Legendary architecture
Great Zimbabwe National Monument is perhaps the most famous site in the country. This medieval city, which flourished between 1100 and 1450, was the capital of the vast Shona Empire. It was the site of one of the greatest African civilizations after the Pharaohs and has been called by many the "stone civilization". The term Zimbabwe itself means "house of stone". The Shona had a very particular technique of working with stone: they immersed it in a very hot fire, then poured water over it in order to make it easier to cut. This explains the quality of the assemblies made without the help of any mortar. The thick walls thus had perfectly worked and smooth bases. To ensure the stability of the whole, the Shona sometimes opted for structures with wide bases and gradually tapering towards the top. The Great Zimbabwe site consists of three main areas. The king and his advisors resided in the upper city where impressive granite walls defined two distinct enclosures served by a series of narrow, sometimes covered passages. The western enclosure is the royal residence proper, while the eastern enclosure represents the most sacred place on the site. See its six large soapstone posts topped with birds. These carved birds have become the emblems of the country and played the role of messengers between men and the gods. Below this acropolis is the large enclosure. With an elliptical plan, it houses a series of adobe dwellings (a mixture of granite sand and clay) called daga, a community space linked by a passage to an astonishing conical tower, and various family spaces, themselves delimited by stone walls, generally consisting of two living huts and a kitchen organized around a courtyard. It seems that this large enclosure was designed to house the different wives of the king. The princes and nobles were grouped together in the valley complex where one can still see adobe dwellings isolated from each other by dry stone walls that display superb decorative work based in particular on herringbone and checkerboard motifs.
If the Great Zimbabwe site illustrates the idea of an architecture thought as an extension of the natural environment, the KhamiRuins testify to the advent of an architecture thought to shape and modify the environment. Khami was the capital of the Butua kingdom, ruled by the Shona dynasty of Torwa, and supplanted Great Zimbabwe in the 16th century. The two sites share many common characteristics, particularly in terms of spatial organization. The chief's residence (mambo) is located on a hill, overlooking the granite-walled adobe huts used by the population, while numerous passages and covered galleries link the different spaces. The technique of dry stone walls is still used, but this time the walls are no longer simply used to delimit the spaces, but also to shape them. The Khami site introduces the notion of retaining walls that allow the creation of series of complex platforms and terraces. As key architectural elements, these walls have been the object of much decorative attention. An ornamental richness that can be found in the "Dzimbabwe Cluster" of Naletale, not far from the city of Gweru, which flourished between the 16th and 18th centuries. The central site is that of Naletale with its elliptical wall 60 m in diameter richly decorated with chevron, cord, checkerboard and double chevron motifs and colored stone inserts. Around it gravitate satellite sites, like that of Nsalansala which has the particularity of presenting decorations on the interior and exterior faces of its walls. Of the Portuguese presence of the time, very few traces remain. In Dambarare, Masape and Luanze the feiras can be seen, which were fortified brick houses surrounded by earthen walls and ditches. The Portuguese also established missions here, of which the brick churches were the central elements.
Vernacular riches
Surrounded by a protective plant fence, the San people's dome-shaped huts consist of a frame of fine branches on which a covering of grass and reeds is laid. This desire to use natural and local materials in simple and functional constructions is found throughout the traditional rural architecture. Most villages are composed of circular huts organized around a central community space. Each hut has a specific function (cooking, washing, sleeping...). These huts can be built with a mud or clay covering on a frame made of branches or sun-dried bricks, and most often have a conical thatched roof. Today, it is not uncommon to see circular huts and rectangular concrete houses with corrugated iron roofs. The storage huts are still made of natural materials. Many granaries are built on stilts to protect the food. When agricultural activity is in full swing, structures on stilts are built near the fields to house the workers. Another key feature of these villages is the cattle pen or kraal. This word of Afrikaans origin originally referred to circular villages, organized according to a very strict spatial and social hierarchy and protected by palisade-like ramparts of thorns. Among the Ndebele, certain kraals were said to be "royal". Oval in shape and surrounded by palisades of sturdy posts, they had a military and strategic character. But if the Ndebele are known throughout the world today, it is for the richness of the forms and colors of their traditional habitat. The men are in charge of the construction: wooden frame, thatched roof, clay and mud walls. The house is most often rectangular with a courtyard in front and a protective enclosure wall. A room outside, a sort of small pavilion, is reserved for cooking and washing. The women were in charge of the decoration, that is to say, of the identity of the house. Before the 1960s, women worked mainly with natural pigments, resulting in brown or ochre colors, but also with soot and white limestone to draw lines and patterns in black and white. With the discovery of acrylic and vinyl paints, the houses were adorned with bright colors. At first, only geometric patterns were favored, then gradually the women incorporated figurative elements. Symbols of identity, these murals have also long been used as an expression of cultural resistance to the various oppressions suffered by the Ndebele.
Colonial era
The cities of Harare and Bulawayo still have a typical colonial layout. At the time of its creation, Bulawayo was given wide avenues to allow ox-drawn carts to take 90-degree turns at intersections. In architectural matters, eclecticism is de rigueur. The Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Bulawayo follows the great gothic codes with its pointed arches, its slender columns leading to a very high ceiling covered with an astonishing wooden frame. Crenellated towers, ogival windows, massive sobriety, the Sacred Heart Cathedral of Harare is resolutely Gothic-Romanesque. A very Victorian revival fashion, like that of the green spaces and other botanical gardens, like those in Harare. The official buildings, on the other hand, are more neo-Renaissance with their loggias and arcades, or neoclassical with the sobriety of their symmetrical lines. A classicism that triumphed in the Edwardian style often adopted for town halls and other civil "palaces" crowned with pediments and balustrades and facades punctuated with columns. It is also found in hotels, such as The Victoria Falls Hotel, one of the jewels of imperial architecture, with its dazzling white walls. This is a far cry from the pinkish hues of the improbable Leopard Rock Hotel, which looks like a castle with its stone foundations, turrets and grand staircases with elegant railings that made Queen Elizabeth's heart skip a beat! In parallel with this historicizing wave, an architecture mixed with engineering is developing, as shown by the markets, train stations and other cultural centers that give pride of place to open plans bathed in natural light via glass structures supported by metal frames. This is notably the case in the beautiful National Gallery in Harare. In terms of housing, whether it is a matter of opulent city houses or large houses in the heart of the plantations, they all reflect an adaptation of European codes to the reality of the local climate: roofs with four sides, space between the ceiling and the roof to promote natural ventilation, brick or stone foundations, colonnades or verandas all around the house... In terms of decoration, they alternate between the Cape Dutch style from South Africa (curved gables, whitewashed walls, thatched roofs), the neoclassical style (columns, pediments), and the Victorian revival. Mining and industrial activities have changed the country considerably: clearing of bush areas, irrigation of arid lands, creation of road and rail infrastructures... The dam on Lake Kariba, with its 128 m high, 579 m long and its double-arched wall, allowed the creation of one of the largest artificial reservoirs in the world. Another technical feat is the Birchenough Bridge over the Sabi River. Its 1,500 t of steel over a single 330 m long span is impressive. But these achievements should not obscure the fact that this industrial boom was entirely based on a system of exploitation and segregation. The indigenous populations were sent to the Tribal Trust Lands, inhospitable areas without infrastructure and with precarious housing, while the "whites" prospered in pleasant tree-lined cities and other posh districts. The posh suburbs of Harare have kept their British names (Avondale, Belgravia...). This explains the difficult relationship that the inhabitants have with this colonial heritage.
Since 1980
Following its independence, Zimbabwe experienced a massive migration from rural to urban areas, particularly in the capital. But the lack of housing is leading to the proliferation of slums. But this is of little interest to the new government, whose objective is above all to finance imposing achievements that symbolize power. The first of these is the National Heroes Acre, a gathering and commemoration site. Terraces with curved granite retaining walls decorated with herringbone patterns, bronze enamelled casts of Zimbabwean birds, geometric shapes and volumes, everything is done to recall the great hours of the "stone civilization". A return to tradition that really took off in the 1990s when the government wanted to consolidate its power. The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe is a perfect example. This tower with polished granite walls engraved with images of rural Zimbabwe was modeled on the conical-roofed grain silos of the Shona culture. With their wide bases tapering to the top, these silos stored supplies during periods of drought. Another landmark building of the period was the new Harare airport terminal, with its windows arranged horizontally in a herringbone pattern, its control tower reminiscent of the conical tower of Great Zimbabwe, and its exterior corridors reminiscent of the corridors and covered passageways of the country's great stone sites. Imposing achievements that do not hide the problems linked to the demographic explosion. In Harare, the slums continue to grow. This situation led Robert Mugabe to decide, in 2005, to demolish them outright, putting hundreds of thousands of people on the street or forcing them to live in temporary camps, a kind of new slums. It was not until 2010 that the Harare slum upgrading project was launched. The first to be rehabilitated was Dzivarasekwa. The residents were trained in plumbing and masonry, helped build houses, installed sanitation facilities, paved roads, and implemented ecological solutions such as waste separation and solar lighting. Far from the soulless structures of concrete and glass, many projects today offer an original and innovative approach to architecture, such as the Eastgate Center. Designed by Mike Pearce, this shopping center is a perfect example of biomimetic architecture. It was designed on the model of a termite mound, with thousands of small holes to ensure constant natural ventilation and a stable climate. The building is eco-efficient, with no air-conditioning system, and therefore consumes 90% less energy. Another beautiful achievement is the Mapungubwe Park Interpretation Center. Designed by Peter Rich, it impresses with its domed and arched structures covered with local stone. In Zimbabwe, innovation often seems to rhyme with sobriety, as proven by the amazing Rising Star School in Hopley (a district of Harare). 600,000 bricks were laid by local masons, without recourse to advanced technological tools and without the presence of permanent water and electricity sources on site... a real feat! Between massive and filigree aspect, this building, all in play of shadows and openings, offers an architecture without ostentation. Other contemporary buildings include the beautiful Arches Gallery at Aberfoyle with its curved roof, clerestory windows and cantilevered balcony with a panoramic view, and the incredible Gota Dam Residence, a sublime villa built in a cantilevered fashion on a rock, whose granite, wood and glass volumes seem to float on the waters of the reservoir. Impressive!
