In the footsteps of history
The first stop on this architectural journey is the prehistoric site of Hyrax Hill, home to the remains of three settlements, the oldest of which is thought to date back 3,000 years. Funerary tumuli, the remains of a stone fort and the foundations of two semi-circular stone huts complete this astonishing panorama of a prehistoric habitat that was already highly refined and codified. In one of these early "villages", the presence of 13 separate enclosures has been revealed, reflecting a hierarchical organization of space. Let's take a step back in time to discover the rich Swahili civilization, an astonishing blend of Arab and African cultures, which emerged as early as the 9th century with the emergence of the first city-states and major trading posts. The site of Gede is undoubtedly one of the most important in the country. Here you'll discover the remains of a city founded in the 11th century and once protected by two imposing city walls. Masters of water architecture, the builders of the time competed in engineering the creation of wells and cisterns needed for water supply and ritual ablutions. Those of the Great Mosque are still visible. And don't miss its superb mihrab (niche pointing to Mecca), skilfully carved from coral. In the past, it was covered in plaster and decorated with... Chinese porcelain! This type of decoration can also be found on numerous tombstones, including one with astonishing fluted pillars and coral bosses. Another symbol of the splendour of this Swahili city are the ruins of its palace, with its entrance porch and multiple rooms and courtyards. You'll notice two holes drilled in the floor... one of the earliest examples of a ventilation system. And don't miss the astonishingly modern latrines, with their low separating wall and "washbasin" for cleansing! The houses on the site are fine examples of Swahili culture, with their walls made of stone blocks cut from coral that has not yet fossilized, making it softer and easier to work. The ruins of Mnarani, Jumba la Mtwana, the old town of Mombasa and the village of Shela are other superb examples of Swahili culture. But if you had to visit just one site, it would of course be Lamu, the oldest town in East Africa, whose heart is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Although the town is ancient, its buildings date mainly from the 18th and 19th centuries. The whole Swahili culture is here, in the maze of labyrinthine, shady alleys just wide enough for animals to pass through, in the division into small quarters(mitaa) and, above all, in the houses with their distinctive features. Made of coral stone, lime mortar and mangrove wood, these houses have few openings to the street, apart from a superbly sculpted door decorated with floral or calligraphic motifs, and balconies closed like moucharabiehs. A porch(daka) embellished with a stone bench(bazaras) offers a convivial space before entering the residence, which is organized around a courtyard or garden. Painted ceilings and sculpted niches are among the key decorative elements of these sumptuous homes. As you stroll along the town's streets, you're likely to come across doors with studded coffers... a contribution from the Indian community, which is very present in Lamu. And don't miss the town's beautiful mosques and waterfront houses with their open verandas and arcades. Alongside these Swahili treasures, Kenya is also home to witnesses of the Portuguese presence, including Fort Jesus in Mombasa. Built in the 16th century, it is a fine example of the adaptation of military architecture to the evolution of artillery. A masterpiece of harmony and geometry, it proudly bears the ideals of the Renaissance. See its imposing walls, moats and angular bastions protecting cisterns, stores and private quarters, all carved from coral stone.
Colonial heritage
The Uganda Railway, nicknamed the Lunatic Railway by the locals, was the first major transformation of the country launched under the British protectorate. Gradually, the newly built stations became the nerve centers of large urban centers, such as Nairobi, the new seat of the Protectorate. Drainage works, creation of an urban plan around City Square, nothing was left to chance... especially not the definition of housing zones reserved for Europeans who were granted the best land, relegating the black population to the outskirts, in makeshift housing. Urban segregation was established. In the city, the British multiplied the number of buildings with "neo" influences, such as the Court House and its porch flanked by six columns, the Pan Africa House with its sculpted Renaissance-inspired windows, or the very neoclassical McMillan Library. In Mombasa, neo-styles blend with Swahili influences, as seen in the Africa Hotel with its double balcony with a closed top, or the Old Post Office with its wooden balcony and its facade with Arabian accents. The Indo-Pakistani community, very present under the British protectorate, also leaves its mark through shops and temples with shimmering colors. Generally speaking, the urban houses of the time were often raised for better insulation, and had a veranda/gallery and a roof with overhangs to protect them from the rain and the sun, while the interior was decorated with wood and ceramics. At the same time, the British also created large agricultural estates in the middle of which stood houses whose stylistic evolution reflected the growing power of the owners over the land. At first, the first arrivals lived in very basic huts. Then, gradually, they built larger houses on stone foundations. These houses could be made of brick or wood (usually cedar), and had, under a sometimes rustic exterior, comfortable and functional facilities. In addition to the house, these large estates had barns, stables, storage spaces and dwellings for the staff. Examples can be seen not far from Mau Narok, which also has an astonishing stone church with Romanesque fortifications and crenellations, even though it dates from the 1960s. An architectural incongruity which underlines a little more the artificial aspect of this British presence which, if it was accompanied by an undeniable opening to modernity, has above all denatured the country, expropriating the local populations and destroying a part of its rich habitat.
Modern and contemporary architecture
In the late 50s, architect Amyas Connell heralded the arrival of modernism with buildings such as the Aga Khan Jubilee Hospital. But his most famous achievement, inaugurated in the very year of the country's independence, was the Nairobi Parliament, whose slender white clock tower dominated the city. The architect's aim was to combine sobriety and functionality in a style that definitively broke away from the past. Now free and independent, Kenya embraced the modernist craze with emblematic buildings such as the Kenyatta International Conference Centre, a 28-storey tower of glass and concrete, topped by a strange inverted corolla, whose adjacent amphitheatre was modelled on an African hut. An explosive juxtaposition! The 70s also saw the arrival of architect David Mutiso, who designed the UN headquarters, as well as the Kenya Technical Teachers College with its red concrete tiles and amphitheatre topped by a flat-roofed pyramid, both in the Gigiri district of Nairobi. Since then, the capital has experienced urban growth that seems unstoppable. Once a lush green city, Nairobi's green spaces are steadily being cut back to make way for concrete-dominated highway and residential developments, while its Central Business District boasts ever-taller skyscrapers... the city was due to inaugurate the pharaonic Pinnacle Towers project in 2023, two towers 320 m and 201 m tall housing hotels and luxury apartments, but construction has been plagued by postponements and delays. A crazy project, like Kenya Vision 2030, which plans to create East Africa's largest port in Manda Bay, started in 2020, and will be accompanied by numerous refineries, pipelines, wharves, tourist resorts, railways and motorways... Fortunately, many architects are making a different choice, that of sustainability and respect for tradition. The American Alan Donovan took his inspiration from the mud mosques of Mali to create this sumptuous reddish-ochre residence, which also features elements of many other African cultures (carved Swahili door, Moroccan patio, West African decorative motifs). Today, buildings such as the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Kiricho combine tradition and innovation, with its superb inverted V-shaped framework of concrete arches supporting wooden slats, and its granite, wood, soapstone and clay elements crafted by local artisans. This approach is also supported by Burkinabe architect Francis Kéré, who recently built the Startup Lions Campus to help young people in the Turkana region. Inspired by the astonishing mounds of termite colonies, this building impresses with its vast shaded roof terraces and ingenious ventilation columns inspired by Arab tradition. The Eco Moyo Education Centre foundation is also multiplying its sustainable projects, building classrooms and education centers in wood, coral stone and makuti (the famous palm-leaf thatch). These elements are also found in the country's sumptuous ecolodges, such as Tortilis Camp in Amboseli and Ngong House in Nairobi. With their concern to limit their impact on the environment, these lodges are almost invisible!
Vernacular riches
The archaeological site of Thimlich Ohinga, near Mingori, is unique in many ways. Dating from the 16th century, it bears witness to shared communal settlements based on agropastoralism and craftsmanship. The Ohinga, or enclosure, was primarily intended to protect communities and livestock. The particularity of this fortified site lies in its ingenious dry stone architecture. The walls were built in three phases: the inner and outer sections were built separately, before a middle section was added to ensure their cohesion. The stones, of varying sizes, were assembled in a clever balancing act ensuring perfect stability, without mortar. These walls could reach up to 4.5 m high and were on average 1 m thick. Buttresses, drainage pipes, an industrial site and dwelling pits complete this astonishing example of a fortified stone habitat built by the first pastoral communities of the region. This example is all the more astonishing since the vast majority of the ethnic groups in Kenya prefer temporary constructions made of natural and therefore perishable materials (wood, earth, grass, reeds, bark, dung...)among the most astonishing indigenous constructions, you will perhaps be able to see the huts of acacia and palm tree in the shape of igloo of the El Molo people; the circular huts with conical thatched roofs of the Taïta people who use all the resources of the surrounding nature to adapt to the climate, starting with the large trees which protect and provide shade; the huts of the Oromo people which one recognizes by the colored patterns painted on their walls of wood and cob; the huts of the Dassanech people, which owe their igloo silhouette to their curved wooden structure, and to the side of which there are often storage spaces in the form of cylindrical huts with conical roofs on stilts; or the incredible kayas, fortified villages, of the Mijikenda people, inseparable from the forests where they are built and today considered to be the sacred dwelling of the ancestors. But the most famous indigenous habitat is undoubtedly that of the Maasai people. The Maasai villages are famous for their "boma" or "kraal", the enclosure that protects the houses. This enclosure can be made of stone, wooden posts or thickets of thorny and impenetrable bushes. A fencing system shared by the Samburu people. Maasai dwellings are generally rectangular in plan and their mud and straw silhouette is often bulging. Very touristy and perhaps a little artificial, the Bomas of Kenya (open-air museum), the Bomtolulu Workshops and Cultural Centre of Mombasa and the network of Maasai Cultural Villages have at least the merit of making these rich vernacular traditions alive and known.
