In the beginning was the round hut of Gihanga..
Traditionally, in Rwanda, the foundation of a house was laid by drawing a circle with a string attached to a central stake. Some legends say that the hero Gihanga, the mythical founder of the country, was the originator of this circular shape. Indeed, the circle would be the representation of the journey that Gihanga made around Rwanda, and any family construction should be inspired by this original epic. In any case, these round dwellings have been the norm throughout the country for centuries.
Built with natural materials, the huts were made of a thatched roof reaching down to the ground, supported by a central pillar, and walls of clay and earth. Rather than being compactly grouped in a village, the dwellings were scattered over the hills, with each hill containing members of the same lineage. Each hut was surrounded by land used for planting, work space for craftsmen, or areas for livestock. The enclosures were built according to the same circular plans and the circles sometimes interpenetrated. Among modest people, there was only one hut, without enclosure, while the rich had several huts (for example one for the kitchen, one for the children, one for visitors, etc.). Today, these dwellings still exist in some parts of the country, although the decades of colonization and modernization of the country have transformed their original form.
Colonial influences
In the 1890s, the Germans were the first to colonize Rwanda, bringing with them different architectural practices. The first German building, the house of representative Richard Kandt in Nyarugenge, is a simple house with brick walls and a roof covered with aluminum sheets. This innovative building inspired many Rwandans to build their own verandas.
At the end of the First World War, the Belgians chased the Germans out and took over Rwanda. They built many Catholic churches, introduced the use of brick and built a new palace in Nyanza for the king (next to the old palace, a canon of the country's vernacular architecture). The central prison in Kigali, now a museum, is also a legacy of this period. However, although colonization in Rwanda transformed the country in a profound way, the Belgian architectural influence remained very moderate.
Thus, the colonial influences led to a slow transformation of the indigenous dwellings, which became a real mixture of different styles and materials. Today, thatched roofs have been replaced by sheet metal, tile or concrete roofs, and the structure of the houses is more often rectangular than circular.
Rwanda's architectural revival
Rwanda is sometimes called "the Singapore of Africa", a parallel that sounds strangely accurate. After World War II, a new type of very westernized and modern architecture emerged. This change can be seen especially in the capital, Kigali, the prime example being the Kigali City Tower, an impressive glass and steel skyscraper that curves like a sail at its peak. The scale of the transformation of the urban face of Kigali over the past two decades is exceptional. However, the development of the capital was done in a random and spontaneous way, without global urban planning. Thus, in order to give coherence to the capital, the Rwandan government commissioned two foreign architectural firms in 2009 to design a master plan for the city. The plan aimed to expand existing neighborhoods as well as design new ones, and to create areas for tourism and recreation.
In addition, Kigali has recently become the epicenter of the African architectural revival, with the establishment of two prestigious schools in 2016 and 2018. First, the African Design Centre, dubbed "the Bauhaus of Africa." This research center brings together creatives from all over Africa around environmentally friendly and socially engaged building projects. Two years later, a 5,600m2 school of architecture and design opened in the capital. The school-village, designed by Strasbourg architect Patrick Schweitzer in 2017, is made up of a dozen small ochre-colored buildings linked together. Combining traditional and modern architecture, the buildings were built with local materials and thought out in an ecological way. For example, a natural ventilation system is in place to avoid air conditioning and rainwater is collected. As for their shapes, they evoke both the hills of the country and a grouping of traditional huts.
If these schools show that urbanism and architecture are very popular in Kigali, the rest of Rwanda is not left behind and many buildings will surprise and intrigue the visitors. For example, the educational center of Nyanza, between Kigali and Butare, built by the architectural firm Dominikus Stark in 2010, or the residential hospital complex signed by Sharon Davis in 2015 in Rwinkwavu, whose walls are made of eucalyptus screens. Also noteworthy is Rwanda's cricket stadium, signed Light Earth Designs in 2017, decorated with three interconnected parabolic vaults, closely mimicking the trajectory of a bouncing ball and evoking the hilly topography dear to Rwanda. Finally, projects that take into account climate and health issues are also in vogue as the future Bugesera International Airport, still under construction in 2023, is expected to receive the "Green Airport" label and Rwanda has placed itself at the forefront of the use of drones to deliver medical supplies to remote areas of East Africa.
