PROTO-TYPICAL URBAN SKYSCRAPERS IN SUDAN AND CAMEROON

Ancient African architecture has always  been one of my fascinations.  Somebody did not just say, "hey get some stone and chisels and lets build the glorious and eternal temples of ancient Egypt."  These higly refined structurres were the culmination of thousands, perhaps even millions of years of experimentation with the science of building... a saga that began millions of years hence with some of the oldest huminoids, Zinjanthropus and Australopithicus fossils found in Oldivai Gorge.  These early humans and their descendants must have made some kind of shelter, structure.  The art of construction began on the African continent millions of years ago.  Whether these early humanoids mimicked natural structures made by animals or innovated their own permutations is a mystery of time but eventually they began to fashion structures designed to serve the specific needs of men.  Early experimentatation with reeds, plants, rocks, sediment and mud were passed down from generation to generation.  As men spread out over the continent so did the technology of construction. 

In traditional Sudanese architecture the engineering challenges of the modern skyscraper were solved millenia ago using mudbrick and timber.  Similar sturctures were built in ancient Egypt over 4,000 years ago. Perhaps the most famous is the mastaba called the bent pyramid but this structure was monolithic and did not achieve interior articulation of space.  These structures utilize ecomomy of mass becoming smaller and thinner as they rise.  More than any other form of ancient structure excepting Hatshepsets mortuary temple in Egypt and the palace at Knossos in Crete these structures anticipate the urban skyline that became the trademark of Modern twentieth century cities such as New York, Chicago and San Francisco. 

The hyperbolic parabola formed by the mud and thatch structure below is an even more ancient form typical of traditional dwellings in Cameroon.  These structures predate heroic Egyptian architecture by many millinia and are oddly enough, are the only round structures ever built in ancient Egypt an only then as granaries  typically used in necropolis and palace compounds.  One wonders if they were vented at the top to prevent combustion. 

The hyperbolic parabola first used in central ancient African architecture appears to have moved northward and westward toward Egypt, Sudan, Morrocco Constantinople, etc, then islamic, oriental and moorish design.  Borrorrmini borrowed it to build the dome of the Cathedral of Milan.  The form adorns St. Pauls in London and the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C.  Even in modern architectural books due credit is not given to the ancient african architects and engineers who pioneered the engineering challenges which made the modern marvels we all love possible.  Redefining the continuity of architectural history does not negate anything from being the true marvel that it is but it clarifies the continuum of design and innovation properly connecting pieces of the larger puzzle.  Scholars of design can clearly see fundimental elements of Egyptian architecture originating much further south of Egypt in regions heretofore never associated with Egyptian culture.