Sub Saharan Africa Architectural Guide

Prof. Philipp Meuser of DOM publishers paid me a courtesy call earlier this year to review the progress of the publication of 7 volumes of Sub Saharan Africa Architectural Guide, of which I am the lead contributor to the Kenyan chapter.

Despite the growing interest in Africa, the continent’s built environment is still largely unfamiliar in many parts of the world. The seven volumes of the Sub Saharan Africa Architectural Guide form the first comprehensive overview of architecture south of the Sahara that does justice to the region’s wealth of buildings. In 49 chapters, each focusing on one country, richly illustrated texts by more than 350 authors from Africa and across the globe come together to produce a superlative work.

On the basis of 850 selected buildings and over 200 thematic articles, the continent’s building culture is elucidated and contextualized. The diverse contributions paint a multifaceted picture of Africa’s architecture in the twenty-first century, a discipline shaped by traditional and colonial roots as well as today’s global interconnections and challenges. An introductory volume on the history and theory of African architecture provides essential background knowledge.

The Sub Saharan Africa Architectural Guide, which is edited by Philipp Meuser and Adil Dalbai contains seven volumes in a slipcase with more than 3,000 pages of content, 4,500 high-quality pictures. The content of the various volumes is as below:-

• Vol. 1. Introduction to the History and Theory of Sub-Saharan African Architecture
• Vol. 2: Western Africa from the Atlantic Ocean to the Sahel
• Vol. 3: Western Africa along the Atlantic Ocean Coast
• Vol. 4: Eastern Africa from the Sahel to the Horn of Africa
• Vol. 5: Eastern Africa from the Great Lakes to the Indian Ocean
• Vol. 6: Central Africa from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes
• Vol. 7: Southern Africa between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans