Africa style urban and design

Africa in has a variety of rich and complex and connected with earth. reflect influences of many region. In the Mzab one of the element region was the minaret.

There are so many different styles Architectural such as  :

-southwestern Sahara

Ksour of Ouadane, Chinguetti, Tichitt and Oualata

Chingueti city of Mauritania: n its heyday Chinguetti had 24 libraries, which housed thousands of Arabic manuscripts, the work of theologians, writers, jurists, philosophers, poets, mathematicians and scientists ranging from the golden age of the almoravids in Andalusia, the eleventh century to the beginning of the twentieth century.    indigenous Saharan architecture of older sectors of the city features houses constructed of reddish dry-stone and mud-brick techniques, with flat roofs timbered from palms. Many of the older houses feature hand-hewn doors cut from massive ancient acacia trees, which have long disappeared from the surrounding area. Many homes include courtyards or patios that crowd along narrow streets leading to the central mosque.

Unfortunately, Chinguetti is suffering from the aggressive expansion of the Sahara Desert surrounding it and these historically significant texts are in great danger of being destroyed by the dry air and encroaching sands. Chinguetti (Berber languages: Cengiṭ; Arabic: شنقيط‎, romanized: Šinqīṭ) is a ksar, a medieval trading center in northern Mauritania, located on the Adrar Plateau east of Atar.

Ksar or qsar is the North African term for "fortified village", from Arabic qaṣar (قَصَر), itself possibly loaned from Latin castrum.

Founded in the 13th century as the center of several trans-Saharan trade routes the city is seriously threatened by the encroaching desert; The western boundary is marked by tall sand dunes and several houses have been swallowed by the desert.

The town is divided in two parts by a wadi. On one side, lies the old town, and on the other the new town.

The main building that dominates over the old town is The Friday Mosque of Chinguetti, an ancient structure of dry-stone construction, featuring a square minaret capped with five ostrich egg finials is the core site of Chinguetti.

The mosque was built in the thirteenth or fourteenth century, and it is believed to be the second oldest continuously used minaret in all of the Muslim world.

Other notable buildings in the town include the former French Foreign Legion fortress; and a tall watertower. But among these, the most important noteworthy buildings are the famous libraries, giving the town the name “The City of Libraries”. In fact in the old quarter there are five important manuscript libraries of scientific and Quranic texts, with many dating from the later Middle Ages.

Sudano-Sahelian architecture

Tuareg: Agadez  Niger

Vernaculaire architecture

Tughrmit

-kanak temple with beams and columns

Islamic art: decoration of building, everyday objects, ornementations

-Matakan

-Dogon style

-Sawhili home :Lamu Old Town in Lamu, Kenya. These stone buildings are made in the Swahili style of architecture. Erik (HASH) Hersman. CC BY 2.0 

3. Swahili 

Monumental stone structures dating back to at least the 13th century populate the Swahili Coast, an 1,800-mile stretch along the Indian Ocean in modern-day Tanzania and Kenya. The area is rich with coral limestone, which became a crucial building material for the indigenous Swahili people. 

"The stone architecture evolved over time to include intricate decorative elements, such as carved door frames and windows with natural and geometric designs. The carvings in Swahili  architecture date back to the 17th century, with the earliest known example being from 1694. During the 18th and 19th centuries, the practice of stone and wood carving grew more widespread. Carvers drew influence from architecture and art overseas, including neo-Gothic, British Raj and Indian Gujarati styles. "

 Kenya’s Lamu Old Town is the oldest and most well-preserved Swahili settlement on the Swahili Coast. Lamu Old Town is constructed from coral limestone and mangrove timber and has been continuously inhabited for over 700 years. The Stone Town of Zanzibar, on Unguja Island, is another excellent example of Swahili architecture, especially the blending of African, Arabian, Indian and European influences. Both of these towns have been designated as UNESCO World Heritage Sites. 

Sudano-Sahelian, Afro-Modernist and Swahili architecture are only three of Africa’s wide variety of architectural styles. Others include Somali, Afro-Federal, Nigerian and Ethiopian. For more stunning pictures of African architecture, visit this Twitter thread. https://catalyst.cm/stories-new/2021/7/3/amazing-styles-of-african-architecture#:~:text=The%20stone,Gujarati%20styles.%C2%A0https://archeyes.com/great-mud-architecture-mali-dogon-culture/-Nomad Home

-Morroco Architecture

-Egypt

-North west Mauritania

-Algeria

-Tunisia

-Djenne

Timbouctou

Adobe

-North Cameroun

-South Africa

-Central Africa

-Futurists

-Mzab

-Tuareg

-Timgad

-Tigurmet

-Nubia et ethiopia

-Musgum

-Nankan

-Hassan Faty

-Colonial

-husuni Kwaba

TECHNIQUES

Sculpture of wood, Ivory,Metal and Bombou