The course attempts to guide the students, by starting from the first principles, towards harnessing these readings given the creation of contemporary philosophical responses hinged on traditional Hausa Architectural thought.

Course Outline:

This course is designed as an introduction to the philosophies behind traditional Hausa architecture and urban design. By tracing the assumptions that created the contemporary understandings of Hausa Architecture, it shall attempt at creating new assumptions that dispel the limited view of Traditional African Architecture and the objects and spaces and practices that are a manifestation of it. This course will investigate the forms and shapes generated by the Hausa architect and the process through which form and city were created in antiquity. The course traces the first principles of traditional Hausa Architecture. This course will be a philosophical study of an architectural reading of traditional African habitats. It shall expose the students to the parts of the traditional Hausa House from a clear architectural perspective that can lead the students to catalogue these parts and their similarities in the light of Vitruvius classifications of columns and Greek Temples. The course will give clues on how new world views developed from Traditional Hausa Architecture can help in the creation of new forms and solutions to the problems of today's Mega-City.

Course Objective

  • The course Typological Mining: Developing a contemporary (Architecture) Philosophy from Traditional Hausa Architecture, allows us to critically study, with contemporary architecture means, Hausa traditional Architecture. This architecture has been vilified over the years because the basic assumptions with which it had been studied were neither correct, nor architectural, and therefore the outcome had been focused less on a systematic behaviour and philosophical leanings of the architecture, but more on the surface patterning and sociological behaviour of the architecture.

  • The research becomes critical as African societies embark on major infrastructure and redevelopment projects that at their core, seek to build upon more realistic ‘home grown’ models, inspired by African culture, history and architectural heritage. Over the duration of the course, students will be exposed to the importance of the creation of an architectural world view by the understanding of traditional architecture and the philosophies therein, with the intention of adding depth and spirit to the architecture that will be developed in the future by these students.

Course curriculum

  1. 01

    • Typological Mining: Developing a Contemporary (Architecture) Philosophy from Traditional Hausa Architecture
  2. 02

    • HT1218_Module 1

    • HT1218 Module 1

  3. 03

    • HT1202 Bibliography

Earn the CPDI Africa Diploma

CPDI AFRICA CERTIFICATES AND DIPLOMAS

Certificates of Completion are awarded to students after completing each of the Modules contained in a course. All CPDI Africa courses are audited, allowing students to pace their progress and learning outcomes. Submission of research and assignments, and other learning objectives given by the instructors, is not required, however we encourage students to complete the assignments to aid in successful passing of the Diploma designation graduation exam. Designation of the Diploma in African Centered Architecture is awarded to a student upon successful completion of 3 (three) full CPDI Africa courses, taken either on the virtual platform, having completed face to face, or in person workshops in Africa, and successful passing of the graduating exam offered once annually. For more information on earning your Diploma in African Centered Architecture, contact the CPDI Africa Global Studio registrar at [email protected].
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