Architectures of Colony: Changes and Impacts of the Colonial Era on African Architecture

The indelible cultural impact of the colonial mission is not unknown or hidden knowledge. Whole cultures and societal structures shifted under the colonial presence, and the trajectory of nation-states across the continent forever veered off their original course to the present reality that we now find ourselves in. This extends to the realm of African Architecture. The way in which we build, produce, and exist in space was also impacted by colonialism.

In the case of Northern and Eastern Africa, we can see a multiplicity of interactions between local communities and their colonial masters. In the case of Libya and the conception of colonial architecture by the Italians in the 1930s, McLaren best illustrates the interaction as one predicated on the recognition of the value of indigenous archetypes and architectural models and the use of academic scholarship to bolster cultural nationalism of the colonial “civilizing mission.” The Italians saw the “native architecture of Libya” as a source to inform the elements they sought to employ in their colonial architecture; taking cues from the indigenous architecture’s material, form, and planning. Interestingly, a parallel can be seen by the French in Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia through their dedication to learning the cultures of these societies only to subvert and retell their narratives to legitimize the colonial mission.

The realm of Islamic architecture was also impacted by this. In the example of Karamanli Mosque in Dedalo, McLaren discusses how the retelling of its history and founder in addition to the Maghrebi influence on its ornament possessed “lines and decorative elements from eighteenth-century European art.” In the example of the Karamanli and Gurji Mosques, the publications that correspond to them reflect on the Roman colonization as a positive influence that led to the sophistication and prowess of the architecture being examined. As though to equate the present-day colonial mission as one that shall beget a similar “positive” influence on the local community. 

The “colonial mosque” is an interesting by-product of the colonial mission in West Africa. In the case of Senegal and its colonial interaction with the French, the “colonial, ‘church-like’ mosque became the emblem of a Muslim identity carefully controlled by the French authorities who were intent on civilizing their subjects and improving their living standards…” (Cantone, 2012, p.7) By pushing the built traditions of the Muslim community in Senegal through materiality, form, and building traditions (namely to masonry and other more permanent building material) to a built tradition more in line with the ideals of the colonial power. We can see here how identity, as expressed through religious architecture, was transformed and subverted.   

Colonial Mosque in St. Louis, Senegal (circa 1847)

References

Brian L. McLaren “The Italian Colonial Appropriation of Indigenous North African Architecture in the 1930s.” Muqarnas, Vol. 19 (2002), pp. 164-192

Cantone, C. (2012) Making and remaking mosques in Senegal. Boston: Brill.