HousesAreHuman:ArchitecturalSelf-imagesofAfrica'sTamberma*

SUZANNEPRESTONBLIERColumbiaUniversity... there s noquestionut thatarchitecturalemberseflect hemem-bersof Manandthat thosewhodo notknow the humanbodycannot

begoodarchitects.

Anthropomorphisms acentralfeature fthe architectureoftheTam-berma,aVoltaicpeopleof Africa'swestern avanna.In avarietyofways,the Tambermauggesthat theirhousesarehuman,thattheyrepresentenandwomen.Likehumans,achhouse s saidto be madefromflesh,bones,andblood(earth,pebbles,andwater). Manyparts

*. The basicresearchforthisstudywas carried outamongtheTam-berma fromlate1976toearly 1978under aFulbright-Haysdissertationfellowshipwhich Igratefullyacknowledge.Thepaperwasfirstpre-sented attheFrickCollection/Instituteof FineArtsSymposium,NewYork, NY,April

I980.

Initspresentform,thetext isadoptedfromchapterIV ofmydissertation,"ArchitectureoftheTamberma(Togo),"ColumbiaUniversity,

I98I.

I owe adebttomysponsor,the lateDouglasFraser;naddition,IamgratefultoShellyErrington,KateEzra,andDavid Van Zantenwho read andcriticized anearlierdraft of thispaper.Ialsowish to thankMaryDouglas,RichardPommer,andDavidRosandfor relateddiscussionsandbibliographicalreferences,and DonnThomp-sonwhoprovidedthedrawings. Mythanks toRobertPress andSarahTravis fortypingthevarious articledrafts.TheTamberma orBatammariba,astheyrefer tothemselves,aretraditionalagriculturalistswholivetodaygenerallyoutside theinflu-ences of eitherChristianityorIslam.Theysharecertainarchitecturaland cultural tieswith other"Voltaic"peoples(theDogon,Gurunsi,etc.).Previousresearch onTamberma cultureandhistoryincludes thatof LeoFrobenius,UndAfrika Sprach,vol.3(UnterdenUnstraflichenAthiopien),Berlin,1913;and PaulMercier,Tradition,Changement,His-toire/les "Somba"duDahomeySeptentrional,aris,1968.Myinformation onTambermaarchitecture isbased onin-depthin-terviewswithcommunitybuilders,priests, sages,healers,and historians.Theobservation andphotographicdocumentation ofceremonies inwhichthe housewasanimportantfocus ofattentionprovidedsubstantialsubsidiarymaterials. Itwould beimpossibletothank allthosewhohelpedmeinmyresearchbyofferinginsightintothemeaningoftraditional architecturalcustoms andceremonies,butamongthose whowereparticularlymportantwere thefollowing:N'tcha,Banfoata;N'tcha,Lalie;Yapita,Wanna;Yapita,Baloa;Yafoata,Tano;Batchomou,Bou-nanka;benekwakou,Falifa;Tchanfa,Atchana;Tchamou, N'dah;Touote,N'koue; N'koue,Touote;N'dah,Boukari; N'dah,Tchanta;and Ya-telwa,Kossi;Natta, Batchekote;Nafa,N'kankou;Yateloua,Tchokwe;Koufankou,N'tasakala;Yapita,Mani;N'dah,Fakanfa;Tamanta;Ou-boya;N'tchakaba;Olita;andBoukoua.J.Froma letterdated

1560

(Milanesi,Lelettere iMichelangelouo-narroti,Florence,1875,554);quotedinRudolfWittkower,ArchitecturalPrinciplesntheAge ofHumanism,London,1952,

1OI.

MichelangeloBuonarroti,I5601

ofthehousealso aregiven distinctivelyumannamesandidentities(head, eyes,lips,tongue,nose, ear,stomach,bile,penis, etc.).Formsofarchitecturalecoration,ndtypesof symbolicbehaviorirectedo-wards hehouse(greetinghehouse,drinkingwith thehouse,hootingthehouse,feedinghehouse),arealsodrawnfromumanmodels.Thisessay exploreshemultiplehuman dimensionsofthesebuildings.tdiscusseshe mannern whicharchitecture,ydefininghehuman,helpstoclarifyTambermapsychology,ndhow,throughhismodel,itservesasacentralsymbolandstructuringevice n Tambermapsy-chologicalndtherapeuticrocesses.The Human House

ANTHROPOMORPHISM

is,inmanyrespects,one ofarchitec-

ture'suniversals. IntheWest,discussions ofarchitectural an-thropomorphismgoback tothose ofVitruvius,Alberti,Mi-chelangelo,andPalladio.2Morerecently,thesubjectofhumanimageryinarchitecturehasbeen takenupbyscholars,architects,andtheoristsas diverseasGeoffreyScott,LeCorbusier,NicholasPevsner,SteenRasmussen,RogerScruton,KentC.Bloomerand CharlesM. Moore.3Anthropomorphismis also afrequentlyexpressedfeatureofarchitecturaltraditions inAfrica.LabellePrussinpointsout,forexample,that theimageandsymbolismof thewomb is oftenincorporatedinto WestAfricaneartherngranaries.4MarcelGriauleandGermaine Dieterlenhavedoc-umentedtheimportanceofanthropomorphisminAfricanvil-lageplanningand domesticarchitecture,particularlyhat oftheDogonof Mali.TheDogonlineagehouse(ginuda),theynote,

Wittkower,ArchitecturalPrinciples,4ff.,

IOIff.

3. GeoffreyScott,The ArchitectureofHumanism, London,1914;LeCorbusier,VersUneArchitecture,aris,

1926;

NicholasPevsner,OutlineofEuropeanArchitecture, ondon,1943;SteenEilerRasmussen,Experi-encingArchitecture,ambridge,MA,I959;Kent C.BloomerandCharlesM.Moore,Body,Memory,andArchitecture,NewHaven,1977;RogerScruton,The AestheticsofArchitecture, rinceton,1979.4.LabellePrussin,"WestAfricanMudGranaries,"Paideuma,I8,

1972,144-169.

371

372JSAH,XLII:4,DECEMBER

I983

Fig.i.Tambermaouse.Owner:Tafanta;Architect:agnata.VillageofKoufitoukou,ogo(author, 978).Fig.

Houseconstruction. arthenallbeingtossedupto builderby

apprentice.Villageof Koufitoukou(author,

1977).

represents,inits variouspartsandchambers,theimageofthemythologicalfirst ancestorsornommo.5Dogontownplanning5.MarcelGriaule ndGermaineDieterlen,"TheDogon"nAfrican

Worlds,ed.by DaryllForde, London,1954, 83-IIO.Seealso Marcel

isorganizedaround theportrayalof a similarfigure,the headbeingfoundin thevillagesmithyandmen'shouse,the chestbeingidentified with thecommunity lineagehouses,the handsextendingoutward to thewomen's menstrualhouses,and thegenitalsand feetbeingrepresentedn variouscommunityshrines.JeanPaul Lebeuf6suggestsin turnthatfor theFali of northernCameroon,the house iscomparedto anegg,withconstructionparallelingtheprocessofgestationand birth.Theearthen housesidesand understructuresymbolizethewoman(representingher chestandsleeping position respectively);the housesuper-structure of strawand wood is identifiedwiththe man.InAfricanarchitecturaltraditions,asinthoseof theWest,humananalogiesin architectureare basedinparton theuse ofthebodyas aparadigmforcomparablestructural,mechanical,decorative,andsymbolicforms.The dominantanthropomor-phismin Africanarchitecturealso reflectsessentialfeatures ofAfricanreligiousviews.MaxGluckman7has notedthat atalllevelsofAfricanreligionthere areanthropomorphicbeliefsinwhich thespiritworld is modelledon theworld of men.In theWest,architecturalanthropomorphismmayhave itsprimarybasis in thevaluationof thehumanbodyas anexpressionof

Griaule,ConversationsithOgotemmeli;nIntroductionoDogonReligiousIdeas,London,I965.6.JeanPaulLebeuf,L'habitationesFali,Paris,I96I.7.MaxGluckman,Politics,Law,and Ritualin TribalSociety,Oxford,I965,261.

BLIER:ARCHITECTURALSELF-IMAGES OFAFRICA'STAMBERMA

373

r#>N.N

-'1I

Fig. 3.Buildermeasuringroomsupportwidth.VillageofKoufitoukou(author,

I977).

God's creativeperfection.8ncomparison,Africanbuilders moreoften saw inthe human a model oflife andvitalityand anexpressionofsocialrelationshipsandvalues.

TambermaHouse-Body Symbolism

In thearchitecture ofthe Tamberma(Fig. i)wholiveinnorthernTogo,anthropomorphisms one ofthe mostimportantconcerns ofbuildingdesign,decoration,symbolism,anduse.9Inarrangingforms to define thehuman,Tamberma buildersturn tothemselves,andin theprocessalsoincorporatetheirown and theirculture's distinctive self view.Throughthispre-dominantlyhumanmodel,Tambermabuildingsserve,inturn,ascentralsymbolsandstructuringelements inTambermapsy-choanalyticandtherapeuticprocesses.Thehouse isperceivedtobeanintegralpartof thefamily,andthroughitthepsycho-logicalwell-beingof each member is definedand,inpartmain-tained.?1

8.Wittkower,ArchitecturalPrinciples,5ff.,

IOIff.

9.Tambermahouses aredesignedandbuiltbyindividual malebuild-ers,whoderive their talentor"gift"fromfamilyancestors who werebuildersbefore them. These housesaretwo-storystructures of earthwhichstandroughlyI5-20feet inheightand

20-25

feetindiameter.Theyserve asresidences forindividual,generallynuclear,familygroup-ings.Each house follows thesame basicdesignformat,onewhich isdefinedbya set number ofcircular and oval roomsandsupportsplacedinpreciserelationshipto each otherandunited within aseries of cur-vilinearjoiningwalls.

I0.

Examinations ofthepsychologyofarchitecturenthe West arefound in works suchasthoseofGeoffreyBroadbent,DesigninArchi-tecture,ondon,1973,and ClovisHeimsath,Behavioralrchitecture,ewYork,

1977.

Researchn this latterareahasemphasizedboth thepsycho-Fig.4.Youngmother(seatedon the houseterrace)washingherbabywith aprotectivefruit and herbalsolution. Theraised rim of thetaboteholecan be seenintheforeground(author,

1977).

In avarietyofways,theTambermasuggestthat theirhousesarehuman,thattheyrepresentmen andwomen.Thefabricofthehouse,forexample,iscomparedto that of the humanbody:theearthen core is itsflesh,thenumerouspebblesare itsbones,and the smoothclayplastersurfaceis its skin.Similarly,themale builder whodesignsand constructsthehouse,and thefemale houseplastererand walldecorator,hispartnerinart,haverolesparallelingthoseof themale and female ancestorswho are said to model andplastereveryTambermababyfromsacred earthinits mother's womb.Indeed,the basicelement ofconstruction,a small ball ofearth,is the samewhether theTamberma arediscussinghouses or humans(Fig.2).Not sur-prisingly,humanproportionsare also a central concern inthedesignprocessof eachstructure,the builder'slegand armspanbeingfrequentlyused to determine the relative size of the var-iousparts(Fig.3).Ahouse,oncecompleted,is seento havethesamequalitiesasa newbornbaby."When webuild ahouse,itis like it isborn,"explainedoneyoungTambermabuilder. Both the houseand thebabymust bebathedin richfruit and oil solutions sothattheir"skins" will becomestrongand resistant(Fig.4).Withpropercareandgoodfortune,houses,likehumans,areexpectedto live for about56years (orteninitiationcycles).Whenold,boththehouse and the human becomedryandbrittle. Eachdies togivebirth to a successorconstructedinpartwiththefabric of the old. As a Tambermavillagehistorian

sensorycharacteristicsofarchitecturalorms,and thesocio-psycholog-ical factorsdeterminingarchitecturalsuitability.