THE ART OF HAUSA ARCHITECTURE 🇳🇬🇳🇪

Hausa architecture from Northern Nigeria 🇳🇬 and Southern Niger Republic 🇳🇪, is perhaps one of the least known but most beautiful aspects of Hausa culture. It has been in existence for thousands of years & is characterised by bright, colourful, intricately engraved buildings.

Hausa architecture is the architecture of the Hausa people of Northern Nigeria. Hausa architectural forms include mosques, walls, houses, public buildings and gates.

The Hausa are the largest ethnic group in West and Central Africa made up of a diverse but culturally homogeneous people, predominantly based in the Sahelian and savannah areas of southern Niger and northern Nigeria.

Hausa traditional architecture is an integral part of how Hausa people construct a sense of interrelatedness with their physical environment.

The architecture of Hausa compound, which is the basic dwelling unit of an extended family, is an ordered hierarchy of spaces which adhere to an implicit cultural paradigm.

Hausa architecture is one influenced by Islam and results in a highly organized spatial structure that is used to express features of Hausa culture.

Most Hausa architecture was made of simple materials such as mud, stones, grasses, corn stalks and straws for thatch roofing.

The muds are made into tubali-sun-dried bricks, a mix of straw and mud is used to make concrete wall plastering. The entrance into the compounds is usually indoor arcs.

Hausa architecture is 100% sustainable and 100% non-toxic. The materials used are produced in a 100% sustainable manner. The technology and skills needed to build them is transferrable to the next generation.

The traditional Hausa architecture can be categorised into three: calligraphy, surface design and ornamental. Some of such designs are still common and mostly found in the Emir palaces in various northern cities.

Though few original earth structures remain, aside from a number of carefully preserved monuments and mosques, this method of building continues to be an enduring cultural practice among rural communities throughout the continent.

Traditionally, Hausa builders have considered the roof as the most challenging part of the construction, both owing to the technology required to support the structure and the decoration that is applied to it.

In Hausa traditional architectural decoration, the wall engravings are designed by traditional builders, these used a range of abstract and decorative motifs depending on their experience that include Hausa motifs and relief patterns as well as arabesque motifs.

Hausa traditional builders, who like artisans are highly skilled at handwork & can draw out freehand patterns directly onto the surface of walls before carving out their designs.

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