The Musgum are an ethnic group of people living in North Cameroon and Southern Chad.
They have for thousands of years developed a unique form of earth architecture for their houses.
A picture depicting a Musgum Chief’s homestead in the 1850s. Notice the Dome houses in the background.
Catenary arch.
The shape profile of the Musgum houses are in the form of a catenary arch. Catenary arch is the strongest shape form that is naturally occuring that gives the lowest use of material. This is also similar to the Nubian archs that have characterized Nubian house architecture for thousands of years.
Exterior wall patterns.
The exterior of a Musgum house is hand made into patterns that are both aesthetic and functional.
These patterns aid in assisting workers to climb on top as scaffolding during repair and also aid in directing rain water to the ground to prevent wearing out during the rainy periods.
There are mainly 2 design patterns used.
Curved wall.
The Musgum people could achieve this centenary curve using basic rudimentary tools, something that even with the current tools available, is still a tall order and we need to use Computer Aided Design to achieve this.
Notice the smooth curve achieved in the above house, perfect workmanship.
The Musgun houses had 2 cone shaped buildings linked together by a flat roof vertical wall structure, forming architectural balance that brought out the aesthetic appeal.
South American / Colombian earthbag architecture.
South American architects have drawn this inspiration and have come up with modern architecture based on earth, very closely similar to the Musgum architecture.
Ancient African Architecture.
a4architect.com is in the forefront of reviving this ancient African architecture which is most suitable to resolve current housing requirements in Africa.
Musgum architecture uses soil at 95% of the total building material uses, hence saving the environment , keeping construction at a low cost and ensuring buildings that are a work of art, buildings that use their facades to placate and beautify the environment.
a4architect.com has documented the construction techniques used and is currently using them to implement similar houses in Kenya.
Architect Francis Gichuhi kamau.
info@a4architect.com
0721410684
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