Architecture

__**Yoruba Architecture **__

By Kevin Butler

The Yoruba people build their households mainly with mud brick. Their architecture was passed from generation to generation, with some structures being intact from over 300 years ago. Considering the mud brick structure of these households, it can be assumed the Yoruba people put great care into their houses due to the very long periods that they stay instact. The differences in housing reflect a sort of inequality among the Yoruba people. The general population has the most basic housing, with chiefs having larger, more elaborate houses with more courtyards. Above all, the king has an elaborate palace with multiple courtyards. These large differences in architecture based on social standing all point to inequality within the Yoruban people. **Cities** The layout of the city was circular. They had defensive walls along the outside, with the palace of the king and the marketplace centrally located. Outside the palace, households are built to surround the homes of the “ward chiefs,” who oversee their part of the city. On the outskirts of the city, small homes are occasionally occupied to farm and do other work. While these are separated from the center of the city, which is also the center of important activities, those on the outskirts still have a say in what goes on by passing it through their ward chief.

The palaces were the center of religious, economic, and political activities. They were very large, and had many courtyards made exactly for these activities. Some were used to make sacrifices to their deities, some for meetings with the chiefs, and some for hearing concerns of the local population. As for the building itself, it was a large complex of various rooms. The palace was decorated with sculpted doors, walls, and house posts. The palace is significantly larger than a ward chief’s home, and contained many more courtyards. Palaces were definitely a sign of higher status with their multiple floors, many chambers, and numerous amount of courtyards. By comparison, palaces had up to fifty courtyards of varying sizes, while the house of a chief would have two or three, and the house of a commoner would only have one. The material with which palaces were made was also a higher quality. Instead of using water to create the mud bricks, shea butter and palm oil were used to create better looking and longer lasting walls. To decorate the walls of the palace, murals were painted onto them. These murals symbolized majesty, signified by elephants, ostriches, and lions, and wisdom, signified by monkeys and snakes. Palaces also had other decorations such as mud sculptures and floors paved with potsherds. Among the Yoruba people, family appears to have played a large role in day to day life. General housing for the population consists of simple buildings with only two rooms. Since there are only two rooms to a house and the rooms are somewhat small (3x3 meters), people are generally forced to interact with their family. The first room usually serves as a kitchen, and the second room is the bedroom. These houses are arranged in clusters around a courtyard. Most houses do not have windows because they are mainly used at night. During the day, most activities take place in the courtyard outside. Besides the most basic two room house, there are compounds in which multiple houses are connected together, side by side. These are used when an extended family desires to all live within the same area. These compounds would then be built to surround the ward chief’s home, where people would gather to discuss various matters such as political or economic problems. The walls of buildings are made of mud brick. Lateritic soil is used for this as it can bake and dry in the sun. The roof is constructed by placing palm branches together and plastering them with clay. The main purpose of the roof is to keep rain out of the house. The three legged house is similar in design to the basic two room household. It has multiple 3x3 meter rooms, all connected with a long rectangular room that serves as a sort of lobby. These are called “three legged” because of the design. There are only three main walls in the entire building. The others are all doorways to other rooms, the lobby, and outside.
 * Palaces** [[image:palace_plan.jpg width="311" height="397" align="right" caption="Yoruba Palace Plan"]]
 * Housing** [[image:Two_room_house_plan.jpg width="169" height="299" align="right" caption="Basic two room house"]]
 * Three Legged House[[image:Three_legged_house.jpg width="310" height="165" align="right" caption="Model of a Three Legged House"]]**

Based on the architecture of the Yoruba people, there seems to be a strong emphasis on community and family. This is shown by the openness and small size of their households. To live in such small places would mean one would be in constant contact with their family and friends. Also, the proximity of houses to one another suggests they did not mind living literally meters away from their extended family. There also appears to be an importance of the centrality of things. The most important activities and people live in the center of the community. The palaces are in the center of the town, the ward chief lives in the center of those below him.
 * Conclusion **

**__Bibliography__** Bascom, William Russell. __Yoruba of Southwestern Nigeria__. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1969. Clarke, Kamari Maxine. __Mapping Yoru?ba? networks power and agency in the making of transnational communities__. Durham: Duke UP, 2004. Ojo, Afolabi. "Traditional Yoruba Architecture." __African Arts__ 1 (1968): 14-72. Renne, Elisha P. __Population and progress in a Yoruba town__. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan P, 2003. Trager, Lillian. __Yoruba hometowns community, identity, and development in Nigeria__. Boulder, Colo: Lynne Rienner, 2001. Vlach, John M. "Affecting Architecture of the Yoruba." __African Arts__ 10 (1976): 48-99.