The Complexities of Form: African Architecture of the Medieval Period
The wide and diverse landscapes of Mali, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, and what is referred to as the Swahili coastal region, each possess a set of sociopolitical issues that is unique to their individual polities. Their histories, cultures and religious influences, albeit differing; lend each realm to an experience that deeply impacts its trajectory. Let that be through power and political struggles, or defining its legitimacy; the commonality that threads each of the plains together resonates and is reflected by their architecture.
For Ethiopian architecture during this period, we can summarize its main issue of consequence to fall in line with its varied architectural symbolisms. Geographically, Ethiopia finds itself positioned near the epicenter of the beginnings of Christianity; and this sacred geography, within a historic context, leads to a series of readings and interpretations of the built religious architecture. Through the series of appropriations of the Old Testament to the established patterning of imitated sites of the Christian Holy land, in addition to the to the restriction and opening of processions and access of the built architecture throughout the ages; we can see a palimpsest and superimposition of religious idioms and symbolisms. This leads to a sort of enigmatic architecture whose inception is difficult to discern with a richness of architectural experiences that all act in tandem with one another to create a layered and patterned form of multiplicity and deep meaning.
Zimbabwean architecture on the other hand is enraptured with a struggle for meaning. Through a series of archaeological studies and investigations of the functions of the buildings at Great Zimbabwe, more and more is revealed that debunks previous assumptions. Weather that be the functional definition of these structures being interpreted as a form of palace architecture typologies by Chirikure & Pikirayi that debunked the previous cognitive model of the Zimbabwe Pattern; or the comparisons of the buildings of the Upper and Lower valley to debate pre-eminence or ubiquity in function, as a political center or mundane structure. With each round of inquiry the interpretation of the structures of Great Zimbabwe gain more complexity and nuance that make it even more difficult to interpret their meaning with definite clarity.
Architecture of the Swahili coast region grappled with the concepts of its origin and influences. Though the region in and of itself is a space of much intersection with the Middle East and Asia, the argument used to disinherit the architecture produced therein and sever its attribution to the continent, is a discourse that has long pervaded its architectural study and inquiry. Through motif and ornament, basic building styles, house designs, and most notably the place of monument and ornate tombs within the architectural landscape; we can clearly see a divergence from the Arabian, Persian and Asian examples that are often attributed to the architectural style.
Malian architecture’s main issues were brought on by political instability which led to the instrumentalization of architecture as a means of influencing and controlling people and society. Most notably, at the heart of this socio-political battlefield, was the Great Mosque of Djenne. The mosque itself went through three eras of transformation with both regional political sabotage, jihads, and French Colonial influences being the catalyst behind each moment of evolution.
The Present day Great Mosque at Djenne, whose crediting was initially awarded to the French but in actuality true authorship belongs to the people and masons of Djenne, boasts a stunning architecture which has become emblematic of the Sahelian Sudanese Style. Predicated on a rectangular ground floor plan whose “four tapering sides rose to a summit crowned by a small, central, bullet-shaped ornament” (Bourgeois, pp.62) stands the Great Mosque. It's iconographic earthen mounds that tower over the adjacent marketplace, interspersed by earthen pilasters and bolstered by the protruding timber torro to stabilized the structure and provide supports for the annual replastering of the mosque façade, lend itself to architecture that is a “declaration of interethnic rivalry –and victory– in architectural form.” (Bourgeois, pp.62)
References:
Jean-Louis Bourgeois, “The History of the Great Mosque of Djenne,” African Arts, Vol. 20, No. 3 (May, 1987), pp. 54-63+90-92
Trevor H. J. Marchand, “Bozo-Dogon Bantering: Policing Access to Djenne’s Building Trade with Jests and Spells,” Traditional Dwellings and Settlements Review, Vol. 14, No. 2 (SPRING 2003), pp. 47-63.
Marilyn E. Heldman, “Architectural Symbolism, Sacred Geography and the Ethiopian Church. Journal of Religion in Africa, Vol. 22, Fasc. 3 (Aug., 1992), pp. 222-241
James De Vere Allen “Swahili Architecture in the Later Middle Ages” African Arts 7, No. 2 (Winter, 1974), pp. 42-47+66-68+83-84 (11 pages)
Thomas N. Huffman “Debating Great Zimbabwe” The South African Archaeological Bulletin, Vol. 66, No. 193 (June 2011), pp. 27-40.
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