiefs had extended courtyards. Animal murals and carved posts beautified palaces and chiefly homes, which also served as prominent shrines for dedications to Orishas. Gardens were prominent in Yoruba arts and architecture. Yoruba palaces often included gardens. At the Olowo's palace for example, there existed different kinds of gardens ranging from farm, temple,
sacred Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects ( ...
,
kitchen A kitchen is a room (architecture), room or part of a room used for cooking and food preparation in a dwelling or in a commercial establishment. A modern middle-class residential kitchen is typically equipped with a Kitchen stove, stove, a sink ...
, and herb gardens.
Impluvium The ''impluvium'' (: ''impluvia'') is a water-catchment pool system meant to capture rain-water flowing from the ''compluvium'', an area of roof. Often placed in a courtyard, under an opening in the roof, and thus "inside", instead of "outside ...
s were also utilized in Yoruba compounds to collect rain water.


Gallery


Building exterior

File:Vue de la place du roi dans la cour du peuple du Musée Honmè.jpg, Old palace of porto Novo built in the Yoruba style featuring a central courtyard which also serves as an
impluvium The ''impluvium'' (: ''impluvia'') is a water-catchment pool system meant to capture rain-water flowing from the ''compluvium'', an area of roof. Often placed in a courtyard, under an opening in the roof, and thus "inside", instead of "outside ...
. File:La cour du Musée Honmè à Porto Novo.jpg, Central courtyard of the Yoruba styled old royal palace (Aafin Oba) of the rulers of Porto Novo featuring an
Egungun Egungun, Yoruba language: Egúngún, also known as Ará Ọ̀run (The collective dead) in the broadest sense is any Yoruba masquerade or masked, costumed figure. More specifically, it is a Yoruba masquerade for ancestor reverence, or the ances ...
and a post to
Ogun Ogun or Ogoun ( Yoruba: Ògún, Edo: Ògún, Portuguese: Ogum, Gu; also spelled Oggun or Ogou; known as Ogún or Ogum in Latin America) is a Yoruba Orisha that is adopted in several African religions. Ògún is a warrior and a powerful spi ...
File:Vue de l’extérieur du Musée Honmè.jpg, View of a part of the exterior walls of the old Porto Novo (Ajaṣe, Hogbonu) palace.


Pillars, posts, panels and beams

File:Carved planks and beams from Yoruba Temples.jpg, Carved planks and beams obtained from Yoruba Temples. File:Veranda posts at the royal palace of Ikere Ekiti.jpg, Veranda entrance posts (Opo Ogoga) depicting a royal horseman, a woman with twin daughters from Ikere-Ekiti. File:Palace door and lintel-Yoruba (British Museum).jpg, Palace door wooden panel from
Ikere Ikere-Ekiti, also known as Ikere or Ikerre, is a city in Ekiti State of Nigeria. It is an agricultural and mine centre. According to the 1963 and 1991 census, the population was 114,780 and 60,257 respectively, but the 2006 census recorded it to ...
File:Traditional pillars from the interior of a building in Ode Ondo, capital of the Ondo kingdom.jpg, The interior of a building in Ode Ondo, capital of the
Ondo Kingdom The Ondo Kingdom is a traditional state that traces its origins back for over 500 years, with its capital in Ode Ondo. Ondo Kingdom was established by Princess Pupupu, one of the twins of Alafin Oluaso. Her mother was Queen Olu who later di ...
. File:Oyo pillar 15th century.jpg, Brass supporting pillars from the
Old Oyo Old Oyo, also known as Oyo-Ile, Katunga, Oyo-Oro, and Eyo is the site of a ruined medieval city that was once the capital of the Oyo Empire in what is now modern-day Nigeria. It has been abandoned since 1835. It was a major cultural and politic ...
royal palace, 2 meters in height.


Yoruba Revival or Neo Yoruba architecture

There has been a revival in certain Yoruba building styles both in West Africa, as well as in the Americas.


Brazilian styles

Following the
British conquest The French and Indian War, 1754 to 1763, was a colonial conflict in North America between Great Britain and France, along with their respective Native American allies. European historians generally consider it a related conflict of the wider ...
of Lagos, the town grew into a city with a varied population. This population consisted of the indigenous residents of ''Isale Eko'' (
Lagos Island Lagos Island () is the principal and central Local government areas of Nigeria, Local Government Area (LGA) in Lagos, Nigeria. It was the capital of Lagos State until 1957. It is part of the Lagos Division. As of the preliminary 2006 Nigerian ce ...
), Yoruba returnees from Brazil, Trinidad and
Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...
, who had crossed the Atlantic twice, European merchants and British colonists, and mixed-race Creoles. Many African returnees from Brazil had trained in masonry, and they introduced
stuccoed Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and a ...
bungalows and multi-storey buildings with
arched An arch is a curved vertical structure spanning an open space underneath it. Arches may support the load above them, or they may perform a purely decorative role. As a decorative element, the arch dates back to the 4th millennium BC, but stru ...
windows and doorways, influenced by Brazilian architecture. This style began to dominate colonial Lagos, especially in Olowogbowo, Popo Aguda,
Ebute Metta Ebute Metta is a neighbourhood of Lagos Mainland, Lagos, in Lagos State, Nigeria. History Ebute Metta is known for the production and sale of local food and cloths. It is a very old part of Lagos State, many of its houses were built during th ...
and Yaba. Apprentices trained by the returnees later spread a modified variant across the region. These Brazilian style-houses were built with open spaces for ventilation between the tops of the walls and the roofs and
verandahs A veranda (also spelled verandah in Australian English, Australian and New Zealand English) is a roofed, open-air hallway or porch, attached to the outside of a building. A veranda is often partly enclosed by a handrail, railing and frequently ...
on the front of back entrances. Two-story sobrados, quadrangular with central areas that could hold alcoves, chapels and staircases with accompanying passageways, became popular. A Sardinian established a brick and tile factory in Lagos, leading to affordable storey houses made from brick. The brick columns and walls were plastered with ornamentation, and further embellishments were incorporated into
plinths A pedestal or plinth is a support at the bottom of a statue, vase, column, or certain altars. Smaller pedestals, especially if round in shape, may be called socles. In civil engineering, it is also called ''basement''. The minimum height of ...
, columns, shafts and bases. Stately houses were built and reproduced in different shapes and sizes by the Yoruba returnees from the New World into the city of Lagos. Examples include: the residence of Andrew Thomas, a two-story Brazilian-styled house designed with ornate works of plaster; Joaquim Devonde Branco's brickhouse, with wrought-iron windows; and the Caxton House on Marina, which was built with a two-story main building, two showrooms at each side of the main building, horse stables, and a garden.


References

{{African architecture styles