Kenyan Architecture

Brief History

Kenya is a country rich in culture and with numerous diverse communities. Kenyan architecture before independence was mainly small round hats that would vary in design from tribe to tribe. The building materials were mainly water, cow dung and earth. The structures were made of sticks and the roof was thatched. Currently, most mud huts and traditional Kenyan buildings are used by a very small percentage of Kenyans as homes. The tourism industry has retained the Kenyan designs in building hotels, animal park structures, and resorts, since these designs are a tourist attractions on their own.

The architectural sector has grown and sadly, the modern architecture in Kenya replaced the indigenous; instead we have adapted foreign architecture.

However, there are still a few notable designs, which resonate with the Kenyan people. An example is the Kenya International Conferencing Centre and The Bomas of Kenya. They are built in the design of a hat, hence, being one of the very few major structure that have stayed original to the Kenyan culture.

Kenyan Architecture Today

The dominant kind of architecture in Kenya is of a British and Western influence. At the coast, however, the most common designs are Swahili; drawing from Arabic influence during trade that occurred through the Indian Ocean. The adoption of foreign designs has brought a kind of uniformity in our architecture and a culture where Kenyans only value the foreign forms of architecture. With time, this has corroded the indigenous architecture leading to the conclusion that Kenya now lacks an architecture identity.

This is not to say that the buildings are drab or lack in architectural design. Kenya has lots of plush and exquisite architecture. The only problem is that it is mostly foreign and more often than not impractical considering the country’s location. For example, most residential property borrows from the European designs that have sloped roofs and chimneys for winter. Kenya does not experience extreme changes in seasons, therefore, making this design impracticable.

Why Kenya Lacks Architectural Identity

This lack in a marked architecture identity has been encouraged by a number of things. First, the stagnation in the country’s architecture is mainly because of the rigidity of the Kenyan people in accepting change and taking up new designs. The current residential buildings’ designs are very similar to the ones that were built in the 1960s, notably in size. Kenyan architects, therefore, are forced to comply with the market demands because at the end of the day, this is their source of living and they will not starve because the population refuses to adopt new and diverse designs.

Additionally, the Kenyan government has also slacked off in funding architectural research and innovation. There are very few institutions that provide studies in architecture and most young, innovative architects lack the funding to establish their own designs independently. Another reason that can be attributed to lack of architectural identity in Kenya is the diverse culture; about 42 tribes worth. Though this could be our strongest suit, it is also hard to display one architectural identity given the diverse climatic conditions in different regions of the country. This diversity hinders the use of a strictly unique design. In addition, traditional practices have influenced most Kenyan architectural designs, for example, the man of the home has to have a room that is furthest away from his mother-in-law’s.

Other experts also sited a corroding Kenyan culture as part of the reason. In recent times, Kenyans have adopted modern ways of life based borrowed from foreign cultures. Most people are satisfied with western designs since they seem to be better appearing than the traditional hut structures. This lack of faith in our own designs has contributed to the now near extinction of our indigenous architecture.

Commercial Buildings

Commercial buildings, however, are not as redundant to the times as these foreign residential structures Kenyans have adopted since the 60s. This can be attributed to the availability of space and other utilities. Architects in this sector of architecture, therefore, have room for coming up with new ideas and designs. The diversity in commercial building structure in Kenya varies from town to town with the most impressive structures being at the capital, in Nairobi.

What does the Future Hold?

The future of Kenyan architecture looks bright especially since the youth are more inspired to work on their own ideas as opposed to previous generations. The property boom in Kenya has also opened lots of opportunities for people to invest and experiment on building designs. Knowing Kenya to have a colorful culture, we can only hope that all Kenyans will believe in themselves and live up to establish a world trademark in architecture. Kenya is also leading in technology in Africa and has also hosts numerous forums and platforms for the young people to express themselves. this way, reception of homegrown solutions has a real chance at will gaining popularity in the coming years. The number of experts in the architectural field have also been on a steady rise, and this will assures us that in the future, there will be no need to source for foreign architectural personnel or ideas; we will have a more that enough supply of our own and, hopefully, we will be able to create an architecture identity leading not only in Kenya but in the Continent as well.

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