Somali Architecture, Designs & Art | Gallery, Information and Discussion

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Gallery, information and discussion about Somali architecture, designs & art. Let's share the beautiful, intriguing and even downright ugly, post pictures, videos and articles.

This should be an interesting thread

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Somali Architecture

Somali architecture is the engineering and designing of multiple different construction types such as stone cities, castles, citadels, fortresses, mosques, temples, aqueducts, lighthouses, towers and tombs during the ancient, medieval and early modern periods in Somalia, as well as the fusion of Somalo-Islamic architecture with Western designs in contemporary times.

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Ancient --- NOTE pictures to be added.

Walled settlements, temples and tombs

Ancient cairns in Qa’ableh.Some of the oldest known structures in the territory of modern-day Somalia consist of burial cairns (taalo).[1] Although found throughout the country and the larger Horn of Africa region, northern Somalia in particular is home to numerous such archaeological structures, with many similar edifices found at Haylaan, Qa’ableh, Qombo'ul, Elaayo and Maydh, among other towns. However, many of these ancient structures have yet to be properly explored, a process which would help shed further light on local history and facilitate their preservation for posterity.[1]



Houses were constructed of dressed stone similar to the ones in Ancient Egypt,[2] and there are examples of courtyards and large stone walls such as the Wargaade Wall enclosing settlements. There were two patterns of monumental architecture in ancient Somalia: the platform monument style and the enclosed platform style. The platform monuments are rectangular structures low in height formed by a drystone wall with large phallic stones set upright at the corners, assumed to be grave stones.

Ancient city of Maduna





The largest platform monument observed measured 24m x 17m and was situated on the coastal plain east of Alula. The enclosed platform style is smaller in size but more complex in construction, with a rectangular design surrounded by an enclosure wall.[3]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalian_architecture

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Medieval

The introduction of Islam in the early medieval era of Somalia's history brought Islamic architectural influences from the Arabian Peninsula and Persia. This stimulated a shift from drystone and other related materials in construction to coral stone, sundried bricks, and the widespread use of limestone in Somali architecture. Many of the new architectural designs such as mosques were built on the ruins of older structures, a practice that would continue over and over again throughout the following centuries.

Stone cities

The lucrative commercial networks of successive medieval Somali empires and kingdoms such as the Mogadishan Sultanate, the Ajuuraan State, the Empire of Adal, the Geledi Sultanate and the Warsangali Sultanate saw the establishment of several dozen stone cities in the interior of Somalia as well as the coastal regions. Ibn Battuta visiting Mogadishu in the early 14th century called it a town endless in size [5] and Vasco Da Gama who passed by Mogadishu in the 15th century noted that it was a large city with houses of four or five storeys high and big palaces in its centre[6]

Somali traders were an integral part of a long distance caravan trade network connecting major Somali cities such as Merka, Mogadishu, Zeila, Barawa and Qandala with other business centers in East Africa. The numerous ruined and abandoned towns throughout the interior of Somalia can be explained as the remains of a once booming inland trade dating back to the Medieval period.[7]

image hosted on flickr

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Castles and fortresses

Throughout the medieval era, castles and fortresses known as Qalcads were built by Somali Sultans for protection against both foreign and domestic threats. The major medieval Somali power engaging in castle building was the Ajuuraan State, and many of the hundreds of ruined fortifications dotting the landscapes of Somalia today are attributed to Ajuuraan engineers.[8]

Other castle building powers were the Gerad Kingdom and the Bari Sultanate. The many castles and fortresses such as the Sha'a Castle, the Bandar Qassim Castles and the Botiala Fortress Complex and dozens of others in towns such as Qandala, Bosaso and Las Khorey were built under their rule.

The Dervish State in the late 19th century and early 20th century was another prolific fortress building power in the Somali Peninsula. In 1913, after the British withdrawal to the coast, the permanent capital and headquarters of the Dervishes was constructed at Taleh, a large walled town with fourteen fortresses. The main fortress, Silsilat, included a walled garden and a guard house. It became the residence of Muhammad Abdullah Hassan, his wives, family, prominent Somali military leaders, and also hosted several Turkish, Yemeni and German dignitaries, architects, masons and arms manufacturers.[9] Several dozen other fortresses were built in Illig, Eyl, Shimbiris and other parts of the Horn of Africa.

The Ifat/Adal state in the north-west of the Somali peninsula also built castles and fortresses and has left a legacy of coastal cities on the Gulf of Berbera coast as well as towns in the interior. Well-known sites include the Dubar fort outside Berbera, the old-town of (Camuud) Boorama, Zeila as well as numerous stone cities in the east (Maduna etc.)

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Citadels and city walls

The Citadel of Gondershe.City walls were established around the coastal cities of Merka, Barawa and Mogadishu to defend the cities against powers such as the Portuguese Empire. During the Adal Age, many of the inland cities such as Amud and Abasa in the northern part of Somalia were built on hills high above sea level with large defensive stone walls enclosing them. The Bardera militants during their struggle with the Gobroon Dynasty had their main headquarters in the walled city of Bardera that was reinforced by a large fortress overseeing the Jubba river. In the early 19th century the citadel of Bardera was sacked by Sultan Yusuf Mahamud Ibrahim and the city became a ghost town.

Somali city walls also acted as a barrier against the proliferation of arms usually carried by the Somali and Horn African nomads entering the cities with their caravan trains. They had to leave behind their weapons at the city gate before they could enter the markets with their goods and trade with the urban Somalis, Middle Easterners and Asian merchants.[

Remains of the citadel of Gondereshe.

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Mosques and shrines

Concordant with the ancient presence of Islam in the Horn of Africa region, mosques in Somalia are some of the oldest on the entire continent. One architectural feature that made Somali mosques distinct from other mosques in Africa were minarets.

For centuries, Arba Rukun (1260), the Friday mosque of Merca (1609) and Fakr ad-Din (1269) were, in fact, the only mosques in East Africa to have minarets.[11] Arba Rukun's massive round coral tower of about 13 and a half meters high and over four meters in diameter at its base has a doorway that is narrow and surrounded by a multiple ordered recessed arch, which may be the first example of the recessed arch that was to become a prototype for the local mihrab style.

Constructed by and named after the first Sultan of the Mogadishu Sultanate, the Fakr-ad Din mosque dates back to the 1269. Built with marble and coral stone on a compact rectangular plan, it features a domed mihrab central azis. Glazed tiles were also used in the decoration of the mihrab, one of which bears a dated inscription. In addition, the masjid is characterized by a system of composite beams, alongside two main columns. This well-planned, sophisticated design is not replicated in mosques further south outside the Horn region.[12]

The 13th century Al Gami University consisted of a rectangular base with a large cylindrical tower architecturally unique in the Islamic world.

Shrines erected to house and honor Somali patriarchs and forefathers evolved from ancient Somali burial customs. Such tombs, which are predominantly found in northern Somalia (the suggested point of origin of the Somalia's majority Somali ethnic group), feature structures mainly consisting of domes and square plans.[13] In southern Somalia, the preferred medieval shrine architecture was the pillar tomb-style.

Arba Rukun Mosque - 13th century AD - Mogadishu


Somalia| Ancient city of Zeila





Berbera



Ithna Ashere- Mogadishu

image hosted on flickr


image hosted on flickr


Centuries old mosque in Xaafuun

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Towers and lighthouses

Almnara Tower Somalia.Somalia's historical strategic location within the world's oldest and busiest sealanes encouraged the construction of lighthouses to co-ordinate shipping and to ensure the safe entrance of commercial vessels in the nation's many port cities. In times of weak central authority the Somalian civilizational matrix of interior cities and port cities was based on a clan formula that saw various clans in fierce competition over natural resources that led to chronic feuding between neighbours. Towers provided the merchant class and the urban population protection against potential raids from the nomadic regions. Stone towers such as the 15th century Almnara tower in Mogadishu and the Jamia tower of Merka were also built for defense. The Dar Ilalo stone towers though initially constructed to defend the fortress of Taleex were also used as granaries for the Dervish State.

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Early modern

19th century castle town of Qandala.The early modern period saw a continuation in the use of materials such as coral stone, sundried bricks and limestone in Somali architecture which with the increasing European influence on the Somali peninsula was now being complemented by new construction materials such as cement. The period was characterised by military architecture in the form of multi-purpose forts, and the construction of new ports. The Sultans of Alula in the northern part of the country and the Gobroon Dynasty in the south were at their peak during this period, and many of the castles, palaces and forts found in various Somalian cities originate from that era.

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Contemporary

Fusion of Somalo-Islamic architecture with Occidental and Oriental styles

In the modern period, several Somali cities such as Mogadishu, Hargeisa and Berbera received large projects that saw the construction of architectural styles previously unseen in Somali architecture, but which harmoniously blend in with the existing old architecture. Due to Italian influence, parts of Mogadishu are built in the classical style. The Somali government continued upon that legacy, while also opening the door to German, American and Chinese designers.

As a departure from the prevailing Somalian architectural style, the National Theatre in Mogadishu was completely built from a Chinese perspective. The town-hall was constructed in the Moroccan style. Many of the new architecture also continued upon ancient tradition, the Al-Uruba Hotel, the pre-eminent hotel in Somalia and an iconic feature of Mogadishu's waterfront was entirely designed and constructed by Somalis in the Arabesque style.



In recent times, due to the civil war and the subsequent decentralization, many cities across the country have rapidly developed into urban hubs and have adopted their own architectural styles independently. In the cities of Garowe, Bosaso and hargeisa one can observe the construction of hotels, government facilities, airports and residential neighbourhoods in the modernist style, with predominant chrome, steel and glass materials, and houses with Western-styled roofs.

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Personally I love this building (Central Bank) and the design (colours, shapes, materials) of it. The dark wood and dark metal chains, soft colour palets, archs and intricate decoration of the facade and fascias. It all works beautifully and its typical Mogadishan architecture.

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I came across this picture of a bungalow in Hargeisa (below) and I was simply fascinated and intrigued by it. Its very unusual and the colours and patterns are very striking, I wonder how they come up with these designs because surprisingly it 'works' (albeit it in an weird-looking kind of way). It gave me the idea for this thread.

image hosted on flickr

Somaliland Architecture by guuleed, on Flickr

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A house in Boorama with a nice stone perimeter wall.

image hosted on flickr

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I've noticed that the houses in Garowe tend to be in compounds with a very nice perimeter walls made of natural stone.

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Traditional Somali House, at least for nomdic Somalis - it takes a lot of skill to design and construct and it hand made from top to bottom! Various designs, the bigger the better.

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Various traditional somali artifacts, all handmade. all have a functional purpose from milk storage to burning frankincense/mirr, mats, pillows etc.

[talya]

Wow Merca cadeey minin ow Cisman one of the if not the most beautiful city of Somalia,the climate the history the beaches it has Mediterranean feeling,actually in the near future as everyone i speak wants to go back to Mogadishu it is Merca all the way for me less crowded cleaner and it looks like my neighborhood Shangaani which is plus point.

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A building in mogadishu. I don't know what pupose the building is used for, or even if it is a residential building. Perhaps someone else can tell us?

Beautiful building though.

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Former Mogadishu city hall. Again beautifully designed and with some regeneration this building will look magnificent once again. I wonder how the inside of the building looked...

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A building in down-town Mogadishu. I believe it was the Al-Curuba hotel.