Treasure of the origins
If Ghana's original architecture is so rich, it's because, over the centuries, it has been able to adapt to the different climates of each of its regions and make use of the local materials available. In coastal regions, the preferred materials are coconuts, mud, bamboo, foliage and small branches. Houses here consist of a framework of wooden poles on which are placed walls of bamboo or finely woven mats, the whole covered by a thatched roof. When dwellings are built close to the water, they rest on structures built on stilts. In humid forest regions, the materials used are more or less the same as in coastal areas, but laterite (a red rock typical of tropical regions) is added in wet form and applied by hand to the wooden framework, using the wattle-and-daub wall technique. Mud and clay can also replace laterite. Roofs are made of palm thatch, with steep slopes and sharp gables. In dry savannah areas, materials are limited and dwellings are essentially made of mud and grass. It is in these regions, moreover, that compressed earth constructions have developed, known as atakpamé, named after the itinerant builders of Atakpamé in Togo. This technique enables the construction of compact, solid walls that do not require wooden structural elements. Although materials and techniques differed, the same concept of habitat remained: that of the enclosed house or courtyard house. This type of dwelling is shared by all the peoples of Ghana, but its structure is adapted to the climate: in hot, humid areas, the enclosed house is wide open to promote air circulation, while in areas with a harsher climate, the enclosed house is more compact and closed. But everywhere, the number of courtyards is a symbol of the owner's wealth! The Tallensi are famous for their astonishing urban planning, creating meaning and harmony in chaotic, craggy landscapes. Their typical enclosure, as in Tongo Hills, consists of a network of circular paths serving the village's key spaces: the kraals (cattle pens), the granaries, and of course the dwellings, whose circular, flat-roofed structure is reminiscent of a bucket. The spaces are interconnected, but designed to respect individual privacy. The enclosure itself is preceded by a shaded area housing ancestral shrines and temples. The Dagomba enclosure houses, on the other hand, are composed of several enclosures, housing circular huts with conical roofs linked by curved walls, creating an organic and harmonious whole. The central enclosure is reserved for the chief, whose hut is decorated with wide bands of pottery fragments inlaid in mud mortar and placed around the doors. The Ya-Na Palace in Yendi has 7 enclosures! The Antigaane enclosure represents the Nankani tradition. It comprises several enclosures housing rectangular or circular buildings with flat or pitched roofs. Organized around a vast central courtyard, the secondary enclosures are themselves composed of one or more private interior courtyards. This compact and compact appearance underlines the primary defensive purpose of these enclosures. The fortress-houses of the Wala people also follow this trend, as illustrated by the Wa Naa Palace. The Seripe settlement in the north is also a "fortified" habitat designed to ensure protection and privacy. The Lobi enclosure, almost entirely covered, houses low, dark living spaces. In Sirigui, you can't help but marvel at the decorative richness of the houses. This decorative work is carried out entirely by the women, who often use powdered colored rocks. The circular mud houses with their conical roofs are adorned with abstract or stylized geometric figures, as well as animal or floral figures with strong symbolism. The snake, for example, ensures protection, while wavy lines are synonymous with success! The decorative wealth of the Ashanti people can also be seen in their houses and temples made of wood, bamboo or adobe. Their buildings are adorned with bas-reliefs fashioned from red lateritic clay for the lower parts and white kaolinitic clay for the upper parts. The most common forms of these bas-reliefs are interlaced geometric figures (spirals, arabesques), but also representations of animals or plants, associated with adinkra symbols (symbols created by the Akan people - the ethnic group to which the Ashantis belong -, representing messages of wisdom and most often made using stamps cut from natural materials). Richness, color, finesse and diversity characterize this Ashanti art of decoration, which you can discover in the temples and sanctuaries of Patakro, Asenemaso and Ejisu Besease, which, along with a dozen others, are now classified as Unesco World Heritage Sites!
Foreign influences
Itinerant Dioulas merchants who fled from Djenné in Mali helped create the first fortified trading posts in Ghana, and led to the spread of new building techniques, notably for mosques. The Djenne style is itself influenced by the Sudanese mosque tradition. The Dondoli Mosque in Wa is one of the most beautiful in the country. Its silhouette is characterized by massive buttresses with powerful, closely-spaced overhangs, which taper in height to project their domed pinnacles above the roof balustrade. You'll also notice that these buttresses are bristling with protruding pieces of wood. These were used both to anchor the buttresses to the main wall and as scaffolding for maintenance work! The mihrab (prayer niche facing Mecca) is housed in a conical tower (in some mosques, these towers are pyramidal). Often, Sudanese mosques also feature a second tower. The interior is divided into several bays separated by high earthen pillars supporting the flat roof. The Larabanga Mosque, the oldest in the country (1421), takes all these features and adds a further decorative touch with its black lines and diamond patterns on large white surfaces.
Then it was the turn of European settlers to make their mark on the country. This colonial presence first took the form of defensive architecture, as evidenced by the series of forts and castles, most of them Portuguese, in the former Gold Coast. Most forts followed a rectangular or square plan. The exterior featured bastioned structures, batteries and corner towers, while the interior consisted of 2 or 3-storey buildings organized around a courtyard. Thick, arcaded walls and powerful, crenellated keeps gave these stone-and-mortar fortresses the appearance of authentic medieval castles. Among the most famous are : château Saint-Georges in Elmina, Fort Komenda,Osu Castle in Accra (formerly Christianborg Castle founded by the Danes) and Fort Amsterdam in Kormantse, whose sad architectural feature (multiple openings to allow ventilation) reflects its evolution from a simple fort protecting gold to a slave-trading center where slaves were kept... In parallel, the colonists also set up a number of missions, such as the Basel Mission in Kumasi, not far from Accra. Within these missions, the colonists trained numerous carpenters, masons and joiners, and developed a key structure of colonial architecture: the house, made of stone, brick or cob, surrounded on all 4 sides by a veranda. In the Catholic mission of Navrongo, French priests built the Navrongo Catholic Cathedral, entirely in mud brick. With a length of 60 m, a width of 14 m and a bell-tower 13 m high, the cathedral is a perfect example of the potential of this natural material! On the coast, English settlers developed a hybrid colonial architecture blending European and African influences. While the interiors are designed to promote ventilation, the exteriors are adorned with the trappings of the Queen Anne style, between ornamental fantasy and classical rigor, or a very Italianate style, playing on the mix of materials (marble, tiles, stone, brick). The town of Anomabu is full of them.
Independence and modernism
The first post-independence leader, Kwame Nkrumah launched a major campaign to transform his country. It was at this time that the Ghana National Construction Corporation (GNCC) was created, with the main aims of building decent housing for workers and improving the country's infrastructure (dams, railroads, etc.). But as the country did not yet have any locally-trained architects, Kwame Nkrumah chose to call on architects from the USSR, with whom Ghana was aligned. But unlike the colonial pattern where Europeans imposed their models, here Eastern European architects were working for the GNCC. While they were themselves in the midst of reconstruction, the Poles, in particular, were able to share their urban planning research, as shown by the Labadi district in Accra, inspired by the modeling of the Powiśle district in Warsaw. They also shared their conceptions of architectural modernity, which gave pride of place to concrete, whose monotony was broken by alternating smooth and rough surfaces, and to long-span structures. The Accra International Trade Fair is a perfect example. But as the Ghanaian leader wished, the building also makes reference to local tradition, as shown by the Africa Pavilion with its circular structure inspired by umbrellas (a symbol of power) and the baobab tree. The whole of this era was marked by a modernism adapted to the climate: tropical modernism, recognizable by its bris-de-soleil facades, sliding windows combining glass and aluminum or concrete louvers, wide projecting roof overhangs, and the whiteness of its sober, geometric volumes. The National Museum of Ghana; the Children's Library in Accra; and, of course,Independence Place / Black Star Square and the Independence Arch, deploying the full aesthetic potential of concrete, are among the great achievements of this period.
Contemporary Ghana
In the 80s and 90s, the country was still finding its feet, alternating between the monumentalism of the international style and its attachment to tradition. The National Theatre is a perfect example, with its structure composed of square blocks that pivot and curve in a totally unstructured ballet, while abstract mosaic murals represent the rhythms of local dances. The Jubilee House, or Presidential Palace, is another example of this mix of genres. Its monumental 40 m-high silhouette is inspired by the Royal Ashanti stool with its curved seat. Akan motifs complete the decoration of this great symbol of Ghana. In the city skyline, other buildings stand out in particular, such as the Villaggio Towers, whose facades are adorned with cladding creating gradations of green, yellow and red.
Today, despite the many challenges it faces, the country is experiencing a period of great creative effervescence, largely enabled and driven by women. Nana Akua Oppong Birmeh heads Arch Xenius, the country's only female-led architectural practice! Her work includes the development of numerous passive (low-energy consumption) buildings. Although she works mainly in the UK, Elsie Owusu is actively involved in the country's renewal through the NGO Just Ghana, which promotes sustainable development. She has also thought up new designs for Kumasi City Hall (inspired by the Ashanti porcupine) and Accra's Rapid Transit System (inspired by traditional textile motifs). In the regenerating Jamestown district of Accra, the leading figure is architect Joe Addo, president of ArchiAfrika, whose aim is to put African architecture back on the world map. In his café, he organizes meetings with leading architects, and does everything in his power to combat developers and their luxury hotels. It's a fight against concreteization that more and more Ghanaian architects are taking up. With its green roof, wooden shutters and buildings arranged around a century-old tree, the World Bank in Accra is a symbol of green architecture. Even international projects are getting in on the act, such as Mario Cuccinella's astonishing Airport City, a 9-storey mixed-use building with facade motifs reminiscent of palm tree bark, whose orientation has been designed to ensure natural ventilation and light. The great star of international architecture, British-Ghanaian David Adjaye, unveiled two major projects. Firstly, his response to the government's initiative to modernize the country's hospitals. Sustainability, efficiency and generosity are the key words of this project, whose buildings will be equipped with ecological systems and organized around green spaces, while their designs will be inspired by traditional motifs. Then there's his project for Ghana's National Cathedral. The cathedral, which is still in the construction phase, has been the subject of controversy, not least because of its cost and symbolism. And yet, David Adjaye was keen to make it an interfaith space whose design would reflect the art and culture of the country's different ethnic groups, as in the case of the concave Akan-inspired roof and façade, or the landscaping designed to recall Adinkra motifs. Only time will tell whether the international star will succeed in completing his projects... In any case, Ghana has not finished surprising us, and Lesley Lokko, Ghanaian architect and novelist, and curator of the Architecture Biennale 2023, is sure to agree: in Ghana, as throughout Africa, she wants to break codes and imagine "a decarbonized and decolonized architecture"!
