Swahili Traditions Blend Harmoniously with Art Deco in Kenya | Home Design Find
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Swahili Traditions Blend Harmoniously with Art Deco in Kenya

 

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A traditional Swahili house is scattered along a natural clearing in the coastal forest of Lamu in Kenya by Urko Sanchez Architects.

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The client, Fernando Torres, wanted a house that would be in contact with nature.

He had a passion for architecture, and for Swahili traditional construction.

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He needed a home that could host family gatherings but feel equally comfortable when he was alone.

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The result, an outdoor pavillion on on sandy ground, reflects the client’s love of Swahili traditional construction and craftsmanship, as well as his enjoyment of outdoor living close to nature.

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He wanted to preserve the forest as much as possible, so the house winds along within in a small natural clearing.

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A series of curved exterior planters that extend inwards to become the smooth and cool concrete floor repeat the curved footprint of the outdoor “house”.

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Cool breezes supply natural ventilation.

Construction had a low impact because only local materials were used.

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The high arch of the traditional makuti roof effectively keeps out the bright sunlight and is also a good thermal insulator.

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In Swahilli architecture this kind of makuti roof is used as a separate structure over the roof of the house or detached as a temporary construction.

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Electricity to run the fans and lights is supplied by a solar power system out of sight.

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Rustic and lovely hand-shaped concrete sinks define the inside bathroom, but it is far from rudimentary.

Dignified Art Deco details like the lighting and the plaster decorations on the wall seem oddly fitting.

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Outside the shower room an al fresco bathtub in the same hand-shaped blond coral stone concrete makes bathing a natural delight in the midst of the forest clearing, for the grandchildren, or for Fernando when he is alone.

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Another outdoor bathroom offers a rustic privacy for visiting family members

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A sense of Kenya’s colonial past infuses the architecture.

Local craftsmen were used to create all of the intricate handiwork.

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There is a seriousness to the incongruity of placing chandeliers in such a rustic natural setting.

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The house could easily seem incongruous, with two such contrasting styles; urbane Art Deco played against the rustic Swahili.

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Yet there’s nothing self consciously whimsical about the mixture of the highly civilized and the rustic traditions of Swahili construction.

It works.

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